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eBook Category: Romance
eBook Description: In this romantic comedy, sparks fly when a staid accountant meets a free spirit. Jake Malone's dead sure he doesn't need anyone to complete or complicate his life. Meeting the self-assured loner, Carly Anderson disagrees and vows to pursue Jake until he catches her. In her quest, Carly's helped or hindered by a wanna-be Stallone, a larcenous film producer who preys on lonely women and a granny with a black Labrador and a Harley.

eBook Publisher: ebooksonthe.net, Published: 2000
Fictionwise Release Date: August 2005

9 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [1.4 MB], eReader (PDB) [258 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [247 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [222 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [209 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [259 KB], hiebook (KML) [600 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [334 KB], iSilo (PDB) [204 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [255 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [295 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [321 KB]
Words: 74723
Reading time: 213-298 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
ISBN: 978-1-593431-011-4

"Damn it, woman. No self-respecting male pays for his ex-wife's honeymoon with another man." Jake Malone's temper soared, pushed to the limits of his endurance by Rhonda's call.

Glancing at the heaps of projects stacked around his office that June morning, a wave of resentment hit him. His ex-wife might have nothing better to do than talk on the phone, but he did.

"You expect too much. Don't I already cover all of your expenses?" Without waiting for her answer, he continued. "I even pay for your sculptured fingernails."

Now Rhonda wanted Jake to subsidize her elopement with a man who'd picked her up at the grocery store. Freddy Benton wore designer jeans and was twenty-five years old, ten years younger than Rhonda. This Freddy also claimed to be a film producer. Some producer, with one lousy cat food commercial to his credit.

"If I'd known you'd be so hostile, I wouldn't have called you in the first place." Rhonda sniffed into the phone. "I should just hang up."

Didn't he wish. From his desk Jake picked up a picture of a little girl, their 12-year-old daughter Deb. He took a deep breath. "It's too bad Freddy's short of funds. He shouldn't promise you a honeymoon in Spain if he can't afford the trip."

In a way it was partly his fault. If their marriage hadn't failed, Rhonda wouldn't be trying to find happiness with another man. With that in mind Jake softened his tone and offered a compromise. "There's one way I can help. If you haven't already made other arrangements for Deb, I'll keep her while you're in Spain."

No sooner did the words leave his lips than he had second thoughts. How could he keep their daughter? With two new client companies and two more pending, he was already working sixty to seventy hours a week. Maybe if he stopped taking time for meals and didn't sleep, he'd have enough time to do everything?

"If Freddy's income isn't enough to support you once you're married, you might be able to get a job with the school system." Rhonda hadn't worked since Deb was born. She had a college degree but education was no good without motivation.

During their marriage if he even hinted that she might find another teaching position, Rhonda became ill and had to go to bed.

"I'm not like you, Jake," she said tersely. "Just because you're a work horse doesn't mean I have to be one."

All at once the light dimmed in his office, the piles of paper on his desk and credenza seemed to grow taller until they loomed around him. He felt hemmed in on all sides.

How he longed for the days before their marriage. At that moment Jake remembered the old wooden carousel horse Deb used to ride at the State Fair. A woebegone creature with chipped paint, it was doomed to repeat the same monotonous circle until beyond repair and junked.

"How about Napoleon? Can you keep him, too?" Rhonda referred to the family Pekinese.

"I suppose. Unless you want to drop him off at the kennel." "Well, if you must know ... they said not to bring him back." "Why, for Pete's sake?" Rhonda had a knack of creating a problem where none existed. And her problems soon became his since she always expected Jake to provide the perfect solution. What was it this time? Did she forget to pay the vet's bills? "Napoleon's been acting so peculiar I took him to see a pet psychiatrist," she said.

"You're kidding." Some shrinks specialized in treating the neurotic pets of the rich. He had a good job but was far from being a millionaire.

"No, he's been quite nervous since you left." Though she didn't come right out and blame him, her tone implied the dog's condition was all Jake's fault. He had filed for divorce though it was by mutual agreement.

They'd married when Rhonda found she was expecting Deb, and they'd stayed together for twelve years because of Deb. They didn't love each other but both adored their child.

"Nervous? In what way?" Though he'd learned long ago that it was wiser to ignore her unspoken accusations, a sense of dread seeped into Jake's heart. What could a Pekinese do to warrant visits to a shrink?

"He's started biting everybody," Rhonda explained. Her voice broke and she sobbed into the phone. "Jake, Napoleon even bit my Freddy."

"Maybe he doesn't like Freddy's designer jeans." Jake chuckled as he imagined a pint-size dog biting the gaunt redhead.

"It isn't funny," she said. "Doctor Gandhi thinks the problem goes back to Napoleon's childhood, I mean puppyhood. I don't know about that, but the post office has stopped delivering mail to our house."

"Don't tell me, let me guess. Napoleon bit the mailman?" "Just a nip."

"Okay." He sighed. "I'll stop by for Deb and Napoleon this Friday and keep them until you get back. How long will you be in Spain?"

"Oh, just two weeks." Now that he'd taken charge of her problems, Rhonda sounded almost carefree. "We're staying at a resort on the beach. And while we're there, Freddy plans to see a man about doing a film."

Following the call, Jake tried to concentrate on a problem troubling the owner of a chain of nursing homes. The conversation with Rhonda had broken his line of thought.

After several attempts to focus on his work, he eased back in his desk chair, rubbing his tired eyes. The corners of his mouth turned up in a grin at the image of Freddy being pursued by Napoleon, a five pound monster.