Carol Marinelli - The Accidental Romeo

Praise for

Carol Marinelli:

‘A heartwarming story about taking a chance and not

letting the past destroy the future. It is strengthened by

two engaging lead characters and a satisfying ending.’

—RT Book Reviews on THE LAST KOLOVSKY PLAYBOY

‘Carol Marinelli writes with sensitivity,

compassion and understanding, and

ST PIRAN’S: RESCUING PREGNANT CINDERELLA

is not just a powerful romance but an uplifting

and inspirational tale about starting over,

new beginnings and moving on.’

— CataRomance

If you love Carol Marinelli,

you’ll fall head over heels

for Carol’s sparkling, touching, witty debut.

PUTTING ALICE BACK TOGETHER

available from MIRA ®Books

Carol Marinelli

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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With love to Fiona McArthur

I love our chats

C xxx

Cover

Praise Praise for Carol Marinelli: ‘A heartwarming story about taking a chance and not letting the past destroy the future. It is strengthened by two engaging lead characters and a satisfying ending.’ —RT Book Reviews on THE LAST KOLOVSKY PLAYBOY ‘Carol Marinelli writes with sensitivity, compassion and understanding, and ST PIRAN’S: RESCUING PREGNANT CINDERELLA is not just a powerful romance but an uplifting and inspirational tale about starting over, new beginnings and moving on.’ — CataRomance If you love Carol Marinelli, you’ll fall head over heels for Carol’s sparkling, touching, witty debut. PUTTING ALICE BACK TOGETHER available from MIRA ® Books

Title Page The Accidental Romeo Carol Marinelli www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication With love to Fiona McArthur I love our chats C xxx

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

EPILOGUE

Copyright

SO IT HAD been too good to be true!

Marnie Johnson drove slowly down Beach Road with a sense of mounting unease. The modern apartments and townhouses she had inspected just a couple of weeks ago were slowly giving way to dilapidated renovators’ delights with sprawling, overgrown gardens. These were the type of homes that would require a whole lot of TLC for anyone to live comfortably in them—and the one thing Marnie didn’t have was time to give a new home a lot of attention.

Almost certain that she had the job of nurse unit manager at the Bayside Hospital on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, Marnie had spent the afternoon after her interview looking at suitable homes to rent and had fallen in love with this street in particular. Yes, it was expensive but it was still a lot cheaper than her smart city apartment. She had been taken in by the sun-drenched, sparkling apartments with views that looked out over the bay and the townhouses with their balconies perfectly angled—just right for relaxing after a busy day, and Marnie certainly intended to be busy.

When the job offer had been confirmed Marnie had found herself far more stretched for time than usual, what with finishing up her old role and celebrating her sea change with friends. Yes, it had been a gamble but, after a lengthy conversation with Dave, the real estate agent who had shown her around, she had signed a month’s lease on a house unseen, having been told that it was very similar to the ones she had inspected.

Similar!

The only similarity to the homes Marnie had been shown was that they each had a front door. Not that Marnie could see this particular one—it was obscured by overgrown bushes and trees, and the grass, as Marnie walked up the path, was waist high.

Never trust a real estate agent.

Marnie knew that but had been taken in when Dave had told her that this home had just come on the market and there were no photos yet. She had been so stretched that, for once, the very organised Marnie had taken her eye off the ball.

And look what happened when she did!

Pushing the door open, Marnie stepped inside and it was easily as bad as she had been expecting.

Marnie pulled out her phone and when the real estate agent’s receptionist answered she asked to be put through to Dave. Marnie could hear the irritation coming through in her own voice—her usually lilting Irish accent was now sounding a touch brusque and harsh and she fought to check it.

‘Dave is at an auction,’ the receptionist that Marnie had collected the keys from explained. ‘I’m not expecting him to come back to the office today, though I can call him and leave a message asking him to get in touch with you.’

Marnie bit back a smart response—after all, none of this was the young woman’s fault. ‘Yes, if you could ask him to call me as soon as possible, I’d appreciate it.’

There wasn’t a hope that Dave would be calling back today, Marnie just knew it.

Tomorrow was Sunday and on Monday she started her new job and there simply wouldn’t be time to arrange more inspections and shift her things again—she made sure that She led by example and she wasn’t going to spend the first week in her new role trying to sort out somewhere else to live. She looked around at the grimy beige walls and told herself that once she had washed them down and cleaned the dusty windows, the place might not be so bad after all—though Marnie was sure she was fooling herself. As she wandered from room to room it grew increasingly hard to stay positive. The place didn’t even have a bath—just a very mouldy-looking shower that would certainly need a good scrub before she used it. ‘What is it with Australians and their showers?’ Marnie asked herself out loud—she liked to have a bath in the evening to relax.

Letting out a sigh, she gave up dwelling on it—she’d been through far worse than this.

The removal truck would be arriving with her furniture at eight o’clock tomorrow, along with two of her brothers, Ronan and Brendan.

So she’d better get cleaning!

Marnie tied her thick black hair into a ponytail and headed out to her car to collect the bucket, bleach and vacuum cleaner that she had brought for the job, though she had expected it to be a far easier one. Still, if there was one thing Marnie excelled at it was organisation and cleaning. She’d have this place sorted in no time.

Men! Marnie thought as she lugged in the equipment. They took one look at her china-blue eyes and petite but curvy figure, saw her smiling face, heard her soft accent and thought that they had worked her out.

No one had ever worked her out!

Dave had no idea what he had let himself in for.

She took a call just as she was getting ready to start—it was Matthew, a friend that she went out with now and then.

‘How’s the new place?’ Matthew asked.

‘Grand!’ Marnie lied. She certainly wasn’t about to tell Matthew her mistake. He had thought she had gone a bit crazy when she had announced that she was leaving the city and moving out to the bayside suburb.