Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy: Part 3: A Heroes and Heartbreakers Serial Read Online Free PDF Page B

and when Sean had told Collie that he could cook, he’d invited Sean to cook for him. One meal and he’d told Sean about the setup.
    I didn’t know the particulars, but I did know Sean was now living there and having supervised visits with his sister.
    Supervised. A bunch of bullshit, really.
    I knew the owner vaguely. Sara Rowe had lost her third husband in a boating accident and decided she was done living with one man. She’d turned her home into a B&B to live with as many as she could. Well, the men, their wives, their children … That was her story.
    She’d laughingly told me that she wished she could have hooked up with him before he went on the straight and narrow. I don’t know how she knew, although Sean had mentioned that his reputation had preceded him. I guess he was right.
    I had managed to keep any female snarl of possessiveness locked away.
    He wasn’t mine. I couldn’t be possessive. I was anyway.
    “This is quite a place, Ella. More like a home than a business setup.”
    Michael’s voice dragged me back to the present. Smiling politely, I moved through the living room to join him in the dining area. It was an open floor plan, useful for the sort of parties I tended to have here.
    “Nice private space out in the back here. How many square feet?”
    “Michael, you’d have to ask the realtor that one.” I shrugged and slid my hands into my pockets.
    “Maybe you could ask … and tell me when we meet up for dinner tonight,” he said, giving me an easy smile.
    “If you’re going to have a lot of questions, you’d probably better ask the realtor. I know that I loved the house.”
    “Why sell, then?”
    “It’s no longer practical.” I turned away and moved into the kitchen. “It’s excellent for entertaining. The kitchen has more than enough room…”
    I gave him a tour of the downstairs, but when it came time to go upstairs, I feigned a headache and told him I needed some water and air. Always the gentlemen, he offered to take me home, but I told him I’d do better if I sat down for a few minutes and had some peace.
    He took the hint and left me alone while he finished going through the house.
    I settled down on the steps of the front porch, neatly crossing my legs and smoothing down the deep rose of my skirt.
    Unable to avoid it any longer, I looked up at the For Sale sign. I’d been happier here than I’d ever been. Happy, as long as I was with Sean. The man I’d paid to have sex with me.
    I was starting to think that I might leave Chicago.
    He’d tugged all my secrets out, and he’d taken me to all the places I enjoyed. They were ruined now. Not that I had many favorite places, but …
    My heart started to race inside my chest. My breath caught.
    Slowly, I lifted my head.
    Sean was standing on the other side of the wrought-iron fence.
    He wore a battered pair of jeans and a skin-tight black T-shirt, much the same as he’d worn those first few times I’d seen him. The big difference now was that he held several cloth bags in one big fist, while another heavier bag hung from his left shoulder.
    His gaze slid to the sign, then back up to my face.
    Something lingered in his eyes.
    “Well, Ella, I’m done. I hope I didn’t take too long.”
    Michael stood behind me, and I heard him. The words just didn’t really connect. I was too busy staring at Sean, practically gorging on the sight of him.
    “Ella…”
    As Michael moved closer, Sean’s jaw tightened and he turned, striding away.
    If I moved my head, I could probably track him with my eyes, watch as he walked around the corner and inside the B&B where he now lived and worked.
    I didn’t let myself.
    “Was that man hassling you?”
    I blinked, coming out of the daze as Michael crouched down next to me. “What?”
    “That guy. Was he bothering you?”
    “No. Not at all.” I lied, though. Sean had been bothering me from the first time I’d seen him. Just in a different sort of way.
    *   *   *
    Seeing him had