Read Love For Hire: The Helena's Grove Series Book 2 for Free Online Page B

quickly as she could without seeming weird she got into bed and pulled the covers over her.
    “Goodnight,” she said quietly.
    “Goodnight,” Marcus said. “Is the light bothering you? I just have a couple more chapters.”
    “No, it’s fine.”
    Annie pretended to be asleep when Marcus finally finished his book. He turned off the lamp and fluffed the pillows before settling in to sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his breath slow and she knew he was asleep. She finally relaxed and soon felt sleep begin to overtake her when suddenly, she heard a noise! Her eyes shot open as she listened. The sound came again, a little louder this time. Annie followed her ears to Marcus who lay sleeping beside her. She watched him in the moonlight as he breathed in and out. And then it happened again… a snore! As another one came Annie couldn’t help but smile. She watched him a few more seconds as he began to snore at a steady pace. She shook her head and lay back down, happy beyond measure that he was not as perfect as he seemed.

Chapter 6
     
    Christmas Day Annie awoke to see a fresh thick layer of snow on the ground outside her window. She turned over to find Marcus absent from the room. Thank goodness, she thought. I couldn’t pay him enough to have to see me first thing in the morning. She got up and made her way to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Her reflection looked back at her with slight smudges of eye liner around her large brown eyes and her medium length hair poking up at random places in the back. She shook her head and proceeded to make herself look presentable.
    Ten minutes later, she went downstairs to find Marcus having coffee with Aunt Gabby in the kitchen. They were laughing and talking like they’d known each other for years. As Annie watched the scene, she couldn’t decide if she liked the fact that he was making such an effort, or if it was going to make it all the harder when she ‘broke up’ with him.
    Just then, Marcus laughed at something and looked her way. “There she is!” he said cheerfully as he got up and walked to her. He kissed her cheek and lingered for a moment. “Good morning beautiful,” he said sweetly in her ear. “Would you like some coffee?” He walked to the cupboard and pulled out a mug.
    “Oh… yes please,” Annie said as she found a seat at the table. He certainly was a charmer.
    “Marcus was just telling me about how you guys met,” Aunt Gabby told her.
    Annie looked at her, then at Marcus who set a cup of coffee in front of her. “Marcus tells it better than I do, that’s for sure.”
    “I am the better story teller, it’s true.” Marcus shrugged.
    “What do we need to help you with Aunt Gabby?” Annie asked, changing the subject.
    “Well, we’ll have dinner at six o’ clock. I’m heading downtown around noon for a couple hours to help with the soup kitchen.” She turned to Annie. “You should take Marcus through town and show him around.”
    Annie opened her mouth to object just as the front door opened. “Knock knock, anyone home?” Zack’s voice rang through the house.
    “We’re in here,” Aunt Gabby called. She stood just as Zack, Jen and Roger entered the kitchen. There were hugs and introductions all around.
    Zack shook Marcus’ hand when Annie introduced them. “So,” Zack looked at him suspiciously, “you’re the boyfriend?”
    “I’m the boyfriend,” Marcus stated confidently.
    “What do you do for a living boyfriend?”
    “I’m finishing up my masters in mechanical engineering.”
    Zack feigned surprise, even though Annie had already told him as much. “That’s pretty fancy stuff. Have to be smart to be in that field, am I right?”
    “No smarter than you’d have to be to be a doctor,” Marcus hinted.
    “Yeah well, it’s the specialists that are the real brains. I’m just going into general medicine. But you guys that build buildings and space rockets and that kind of stuff, you have to be on your