Free A Marriage Between Friends by Melinda Curtis Page B

proposition her, would he? Jill’s heart pounded faster.
    Vince opened his mouth to speak.
    “Choose your terms carefully,” Jill warned. If he so much as breathed inappropriately, he was out of there.
    Vince’s dimple flashed. “I’m offering you free labor. But if you want me to pay to stay here, that’s fine, too. You can’t send me away. It’s obvious we need time to settle our personal business.”
    “Obvious to you, maybe. We agreed to divorce.” By supreme willpower, Jill refrained from spinning her wedding ring. Once Vince left this morning, she could post her signs and begin planning a campaign against him and his casino.
    “I didn’t agree to a divorce.” Vince stood. He’d showered and now looked every inch the corporate citizen in his fine wool slacks, white shirt and tie. “How about I toss in something even better? I’ll include you in my meetings pertaining to the casino.”
    “Why would you do that?” It gave Jill a huge advantage over Vince and Arnie.
    Vince pinned Jill with his gaze. “With an inside look you’ll come to see a casino as the best thing for this town and to Shady Oak. You could offer weekend gambling getaways. This way you’ll have plenty of opportunity to talk with Arnie privately.”
    How dare he? Jill tried to laugh but it came out more like a squeak.
    “Afraid?” Vince challenged, still staring at her.
    “I wanted you gone. I’ll let you stay, but only for another day, two max,” she added when Vince smiled too quickly.
    “He’s staying?” Teddy rushed across the room at Jill’s nod and hugged her. He must have been eavesdropping in the hallway. “And I didn’t even have to promise to be good. Thank you.”
    “Yes, thank you,” Vince echoed, flashing Jill his trust-me smile minus the dimple. He winked at Teddy. “You won’t regret it.”
    Jill already did. She remembered falling under Vince’s spell, bending to his arguments about the marriage. Vince was bound to captivate the town just as easily. And she’d invited him to stay here? She had to be nuts.
    “Don’t you have any other clothes besides a suit?” Jill snapped shrewishly before shaking her head at Vince. “Oh, never mind. Meet me out at the garage.”
    Vince obediently left the apartment, most unusual for a man who argued with her about everything. Teddy put on rubber cleaning gloves and picked up the caddy without a word of protest, most unusual for a boy who normally dragged his feet when it came to chores. Was Teddy that excited about Vince staying?
    Teddy blinked, his grin never fading. “Have you seen my goggles?”
    Jill reached past Teddy beneath the sink for a pair of ski goggles. Teddy liked to pretend he was a mad scientist when he cleaned. Actually, he liked to pretend he cleaned. Mostly he kept Jill and Edda Mae company. Jill eased the goggles over his thin face.
    “Thanks, Mom.” His eyes were masked behind orange plastic. “Gotta go help Edda Mae.”
    “Everything okay?” Vince asked when Jill joined him a few minutes later. His damp hair gleamed blue-black in the morning sun.
    “Do I look like…? Oh, never mind.” Jill sighed. What was done was done. At least now she knew to keep her guard up. “Could you load these signs into Edda Mae’s truck?”
    “The NO CASINO signs?” he asked. “Why, exactly, am I helping you with these? I can clean rooms.” Vince pointed to Teddy and Edda Mae disappearing into a guest bungalow.
    “Since you refuse to leave, I get to choose how you earn your keep.”
    Vince gestured to their previous night’s work. “But these are—”
    “Signs against you.” Jill cut him off with a smug smile. That was what he got for trying to intimidate her with a kiss.
    “I said I was sorry,” Vince said, reading her mind. He tucked his tie in between two buttons midplacket.
    “Don’t apologize.” If only she’d had some warning. If only she’d realized what Vince had in mind….
    Jill jerked back a step. “I didn’t want you to kiss