Read Online The Second Chance Café (Hope Springs, #1) by Alison Kent - Free Book Online Page B

a Memorial Day opening, he thought he’d run by her place and give her a status update. Yeah, he could do the same thing with a phone call, but he wanted to see her even more than he needed to talk to her, and since he was already out…
    It had been a long time since he’d found a woman intriguing. Granted, he didn’t get out much these days, so he saw mostly women he knew. Wives of other men. Female friends. When he needed more than conversation, he had a favorite bar outside of Austin and a waitress there who knew what he liked.
    Kaylie Flynn intrigued him in ways few women did. He couldn’t figure her out, and that made him want to try thatmuch harder. It also frustrated him because whether he figured her out or not didn’t matter. She was a customer and, for now, off-limits. He knew better than to mix business with pleasure. He couldn’t risk losing a job and failing the men he employed. Dakota had found his own way, but these men…Ten had been charged with their futures, with providing them stability as they returned to society. That responsibility outweighed any desire he might have for a woman’s—for Kaylie’s—company.
    At the ring of his phone through his truck’s cab, he activated the hands-free button on his steering wheel and said simply, “Keller.”
    “Ten. It’s Manny. Thought I’d check in with you on the Bowman kid.”
    Will Bowman was hardly a kid. “It hasn’t even been a week. You expecting that much trouble out of him that you can’t even give me a week?”
    Manny snorted. “Someone take a piss in your oatmeal this morning?”
    Ten huffed. “Just dealing with a new client who I’m pretty sure is gonna cause me a lot of grief.” No need to expound on the type of grief, or that it was his response to said client at fault. Kaylie couldn’t be blamed for making him want her.
    There. He’d admitted it. He was attracted to her and off his game because of it.
    “That might not be the best environment for Bowman. Tension like that.” Manny paused, and Ten could hear computer keys clicking in the background. “Maybe you’ve got another job he could work? Though I’m only assuming you’ve got him on this one due to timing and all. Set my mind at ease, Keller, would you?”
    What was going on here? “You’re kidding me, right? I can’t remember you ever sending me someone as laid-back as Will.”
    Manny laughed. “Don’t let the boy fool you. And don’t let him take up with anyone he might meet on the job.”
    Now the other man was out of line. Working for Keller Construction wasn’t an anonymous program with steps best taken alone. If Will wanted to date, that was on him. “I’m not his daddy. Or a therapist. Or a nanny. His personal time’s his business. And if it’s not, that’s between the two of you.”
    For a long moment Manny went silent; then he cleared his throat and said, “Maybe we should have this conversation tomorrow. Over a plate of breakfast tacos at Malina’s.”
    “We can,” Ten said, pulling to a stop behind Kaylie’s Jeep in her driveway, shifting into park and watching her toss a ball across the yard for Magoo. “Eight good for you?”
    “Make it seven. I’ve got an appointment in Austin at nine thirty.”
    “Seven it is. See you then.” Ten disconnected the call, shut off his truck, and climbed from the cab as Kaylie walked toward him. He’d been wrong about her hair. Unless it was the shade from the yard’s trees turning it more red than blonde. She wore her boots and her jeans, but today’s top was thigh-length and sleeveless. A cool white number that made him think of summer, and the flowers he’d smelled that first day on her skin.
    “Checking up on us again?” she asked as she reached him, then leaned down to pick up the ball Magoo had dropped at her feet. She scratched his head, said, “Good dog,” and threw it.
    Ten watched it sail across the yard, watched the dog race after it. “That’s some kind of arm you’ve got