Read Online Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) by Summer Newman - Free Book Online Page A

looked at the street just as she looked at him, then their eyes met. Jenny quickly turned away and Devon apparently thought he must have misinterpreted the look of distress.
    He casually went back to work.
    A moment later Jenny emerged from her room. Devon looked up at her for an instant, saw that she looked perfectly composed, then went back to measuring and cutting. Ignoring him, Jenny walked toward the office and met three young men as they rounded the corner. Devon watched Jenny greet them with a beaming smile, and each of the young men was instantly charmed. She spoke to them for a few minutes and then walked up to Devon.
    “Nice day,” she said.
    “I own this hotel,” he stated. “Let’s make sure we keep that straight.”
    She glared. “Don’t start!” she snapped lowly, though she looked back at the young men with a smile.
    They smiled back.
    “What do you want them to do?” Jenny asked him, her lips set firmly in an angry scowl. “Where are the ladders? Where is the paint?”
    “Oh, I thought you might have taken care of it.”
    “Where are the materials?” she asked sharply and with a humorless expression
    He looked at the boys. “The hotel needs to be scraped first,” he noted. “Everything you need is in the shed.”
    “Everything you need is in the shed,” Jenny repeated, but much more warmly. She floated like a butterfly across the yard. “Mr. North is very pleased you’re on time, Danny. Thank you.”
    They all smiled and grinned sheepishly at her, still taken by her elegance and femininity. Danny led them to the shed where they found scrapers, ladders, and paint. Apparently experienced, Danny told the others exactly what to do, and the young men set about their task with seriousness and determination.
    “When they finish, the hotel is going to look fantastic,” Jenny said. “A few hanging flowers out front would really set the place off. Do I have your permission to buy three or four?”
    “You need permission?”
    “I’d like it, yes. For twenty or thirty dollars you make a huge investment in the presentation of this hotel. All right? Can I buy the flowers and be reimbursed by Miriam out of the hotel account?”
    He hesitated.
    “Well?” she asked flatly.
    “Make sure you have the receipt,” he replied coolly.
    Jenny rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir,” she said sarcastically, saluting him as if he was a general.
    “I’ll call Mr. Weatherby at the hardware store,” Devon said, a tone of suspicion in his voice. “I have an account there and I’ll tell him you’re coming by. Thirty dollars—max. Agreed?”
    “Agreed,” she said flatly and with a smirk.
    Devon looked back at the young men. “I know they’re good at smashing things and committing acts of vandalism, but I don’t know if your employees are any good at painting.”
    “They won’t be good,” she said with confidence, “they’ll be great.”
    “Really?” Devon said flatly.
    He was surprised by her cocksure attitude, but for some reason he rather liked it. Jenny said no more and walked around the side of the building, joining Miriam on the veranda for breakfast. She hoped Devon would soon root himself in another section of the hotel where their paths would not cross. Unfortunately, that did not transpire. No sooner had she sat down than Devon rounded a corner with a wheelbarrow full of rotten wood. He warmly greeted Miriam but ignored Jenny as if she didn’t exist.
    She scowled at him in a nasty kind of way, completely without reservation. He shrugged it off and continued working. It suddenly struck Jenny that though they had a poor relationship, if you could call it a relationship at all, she was not afraid of him like she was afraid of Ivan. On the contrary, she knew she could stand up to him, battle him even, and he would not hurt her. She knew that beyond all doubt. In a strange kind of way, that made scowling at him a very pleasurable experience. She could have tension with a man, including strong