Her Charming Heartbreaker Read Free Page B

condition, and touching base with
his mother who was appearing in her latest London stage hit. Over
the years, he’d become an expert at handling all his parents’
affairs, making sure their respective worlds ran like well-oiled
machines. While they trusted his judgment on all issues concerning
their careers and assets, their personal lives remained off
limits—that had been Theo’s one and only condition when he’d agreed
to act as their manager.
    Theo wore his halo on a
crooked angle, but his parents’ revolving door affairs had more
than once made his hair stand on end. Now his father was dragging
him into his private life, forcing him to act as his proxy and Theo
had no choice but to go along with it all, albeit kicking and
screaming.
    He dug around his
overnight bag and retrieved the velvet box he’d been carrying
around all this time. No point in thinking today would be the day
if he left the damn thing behind.
    “On your way out, are
you?”
    He swung around in time
to see Eddie Faydon striding into his room, her bright eyes peering
at him from behind a pile of bed linen. “Sorry, I didn’t realize it
was so late.”
    “And I should have
knocked.” She tapped the door with the tip of her boot. “Knock.
Knock. Room service.”
    “I was just about to
clear out.”
    “I’ll work around you,
if you don’t mind.”
    She didn’t wait for a
response. Setting down her load on a chair, she strode over to the
window, pulled back the drapes, and pushed the window open.
    He stood there,
watching how the play of light around her hair brought out a
fascinating blend of rich russet red shades with hints of gold.
When Theo caught himself appreciating the lovely shape of her butt,
he forced his attention back to hunting through his overnight
bag.
    “Moonlighting as Dani?”
he asked. So far, he’d seen Eddie working at the bar, serving the
lunchtime and dinner crowds and at one point, he suspected she
might have been doing the cooking. One thing he knew for sure,
she’d been doing her best to avoid him.
    She turned and
surprised him by curving her lips into a smile. “I’m trying out for
the role of
Cinderella
. Although, instead of wicked
sisters, I have brothers.”
    And no life to speak
of, according to the gossip he’d been force-fed the night before
when he’d settled at a corner table to have dinner. As the place
had filled up, it hadn’t been long before someone had asked to
share his table, taking the opportunity to impart some local
knowledge.
    She’d been recently
dumped. Or turned down. The version had changed a couple of times,
and while the facts had been hazy, he hadn’t been interested enough
to encourage an in-depth discussion of Eddie Faydon’s private life.
If he wanted to know more, he could always ask her.
    “Actually, I drew the
short straw... for the umpteenth consecutive time. My brothers are
devious enough to cheat, but I’d need to get inside their male
brains to figure out how they do it,” she said and gave him a
speculative look.
    Theo put his hands up.
“Sorry, I can’t help you. I’m an only child with no tricks up my
sleeves.”
    “I’ll figure it out.
They’re bound to slip up sometime.”
    “So… what happened to
Dani?”
    “She had a gig last
night. I hope the music didn’t keep you up.”
    He shook his head.
“Dani the cleaner is also Dani Reid the singer?”
    She nodded.
    “A town of
multi-talented women,” he mused as he slipped his wallet into his
back pocket and searched around for his car keys.
    “Dani’s singing is her
ticket out. She’s been doing monthly gigs in Melbourne and will be
heading north to Townsville for the country music festival. She’s
one of many trekking out into the wider world.”
    “And you hope to join
the mass exodus?”
    She shook her head. “I
have no reason to.”
    What little he knew
about life away from the bright lights of the city he’d seen in
movies or read about in books. He strode toward the door and