Read The Other Side of Us (Harlequin Superromance) for Free Online

congratulating herself on getting her fence repaired for free. Certainly
she hadn’t seemed in a hurry to do anything about it when they’d spoken, and she
hadn’t rushed out to offer her assistance yesterday, either.
    Belatedly he recalled her scar and the labored way she’d gotten
to her feet. Maybe she wasn’t in a position to offer her assistance, physically
speaking. He immediately dismissed the notion as he remembered the lean strength
of her body and the fact that she’d clearly finished a workout when he’d first
knocked yesterday.
    She probably simply considered manual work beneath her, in the
same way that common courtesy seemed to be beyond her.
    Aware that he’d let himself get bent out of shape over her once
again, he concentrated on his search. By the time he’d completed a tour of the
small store, he still hadn’t located the nails and he gave in and approached the
elderly man behind the counter.
    “If you’re looking for sandbags, we’re all out, sorry,” the
salesclerk said before Oliver could open his mouth.
    “I guess it’s just as well I’m looking for nails, then,” Oliver
said, more than a little bemused by the man’s opening gambit.
    “What sort?”
    “I’m repairing a fence.”
    “You’ll want bullet heads, then.”
    Oliver followed the man to the far corner of the store and
selected a carton of nails.
    “Had a run on sandbags today, have you?” he asked as they
returned to the counter, more to make conversation than out of real
curiosity.
    “People having conniptions over the weather report. Bloody
drama queens, those people in at the weather bureau. Storm will probably pass
out over the water and not even touch us. Same as usual.” The clerk shook his
head, clearly unimpressed with modern science.
    “Is there a storm warning?” Oliver glanced out the window. Sure
enough, the sky had grown even more forbidding since he’d left the house.
    “So they say. Probably worth clearing out your gutters and
downpipes, but I wouldn’t go blowing up your water wings just yet.” The old man
laughed at his own joke.
    “Thanks for the tip.”
    Oliver switched on the radio when he got to the car and scanned
through the frequencies until he found a weather report. Sure enough, they were
predicting heavy rain for the southern part of the Mornington Peninsula, with
warnings of flash flooding and high winds.
    Awesome. Was it just him, or was Flinders really rolling out
the welcome mat? A rude neighbor, a decrepit fence and now imminent flooding.
And it was only day two.
    Since the rain was holding off, he decided to finish the fence
repairs. Strudel kept him company, sniffing around his feet and generally
getting in the way. Twice he had to push her aside when he was nailing a board
in place. He was about to put her in the house to save both her and his sanity
when she trotted off into the garden.
    “Smartest thing you’ve done all day,” he muttered.
    It wasn’t until he’d finished repairing the second-last hole
that it occurred to him to wonder where she’d gone. He tucked his hammer into
his tool belt and went looking. He spotted her the moment he rounded the shed.
More accurately, he spotted them. As in plural. As
in, two dogs, one silhouette.
    “Hey!” he yelled, outraged.
    He’d let Strudel out of his sight for five minutes and Doggy
Juan from next door had taken advantage. Unbelievable.
    Neither Strudel nor Mr. Smith paid him any attention, the two
of them being very occupied with being humped and humping, respectively. Oliver
searched for the garden hose. It took him half a minute to find it, and by the
time he’d dragged it across the lawn Mr. Smith had finished and was simply
standing beside Strudel, panting and looking pretty bloody pleased with
himself.
    “Don’t grin at me, mate. You’re in big trouble.”
    “Mr. Smith? Smitty? Here, boy. Mama’s got a bone for you.”
    Mackenzie’s voice floated over from her yard. Oliver scooped up
her miscreant dog and