Read Online Mr. Unforgettable by Karina Bliss - Free Book Online Page B

uncomplicated he might reconsider acting on their attraction.
    He looked at her text message again. The cavalry? What the hell did that mean?
    Shoving the cell phone back in his tool belt, he positioned the new bunk and hauled over another assembly kit, trying not to think about the twenty-five bunks still boxed in the other dorm.
    Rosie stuck her head around the door. “I picked up the extra brushes…any more recruits arrive?”
    â€œDelores Jackson.” He knew she was there to snoop, but he’d decided beggars couldn’t be choosers. She was supposed to be cleaning windows, but last time he’d checked he’d found her inspecting one of the storerooms. Unrepentant, she’d commented, “Four-ply toilet paper—no wonder you’re over budget.”
    He’d probably kill her before the day was over.
    â€œAnd unfortunately,” he added, “we also lost another couple of staff to the bad steak pie.” Thank God he hadn’t been here for lunch or he’d be sick as well. Now it was all down to him and the vegetarians.
    Rosie’s face fell. “Rats, that cancels out the two I recruited in town.”
    One step forward, three steps back . Luke feigned cheerfulness. “More will show up.”
    Her expression told him she didn’t buy the Little Miss Sunshine act, either. “I’d better get back to painting.” At the door, she paused. “Do you know Mayor Light very well?”
    As well as she wants me to . Luke laid out the frame of another bunk. “Yeah, she’s one of us.” I think .
    He meant a camp supporter but realized they were talking at cross-purposes when Rosie frowned. “That’s surprising. I got the impression she’d been keeping her past a secret.”
    Intrigued, Luke put down the pieces of wood. “You know her?”
    â€œYeah. She almost talked me out of it but Beth always had this gesture when she was nervous and trying not to show it—”
    â€œBeth?”
    â€œElizabeth. We called her Beth.”
    Beth…Elizabeth…Liz. “Go on.”
    â€œShe grips one hand at the wrist with the other. Like this.” Rose showed him and Luke recognized the gesture. Liz had used it a lot since she’d realized she was attracted to him. “What do you mean, ‘she nearly talked you out of it’?”
    â€œShe pretended she didn’t know me.”
    â€œOkay, now I’m really confused. How do you know her?”
    Her brow wrinkled in puzzlement. “You said you knew she was one of us?”
    Understanding finally dawned. “You mean…”
    â€œYes. She and I were in a foster home together.”
    Councillor Bray stuck his head in the door. “Where do you want us?” As Luke stared at him, he added impatiently, “Come on, man, we haven’t got all day.”
    Â 
    A T NINE the next evening, Liz sat in her car in Luke’s driveway, engine idling, and considered her options. There weren’t any.
    She had to learn to swim—Kirsty had snowballed the event into a major fund-raiser for schools. All the kids were getting sponsors and a local radio station was putting up ten dollars for every meter Liz swam. Reluctantly she turned off the ignition and got her kit from the trunk.
    But did Luke still want to teach her?
    Or was he another in a long line of people she’d disappointed by not showing up yesterday.
    That morning Snowy had beamed benevolently from the front page of the Chronicle , his white hair haloed by the sun streaming in the window behind him as he made the camp beds. Snowy and the Seventy Duvets was the headline.
    Kirsty was furious. “‘Altruistic mayoral candidate, Snowy Patterson’…bullshit! Where the hell were you?”
    â€œI wasn’t feeling well, I had to go home.”
    Kirsty had immediately apologized. “Sorry, but it’s not fair. You did all the organizing and Snowy takes all the