Always Be True Read Free Page B

can be done with volunteer labor.”
    Her dimples made an appearance. “But enough about me. So, how about you, Tino? What do you do when you’re not saving damsels from marauding buckets of paint?”
    He had just taken a big bite of pizza, which gave him a few seconds to decide how much he wanted to share. “Well, up until recently, I was in the army.”
    Before she could ask for details, he added, “I served in the military police with multiple tours in the Middle East.”
    Maybe she sensed he really didn’t want to elaborate, because she changed the subject. “I don’t know about you, but I want to hit the dessert table before all the good stuff is gone. A lot of it is homemade.”
    As they stood up, he asked, “Did you make any of it?”
    One of the women sitting on his other side immediately snickered. “I hope not.”
    Even though Natalie joined in the resulting laughter, Tino winced. “Sorry, did I touch on a sore subject?”
    Natalie’s smile didn’t fade at all. “Not at all. Even if I can’t bake as well as Rosalie, I have other talents.”
    The other woman nodded in agreement. “That’s true enough. None of this would have gotten done without our Natalie riding herd on this project.”
    “Now, Brenda, you’re going to have me blushing.” She turned her attention back to Tino. “I think my friend Rosalie is serving up a couple of her blackberry pies, which are to die for. I will not be happy if I don’t score a piece. I consider it my reward for working hard this morning.”
    Then she charged off across the room, leaving Tino to follow in her wake. A piece of pie would be nice, but watching Natalie’s cute ass in those form-fitting jeans as she made a beeline straight for the dessert table was definitely a sweet reward all on its own.
    He’d noticed she’d scrubbed that streak of paint off her cheek and also tried to tame her hair since he’d last seen her. That was too bad. He would like to see it loose and tumbling around her shoulders. Or better yet, spread out on his pillow. He caught himself flexing his fingers, imagining what it would be like to tangle them in her soft curls as the two of them got to know each other a whole lot better.
    Natalie picked up two plates that held generous pieces of blackberry pie. As she handed one to him, she performed introductions. “Tino Gianelli, this is my friend, Rosalie Earle.”
    “Nice to meet you, Ms. Earle.”
    From the considering look her friend gave him, she must have picked up on the direction his thoughts had taken regarding Natalie. He smiled and did his best to look innocent. That had never worked well with his adoptive mother, and Tino suspected this woman had that same scary ability to see past the bullshit.
    She glanced at Natalie and then back at him, her expression cautiously friendly. “You’re the new guy, the one with the impressive skill set that she was admiring earlier.”
    He pretended not to notice Natalie’s reaction, although he suspected that Rosalie wasn’t talking about how well he could patch drywall. “This is my first time here, and Natalie has gone out of her way to make me feel welcome. I’m not sure whether it’s because I know how to patch drywall or because I let her play with one of my power tools.”
    Rosalie’s eyes flashed wide and her laugh rang out across the room. “Well, you are a brave man.”
    For some reason Tino felt compelled to defend Natalie. “She did great.”
    “Well, you should’ve been here the time she—”
    Natalie cut her friend off mid-sentence. “Rosalie, I warned him that there’d been an incident. Now, we need to eat our pie. It’s almost time to go back to work.”
    Tino smiled at Rosalie again before following Natalie back to their seats. “I’m looking forward to trying your pie.”
    As he walked away, Rosalie called after him. “I hope we see you again soon, Tino.”
    He hadn’t made up his mind if he would come back. He’d enjoyed the experience more than