Five
SMITH
Walking up and seeing Parker’s hand touching Elise’s sets my blood boiling. Insane, considering I don’t even know her and sure as hell have no claim on her.
But you want to.
I squash that notion, taking another long, cold slug of beer while Parker flirts with the co-eds before sidling back to me.
“Too bad you scared Elise off. I was getting intel on the Bennett house.”
“I’ll get the scoop tomorrow morning. Don’t worry.”
“Why’d you really come out tonight, Smitty? You’re usually in bed by nine, old man,” he teases, even though we’re the same age.
I shrug, not wanting to divulge the real reason for my spontaneous trip to the Seaglass Inn: seeing Elise again.
“Bored. Between sports seasons right now.”
“Uh-huh, right. Nothing to do with the hard-on you have for a certain woman who just left?” He narrows his eyes at me.
“Absolutely not,” I lie, picking at the edge of the label on my bottle.
“Smitty, never take up poker. You’ll lose your damn bank account.”
I scowl, but he keeps on. “Wanna guess how old she is?”
“Probably early thirties.”
Parker shakes his head. “Nope. She’s forty, man. Probably has a couple of kids.”
“So? I already told you — I’m not interested.” Internally, I’m surprised she’s that much older than me, but I’ve never been one to care about age.
Silence descends upon us, and I debate how long I need to hang here before I can jet without rousing suspicion. Bob Marley wails in the background, and I regret not eating before I came.
Buzz, buzz.
I glance down at my phone.
“There’s her number, man. And never forget I’m the greatest wingman on the planet. Go get some sleep so you can win the job tomorrow.”
Shaking my head, I drop cash onto the bar to cover my drink.
“Something like that,” I grumble. “See you tomorrow.”
But before I even hit the parking lot, I save Elise’s contact info, hopeful I’ll have a chance to use it.
Even though I get to the Bennett house before eight, a white SUV already sits in the shell driveway. I pull my truck directly behind and do a quick scan of the property.
The exterior of the house looks to be in decent shape — needs clean-up, there are a few loose shutters — but nothing too major. I won’t know about the roof without getting up there, but that’s last on the agenda.
I grab my notepad and pencil, slamming the door shut behind me. Elise leans on the deck rail and waves.
“Hey, good morning!”
Hot damn.
Overnight, I forgot how pretty she is. The sun’s rays spill all around her, the early golden light glinting off tanned skin. Her long ponytail sways in the breeze and I catch the faint scent of her perfume, something light and floral.
My heart pounds hard in my chest and blood pumps hard down south. I wave, climbing the wobbly stairs up to the house.
“Hey.” I scribble on my notepad, trying to look professional and regain my composure.
“Already making notes. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing,” she jokes, gnawing at the corner of her bottom lip.
“Nothing major so far. Stairs need repair, shutters need fixing. I’m sure you knew that much.”
She nods as shells crunch loudly behind me. I glance over my shoulder, peering into a cloud of white dust.
“What the —” I mutter as Elise’s eyes widen.
A lifted red truck screeches to a halt in the driveway, then the driver’s door slams.
“Fancy meeting you here, Smitty.” Jagger Capelli leans on the door of his truck, his biceps straining the material of his too-tight T-shirt, dark hair gelled straight back.
“What brings you ‘round here this morning, Jagger?” I narrow my eyes at him, fairly certain I’m standing on the deck of the answer.
“Heard the Bennett house might be on the market. Came to take a look.”
Elise clears her throat, squaring her shoulders. “It’s not for sale.”
Jagger eyes her up and down, his icy gaze lingering far too long on her breasts for my liking.
“You heard the lady, Jag. Move along.” I wave my hand at him and he scowls, shoving a hand in his back pocket.
“I’ll give you my card—” Jagger skulks up the driveway and hands it to Elise. “For when you change your mind.” He winks and a hot flash of anger rips through me.
“I won’t be.” Elise folds the card, sliding it into her pocket, and Jagger leers.
“We’ll see.” Then he strides back to his truck and clambers in, casing the house one more time before gunning out of the driveway.
Elise exhales, long and low. “Who was that, exactly?”
“Jagger Capelli. He and his brothers think they own Seaglass Beach. They’ve been trying to run this town since we were in grade school.”
She twirls her ponytail. “But I take it they don’t?”
“Not even close. The Montgomerys —that’s mine and Parker’s family — own over half of Seaglass Beach and have for generations. The Capellis keep trying to compete, but there’s rules about zoning and protected shoreline. You can’t build wherever and whatever you want around here.”
“I see.” Elise nods, and I note a light splash of freckles across the bridge of her cute nose. A fleeting thought of kissing that exact spot on her skin skates across my mind before I snap back to reality.
“Y’all are cousins, right? You and Parker?”
“Yep. My mom married into the family, so I’m half Montgomery.”
“Got it.”
“Word of warning — whatever you do, don’t get involved with the Capellis. They’re bad news.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Her hazel eyes meet mine and I swallow hard, scrubbing a hand over the back of my neck.
“Wanna show me the rest of the house?”
“Sure, come on in.”
Elise gives me a quick tour of the house — doesn’t take long because there’s not much to it — and then I conduct my own inspection, checking out the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical. She tags along behind me, close enough I feel the warmth radiating from her skin.
“Oh, sorry.” She bumps into me as I unfurl myself from under the kitchen sink.
The bare skin of her arm brushes mine and chill bumps rise, along with a soft pink tint in her cheeks. We lock eyes and my mouth goes dry. The only thing I can think about in this moment is kissing her, trailing my lips down the soft skin of her neck all the way down to her full breasts.
“How’s it look down there?” Elise asks.
“Uh —” My mind goes blank as images of Elise naked in my bed spin wildly through my head.
She points to the sink and my brain catches up. “Fine, it’s fine. We could run into lead pipes, you never know. That’ll be something we may have to budget in.”
“Speaking of budget, when’s the earliest you could give me an estimate? I’m in town until next Saturday, but I’ll mostly be managing the project from Atlanta. At least until the summer.”
My gut clenches as her words catapult me back to reality. Of course she’s going back home. I need to focus on the job, not the client.
Elise leans back against the laminate counter, folding her arms across her stomach, emphasizing her curvy figure all the more.
Focusing on the job is a tough thing to do when your client’s fucking gorgeous.
“I can have numbers to you early next week. Does that work?”
She smiles, her teeth model-perfect. “Should be fine. Meanwhile, I’ll finalize the paperwork. I’m keeping my lawyer busy, that’s for sure.”
At the mention of a lawyer, I perk up. “What do you do in Atlanta? Are you planning on vacationing here? Renting? Sorry, maybe that’s too personal.”
“No, it’s fine,” she says, brushing away my concern. “I’m a stay-at-home mom at the moment. I used to be a teacher, before I had kids. If we can get the house renovated to a livable state, I’d love to summer here with the kids. At least this year, not sure about long-term.”
“Oh.” I run a hand through my hair, trying to seem nonchalant. She’s thinking of being here all summer.
I need to get this reno moving and make it happen. “I’ll have a budget to you as soon as I can then.”
“Great, thank you. I appreciate it.”
We stare at each other for longer than strictly necessary before I finally break the spell between us.
“I’ll call you.”
“Sounds good.”