A Family Affair: Spring: Truth in Lies, Book 2 Read Online Free

she mean by that comment? Was she talking about herself and this business, or was she referring to her personal situation? If it were the first, it required his attention. If it were the second, he’d jump into a freezing lake before he’d touch that one. “Is everything okay here? Jimmy working out in the kitchen? Produce and meat deliveries on time? New menus look good?”
    “Of course.” She nodded and the blonde bun flopped on top of her head. He’d always had a fondness for that bun, had wondered many times what it would look like unraveled and wrapped around his hand. “I miss you, Harry.”
    Shit. “Don’t start with that.”
    “I know what you said.” She bit her bottom lip, probably to keep from crying, and nodded again. “It’s just that I see what’s inside you, even when you try so hard to keep it hidden.” Those damn blue eyes turned bluer, brighter. “The real Harry Blacksworth has a heart as big as this room.” She pointed toward the kitchen, then the dining area of Harry’s Folly. “Who else would give a young man with bad job references a second chance and make sure he had a ride to work every day?”
    Harry shifted in his chair and shrugged. “Rocco makes the best linguine and clams with white sauce in the city. It was a self-serving move.”
    Her voice softened. “And Leo? I heard you’re paying for him to take night classes at the community college. And you said if he did well, you’d hire him on as an intern.” Her voice dipped lower. “Is that self-serving?”
    It was getting damn hot in here. Hadn’t he told Greta not to worry about saving on the utilities? Couldn’t she follow a simple direction and listen to him, even once? He threw her a cold stare and said, “Cheap labor.”
    “Ah. And Diana? The singer you brought in when we have no need for one? And you bought her a piano and pay her a daily rate whether she sings or not? Is that cheap labor?”
    He’d had enough. “Why is it I can’t come in here and have a simple bowl of pasta without you battering me about my hidden qualities? You think I’m a friggin’ god, but I’m not. I’m a selfish, manipulative bastard and the sooner you realize that, the better.”
    The damn woman actually had the audacity to laugh. In his face. Not just a giggle, but a full out, teeth-showing laugh. “Of course you are. You are so big and mean and cruel that little children run and hide when they hear your name.” She laughed again. “One day you’ll stop being afraid, Harry Blacksworth. And when that happens, I’ll be here.”
    He glared at her, for what good it did. “I’m not afraid of anything but starving.”
    She smiled. “I’ll tell Jimmy to get going on the penne.”
    “Light on the garbanzos, heavy on the spinach.”
    Giant sigh. “I know.”
    Damn right she did. Harry shifted in his chair, grinned. “And let’s take a look at the new menus.”
    “Yes, boss.”
    Boss . He liked that. Liked it even better when she slipped back into Greta Servensen, manager of Harry’s Folly, instead of Greta Servensen, temptress extraordinaire. “All right. Hurry up, woman. I have a busy afternoon.” She saluted him, which made him laugh. Greta was good for his soul, what was left of it.
    “Harry!”
    His smile slipped. He’d recognize that voice anywhere, even attached to a body with clothes. “Your secretary said I could find you here.” His brain shut down, strangled by that voice that inferred carnal familiarity. He kept his eyes on Greta who had turned stone-faced still as the woman attached to the voice slid into the seat across from him with her jasmine perfume and suffocated the last few bits of logic that might help him out of this mess.
    “Bridgett ! What a surprise!” A disaster was more like it . He forced himself to look at her. Tall, leggy, killer tongue. “What are you doing here?”
    She flashed him a smile and reached across the table to clasp his hands. French manicure. Diamonds. Bronzed skin glistening