Undone (A Country Roads Novel) Read Online Free Page A

her gaze on him as if she wanted to say something.
    “What?”
    “Why does buck urine attract males and females?”
    Brendan couldn’t help but smile.
    “Bucks like to fight each other,” he said, looking at her.
    “Oh.” She nodded and leaned back in her seat staring out the front window.
    “You thirsty?” Brendan asked as he grabbed one of the waters in the cup holder and held it out to her.
    “Yes, thank you,” she said, grabbing it and downing half of the bottle.
    “Who were the other interviews with?” Brendan asked, grabbing the other bottle for himself. He twisted the cap off and threw it into the cup holder.
    “Landingham Printing and Design. Mrs. Landingham said I wouldn’t be a good fit. Which is completely false because the program they use is one that I’ve used before.”
    Now he couldn’t help but laugh.
    “Uh, Paige, I can tell you right now why you didn’t get that job. Mrs. Landingham didn’t want you around Mr. Landingham.”
    “What?” she said, sitting up in her seat again. “What did she think I was going to do, steal her husband? I don’t make plays on married men. Or men in their forties for that matter.”
    “Did you wear something like what you’re wearing now to the interview?” he asked, looking at her and taking another eyeful of those long legs.
    “I wore a black blazer with this. It’s just so hot outside that I took it off.”
    “Maybe you should try wearing pants next time, and flats,” he said before he took a sip of water.
    “What’s wrong with this dress?” she asked, looking down at herself. “It isn’t that short.”
    “Sweetheart, with those legs, anything looks short.”
    “Don’t call me sweetheart. And it isn’t my fault I’m tall.”
    “No, it isn’t, but people think the way they think.”
    “So southern hospitality only goes so far when people think you’re a whore.”
    “Hey, I didn’t say that. I was just saying that your legs are long without those shoes that you’re currently wearing. With them, you’re pretty damn intimidating.”
    “Let’s stop talking about my legs.”
    “Fine.” He shrugged, looking back to the road. “But it is a rather visually stimulating conversation.”
    “Oh no. You are not allowed to flirt with me.”
    “Why not?”
    “You were mean to me. I do not flirt with mean men.”
    “I can be nice,” he said, turning to her and giving her a big smile.
    “Stop it,” she said, raising her eyebrows above her glasses in warning. “I mean it.”
    “So what about some of the other interviews? Who were they with?”
    “Lindy’s Frame Shop, that art gallery over on the beach—”
    “Avenue Ocean?”
    “Yeah, that one. And I also went to Picture Perfect. They all said I wasn’t a good fit for one reason or another,” she said dejected.
    “Look, I’m really not one to get involved in town gossip. I’ve been on the receiving end my fair share of times and it isn’t fun. But this is a small town, and everybody knows one another’s business. Since you’re new, you have no idea. Cynthia Bowers at Picture Perfect would’ve never hired you. Her husband has monogamy issues. The owner of Avenue Ocean, Mindy Trist, doesn’t like anyone that’s competition.”
    “Competition?”
    Mindy Trist was a man-eater. Brendan knew this to be a fact because Mindy had been trying to get into his bed for years. He wasn’t even remotely interested.
    “You’re prettier than she is.”
    Understatement of the year.
    Paige was suddenly silent on her side of the truck.
    “And as for Hurst and Marlene Lindy,” Brendan continued, “they, uh, tend to be a little more conservative.”
    “Look,” she said, snapping out of her silence.
    Brendan couldn’t help himself, her sudden burst of vehemence made him look at her again. If he kept this up he was going to drive into a ditch.
    “I know I might appear to be some free-spirited hippie, but I’m really not. I’m moderate when it comes to politics,” she said,