Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MONDAY
RYDER
Ziggy sat at my feet wearing his best hangdog expression—the one I always caved to.
I added flour to the pancake batter and tried to ignore him.
A pathetic whine escaped his tiny lips and I sighed and put down my spoon.
“Enough,” I grumbled. “I’m not letting you into the hall.
Thaddeus worked late last night. He deserves a sleep-in. Give the poor guy a break.”
Ziggy yapped and pressed his nose to the closed door once again.
“Shhh.” I scooped him into my arms. “Bad dog. Come on, you can have a piece of bacon if you promise not to bark.” Ziggy wriggled with delight like he understood the word, which he probably did. I had the bacon in my hand when the front door closed with a bang and footsteps sounded in the hall.
“Honey, I’m home!”
“Oh, God.” I set Ziggy on the floor with his piece of bacon and braced for the awkward conversation which was surely coming.
Right on cue, the hall door opened and Tap strode into the kitchen. He took one look at the makings of yet another large breakfast and a wicked grin stole over his face. “Oh. My. God. He’s still here, isn’t he? That’s why you’ve been ignoring all of my texts.”
“No.” I turned my back and poured another ladle of pancake mixture into the pan. “I ignored them because you’re being a nosey arsehole. And yes, Thaddeus is still here. But only because he spent all weekend fixing the glasshouse ventilation software . . . stuff.”
A beat of silence was quickly followed by Tap’s unconcealed leer. “Of course he did. That’s what they’re calling it these days, is it?”
I ignored Tap’s smug smile and reached for the spatula. “More to the point, why are you here? I thought the plan was to meet at the Coleman property this morning?”
“I thought I’d better check in since you’d gone silent.
” Tap tiptoed back toward the hall and, after a long look, gave a disappointed sigh and returned to the kitchen.
“You’ve still got him stashed in the guest bedroom?
After three nights?” He shoved my shoulder.
“What’s wrong with you, man? Have you lost your game completely? ”
“Don’t start with me.” I flipped the pancake while Tap helped himself to coffee. “I’m not a degenerate like you were. I don’t need to jump every guy who catches my attention.”
“Not every guy.” Tap winked and took a seat at the breakfast bar. “Besides, I’m a changed man now.”
I snorted. “Because Will would cut your dick off if you cheated on him.”
Tap grinned. “True, but I wouldn’t do that to him, regardless. I love Will, much as I can’t believe I’m actually saying those fucking words.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I know you do.”
Tap managed a blush over those deep olive cheeks, then he poked me in the ribs. “At least you admit this guy has caught your attention. It’s only taken eight years for someone to.”
I tried not to roll my eyes, but it was a done deal. “Of course he caught my attention. Have you seen him? He’s hot. I’d have to be dead not to notice. I’m pathetic, not oblivious. Besides, it’s seven years, not eight.”
Tap pinned me with a look.
I got busy with my batter. “Okay, I’ll admit it’s almost eight.
But Thaddeus isn’t a bloody target at some club, Tap.
He’s a nice guy who’s going through something big.
” I fixed my friend with a steady eye. “And I happen to know what that’s like, remember?
He needs a friend, not a hook-up. And a little time to regroup. ”
Tap studied me with interest. “So, that’s what you’re doing here? Giving a friend some time to regroup?”
And it was my turn to blush. “Shut up. I—” My ears pricked at the sound of distant yapping, and I swore.
“You left the damn door open.” I lightly punched Tap’s bicep as I passed on my way to retrieve Ziggy.
I’d taken one step into the hall when Thaddeus’s bedroom door opened, and the man himself stepped through .
. . in his briefs . . . and nothing else.
Oblivious to me gaping at him, Thaddeus picked Ziggy up and retreated into his room.
Jesus Christ. I shut the hall door and put my back to it, leaving me face to face with Tap, who’d been staring over my shoulder.
“Oh yes. Very nice indeed.” He waggled his brows, then clapped me on the back.
“How’s that martyrdom sitting on your shoulders after that eyeful?
Must be rewarding to know you’ll be sending the poor man home unsullied by your touch.
Some other guy can help him get back on the horse, right?
” Tap grinned. “Then again, at least you’re not a douchebag.
Lord knows what the other guy will be like. ”
I stabbed a finger Tap’s way. “I’m immune to your Jedi mind tricks. Now grab a plate. I wanna be out of here in twenty minutes.”
Thaddeus chose that moment to walk into the room with Ziggy under his arm. He wore my old sweats and T-shirt, not the new clothes he’d bought when we’d gone shopping. “Something smells good.”
I eyeballed my loyal canine companion and growled, “I told you not to wake him.”
“Morning, Thad,” Tap drawled a little pointedly.
I fired him a warning glare, but Thaddeus barely looked up as he passed on his way to me.
He mumbled, “Hi, Tap.” Then to me, “No problem. I was already awake.” He set Ziggy on the floor and squinted against the bright sunlight flooding the kitchen.
I answered with a wry smile. “Awake, huh? So, all that snoring I heard was just my imagination.”
He looked up and scowled. “I do not snore.” He declared it in such a way that indicated he knew perfectly well that he did. He came close and studied the frying pan with undisguised pleasure. “Yum. Pancakes again. Do we have jam this time?”
Tap mouthed the word we, accompanied by a pair of raised eyebrows, but I ignored him. “In the pantry,” I told Thaddeus. “Help yourself.”
“Your phone is ringing.” Thaddeus slid the phone with its flashing screen across the breakfast bar, yawned, and disappeared into the walk-in pantry.
I grabbed the phone and swore when I saw Tim’s name on the screen. I’d had the thing on silent. I lifted it to my ear. “Sorry, Tim, I was trying not to wake—”
I broke off when I caught Tap’s whispered, “Aw that’s sweet.”
—and simply said, “What’s up?”
As I listened to Tim, I shoved the spatula toward Tap and mouthed, Make yourself useful. Then I took the phone into the family room, where I could speak to my lawyer in peace.
When I hung up five minutes later, both Tap and Thaddeus were staring at me over plates piled high with pancakes and bacon. Thaddeus pushed a third plate my way and pulled out the chair next to him.
He patted it. “Sit. Tap says you need to leave soon. You can talk and eat at the same time.”
I didn’t need to look at Tap to know he wore a shit-eating grin from ear to ear as Thaddeus ordered me around.
“Yeah, take a seat, Ryder,” Tap repeated mildly. “Thaddeus thoughtfully dished you up a plate to save time.” Unseen by Thaddeus, Tap batted his lashes, and I was going to kill the smug arsehole.
I dropped into the seat and reached for the maple syrup.
“The bastards got permission to cut an access road into the land behind,” I growled.
“Tim tried to fight it, but the ruling stands. Since the council legally owns that land, I can’t actually stop them.
Tim said they intend to make a start soon. ”
Thaddeus scowled. “But I thought they needed permission to use your driveway for the drop-off and turnaround?”
I blew out a long sigh. “So did I. But they found a workaround. There’s actually a paper road on the plans that was never actuated, and it runs through my land.”
“Storten Road.” Thaddeus poked his fork my way. “I saw the sign. But that road’s a dead end. It stops just the other side of your driveway.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “But the land allocated to it is technically council land, not mine, which means they have a right to use it however they want, and even develop it into a road if they choose to. The presence of the paper road is part of the reason the land was leasehold to start with.”
“But—” Thaddeus shook his head, a deep crease cutting across his brow. “—you said it crosses your land?”
Tap nodded. “It runs right through the chicken shed to the river. It would effectively cut the property in two.”
“Jesus.” Thaddeus paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, his gaze bouncing between us. “And that didn’t bother you when you took over the lease?”
“Not really.” I swallowed the mouthful of pancake I was chewing and then explained, “The original map is over a hundred years old. A lot has changed since then. A road there has no purpose now. The other side of the river is legally protected conservation land. It can’t ever be built on, so there’s nowhere for the road to go.
Which is another reason the council was originally keen to sell the land to the leaseholders.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t invoke some dusty right of ownership for whatever they need now.
Technically, the paper road land is still theirs.
And since my driveway branches off the old paper road, there’s not much I can do to fight it. My address is actually Storten Road.”
“It would give them plenty of room to create a turnaround.” Tap pressed his lips together and sighed. “Dirty bastards.” He pushed his plate away and patted his belly. “Thanks for the breakfast, Ry, but I’ve lost my appetite.”
Thaddeus pushed his remaining pancake to the side of his plate. “Me too. Can you protest? Like another injunction or something?”
I shook my head. “Tim tried, but this is a much more black-and-white issue than the lease hearing. There’s really not much I can do to stop them.
” I pushed my chair back and stood. “Come on, Tap. We should go. Grab the extra gear and I’ll meet you in the truck.
” I reached for Tap’s plate, but Thaddeus beat me to it, his hand circling my wrist.
“Not a chance.” He met my gaze, the soft gold in his eyes almost khaki in the dull light of the cloudy morning. “Get going. I’ll clean up.” The squeeze he gave my wrist may as well have been around my damn cock for the way I reacted.
Thaddeus’s smile warmed like he knew, and heat pooled in my groin.
I slowly pulled free of his grasp, his fingers trailing down my hand and leaving fire in their wake.
“Thanks, Thaddeus. You’ve got my number if you need me.
We’re only a fifteen-minute drive away today.
I can pop back if you need me. Oh, and if a truckload of landscaping rocks arrives, just send them to dump it by the machinery shed. It’ll save them calling me at work.”
Thaddeus nodded. “Will do.”
I grabbed my keys and water bottle and headed for where Tap was waiting in the hall. At the last minute, I turned back. “Hey, Thaddeus?”
He looked up from the dishwasher, his gaze curious. “Yes?”
“We, ah, well, we didn’t really talk about it, and I was wondering if you’d still be here tonight?
When I get back? I know you said you’d be finished writing the new ventilation software this morning, or the irrigation one, I can’t remember which, so I just wondered.
” It sounded even more pathetically needy aloud than it did in my head.
In the hall behind me, Tap give a choked laugh.
Thaddeus studied me, his expression unreadable. “Do you want me to still be here?”
Did I? The million-dollar question. The sensible part of me screamed, No.
Go home. Thaddeus was never going to be more than a temporary splash of colour in my world.
He needed to go home and sort out his life.
A life which didn’t include any of the things I held dear, like gardens and isolation and shit.
And he needed to leave before I did something very, very stupid.
I caught his gaze and held it. “Yes. If you think the extra time would help, then yes. I’d like that.”
Or I could do the stupid thing and to hell with the consequences.