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

his gaze as if trying to ferret out the catch. “I should probably tell you, too, that I’m going over to Franklin’s Realty today to put the bar on the market, and I frankly hope the new air system will increase its value. But even if it doesn’t, I can’t stand the way everything from my hair to my underwear stinks to high heaven when I leave here. And I don’t like the idea of Lizzy smelling it on me. It seems hypocritical to try to teach her not to smoke herself, then come home every night smelling like the bottom of an ashtray.”
    Coop examined her statement from every conceivable angle, but couldn’t find fault with it. Which was not to say he trusted her any farther than he could lob her. He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Gonna take the money and run, sugarplum?”
    â€œNo, stud-biscuit, I’m going to take the money and stick it in a trust account for my niece. But you’ve got the second part right. The instant this place sells, I’m packing up Lizzy and making a break for it. And I’m not looking back until we hit the city limits. Not that that’ll take more than five minutes.”
    He wasn’t crazy about the idea of her uprootingLizzy, since his niece would simply have to turn right around and come back once Eddie was exonerated. But since he was hardly in a position to say so, he gave her a clipped nod. “Fair enough. So long as you don’t shirk your obligation to the Tonk in the mean-time.”
    â€œActually, that brings up another point.” She stood ramrod straight in front of him, her shoulders back and the elegant curve of her chin elevated. “It occurs to me that I never got around to setting up a work schedule with you last night. Now, I’m perfectly willing to have you dictate my days off, but don’t plan on me starting work any night before nine o’clock.”
    Christ Almighty. He’d had drill instructors who weren’t half the control freak this woman was, and gazing down at her determined little jaw and cool green eyes, he had the strongest urge to muss her up a little, if only to drive that bossy look from her face. She was so friggin’ tidy. Her glossy black hair was obviously the product of a pricey cut, for it fell sleekly into place without so much as a strand out of order. He got a quick image of the way it had been this morning, though—all rumpled from sleep and looking as if she’d just rolled out of bed after a hot bout of down-and-dirty sex.
    Well, give him twenty minutes and he could make her look like that for real.
    That straightened him up in a hurry. Damn, where had that come from? It was probably just one of those guy responses to a woman trying to dictate terms. If you can’t beat ’em, roll ’em around under the covers until they understand who’s boss.
    He didn’t need to establish his jurisdiction through sex, though, tempting as the notion might be. He wasthe manager of this joint, and that was all the authority he needed.
    â€œYou’re a regular little four-star general, aren’t you?” Reaching out, he pulled a tendril of her hair out of place and rearranged it against her cheek, his lips curving upward in amusement when she smacked his hand aside and impatiently brushed the strand back in place. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets in an attempt to ignore the way his fingertips seemed to retain the feel of that sleek, satiny texture, he fixed his best don’t-screw-with-me expression on his face. “But I make the schedule around here, sugar, not you. And if I need you at the Tonk before nine, you’ll damn well make yourself available.”
    â€œYou think so?” Facing off with him, she drew herself up. “Well, I’ve got news for you, Blackstock. You can beat your hairy chest until the dogs come home—”
    â€œCows,” Coop corrected. When Veronica gave him a blank look, he elucidated, “The