Read Spirit [New Crescent 2] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) for Free Online Page B

She smiled. Wow, even better than what she’d had in mind for this room. She opened her notebook and jotted down her thoughts on the ideal colors and accessories. She chose some paint chips that might work and made note of the numbers. Larger samples would be painted and delivered so she could better determine what worked best in the space. The design work was going so well so far she didn’t want to make a mistake.
    When she was done, she moved through the other rooms on the main floor. There was still a lot of work to be done. As she walked, she greeted the workmen she recognized and introduced herself to those she didn’t. As for the library, she avoided it, but she could hear a number of male voices coming from that direction and knew that Chase was as good as his word. He’d arranged to have it cleaned out, and by the tone of the voices coming from that part of the house, it wasn’t a pleasant job.
    In the second-floor master bedroom, Reggie was delighted by the huge bed she found there. It, too, was perfect, maybe even better than perfect because she suspected it had been custom made. It was larger than any bed she’d ever seen and inspired all kinds of ideas for the room. With determination she pushed aside all carnal thoughts the bed had conjured.
    The sound of men yelling had Reggie rushing to one of the windows to see what had happened. A group of men stood over a prone young man. Chase was pushing aside a fallen ladder in order to get to his man. Discarded tree branches littered the ground. The poor man must have fallen off the ladder he’d been using. She opened the window and called out to Chase.
    “Is he all right?”
    Shielding his eyes from the sun, he squinted up at her. “Yeah, he says he’s just shaken up. I’m taking him to the hospital, just in case.” He helped the young man to his feet and called up at her. “Eight o’clock tonight. Don’t be late or I’ll start without you. Stay away from the library.” He didn’t wait for a response.
     
    As always, Chase had meant what he’d said. When she arrived at Bennett House at five after eight, she found him sitting on one of the new couches in the living room flipping through one of the many journals laid out beside him. It surprised her to note that he wore glasses.
    “I see you’ve made yourself at home, Poindexter.”
    Without looking up at her, he ignored her jibe. “I see you’ve finally made it, Crash.”
    It was a young Chase who’d given her the nickname when she’d run over the garbage cans at school. “Yeah, traffic was hell.” Her sarcasm finally made him look up at her. He made room for her at the other end of the couch and put a pile of journals between them. The books didn’t provide much of a barrier, but Reggie was glad they were there. The words sexy nerd came to mind. Wearing those glasses, Chase looked so appealing that she found it hard not to stare at him. He smelled good, too. Her intense reaction to him made her nervous and that in turn made her hungry. Chase looked up from the journal he was reading and smiled as she fidgeted. She stopped when their eyes met.
    “Gillian sent pie,” he said with a knowing smile.
    She didn’t bother to deny it or to ask him how he knew. She looked around the room and found no pie. She frowned.
    “It’s in the kitchen. I’m brewing coffee.”
    “I’ll bring you a cup.” She swept out of the room.
    In the kitchen, she cut a modest piece and ate it with her fingers. It was good. Trust Gillian to know just what she’d need. After licking her fingers, she poured two cups of coffee and walked back into the living room. She got down to work.
    After two hours, they’d found nothing of significance in the journals. Chase stood up and stretched with feeling. With his arms in the air, his t-shirt rode up and exposed his abdomen to her.
    Watching him, Reggie bit down on her cheek. Calvin Klein called. He wants his underwear model back. The jury was in, Chase McCann was