Chapter 4 #2
“I don’t get it,” Ava said. “What’s wrong with nice?”
“Nice is kryptonite,” Roxie could finally spit out. “How is he nice?” she asked me.
“Besides buying Miss Laverne groceries, he pulls out Miss Laverne’s chair for her to sit down, and he always clears the table and loads the dishwasher because we’ve cooked. He’s just really nice.”
“Yeah. I get it now,” Ava nodded. “You’re screwed.”
“I give it two weeks before you go on a real date,” Roxie nodded sagely.
I rolled my eyes, but deep down, I was pretty sure she was right.
The sound of something loud hitting the side of the house ripped me from sleep, and I bolted upright.
What the hell?
My heart was racing a mile a minute.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and pressed in 9-1-1, so I’d be ready to push send if I needed to. After all, it was six-twenty-six AM, and this neighborhood was always quiet this time of the morning. I listened to the silence. Had I imagined it? I looked out the window.
A car door slammed.
“Where do you want this?” a man yelled.
“Over here,” another man yelled.
I heard and felt feet pounding up Miss Laverne’s porch steps.
How big was that guy?
Was he a gorilla?
He was practically shaking the house.
“Here you go.”
This did not sound like anybody breaking and entering.
I looked out my window, but it looked out over the backyard, so I didn’t see anything. I needed to get my ass out of bed and look out the front.
Usually, I would just walk out of my bedroom door in my sleep shirt since it was just Miss Laverne and me, but since we had company, I threw on pajama shorts, a mandatory bra, then grabbed a tank top since it was already getting hot.
Shuffling out of my bedroom, I headed to the kitchen.
Miss Laverne was at the stove making pancakes. She always cooked breakfast for me, even though I told her every day she didn’t have to. But since she watched me swallow down everything she put in front of me like it was my last meal, she continued to feed me.
“What’s going on?” I mumbled.
“Graham brought some boys from the neighborhood to paint the house. Isn’t that sweet?” She leaned into me, and I gave her a squeeze around the waist. “I have raspberry syrup for your pancakes. I bought it at the farmer’s market.”
Blinking slowly, I tried to take in what she was saying.
Painting.
Raspberry syrup.
Graham.
Got it.
“How many boys are here?”
“I think at least six. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw them all. I offered to feed them breakfast, but they refused. I know it’s early for you, but I was hoping you could bake them muffins or scones or something.”
Dammit, she was using puppy dog eyes, just like my dad.
“I told them to start at the front of the house so as not to wake you, honey. But they are awfully loud,” she admitted. Then she poured more batter into the pan.
The smell of pancakes and bacon frying was turning my frown upside down.
“Why don’t you pour yourself a cup of coffee, honey? I don’t think you’ll be able to sleep until they leave.”
“What time are they leaving?” I asked hopefully.
“Some of them are leaving early, depending on their schedules. Dave Draper has to leave the soonest to open up the hardware store.”
“Dave’s here?” I hadn’t seen him in forever.
“A lot of the guys from Onyx Security are here. Roan, Simon, Jase, and that nice young man Nolan O’Rourke. You probably wouldn’t remember him, he was a few years older than you. He lived over at Blue Ash Village. After having that mother of his, it’s a miracle that he became such a hero.”
I blinked slowly, searching my memory banks but coming up empty. “No, I don’t remember a Nolan O’Rourke. What about the others? I’ve never heard of them.”
Miss Laverne dropped another pancake onto my plate. “The one that had the loudest voice out there is Jase Drakos. He’s even bigger than Graham. He talks a lot and makes me laugh. He comes from the largest family I ever did hear about.”
“Larger than the Ayers?”
“Yep, he has sixteen brothers and sisters.”
I took a large sip of the hot black coffee that I hadn’t had a chance to doctor up, hoping it would help me keep up with Miss Laverne’s info dump.
“Roan and Simon run the safety company. I heard tell that people outside of Tennessee ask them to come and help them. They are very good at what they do.” She smiled as she plopped a fifth pancake on my plate. My God, just how much did she think I could eat?
Another thud hit the house as I was pouring a shit-ton of creamer into my coffee. I’d already thrown in four teaspoons of sugar. All things considered, I deserved it.
“What in the hell is that? Are they trying to demolish your house or paint it?”
Miss Laverne giggled. I grinned over at her. For a moment, I was so captivated by her girlish glee that I forgot about the noise.
“Be careful,” Graham yelled. “You almost broke a window, you asshole.”
I winced and set down my coffee. I stomped through the parlor and flung open the front door.
“What in the hell is going on? Are you trying to paint the house or destroy it?”
Four men stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me… for a long time. I looked down to make sure I wasn’t naked or something. I wasn’t. Hell, what my clothes didn’t cover, my long hair did, so what in the hell was their problem?
Had I grown a second head?
A third eye?
A fifth limb?
“Anyone care to answer my question?” I shoved my fists onto my hips.
Graham came forward and walked up the porch steps, his big body blocking my view of all the other men. “I’m sorry, Doll. We’re definitely not here to trash Miss Laverne’s house. We plan to paint it yellow, just like she wants.”
I looked to the corner of the porch, where I saw a bunch of cans of paint, all labeled Sunflower. Yep, that sounded about right.
“Let me guess,” I said quietly. “You’ve bought the paint, and all the labor is free.”
“No, I didn’t buy the paint, but Dave might be selling it to her at cost.” Graham grinned.
“And the price of labor?”
“You’re paying for that.” His grin turned wicked.
I arched a brow. “How do you figure that?”
“You’re going to be baking a lot of cookies, cakes, and brownies, but I’ll be buying all the supplies for that.”
I studied his hazel eyes and saw mischief and caring.
What a combination.
“I’m in.”
“Never doubted it. Now there’s something special you owe the coordinator of all of this.”
I should have figured. Graham was a smart and wily man. “What could that be?” I kept my voice sounding confused. His expression told me he wasn’t buying it.
“One date. One lunch date that doesn’t include Miss Laverne or anybody else.”
Yep, cunning and wicked. I looked over at the paint cans again and licked my suddenly dry lips. He had me, fair and square, and the bastard knew it. If I said ‘no,’ I’d come off like an ungrateful little brat. But… I didn’t need to sound pleased about it.
I rolled my eyes and gave the biggest sigh possible, then gave him the yes he’d been waiting for.
“Was that really so hard?”
Dammit, I couldn’t stop my grin. “Maybe.”
“Doll, you can’t lie worth shit.”