What a Bachelor Needs (Bachelor Auction Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

waved away his question. “There’s good.”
    It had been two years since Boyd had lit out of Marietta. Eighteen months since her divorce. She hadn’t dated since. Not that she was dating Jett Casey, fun-loving darling of the alpine skiing set; it was just that a man’s coat hanging in that spot was something new and different.
    Mardie decided to call it progress.
    Progress also involved a decision to look upon this man and note, with no small pleasure, the way his T-shirt clung to his chest and his jeans outlined the strong bulk of his thighs. It wasn’t a crime to appreciate the beauty that was right there in front of her.
    How much time and effort did it take to keep a body primed for downhill skiing competitions? Did he insure his legs? What happened when he broke something?
    Which begged the question… “Are you insured? Am I insured for the work you do here? Because, I really can’t have—”
    “My brother has a builder’s license and this week I’m on the books as working for him. All the insurances are in place.” Jett held her gaze. “If you really don’t want me here, I can work something else out with the Emersons.”
    “No.” Way to make him feel comfortable. “Please. Come on through. I just… I’ve never had a handyman before. I’ve never owned a house until three months ago. It’s a whole new world. Shall I give you the tour?”
    Mardie babbled when nervous. She was babbling now.
    “Sure.” His gaze cut to Claire. “Introductions first?”
    Oh. Yes. “This is Claire, my daughter. She’s one and a bit.”
    “Hey, Claire.”
    Her baby stared at him, wide eyed and temporarily mute. “She’ll get used to you – and then look out. Have you had anything to do with babies?”
    “Not a thing.”
    “Don’t you have five older brothers?”
    He nodded.
    “And none of them have children?”
    “Not yet, much to my mother’s dismay. She wants a granddaughter.”
    “Well, after five boys, who wouldn’t?”
    “That’s what she says.”
    She led him down the wide hallway that ran from one end of the house to the other. “The house is big – there’s a distinct possibility that I’ve been a little too ambitious when it comes to first home ownership.”
    “Why this particular house?”
    “Because underneath the years of neglect, there’s beauty here. The main rooms get good sun. The garden’s big. I can walk to town and the school is close by. And,” in service to honesty, “I couldn’t afford better. I can barely afford this.”
    She should have known that a tumbledown old house on the edge of the right side of town would be a money pit. She should have had more patience, saved a little more money, and not put every last cent she had towards buying it. Instead, she’d seen the place and fallen in love.
    This old house was what dreams were made of.
    “Right now, it’s dingy, but the bones are good,” she assured him.
    “You like betting on dark horses?”
    Not really. She thought she’d grown out of it. “I should probably warn you about the kitchen. I can’t defend it. Can’t defend the bathroom either. My rose colored glasses fail me and I may as well say it plain – I don’t have the money to do anything with those rooms. Not yet.”
    “Nothing wrong with a long goal,” he murmured. “Shows focus.”
    “That I have.”
    “Ella Grace said something about a swaying porch.”
    “Yes, but same thing again. You’d have to be a magician to fix it without going over my budget. However.” She walked him down the long central hallway that went from one end of the house to the other and opened the door to the front room – to the job she had in mind for him this week. “This is the living room.”
    He wrinkled his nose.
    “Exactly. And that smell is coming from the carpet and I have tried everything to make it disappear. I stand defeated. I want the carpet ripped out and I want the floorboards beneath sanded back until this room smells like a forest. Can you do