10
Noah
It’s a rare day when I forget how to practice patience. My mama taught me better, but some days, my give-a-damn breaks. Today was one of those days where every little thing irritated me. I’d been in a sour mood since I woke up before dawn. Working on elevators on a weekend is never at the top of my to-do list, but our deadline is closing in. Not much choice but to go in, even if I spend the rest of the weekend irritated.
That mood disappears as soon as I catch sight of two people standing in front of my door. I can’t help but laugh at the unexpected situation of seeing McKenna Monroe standing outside it with the girl who has consumed my thoughts for the last few weeks. Jett glances at me for a moment before turning her head and talking to me while looking out at the town.
“What are you doing here, elevator man?”
I can’t help the grin that feels permanent around her. Panic brews in her eyes at the realization that we are neighbors now. Man, what I’d do to take a look inside her mind. I want this girl, chaos and all, even if I have no business getting anywhere near Reece Taylor’s sister.
As she scampers off to her brother and Jace, I turn my attention to the brunette still next to me. Her eyes track my every move with distaste clear as the blue skies overhead.
“McKenna Monroe. What’s it been? Two years? Four?” If I wasn’t looking closely at McKenna, I would have missed the tick of her jaw or how that little vein pops on her neck—both traits that indicate how happy she is to see me again after all this time.
“I’m going to ask you again, Slater. What the hell are you doing here? Did your brother put you up to this?”
“I live here, princess. I wasn’t kidding.” Probably not the best time to mention that I own this entire strip of lofts. McKenna’s never been a fan of people who flaunt their money, even if it is hard earned.
Her eyes cut over to where Jett and Reece are talking by his truck.
“Does she know who you used to spend your nights with? Does Reece?” If looks could kill, I’d be the squirrel pancake in the road that I passed earlier. The look has me chuckling again. “Still hiding your past relationships from the people who matter. Got it.”
She turns her back to the people below, her voice a harsh whisper. “Keep my past mistakes to yourself, Noah. None of that needs to get back to my family.” She points angrily toward Jett and Reece. “And that girl and her brother are family. Got it?”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “Hey, no judgment here. But I’d suggest keeping our past encounters to yourself as well. From what I hear, the guy you’ve got googly eyes for isn’t a big fan of Trace either.” Those deep blue eyes are going to put someone under one of these days. I glance over her shoulder to see the three amigos unloading items from the trailer on the street. “I won’t say anything to her about either scenario. We can just say I fixed your studio’s elevator one time. No harm done.” And it’s true. Her workout studio is on our company’s service route.
“Is that what we’re calling almost becoming in-laws? Just fixing elevators?” She chuckles before setting her iced coffee by the door and heading down the stairs to help unload as Jett makes her way back to me.
“Want some help with your things?” I ask her, hoping she’ll say yes.
One shoulder shrugs up, the same oversize sweatshirt sliding off to expose smooth, tanned skin. Instead of giving in to the urge to see how soft it is under my fingertips, I lift my eyes to hers and wait for a response.
“You don’t have to help me just because we ran into each other, you know.”
I nod. “Yeah, but it’s the neighborly thing to do.”
She snorts. “Oh, is that it? I thought you wanted in my pants.”
I feign a hurt expression, but my ego takes a small hit at the insinuation. “Do you always shoot guys down before they have a chance to ask you out, or am I a special case? I’m not sure if I should take offense at such a generic rejection or feel special for receiving such special treatment from such a beautiful girl.”
The slight blush overtaking her cheeks is adorable, but she turns away too quickly for me to get a good look at her expression as she slips the key into the lock and turns the knob.
As she opens the door, she turns back to me. “If you want to waste your day helping us unpack, I won’t stop you. But you know nothing about me except that I got stuck in one of your elevators. My statement from the other week still stands. Don’t waste your time, Noah Slater.”
“You don’t get to decide what I consider wasted time, Jett Taylor,” I say as I step around her and unlock my own door. “Once I let Sadie out, I’ll be able to help.”
I can hear the tippy-tappies from her crate before I step through the door.
“Hey, Sadie Bear. You have a good day? Wanna go outside for a bit?” I keep talking to the best girl as I open her kennel, and she barrels toward the back door, her little whines stringing together as if she’s having an actual conversation with me. Hell, she probably is. “You wanna stay out here for a bit, girl?”
She yips in response.
“Behave yourself,” I tell her as I pull the door closed. She’s not quite trustworthy to have free rein over the house. Australian Shepherds are most definitely a challenge, but I refuse to own any other breed. They are the most loyal, trustworthy, and protective companions.
When I come back out the front door and close it, Jett is standing in the doorway.
“You just leave your door open all the time?”
“It’s Havenwood. What, you think someone’s going to come in and steal something? I’d like to see them try it ’round here.”
She stares at me like she wants to deliver a witty comeback, but she tortures that lower lip instead. I almost— almost —reach up to smooth it from her grip, but she steps outside again before I can.
Probably for the best.
***
I don’t think Jett expects it to take as long to unpack the trailer as it does, and I know for a fact her brother would prefer that I head to my loft and avoid his sister. At least Jace is a friendly face, even if he has a tendency to overshare. Like when he tells Jett that Drew dipped out when they got back to town to meet up with Kristen.
“I don’t think he’d appreciate you airing his dirty laundry like that, man,” Reece says.
Jace shrugs unapologetically, and after what I learned recently about Drew, I can’t say I blame him.
“We all have our issues,” he says. “I am tired of him hiding behind me and his brother all the damn time.”
“So, what?” Jett questions. “Does everyone in this town go to Kristen for therapy?”
I try to stifle the chuckle slipping up my throat, but Jace cuts his eyes at me as he answers. “Havenwood is all about family and community. If you aren’t willing to handle your problems healthily, or you aren’t willing to talk about your problems to someone, those problems tend to leak through the town’s gossip channels pretty quickly. Especially the ones that sit at my bar or at the bakery across the street.” Meaning gossip spreads at the Riley-owned establishments.
I watch the gears turning through Jett’s eyes as her body begins to sink in on itself, her eyes becoming guarded like she just upped her mental shields with a thought.
What are you hiding, chaos?
McKenna comes out of the back hallway carrying an armful of blankets. She’s been noticeably absent for the last little bit while she unpacked boxes in Jett’s bedroom. She sets about organizing blankets and more pillows than I’ve ever seen in one room but pauses a brief moment when Jett asks if Reece is back there somewhere.
“Um, yeah. He’s in the bathroom, I think,” McKenna replies as she gets back to organizing.
When Reece slips quietly back into the room a few minutes later, I chance a look at Jett to see if she notices her friend’s blush. When it becomes obvious Jett is clueless to what just went down with her best friend and her brother, I look over at Jace, who just shakes his head in warning.
Don’t ask , he mouths at me. Turning back to the girls, he says, “Y’all wanna go down to the bar and I’ll get Buck to whip up something to eat?”
That nervous air wraps around Jett again as she hesitates in her task for a split second before continuing. She’s good at hiding it. I’ll give her that.
“What if we get him to just throw together some burgers and bring them back up here? I could definitely go for some of Buck’s grilling,” I suggest to the group without taking my eyes off the green-eyed beauty that wants nothing to do with me. Hell, she’s barely spoken a full sentence to me since she let me into her loft. But her eyes meet mine at my suggestion, and she nods and looks at Jace and Reece.
“Y’all good with picking it up and bringing it back here? I’m not exactly feeling the whole social with strangers thing tonight.”
The guys agree and slip out the door after a few words with the girls. Jace asks if I want to come, too, but I tell him I need to let Sadie back in from the backyard. Jett drops onto the couch and pulls a heavy looking blanket over herself while McKenna continues unpacking some of the smaller boxes the guys didn’t want to mess with, since we had no clue how to organize anything how Jett would want it.
I drift over to Jett, dropping into a squat so that I’m on the same level as her. “I need to let my dog back in. You good if I come back over to eat?”
She nods, like she’s in some sort of trance. I glance over at McKenna, but she isn’t paying us any attention.
I try again, “Jett.”
“Hmm,” she murmurs, her eyes finally shooting to mine. A faint blush coats her cheeks at being caught unaware. “Sorry. Can you repeat whatever you asked?”
“I asked if you were okay with me coming back over after I let my dog back inside. You nodded, but it didn’t seem like anyone was home.”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” Her eyes dart left, and she sucks that lip in again.
This time, I don’t stop my impulses. I reach forward and slide my thumb over her plump lower lip, gently separating it from the grip her teeth have on it before cupping her cheek.
“If you don’t want me to, just say so, sweet girl. If you’d rather I don’t come back over, I won’t.”
A silent sigh releases from her body, drawing some of the tension in her shoulders with it.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For giving me an out. But if you want to come hang out with the guys, that’s fine. I probably won’t last much longer. Today’s worn me out. I have so much to still do—I know I do—but right now I just want to crash. And now I’m rambling on about things that don’t concern you.”
The utter look of shock and embarrassment that washes over her face is adorable. She covers her face with both sweatshirt-covered hands and peeks between them.
“I don’t mean it like that, I just meant—”
“I promise, I get it, Jett. I’ll be back soon, yeah?”
She nods, dropping her hands back to her lap, but the blush remains in her cheeks. I stand and slip out the door, ignoring the questioning look I can feel McKenna shooting at me.