She's No Angel Read Online Free PDF

Harpers’ with the distinct impression that the mayor was smugly laughing at him. They were perfectly polite to his face, nice even, and still he’d walked down the driveway to his rental car wondering where they’d buried the knife and why he couldn’t feel the blood seeping out yet.
    He’d grown up in a fairly dangerous neighborhood. Guns, drugs, gangs. And these people scared him. Probably because in Philly he knew where the danger lurked. With Sweetheart...he wasn’t entirely sure.
    Mr. Bowen must have heard the hesitation in his voice. “You don’t think that’s going to do any good.”
    “Not really.”
    A growl rolled through the phone. “Use the daughter.”
    “What?”
    “Use the daughter. I’ve seen pictures, she’s pretty enough. Do what you’re good at, Newcomb. Charm her. Get in her panties. Hell, I don’t care. Whatever it takes to soften her up. I know those Southern girls. They have their daddies wrapped around their little fingers. If the mayor won’t listen to reason then attack him from another front.”
    Brett sucked in a hard breath.
    Lexi Harper was a passionate little spitfire. Her bouncy blond curls, wide mouth and the freckles dotting the bridge of her nose were clever camouflage, designed to draw you in close enough so that she could cut you with her sharp tongue.
    One moment she looked like she belonged in the middle of a gaggle of children, and then she became a siren—all voluptuous curves, acerbic wit and blazing eyes. On the outside she looked all soft and cozy, but she’d had no problem putting him in his place. Even now, thinking about the disdainful expression on her face as she’d called his work shoddy, anger bubbled in his veins.
    He had the inexplicable urge to prove her wrong.
    “I’ve gathered some information on her—and anyone else I thought might be useful. I’m sending it to you tonight by messenger. You should have it tomorrow.”
    Brett hesitated. And as always, Mr. Bowen seemed to sense the weakness before he’d even acknowledged it to himself.
    “Don’t forget that nice little bonus, Newcomb. This is a multimillion dollar project and I stand to make a tidy sum when it finally goes through. If you can get the town to flip I’m not above sharing a cut of those profits with you. Fifty thousand is chump change to me, but it should impress that high-priced girlfriend of yours.”
    Brett didn’t bother telling Mr. Bowen that he and Michelle had broken up months ago. It worked better for him if his boss thought he intended to blow the money on some lavish vacation or diamond ring. If he realized Brett planned to take the money and run...
    He needed that bonus. He needed this project to succeed.
    “The daughter, Newcomb. Use her.”
    As much as he hated to admit it, Bowen had a valid point. There was no doubt Lexi had her father’s ear. Several times during dinner they’d joked together.
    “Look, I don’t care how you do it, but convince the mayor to see things our way. Sooner rather than later. You have a week, and for every day after that I’m deducting from that bonus.”
    Brett’s jaw flexed dangerously. He shouldn’t be surprised that his boss was changing the rules in the middle of the game. But he needed that money.
    “I’ll do what I can.”

3
    “O H , MY FLIPPIN ’ Lord, do you know who’s in town?” Hope burst through the back door into Lexi’s work kitchen. If it wasn’t a normal occurrence she might have jumped. But since the Sweetheart Sentinel’ s back door was right across the alley, Hope’s drive-bys were a regular thing.
    Her future sister-in-law was a journalist for the local paper. Well, more than that, really, since her family had owned the Sentinel for almost a hundred years. They’d been friends since childhood, so Lexi had been thrilled when Hope finally realized she was in love with Gage.
    While keeping an eagle eye on the batch of caramel bubbling away on the range, Lexi reached beneath the counter, pulled out a