Read Online Her Summer with the Marine: A Donovan Brothers Novel (Entangled Bliss) by Susan Meier - Free Book Online Page B

quarters.
    She stowed her groceries in a cabinet, and realized it was high time she tossed the outdated food. As a bonus, that would keep her too busy to look out the window until Finn was gone.
    But her dad had let the coffers get pathetically low, so low it took only a half hour to empty the cupboards and wipe down the shelves.
    Still, that was plenty of time for Finn to get bored and leave. Standing by the side of the kitchen window, she pushed the curtain slightly to the left, not so far that she could be seen but enough that she could see, and damned if he wasn’t still there.
    What a pain in the ass.
    Though she had to admit he looked kind of cute in his oxford shirt, business pants, and those shiny black boots. Reading on a bench. One of the things about him that had always appealed to her was his intelligence.
    She paused. Was he reminding her that he was smart? Was that what this was? I wanted to kiss you. Now I’m showing you that I’m smart.
    Was he seducing her?
    The absurdity in that jump in logic made her laugh. And also caused her to speculate that he might be trying to make her so uncomfortable that she gave up, and sold him her funeral home.
    No way. She was not letting him drive her out.
    She tossed her rubber gloves into the sink, grabbed her house key, and marched across the street. She glanced around. Most of the kids had gone home. If Finn made a scene, he’d only embarrass her in front of two teenage girls who were babysitting small children, and one dog.
    Still, when she reached him he didn’t look up. She kicked his booted foot off his knee.
    There. Now he looked up.
    He gaped at her as if she’d knocked him out of a trance. “What?”
    “What yourself. What are you doing here staring at my front door?”
    He displayed the book. “I’m not staring at your front door—I’m reading. In case you haven’t noticed, neither one of us has a lot of work right now.”
    “Do you have to read across from my house?”
    “It’s the park. I’m on the bench that faces away from the kids and the noise.” He shook his head. “Geez, you’re suspicious.”
    “Oh, yeah? You don’t think I should be suspicious of the guy who stole Barbara Beth for his dumb ad?”
    “I didn’t steal her. She needed the money.”
    “Right, like I believe that. My mother was the town beautician. I know Barbara Beth does just fine.”
    He paused, frowned at her. “You think Barbara Beth is your beautician?”
    Seeing his serious eyes, her heart did a somersault. “What?”
    “What?”
    She sucked in a breath. “If Barbara Beth’s not my beautician…she’s…she’s…” She couldn’t be.
    “We went to the same school.”
    OMG. “At the same time?”
    “No. Because of my stint in the marines, she was ahead of me. The day we met on campus, we had coffee and she told me she was tired of working on unappreciative people’s hair.”
    Ellie collapsed against the back of the park bench. “Barbara Beth is my embalmer.”
    “Which means she also has to be the person running your company. Or at least be the face of your business.”
    “And you stole her!”
    “Nope. She just did that one ad with me. She’s still your embalmer.”
    “You think I can keep her after she worked for the competition?”
    “I don’t think you have a choice.”
    Her phone rang. She yanked it her jeans pocket and yelped, “McDermott’s!”
    “Is this Ellie McDermott?”
    Oh, Lord. A normal person. A fight with Finn had just made her yell at a normal person. “Yes. I’m sorry. This is Ellie.”
    “Ellie, this is Mary Sue Berkey.” There was a pause for a sniffle. “My granddad passed away.”
    Shock numbed her body, rendered her speechless with giddy joy. Was she getting some business?
    “My family’s not sure what to do.”
    She spared a glance at Finn, really wishing she could snicker, then had to work to compose herself. Her good fortune was Mary Sue’s sorrow—even if Old Bob Berkey was past a hundred.
    “I’m so