Free What a Bachelor Needs (Bachelor Auction Book 4) by Kelly Hunter Page A

lights and the pile of money atop it across the counter towards him. “Thanks for those as well. I appreciate it.”
    He looked at the money, scooped it up and pocketed it and she thought the better of him for it.
    “Butter and syrup?” She didn’t run to bacon but she could offer other fixings.
    “Yes, ma’am. Good breakfast.”
    “Breakfast is our thing. I usually add banana to Claire’s. You want some of that too?”
    “No.”
    “Too much like baby food?”
    “Too much like banana. I’m going to burn through that list of yours today. Tap washers, door handles, a new front door lock. Making doors close properly. And I want to clean the chimney in that front room and set a fire in there to help the floor dry. You good with that?”
    She nodded.
    “I’ll rig up some sort of baby proof barrier around the fireplace.”
    “Right.” She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m thinking that this barrier should be a work of art. A stretch goal.”
    He looked up from his pancakes and pinned her with his gaze. “Stretch goal?”
    “Tony from the bar reckons he can build me a fire grid with slender wooden limbs and black mesh panels with a wrought iron river running through it. And cutout deer merrily playing.”
    “Sounds like a lot of sharp edges,” he said with a narrow gaze.
    “Doesn’t it? But I’m sure Tony has something planned. He has grandchildren of his own and knows all about curious little fingers. Of course, Tony can’t get to making it for a while. If there’s going to be a fire in the fireplace tonight there should probably be a grid in place tonight as well, don’t you think?”
    “Challenge accepted,” he said. “I’ll use offcuts. There might even be waterfalls. And puppies.” He offered Claire a triangle of pancake dripping with syrup and she took it from him as easily as she took food from Mardie. “I’m going to need another list of things to do around here.”
    “I just gave you a masterpiece to create.”
    “Yeah, but that has to happen today. What about Thursday and Friday?”
    “Help me bring the couch and the chairs into the front room?”
    “That shouldn’t even make the list.”
    “Can I think on it?”
    “Get imaginative.” He nodded and dug into his pancakes with relish. “Man needs a challenge.”
    *
    Bad weather meant fewer customers and less tips. That was the downside to Mardie’s work as a waitress. She could rely on a base wage, but the rest was dependent on customers and service. Usually, Grey’s Saloon saw a steady and generous crowd passing through, but all bets were off on this bitterly cold Wednesday, what with a snowstorm making its promise felt. Even their regulars weren’t lingering.
    Mardie leaned against the counter as the last customer on the floor caught her eye, tucked a crumpled note beneath the empty plate in front of him and stood to leave. She headed for the door and opened it for him. “See you, Jim. Take care.”
    “You too,” said the gruff old mechanic. “Maybe the boss’ll let you go early.”
    “Maybe.” Mardie smiled brightly. She didn’t want an early mark, she wanted a bar full of people, all tipping generously. A bus full of tall strangers. Short strangers. Aliens.
    Wasn’t going to happen.
    She cleared the table and headed for the kitchen. Not a lot happening back here either, other than Ryan cooking up a pan full of fettuccini in white wine, cream, and bacon. “Our last customer just left,” she informed him.
    “Reese told me to close the kitchen. We’re finishing up,” Ryan countered. “Come and eat.” He loaded three plates with fettuccini, reached for the parmesan cheese and sprinkled generously. One for him, one for her and presumably one for Reese. “How’s the handyman working out?”
    “I have a beautiful wooden floor in my front room and a porch that no longer sways. The handyman is a magician and I’m living in the land of ask and I shall receive. How’d your bachelor date go?”
    “I cooked dinner