Read Online Love Rising: Spring (Mandrake Falls Series Romance Book 4) by Catherine Lloyd - Free Book Online

and moved to shake his hand. “Thanks Ryan.
Thanks. I never thought about her needing me to back her up. She’s not as tough
as people think she is. I’m glad she’s got you in her corner.”
    The young man left the office and Ryan was left alone with
his conscience.
    There followed a mammoth struggle in which Ryan McIntyre
tried to do as his conscience instructed and wait the week out as he promised
Jeremy. But even the terror of where this could all lead wasn’t enough to drive
the desire to see Paula Dunlop out of his mind.
    The Beauty Box wasn’t listed online. He had to look the
number up in the local telephone book. Darlene had enough customers to keep her
in business for the next five years. She wasn’t looking for more. Ryan picked
up the phone and pressed the numbers.
    “Hi, it’s Ryan McIntyre,” he told the female who answered. “Would
Paula Dunlop be available to come to the phone?”
    His heart was pounding. His palms were sweating. He tugged
on his necktie and took a slow deep breath to calm down.
    “Hello?”
    “I need to see you. I think I’m—”
    “Yes. Me too.”

Chapter 6: In This Together

 
    JEREMY KNOCKED on the front door of the little house.
Jocelyn rented a small, rundown house on the edge of town. It was one of those
forgotten houses in the poorer neighborhoods, usually occupied by students.
Tenants rotated in and out of the neighborhood on a bi-monthly basis. Jocelyn’s
landlord had obviously stopped trying to keep up with repairs. The front porch was
sagging and the clapboard needed painting. There was a garden in the front yard
behind a white picket fence. Crocuses had pushed up through the melting,
granular snow.
    Jocelyn answered the door, red-eyed and tear-stained. Her
blonde hair hung straight and long, screening her face.
    “I just tried to call Ryan and his secretary blew me off.
She said he was on the other line which means he’s not taking my calls. I said
don’t talk to him and you went anyway! Don’t deny it—his secretary told me you
just left there. She thinks you and me are engaged! She thought I was calling
to speak to you and when I asked for Ryan, she blew me off, obviously acting on
instructions from her boss. Ryan hates me now. I saiddon’t talk to him!”
    “Ryan likes you; he said he wants to see you again. He was
cool about the whole thing. He said we should wait until the Gazette prints the retraction and then
we’ll go back to our regular lives.”
    She wiped her eyes. “What does that mean?”
    “It means he’ll call next week after everyone has read the
retraction and knows you had nothing to do with it.”
    “He’s dumping me.”
    Jeremy shook his head firmly. “No. Where do you get that? I
said he’s going to call you next week!”
    “After the gossip dies down. After a retraction appears in the paper. I’ve been through
this enough times to know the language. He’s being polite but he’s dumping me.”
    “You’re wrong.”
    “Oh really?” She crossed her arms
over her chest. “Let me ask you this—if this was you, would you need a week for
a correction to run first before you could see me again?”
    Jeremy shook his head. If he had the chance with Jocelyn
that Ryan had, he wouldn’t need a week. He wouldn’t need five minutes. But he
was in love with Jocelyn and Jocelyn was in love with Ryan. The twist was now
he had to protect the man she loved so she would be happy. Love was a merciless
taskmaster.
    “Give him a chance,” Jeremy mumbled. “Don’t take this
decision to mean anything. You can wait a week.”
    Jocelyn turned away and he followed her over the threshold.
Jeremy stepped into a house that smelled of winter trapped inside. Ventilation
was poor and there were too many houseplants. Humidity clung to the walls and
dripped down the panes of glass. It was a homey living room though. Crowded
with plants and mismatched furniture. He stood in the middle of the small room,
awkward and yet at home because she was here.