Free Fixed up in February (Spring River Valley Book 2) by Clarice Wynter

get my axe.” He turned and stalked through the living room, determined that whoever had interrupted the moment he’d been fantasizing about all week would pay in some decidedly unpleasant way. “This better be good,” he said , not caring who was on the other side of the door when he flung it open.
    Chad Marchand stood there, notebook in hand. “Hey, I hope I didn’t come at a bad time.”
    Max swung around to look for Audrey. She was slipping her coat on . “Uh…hey, Chad. Is this about the photos?”
    “No, no. The photos are great. The story on Mr. Dochanti ran this morning, didn’t you see it?”
    “I…I’ve been resting actually. My back is a bit sore.”
    Chad eyed Audrey. “I’m not interrupting, am I? I did call, but there was no answer on your cell, so I thought I’d just drop by. I’d like to interview you for a follow-up piece.”
    “A follow-up?”
    “Yeah. First of all, I should be thanking you for what you did. You saved my…well, I want to say life, but maybe that’s too dramatic. You saved me from getting badly hurt. I appreciate that.”
    Audrey stepped up behind Max. “He’s a hero,” she said brightly. The scent of her reminded Max he could still taste her. Every part of his body throbbed with longing for what Chad had interrupted.
    “I agree,” the reporter said. “And so does my editor, so I’d love to do a human interest piece about you. It would be short, a sidebar, but there would be a teaser on page one—‘ Local hero snaps photos of dangling car, moments before it nearly runs him down .’ How does that grab you?”
    He would have preferred Audrey to grab him, but this would have to do. The publicity certainly couldn’t hurt his business. “Cool.”
    “Great, I just have a couple of questions to ask you. Do you mind? I can get it into tomorrow’s edition.”
    Max stepped back. “Sure, come on in.”
    “I was just leaving. Max, take care of yourself.” Audrey zipped up her coat and wrapped her scarf around her neck.
    “Is this your girlfriend? I’m Chad, by the way.” He offered her his hand.
    “Nice to meet you. I’m Audrey, his…nurse. I think I’ve met your father; isn’t he the CPA?”
    “Yeah, that’s the family business. I’m the black sheep who wanted to be a writer instead of an accountant.”
    “Ah, well, I’ll get out of your way. I just stopped by to see how Max was feeling.”
    “So you make house calls?”
    “No,” Max took the words out of her mouth. “Well, so she claims. This looked suspiciously like a house call to me, Nurse Audrey.”
    She glared but kept her polite smile in place. “Seeing as you’re feeling better, I’ll be on my way. Chad, take care.”
    “Yeah, nice to meet you.”
    Audrey left, and Max let his shoulders droop. “What do you want to know?” he asked Chad.
    “What’s really going on between you and the hot nurse?”
    Max rolled his eyes as he led Chad to the kitchen. “Nothing, thanks to some nosy reporter.”
    “Oh, man. I’m sorry. You should have said something.”
    “Oh, that would have just made it worse. She’s a little skittish, and she mostly thinks I’m a wiseass who’s just fooling around.”
    Chad glanced at the door. “If you want to impress the girl, I have a couple of ideas.”
    “Like what?”
    “Sit down. Give me my interview, and I’ll give you a surefire plan to get her to take a second a look.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Audrey took her time walking to her car and let the cold air swirl around her. She was shaking, and it had nothing to do with the February chill.
    Max’s kiss had sent her senses into overdrive. Her pulse had tripled, her knees had gone weak, and her palms were sweaty. If she didn’t know better, she’d have diagnosed herself with a sudden, severe case of the flu.
    Only seconds before he’d rocked her world, he’d been playing dumb just to irritate her. She’d thought for sure her confession about Quinn convincing her to agree to a second date would have