Maid for Love Read Free Page B

short on cash, but she still had her pride, and no one—especially someone named McCarthy—was going to take that from her.
    "You have to let me help you, Maddie. I know you can't afford to miss work."
    "That's the least of it! If I miss more than one shift, they'll replace me. They need the job done. They don't care who does it."
    "I believe we've established that I have some sway with the owners of the hotel and can prevent that from happening."
    "Good for you. That still doesn't get my job done, and it won't help me when they decide who they're keeping for the winter and who gets laid off."
    "Then I'll do the job for you until you're back on your feet."
    Maddie cracked up. "Sure you will."
    "You don't think I can do it?"
    She realized he was serious. "You have no idea what it even entails. How can you be so sure you can do it?"
    "I'm capable of building a thirty-story structure. I think I can handle cleaning a few hotel rooms."
    Maddie studied his supremely handsome face. "All right." What else could she do? She couldn't afford to lose her job, so she had no choice but to let him help her. "Since you seem determined to make it up to me, I accept."
    He flashed a victorious smile. "Excellent. Now what about the kids? Could I be your arms and legs there, too?"
    "Have you ever changed a diaper? Seriously?"
    "No," he confessed, quickly adding, "but I'm a fast learner. If you tell me what to do, I'll do it."
    He'd be saving her life if he stepped in for her, but wait until he saw what the summer people were capable of doing to a hotel room. Just the idea of a mighty McCarthy stooping to the level of manual laborer at the hotel his family owned brought a smile to her face. She offered her uninjured hand. "Deal."
    He shocked her again when he took her hand and brushed a soft kiss over the back of it. "Excellent. Now, let me go find your purse and see about getting you some lunch."

Chapter 2
     
    M ac left his backpack at Maddie's apartment and headed into town in search of her purse. He thought about the hour he'd spent with her and the terrible beating his ego had taken. Not that he was a playboy or anything, but as a rule, he tended to be quite popular with women. He'd never met one so eager to be rid of him. And what could she possibly have against his parents? They ran a decent business and took care of their employees—at least he thought they did.
    To be honest, he had no clue how their business—which had grown exponentially since Mac left the island—was run today. However, he planned to find out, and if Maddie's opinion was to be believed, he might not like what he discovered.
    Mac wasn't surprised to find Maddie's mangled bike propped against a split-rail fence across the street from the Sand 'n Sea novelty shop. Someone had used the cabbage roses growing through the fence to camouflage the bike. Her purse was still sitting in the basket that hung from what used to be the handlebars. He opened her battered wallet to find a twenty, a five and several ones still tucked inside. The sight of the undisturbed cash filled him with an odd sense of homecoming. In Miami, the purse, the cash and what was left of the bike would probably be long gone by now.
    Tucking her small purse into the tote bag, he tossed the mangled bike into a Dumpster and planned to get her a new one.
    Twenty minutes later, he returned to her apartment bearing cheeseburgers, fries and sodas. On the way upstairs, it occurred to him that she might be a vegetarian like Roseanne. Mac sighed. He was so tired of difficult, hard-to-please women. Could he, just once, encounter one who ate like a normal human being?
    At the top of the stairs, he paused, uncertain as to whether or not he should knock, since she expected him to return. Then, remembering how prickly she'd been earlier, he rapped on the door and stepped into the living room to find the sofa empty.
    "Maddie?" He listened for a moment, worried that she might have tried to venture out on her own.