Her Charming Heartbreaker Read Free Page A

The long
legs with well-defined muscles. The runner’s calves. He wore red
shorts, a black cap and no T-shirt. Eddie tried to look away but it
was a crime to ignore such well-defined abs.
    He jogged? The guy
sounded like a Shakespearean actor and looked like a model
advertising the finest cognacs or cigars. He was definitely the
type who belonged to exclusive wine tasting clubs and attended
opening nights at the opera and ballet. No, she would never have
pictured him as a jogger...
    “About that closer
look,” Joyce said, “I think my legs would melt if I got any closer
to him.”
    Eddie shook her head.
“We were friends,” she said as Theo Kendrick disappeared down the
street.
    “You and Adam. Yeah, I
know.”
    “Why did I have to ruin
it? Now he’s avoiding me and I don’t blame him. What the hell came
over me?” Two years of being alone and seeing a handful of her
friends getting married, that’s what. And now she had another
wedding to look forward to...
    “It’s been slim
pickings for a while, but at least there are several of us in the
same boat,” Joyce said.
    “I’m not sure I like
the sound of that. Overcrowded boats tend to topple over and sink.”
Eddie drank the last of her coffee and stood up. “I can’t let this
drag on any longer. Time to eat some humble pie and apologize to
Theo Kendrick.”
     
    * * *
     
    According to the poster
he’d seen outside the pub, Theo had slept through the Kevin Reynes
and the Posse Brats On The Way to Nashville gig with a special
appearance by Dani Reid, an up and coming local. They can’t have
been that loud. Then again, if he hadn’t set his alarm clock, he
would have slept through a fourth of July fireworks display in his
room.
    He put it down to the
stress he’d experienced over the last few weeks. He’d been in
London when he’d heard about his father’s car accident, the result
of a stunt gone wrong. A stunt Jon Kendrick should not have been
attempting because he’d promised…
    In less than an hour,
Theo had organized his flight, delegating all the rescheduling of
meetings to his virtual assistant, while tackling everything else
en route. The days that followed had been harrowing, not knowing if
his father would survive, having no control of the situation, being
forced to step back and allow others to take over.
    His father had pulled
through, but the close call had brought him face to face with
unfinished business. Business Theo had to take care of...
    Theo checked his watch
and decided he had plenty of time to shower and go downstairs in
time to grab a late breakfast. Then...
    No more putting off
what he should have done yesterday. Or the day before. Trying
didn’t count. Just because Claire Muldoon hadn’t answered the door
or picked up the phone...
    He splashed water on
his face. No more delays, he told himself. “Today. Do it today. No
excuses.” Even if it meant sitting on her front porch and waiting
for her to arrive. He only had a few days left before he had to
return to Melbourne and catch his flight back home to L.A.
    The run had cleared his
head, but he could already hear the chatter that had kept him
company these last few days creeping up on him.
    Do this for me,
son. Then we’ll be squared. And I’ll never ask for anything
else.
    No more cliff-hanger
phone calls in the middle of the night urging Theo to drop
everything and troubleshoot the latest hiccup?
    Theo couldn’t quite
shake off the image of his father’s battered body lying in
hospital. Otherwise, he’d laugh.
    Find her and make
this right. If... when I pull through this, I don’t want to waste
any more time. She needs to know.
    His father’s brain must
have been rattled. Why else would he experience this
uncharacteristic bout of nostalgia?
    “Claire Muldoon, you’re
about to strike it rich.” But not before Theo ran a thorough check
on her.
    Showered and dressed,
Theo went through his messages, then he made a couple of calls,
getting an update on his father’s