Read Online Head Over Heels by Susan Andersen - Free Book Online Page A

had shown Lizzy pictures or talked about him, but it would also save her from having to deal with a relative who was virtually a stranger in the midst of all the other shit she had going on in her life.
    It seemed naive in retrospect, but he’d actually thought staying detached would be a piece of cake, even when Veronica had finally shown up and he’d discovered they’d be living in the same house. He hadn’t factored in the enticement of Lizzy, though. There was just something about her that drew him every bit as strongly as Eddie ever had.
    Voices from the back room snapped him out of his reverie, and he pushed away from the door. A moment later Veronica and her repairman walked into the bar, and ignoring the voice that snidely suggested Aunt Ronnie had some enticements of her own, Coop squared his shoulders and sauntered over to meet her.

5
    V ERONICA WATCHED C OOP WALK ACROSS THE BAR AS if he owned the joint and felt her back stiffen. “What are you doing here?”
    â€œI stopped by to see if you needed help with anything.” A pleasant smile curved his lips, but the dark eyes inspecting Kody, the installer from Cascade Air, showed a vigilant sort of curiosity.
    Her instinctive reaction was to decline his offer in no uncertain terms, and, in truth, there wasn’t anything he could do. She bit back the urge to snap out a knee-jerk no, however. As long as he was the Tonk’s manager, she didn’t have to be, and as holder of that position, he had a right to know what she planned to do with the bar. So, with a sigh, she excused herself to Kody and, grasping Coop’s forearm, led him out of earshot.
    She immediately regretted touching him. The layer of velvet-soft pinwale corduroy that kept their flesh from touching didn’t do a thing to prevent his body heat from radiating through the plaid fabric, and she was highly aware of the corded strength of his arm beneath her hand.
    She was highly aware of him, period. Too aware. That had been the problem with this guy from the beginning. And she didn’t understand it. She’d never gone for the sulky-mouthed, hard-bodied type—her usual kind of man was cultured and favored Brooks Brothers suits with complementing power ties. Coop probably thought culture was pouring a beer into a stein instead of glugging it straight from the can.
    The snideness of that thought produced a twinge of shame. Not only was it amazingly snobbish for someone who’d grown up in a bar, she also had a flash of the New York Times on the kitchen table this morning.
    Then she shrugged the feeling aside. So, big deal; he read newspapers—and more widely than she did, she’d concede. It didn’t make him any more likely to pass up a sporting event for a stroll through a museum. And it was the museumgoers, not the jock types, who had always been the kind of man to rev her motor.
    She was still grateful when they reached the bar and she could drop her hand without appearing too anxious. “Okay, here’s the deal,” she said. “I can’t stand the smoke in this place, and I’m having an air purification system put in to suck it out of the air.”
    â€œAnd you didn’t think that, as manager, I might be interested in knowing this?” His tone was neutral, and his expression gave nothing away. But his body language as he loomed over her with his arms folded across his chest said, Explain yourself, missy . “You haven’t even gone over the books yet. What makes you assume the bar can afford it?”
    She felt her temper rise, but slapped a lid on it. “You’re absolutely correct,” she said with hard-won mildness. “I should have told you what I planned to do this morning, and I apologize for my failure to do so. But I’m telling you now. And if the bar can’t afford it, then I guess I’ll just have to pay for it myself.” She almost smiled when he blinked warily, then narrowed