6. Nora
Chapter 6
Nora
My heart rate lowered as Sully strode away from me.
Well, that was weird. It wasn’t like this was the first time I’d been around him half naked. We hung out most summers when we were teens and I’d never had that kind of a reaction to him. Well, not raw attraction.
I certainly had noticed how he filled out his uniform and how he looked in a bathing suit on the lake.
But not like… that . And now twice in a handful of days.
Shaking it off, I looked down at my phone and rewatched the raw footage of him singing under the sink. There was no doubt that Sullivan Murdock took care of his body. I figured I was immune to superior male bodies after being around the locker room, thanks to Booker.
Not that I’d been in the locker room much in the last few years.
We’d led very separate lives.
But working in Los Angeles there was no shortage of prime male specimens around. And yet Sully, with his work-rough body, had given me the first flutter of... something in a long time.
“Attraction. You can say it,” I muttered. I hadn’t been with anyone other than Booker in the whole of my life. Even when the divorce had dragged on for nearly a year, I’d been too focused on wrapping up things with my work.
I shook my head. Sullivan Murdock—not sure that was a good idea.
Still shaking my head, I wandered into the secondary bedroom I’d set up with my laptop and monitor for editing purposes. I loaded in the short video and started tweaking. Handily, the song was just off-trend enough to make for a different video.
By the time music was trendy, it was being oversaturated on the social media platforms.
The older song from the late 2000s might just hit the right notes. Especially when most of us in our mid thirties were doing the first home buy or remodel. At least those of us who could afford it.
I had a sizable settlement from my divorce. I was pretty sure most of it was related to guilt on Booker’s end, but I wasn’t stupid or prideful enough not to take it. Especially when the lure for a home had been overwhelming.
I worked on researching the other videos out there for remodeling. So many of them were stiff and formal. I made some tweaks to the video and somehow an hour had passed. I usually made much more professional videos, but I had a feeling that rawness of it would work in Sullivan’s favor.
I dug through his social media, wincing at the shitty photos.
Even if he didn’t want to be my first client, I was going to help him. It was the least I could do for an old friend.
I put up the short video under my personal account and tagged his company. At worst, even if it flopped, it couldn’t hurt.
And most of my high school friends that I’d kept in touch with still followed my personal account. At the very least Indigo Falls would get a kick out of seeing the ever-sturdy and stable Sully rocking out to some old school music.
Since I was already on the laptop, I buzzed through my emails quickly before I went back out to the kitchen. Sully was putting dishes from my sink into the dishwasher.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I told him, rushing in.
“Just want to start a load so I can check and make sure—jeez.” He pulled out his phone from his pocket. “This thing is going crazy.”
I peeked around his arm to see his notifications. I gave a delighted squeak.
“What?” He looked down at me. Unfortunately, he’d gone out to his truck for a new shirt. This one smelled like it came fresh out of the dryer, without his usual cedar layer of scent. Guess most of that had been washed off from his battle with the water lines.
I cleared my throat. “Oh, nothing.”
He eased me out from behind him. “What did you do?”
“Well, you said I could post it.”
He tipped his head back. Then suddenly, text notifications started from his phone.
“I did tag your work account,” I said with a shrug. I saw the work order on the counter. Sully’s strong, slanted printed handwriting filled the bottom of the form. The amount at the bottom wasn’t nearly enough for the hours he’d been there. “Hey, make sure you charge Gene for all you did today.”
“I did.”
“You definitely did not. I think rerouting plumbing or whatever you were doing down there to get an extra shower was worth more.”
“Not how it works around here. You’ve been gone too long, Nora.”
“Evidently,” I mumbled.
His phone buzzed and jangled again, and he pulled it out, silencing it. Didn’t stop the buzzing, however.
“Thanks for your help. How about I make you dinner for a thank you?”
“I’m paid.” His eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
“Yes, but I’m an exceptional cook. You can bring your son over and he can sit in the purple chair. I even have a couch now.” I gestured to the kitchen table. “Seats all over the place.”
He pressed his lips together. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
I grinned up at him. “We’re friends, right? At least we used to be.”
“Sure. Friends.”
“I’ll invite the new Chief of police.”
He frowned.
“Didn’t hear yet? Your mom falling down on the job?”
“More like I’ve been distracted.”
“Remember Parker Olsen?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Park is the new Chief?”
Surprised he knew her nickname. “I didn’t know you knew her.”
“Yeah, not that well. But we were lab partners for chem and bio. Last I heard she was in Chicago. I know her brother pretty well. He helped me with transferring the business over from Dad to me.”
“So, how many of the brothers are working for you?”
“Just me, mostly. Kai and Cash help out sometimes during the summers when I have bigger jobs.” He swore and dug out his phone. “This keeps up my battery will be…” He trailed off, swiping. “Holy shit.”
“What?”
“What the hell kind of video was it?”
I laughed. “I am quite handy with editing software. Not that I had to. You have exceptional raw materials to work with.”
He glanced at me, one eyebrow spiking. “Exceptional, huh?”
Was I blushing?
I felt like I was.
I pulled my own phone out of my back pocket, my mouth dropping open. “Oh, shit. You went viral.”
“Viral? Me ?”
I laughed as I watched the views quickly tick higher and higher. Reshares flooded my notifications. I’d posted it on two different social media apps, and both were going crazy.
Which was almost unheard of.
Then again, people were tired of the usual influencers selling stuff.
Sully wasn’t selling anything other than skin and a hot guy doing his job.
And it was working.
“I’ll have you know half our graduating class is texting me or answering this video. Along with so many other people. Can you even put that on a video?” He turned his phone around.
“He can plumb my depths. Does the hose come when I hire you? When I hire you, can I request shirtless like this job?” I laughed out loud. “Oh, Sully, that’s tame.”
“He can wring me out like that rag in his pocket,” he said when he turned around his phone. “I can’t even say that one.” His cheeks turned ruddy.
I skimmed through a few of the comments and even my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. “There are some thirsty people watching this video. Almost a million of them.”
“What?” His voice boomed.
“You should probably check your work orders. There might be a few waiting for you.”
He frowned. “Why would there be?”
“Oh, you sweet summer child. Don’t you know how the internet works?”
“Obviously not.” His thumbs flew over the screen and his gaze shot to meet mine. “Well, hell.”
“Got a few?” He flashed me the screen and I shoved my phone into my pocket, grabbing his. “Does that say thirty?”
“It does.”
“Think you might need to call in those brothers of yours.”
He scratched the back of his head. “I think you’re right. Might have to take a raincheck on that dinner.”
“My door’s always open. And maybe I need to go on a few jobs with you. Beef up those videos for you.”
“Dear God.”
“Gotta capitalize on your viral moment, Sully. Helps that you have hot brothers, as well. At least they were the last time I saw them.”
His gaze darkened. “You think they’re hot?”
“I remember Ripley being quite delicious.” I tried to hide the smile, but my lips wouldn’t cooperate.
“Watch it, Baker.”
I handed him back his phone. “Oh, I am. And so is most of Indigo Valley.”