Tangled Thing Called Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

the explosion that propelled the potato out of the tube. Before long they got the thing working, and now—thank you so much, Ben Labeck—it was twice as loud, making a thudding phumpph whenever a potato shot out. When it finally got too dark to follow the potato’s trajectory, they all trooped back inside.
    “Did you boys have fun?” Mazie asked Ben, not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. She and Gran had been inside, safe from mosquitoes and exploding spuds, watching old episodes of Seinfeld and drinking gin and tonics.
    “Yeah,” he said, grinning. “It was fun.”
    Then it was bedtime. The twins galloped upstairs to show Ben his room, a spare bedroom carved out of what had once been attic space. It had sloping eaves—a hazard for a man who was over six feet tall—but skylights gave the room an illusion of lightness and airiness. It was furnished with a dresser, a pine wardrobe, and a large, comfortable bed. Since the attic was the hottest part of the house, it had its own separate air conditioner.
    Gran went off to her own suite. When Mazie’s grandfather had died, Katie had had an apartment with its own kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom built onto the west side of the farmhouse for herself. Mazie’s parents, Mike and Edith, had taken over the main part of the house, which was where Mazie and her brothers had been raised. When her parents hadmoved to Florida, newlyweds Scully and Emily had moved in, taking the master bedroom for themselves. When the twins were born they’d been given the room once occupied by Mazie’s brothers.
    Yawning, Mazie dragged herself up to her bedroom, overwhelmed by the long day, the shock of finding Ben on her doorstep, and two gin and tonics, certain she’d be asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Chapter Six
    But Mazie didn’t sleep. She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours. Ordinarily the sound of Muffin’s breathing calmed her down, but the little traitor had abandoned her for the more exciting environment of the twins’ room. She could pull a book off her shelf—maybe one from the Trixie Belden series she’d loved as a preteen—but that seemed like too much effort. She lay there, staring up at the Greenland water stain on the ceiling, listening to the sound of the crickets and spring peepers through her open windows. A warm, fragrant breeze fluttered the curtains.
    Her door opened and someone slipped into her room. It was Ben Labeck, outlined briefly in the glow of the hall night-light. Mazie bolted upright, watching in disbelief as he tiptoed across the room.
    “How did you know which room was mine?” she hissed.
    “I didn’t. I accidentally walked into your brother’s room.”
    “What?”
    “He just muttered ‘Two doors down’ and went back to sleep. So much for his sister’s virtue, huh?” He crouched down alongside her bed. “Permission to climb aboard?”
    “Forget it.” This man was not getting her permission to climb aboard anything . “What’s that thing you’re wearing?” It looked like the full-length ruffled bathrobe Gran left in the guest room for female guests, now stretched ludicrously across Ben’s wide shoulders, its hem dangling just below his knees.
    “I only had boxers to wear. I didn’t want to walk around the house looking silly.”
    “That’s good, because you don’t look silly now.”
    “Really?”
    “No, you only look ridiculous. You look like the Big Bad Wolf dressed up in Little Red Riding Hood’s granny’s clothes.”
    He was the Big Bad Wolf, Mazie realized as his teeth gleamed in a smile, and if she wasn’t careful, he was going to eat her up. And he was way too close, so close she could smell his breath. Minty fresh. It smelled like the brand she used. Exactly like her brand.“You didn’t use my toothbrush, did you?” she asked suspiciously.
    “The pink one? Yeah, I did. The airline lost my luggage. But don’t worry—I’m not afraid of your germs.”
    Damn it! He was making her