Stormy Surrender - By Nicole Andrews Moore Page 0,11

Still thinking, he strode back to her with his careful analysis of the owner.

“Well, this is owned by a guy who wants to appear to care about the environment, but really only cares about saving a buck.” Keely’s head dropped to the side to consider what he was saying. Joe continued. “He likes to be noticed. I mean, bright orange, come on.” He shook his head. “He arrived late and was too lazy to carry in all his stuff. In fact, I think it may be a couple.”

“A couple?” Keely scrunched up her face. “What makes you say so?”

“There’s some girl stuff in there. A few dresses hung up. A lip gloss is in the cup holder. That kind of thing.” He paused in his thoughts. “How close am I?”

“You’ll find out in the morning,” Keely announced. “I know you’re not an early riser, but I’ll call when the owner comes down for breakfast.”

He glanced over at the SUV once more. “That owner isn’t getting up before ten,” he announced confidently. Then without a backward glance, he strode over to his big black Ford F-150, unlocked the door, hopped into the cab, and drove away. A week’s worth of free breakfasts was going to taste especially good.

At eight the next morning, Martha was chastising herself for sleeping the day away. The fault, actually, lay with the bed. It was simply too comfortable. She did a quick cursory self-assessment and realized that she felt refreshed and relieved. Rolling over, she grabbed her cell phone and quickly dialed Blaine’s office. Suzette answered immediately. How Martha loathed that overly efficient snip of a woman. Unfortunately, she could find no fault with the work she did, which was shy Suzette was still working with her husband.

“Sorry, he’s in surgery all day,” Suzette announced, although she didn’t sound sorry in the least. In fact, one might say she sounded smug.

“Please have him call when he gets a chance,” Martha said crisply.

What a lousy way to start her morning. She pitied the man who finally lost his fight to that. She had often joked with Blaine that Suzette was likely going to make some man very miserable one day. Blaine, naturally, hadn’t even cracked a smile. She sighed at the memory. Suddenly, the smell of bacon and coffee drove her from the bed.

In less than twenty minutes, she was showered and dressed for the day. She hadn’t exactly formulated a plan of attack, but she was certain she would be ready to do so once she had a full stomach. Grabbing the key off the desk, she locked the door behind her and headed down the stairs.

Following the wonderful aromas, she quickly found the dining room. Everything was homemade, just as she knew it would be. She smiled to herself. And there were very few people up at the moment, which appealed to her immensely. Martha preferred to ease into her day before she had a lot of conversation.

Spotting her almost instantly, Keely strode over. “How’d you sleep?”

Without hesitation, Martha offered her a smile. “Like a baby,” she announced. And her smile quickly faded. She paused to collect herself. “I never have understood that phrase. In my limited experience with babies,” her body shuddered slightly, “the one thing I did learn is that they don’t really like to sleep when we’d like them to.”

Keely reached out to touch her shoulder and guide her to the buffet. “Eat as much as you can, dear.” And once she had settled Martha in front of the plates, she quickly exited the room.

While Martha concentrated on selecting from the wide variety of items laid out on the table, Keely was in the kitchen dialing the phone with such glee she could barely suppress the laughter. “Rise and shine,” she said in her sing-song voice once the phone was answered with a grunt.

In his bed, Joe sat upright and glanced at the clock. “You have got to be kidding me.” He growled low in his throat. “So, up already?”

Nodding and giggling, she responded, “Yup. I’d hurry if I were you. I don’t know how long I can keep the owner occupied.” And without even saying goodbye, she hung up.

Joe took a quick shower, dressed in his work clothes, and threw a baseball cap over his wet head. He scowled at his unkempt image in the mirror. He did not want to feel self-conscious as he met this playboy. And what was this guy doing up so early anyway? He wasn’t even