Read Online Wedding His Takeover Target by Emilie Rose - Free Book Online

passes.”
    â€œNo, ma’am,” Pops snapped. “You’re the one all fired up to get through this list. Best to start now and have spare time at the end than to be pushed to work ’round the clock before our guests arrive.”
    True, but that didn’t make it any easier to work with her new handyman.
    â€œI can go with you,” Pops offered grudgingly, “if you’re afraid the job’s too big for you.”
    Her spine snapped with indignation. She was practically running the inn single-handedly now. “Do you really believe I can’t handle the shopping?”
    â€œI don’t know, girlie. The maintenance on this place is a daunting job.”
    She didn’t like the sound of that. “It’s a job I love and do willingly. I lack a few skills, but I’m learning every day.”
    Gavin rose and crossed the kitchen, invading her space andmaking her move out of the way. He casually refilled his mug as if he weren’t a guest. Pushy bastard. “I borrowed a pickup truck from The Ridge, but it’s a single cab. The bench seat will hold the three of us, but it’ll be a tight squeeze.”
    And she’d be sandwiched between the man she loved the most in the world and the one she wanted to avoid at all costs. One who’d stirred up all kinds of dormant feelings she’d prefer to leave sleeping. No more passion for her. No passion meant no pain. She liked it that way.
    She tipped her head back to glare at Gavin. “I can do the shopping. In fact, I don’t need your help.”
    â€œYour van isn’t going to carry twelve-foot timber, and I can’t loan you the truck because of liability issues.”
    She clenched her teeth in frustration. Did he have to be logical? “I’ll have the order delivered.”
    â€œYou’d lose several days’ work time waiting for the materials.”
    He had an answer for everything, she fumed silently, and it didn’t help that he was right. “Fine. I’ll ride with you. Pops can stay here.”
    Instead of returning to the table, Gavin leaned a hip on the counter right beside her. She scalded her tongue on her first, hasty sip of coffee.
    â€œDid you know our grandfathers were friends?” Gavin asked.
    â€œBest friends,” Pops added. “’Til your grandpappy stiffed me with a bum mine. He claimed he’d found silver chunks the size of a goat’s head in there, but that was bull.”
    â€œI’ve never found anything that large,” Gavin confirmed, “but I still do a little digging and look for a vein each time I come home.”
    The comment instantly carried her back to the seclusion and intimacy she’d discovered in the mine—not a mentaljourney she wanted to revisit. She pivoted away. “What would you like for breakfast today, Pops?”
    â€œY’might want to ask our guest that since you’re gonna put him to work.”
    She bit the inside of her lip. Gavin wasn’t a guest. He was a temporary employee and a pain in her backside. “Gavin?”
    â€œHenry’s been bragging about your blueberry pancakes. Might as well see if he’s all talk.”
    â€œAnd bacon,” Pops added without a trace of guilt. “Crisp.”
    She glanced from man to man. They’d been discussing her? Why? Surely her grandfather wasn’t matchmaking? He knew better. And he knew what kind of man she preferred—one like Russell. Generous, smart, loyal and fearless, as an army medic her husband had been willing to put his life on the line and even die for any member of his unit—a point he’d proven by throwing himself on a grenade to save his team.
    Egotistical jerks who swaggered around being excessively bossy and sneaky did nothing for her.
    She narrowed her eyes on Gavin. He gave her a half smile. “If you don’t have the ingredients, I could always take you to breakfast at Jarrod