Read Online Her Backup Boyfriend (Entangled Bliss) (Sorensen Family) by Ashlee Mallory - Free Book Online Page B

after pointing out they might find more things than they anticipated and his truck could hold more than her sedan.
    She slid into the cab of his truck, already feeling its familiarity from last Saturday. It even had his scent. Clean. Masculine. There was an empty bag of chips on the seat and a Big Gulp cup. It was completely unlike Michael’s, which had only had the faint aroma of his Polo cologne and was immaculate to the point of obsession. As weird as it might be, she found Dominic’s truck—gas-guzzling monster and all—preferable.
    He slipped the keys into the ignition and she laughed when she heard bluegrass playing over the radio.
    Okay, so that was a little unexpected. Kind of like him.
    …
    A couple hours later, Dominic and Kate stood with their mouths full of pizza, staring at several long swaths of paint crisscrossing the wall. He was careful not to get too close to her since he’d been struggling all evening to keep his hands in his pockets instead of wrapped up in her hair or settled on those lush hips.
    This was going to be harder than he’d thought.
    “So far I think I like the third one best.” She took a sip of wine. “The first one, under the lights, appears more lime green than buttery.”
    He nodded. “Fortunately you have some time to make the final decision. It’s probably going to take me a good week to gut the bathroom and get the new walls and tile in place, maybe longer since I’ll be taking a weekend off for that retreat of yours. Then comes the paint. I’ll do the kitchen last, which should time well with the arrival of those cabinets we ordered. By then you may have changed your mind several times.”
    “Sounds good.” She turned back to the island to top off her wineglass. “And now that the shoptalk is out of the way, I think it’s a good time to discuss our other little arrangement.”
    “Is it safe to say you haven’t changed your mind since you called me Saturday?” he asked. Something he probably should have double-checked before he’d mentioned it at Sunday evening dinner with his family. His mother had practically wept at hearing he was seeing someone again, which had given him a twist of guilt. But any joy, no matter how short-lived, would make it worth it. And keep his family off his freaking back.
    “I’m 100 percent on board. I can almost see my new letterhead now. Kate Matthews. Junior partner. ”
    “So tell me about this retreat. What do I need to know?”
    “It’s at one of the lodges in Park City. Friday to Sunday morning. Fortunately, other than a cocktail hour the first night and a dinner on Saturday evening, we’ll be left to our own devices. As long as we make brief appearances, we should be okay. Now, the firm booked a block of suites for the event, which I doubt has any available rooms left at this late stage. And I think it would be risky for us to stay in separate rooms and keep this up. So you’re going to need to stay with me.”
    “Okay. As long as you don’t try to violate my moral code.”
    “I think your virtue will be safe. You’ll be on the sleeper sofa. In the other room. Believe me, I’ve been there before—we’ll have plenty of space to keep ourselves out from under each other.”
    That gave him an image he wasn’t ready to let go of. Kate. Under him. Him under her. Probably not a good thing to be considering about now. He coughed. “Easy enough. Now, as to introducing you to Daisy, I think we need to ease into that. We have a big family dinner every Sunday at my parents’ that would be the best place to introduce you. I already mentioned I was seeing someone yesterday, so it wouldn’t be a surprise.” She nodded, but she seemed to be looking a little green. “You okay?”
    “Yeah. I’m just not really good at the whole meeting-the-family thing.”
    “You’ll be fine. They’ll be so overjoyed to see me even bringing someone home they’ll overlook anything. Taxidermist, psychic, serial killer…I promise they won’t