Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
RENLEY
“Would you say that I’m a plumber now?” Theo asks as he swipes at his sweat-drenched brow.
“No,” I answer, putting my tools away.
“But I helped with the toilet and I just helped install a new bathroom sink. You don’t think that should give me the credentials of a plumber?”
“You handed me tools and I did most of the work, and even at that, I wouldn’t call myself a plumber.”
“But maybe with our powers combined, we can call ourselves plumbers?”
“Not even a little,” I answer, taking a step back from the sink and admiring our work.
I decided to replace the vanity with one that I found at the antique store.
It fits better with the theme, but I had to get a new faucet that we just installed.
Now that it’s all together, it looks so good. “It came out so great,” I say in awe.
“It did. I really like it. What do we have left in here?”
“The floors, the walls. I think we should paint the beadboard next, wallpaper should come in soon, and then we can finish up with the floors.”
“Are you going to sand them and stain them like the others?”
I shake my head, staring down at them. “As much as I’d love to do that, I don’t think it’s going to work or be worth the time and money.
There is a lot of water damage in the corners and around the sink.
I think we need to rip them out and replace with a fun tile. Have to check the budget first though.”
“Don’t mind the budget, I can get whatever we need.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not taking more from you. There are some really sturdy, inexpensive options that we can choose from, so I’ll go to the flooring store and pick something out.”
“Where’s that?”
“About an hour away,” I say. “I think I’ll go tomorrow.”
“Can I go with you?” he asks, like a little puppy wanting to follow me everywhere I go.
“I mean, if you want to, you can. I’m just picking out floors.”
“Yeah, but I’ve never done anything like that before.” He’s so cute. “I think it would be fun.”
“Then, yes, if you want to go with me, you can.”
He lights up. “Great.”
I study him for a second, a stark contrast with the man that I first met when he came to Cape Meril.
Starched, rigid, and pressed in a fitted suit, he might have had the same teasing personality as he does now, but his reasoning and need to be here have changed.
And I might be getting this all wrong, but it almost seems like he’s seizing the opportunity to gain life experience, do things he’s never done before.
Hence the disheveled hair, the sweat on his brow, and the genuine smile on his face.
“What?” he asks.
“Nothing.” I shake my head and move past him.
“No, not nothing. What were you just thinking?” he asks, following behind me.
“It’s stupid.” I pick up the trash we accumulated.
He helps and says, “Bet it’s not. Just tell me.”
Pausing, I say, “You just seem different from when you first came here is all.”
He nods. “Yes, I feel different.”
“Really?” I ask.
“I do. But then again, that could be from the dry humping last night.”
How did I know he was going to say that?
“I released some of the demons inside of me with that ejaculation.”
“Oh my God, Theo, do not say that.”
He lets out a wallop of a laugh. “You don’t like that you helped me release my inner demons?”
“I didn’t like anything about that sentence, including using the word ‘ejaculation.’”
“Would you prefer a different term?”
“I’d prefer you stop talking about it.”
He shakes his head in mirth. “Such a prude.”
Perhaps, but I’m okay with that.
We finish cleaning, and when we’re done, I lean against the wall, letting out a deep breath.
“I’m exhausted,” I say.
“Maybe because you’ve been going at it ever since I met you. You’ve been working nonstop. Do you even know how to relax?”
“Yeah…in a pond.”
His eyes light up. “Well, then don’t mind if I do.”
He takes my hand in his, but I stop him. “I still have more to do here.”
“No, I think you’re good.”
“Theo, I’m serious.”
“So am I. You’ve already mowed several lawns today, you’ve painted someone’s fence, and then you came here to change out a vanity.
It’s past eight, and frankly, I’ve been here since the wee hours of the morning, battling mice, mouse poop, and expired jelly beans.
I say we call it a night, grab our swimming costumes, and go to the lake. ”
“That’s what you think?” I ask.
“Yes, that’s what I think.” Then he takes my hand and leads me out of the shop, making sure to lock up with my key.
“You know, you can be very demanding.”
“I’m aware,” he answers as we make our way down the street, right to the corner store, where Theo leads me inside.
“What are we getting in here?” I ask.
“Some of those cookies. I’ve been thinking about them all bloody day.”
Chuckling, I follow him to the cookie case. I grab a brown bag and he opens the case just as someone says, “I heard you were distracted, but I wasn’t sure it was true.”
I glance over my shoulder to find Marjorie standing behind me, with a cart full of watermelons and champagne, looking oh so pleased with herself, as if she has caught me red-handed.
“What?” I ask.
Marjorie gestures to Theo. “There’s been talk that you’ve been wasting your time with a tourist, and it looks like everyone was right. Just as we suspected would happen when we gave you the candy store: you wouldn’t follow through.”
Embarrassment heats my cheeks as I find the right words to respond. But I don’t get a chance as Theo steps right in.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Theo says, shutting the cookie case.
“Theo, it’s fine.” I press my hand to his arm.
“The fuck it is,” he says, stepping up to Marjorie’s cart. “Did you really just come up to Renley and insult her? Not even a hello, not even a check in? Just straight to insult?”
Marjorie lifts her chin. “Please, the dramatics are not necessary.”
“Look in the goddamn mirror, lady. Jesus Christ. We’re over here getting cookies after a hard day of work, and you decide to start trouble for no reason other than to act like a massive cunt?”
Marjorie clutches her pearls. “I beg your pardon?”
“Please don’t beg me for anything. Here’s your one and only warning—stay the fuck away from Renley, keep her name out of your mouth, and leave her be. Got it?”
“You…you can’t talk to me like that.”
“The fuck I can’t. Trust me when I say, I have so much pull in this world that if I wanted to, I could end you. So leave her the fuck alone.” Then with that, Theo loops his arm around my shoulders and walks me toward the front of the market, grabs us two lemonades, and then pays for our food.
When we’re outside, far away from Marjorie and headed to our houses, my mind wanders to what he said, how he was so quick to defend me, without even giving it a second thought. She insulted me, but it was almost like she insulted him.
He took charge.
He owned her in that moment and put her in her place.
It was…amazing.
It felt nice, being taken care of like that.
I tend to be the one that takes care of everything and everyone, but to have someone step up and defend me like that…
it almost makes me want to drop to the sidewalk, bury my head in my hands, and just cry.
Because it’s a relief. A weight lifted off my shoulders.
It makes me feel not so alone in all of this.
And that’s terrifying, because I can feel myself gravitating toward him. I can feel myself wanting him to stay, to be here longer than just the summer.
But most importantly, I can feel my walls breaking down, giving this man a straight path right to my heart.
After a few moments of silence, I say, “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did. How dare she treat you like that? Also, I was not going to let a lady buying seven watermelons and eight bottles of champagne treat you as if you’re beneath her. Completely unacceptable.”
My lips tug up. “That was a weird amount of watermelon and champagne.”
“You can’t tell me she’s not about to do some sort of freaky slip-and-slide and charge money for it. Guaranteed that’s where she’s off to. So she can fuck right off.”
“Well, thank you,” I say, tugging on his arm. “It meant a lot to me.”
More than he will know.
“Anytime, Gossy.” He winks.
When we reach our houses, he pulls me toward his to take a seat on the steps of his front porch. He hands me a lemonade and opens the bag of cookies.
I take one, thank him, and then lean my head against his shoulder as I take a bite.
“Where do you think your butler and my gelding are?”
“No idea,” he answers. “But if they’re at the pond, I’ll scream.”
“They’re not. Aunt Kitty hates the pond. She prefers the beach if she’s going to go in water. Or a bath.”
“Rupert loves a bath,” he says absentmindedly and then pauses. “Hold up, do you think they’re taking a bath together?”
“Why would you think that?” I ask, my expression turning into a cringe.
“I don’t know, they’re getting really close…it’s just the first thing that came to mind.”
“Well get it out of your head. They’re not bathing together. Jeez, Theo.”
He chuckles. “Sorry.” He takes a bite from his cookie. “Shit, these are so good. This is one of those secret finds that you don’t stumble upon unless you’re paying attention to obscure food blogs or you live here.”
“It does seem to be a town secret.” He loops his arm around me and I snuggle in closer. “Glad you know it though, because your obsession is feeding my obsession.”
“Just here to serve, love.”
He tips back the rest of his lemonade and sets it on the stairs. The sounds of a summer night surround us, with chirping and a light breeze whistling through the leaves. “Do you like baths?”
“I prefer ponds with rope swings.”
“You know.” He rubs his hand over his cheek. “I’d have told you a year ago, I prefer the bath, but now, I have to admit, the pond with a rope swing is by far superior. But only if the pond comes with you.”
“And if it didn’t?” I ask.
“Then butler, draw me a bath.”
I let out a deep laugh, one that I feel comes from my very soul, because that’s what happens when he’s around. He makes me happy.
He has been able to crack me, open me up, and pull out my joy with every joke, every sarcastic quip, and every sweet and endearing moment I’ve had with him.
I nuzzle in a touch closer.
God, I like him. I didn’t want to, I tried to hold off, to just be friends and push him away, but what it comes down to is that I can try to avoid him all I want; it won’t change the fact that he’s captivated me.
And there’s nothing that can change that.
“How many swimming costumes do you have?” Theo asks as we set our towels down on the rocks in front of the pond.
I chose a bikini again. This one has a cheeky bottom and a strapless top. It’s my tanning bikini, but I thought, why not give him a show?
“A few,” I answer. “Your suit looks freshly laundered.”
“The butler took care of it for me.”
I chuckle. “Wow, I hope you pay him well.”
“Had to after last night’s ejaculation.”
“Oh my God, stop!”
He laughs and then moves over to the rope. He grabs hold of it, leaps into the air, and then plops into the pond, causing the cool water to ripple and splash. When he pops up and shakes his hair to the side, I grab the rope as well and leap in, joining him.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
“Ready for what?”
“Truth or dare.”
“I don’t know, are you going to be able to keep up today? You could barely hold up yesterday.”
“Because I thought we were supposed to keep things PG-13.” He splashes a little water in my direction. “Pardon me for wanting to play by the rules.”
“You were not playing by the rules, nice try. But just because I’m feeling extra kind today, given your struggles from yesterday, how about we drop the rules?”
His brows rise. “Drop the rules? I don’t think you’ll be able to handle that.”
“Please, I can handle it.”
He lightly shakes his head. “You have no idea the kind of stuff I can come up with.”
“You act as if I’m not a threat.”
“Oh trust me, in that bikini, I know just how much of a threat you are.”
I swim by him, my arm grazing his. “Then your warning leads me to believe that you’re scared. And the reason you won’t drop the rules is because you’re nervous to hear what I might ask or make you do.”
“Never been scared a day in my life.”
“Didn’t a mouse scare you today?” I ask.
“The mouse didn’t scare me. It was the removal of his tail that made me queasy. There’s a big difference.”
Chuckling, I ask, “Okay then, so no rules?”
“Fine.” He shrugs as if to say, I warned you. “No rules.” Then his eyes lock on mine and he says, “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” I answer.
With a devilish smirk, he replies, “I dare you to skinny-dip with me.”