Read Online Flirting with Disaster by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online Page B

yourself?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you hire somebody?” Josh asked.
    â€œBecause that’s what everybody expected me to do. I don’t like doing what people expect. I never have. I wanted to prove I could build my business from the ground up, almost literally.”
    â€œHow bad was this building?”
    â€œLet’s just say that a lot of people laughed themselves silly when I said I’d bought it. My father almost had a stroke when he saw it, and he’s not prone to overreacting.”
    â€œHow old was it?” he asked.
    â€œIt had been around since the mid-1800s. The outside was in good shape, but the inside had deteriorated.”
    A building that old would definitely have been a challenge, Josh thought. A lot of people would have leveled it and started over. He was impressed that Maggie hadn’t done that. “Did you have Cord take a look at it?” Josh asked curiously.
    â€œHe was the first one I called before I signed the papers. He said the building had good bones.”
    Josh still wasn’t entirely convinced that she hadn’t exaggerated the transformation. “Mind if I come by to take a look?”
    â€œDid you ask everyone else who volunteered to work on this house to prove their credentials?” she demanded.
    Josh waved off the question. “It’s not about that. I’m curious. I’d really like to see it. My expertise is in historic renovation, just like Cord. What can I say? I love old buildings.” If he’d had to explain it, he’d have to say it had some deep-rooted connection to the lack of permanency in his own life, but he didn’t know Maggie well enough to get into all that with her.
    She studied him for a long time before nodding. “We can go by there now.”
    Josh glanced down at himself. “Like this? I’m a mess. So are you, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
    â€œIt’s hot as blazes out here. Anyone who’s been outside today is a mess. Besides, the gallery closes at six. We’ll have the place to ourselves.”
    Once again, she’d caught him off guard. He’d figured her for a woman who’d want people to take off their dusty shoes on the front steps. Then, again, she could hardly ask such a thing of customers. Maybe running a retail business had forced her to lower her high standards.
    â€œThen let’s go have ourselves a tour,” he suggested, eager to get a look at the place. “You tell me where and I’ll meet you there.”
    Maggie gave him the address, which turned out to be not that far from his motel, though he suspected it was light-years away in terms of class.
    â€œDoes a half hour work for you or do you have things to finish up here?” she asked.
    â€œA half-hour suits me fine if you’re sure you don’t mind me coming like this. Otherwise I can swing by my place and shower and be there in forty-five minutes.”
    She grinned at him. “As long as you don’t sit on the antique furniture and keep your hands off the paintings, you’ll be fine. And before you get all offended, I say the same thing to anyone who comes into the gallery. The ice-cream cones from the shop next door stay outside.”
    â€œI know how to mind my manners in a fancy place, Miss Maggie.”
    Maggie didn’t look as if she believed him, but she merely nodded and headed for her car. Josh’s gaze followed her as she settled behind the wheel of a snazzy little Saab convertible—which cost just about half of his annual salary. It suited her, though.
    Maggie Forsythe might want him to believe she was as down-to-earth as anyone else, but he recognized privilege in every delectable, pampered inch of her. That meant they were about as suited as corn bread and champagne.
    That didn’t seem to stop him from wanting her, though. He wondered just how long it would be before he made the mother of all mistakes and did