Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Scott
“Going back to what happened earlier,” I say. “I don’t know what to do. I could apologize, but I’m not going to take back what I said.”
“You don’t need to. Just act normal. Go over there, install the shower head, and leave.”
“Just forget this morning ever happened? I feel like I need to do more than that.”
“Why? You said something that upset her, but you weren’t doing it to be mean. You did it because you didn’t want her getting back with her ex.” He pauses, smiling a little. “You’re really making a big deal out of this, which makes me wonder… do you like this girl?”
“Not the way you’re thinking.”
“I think it is how I’m thinking. That’s why you’re getting involved in this, and why you’re spending all this time trying to figure out what to say to her.”
I shake my head. “You’re wrong. I just felt bad when I upset her and thought I should apologize.”
“You felt bad because you like her.”
“I felt bad because I’m a nice guy.”
“You don’t feel bad when Bridget gets upset.”
“Bridget gets upset when I don’t do what she says. That’s different. I’m not even dating her and she thinks she can boss me around.”
“Are you two still hooking up?”
“No, I talked to her yesterday and told her we’re not doing that anymore.”
“Interesting timing. Trina moves in, and you tell Bridget it’s over?”
“It had nothing to do with Trina moving in. Would you stop making this into something it’s not? I like Trina, but not the way you’re thinking.”
“So you’re not attracted to her?”
“No.”
“Have you seen her?”
I smile. “Yeah, I get it. She’s hot. But I don’t think of her that way.”
“Yeah, right.” He rolls his eyes.
“Okay, yeah, maybe I think of her that way, but it’s not like anything would happen.”
“Why not?”
“Didn’t we just talk about this? She’s in love with her ex.”
“People can fall out of love. It happens all the time.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not the guy to make that happen. I don’t do relationships. And I am not getting in the middle of this mess she has going on with her ex.”
Cole shrugs. “Fine, but you know some other guy’s gonna ask her out. Maybe even someone in the building.”
“Doesn’t matter. She won’t go out with him. Even if she wasn’t hung up on her ex, she told me she’s not dating for two years.”
“Why two years?”
“I guess she thinks it’ll take that long to get over her ex.” I hear someone walking down the hall. “I think that’s her.” I get up. “I’m going to change out the shower head before she leaves for work.”
“You want me to do it? Then you wouldn’t have to deal with her.”
“I’ll do it. I need to talk to her. I’ll see you later.” I go to the closet where I keep my tools. When I come back, Cole is gone, but I hear him talking outside my door.
Grabbing the shower head, I go out to the hall and see Cole standing there with Trina.
“How do you like your new job?” he asks.
“It’s okay.” Trina glances at me. “But it’s not enough hours. I need to find something else.”
“Hey.” I hold up my wrench. “I was just about to install your shower head, unless you want me to do it later.”
“Now is good. I have some time before I have to leave for work.”
“You said you’re looking for another job?” Cole says to Trina.
“For now, yeah. I’d like to find a job in fashion, but that could take a while.”
“Scott’s looking for help. Maybe you could apply for the job.”
What is Cole doing? He needs to shut up. I’m not hiring Trina.
“What’s the job?” Trina asks.
“There isn’t one,” I say, glaring at Cole. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
Cole turns to me. “You keep saying you want to hire someone to organize your storage units.” He turns back to Trina. “It would only be temporary, but it’s easy and it’s right here in the building.”
“Cole, let it go. She doesn’t want to—”
“Sounds perfect,” Trina says, her eyes going to me. “But it’s really up to Scott.”
Cole smiles at me. “What do you think?”
“I think you need to go,” I say, not at all amused by his little trick for me to spend more time with Trina.
“I’ll let you two talk it out,” he says, walking away. “See ya, Trina.”
“Bye, Cole.”
“Let’s get this done,” I say, going past Trina to her apartment.
She opens her door and we go inside.
“I put out some traps,” I tell her. “They’re concealed, so if we catch something, you won’t see it.”
“Thanks for doing that. Now maybe I’ll actually sleep tonight.”
I go into her bathroom. “This shouldn’t take long. I’ve changed out a lot of these.”
She doesn’t say anything, and when I look back, I see her sitting on the floor, swiping through her phone. She probably doesn’t want to talk to me after our chat this morning.
A few minutes later, I’ve got the new shower head on. I turn on the water to try it out.
“You want to see it?” I say to Trina.
She races up behind me and I step back so she can come into the bathroom.
“I love it! It’s so much better than the other one. I think I’ll take a shower and test it out.”
An image of that pops in my head and I scold myself for it. I’m not supposed to think of her that way. And yet it keeps happening, like this morning when she was in my bedroom.
Cole was right. I’m attracted to her, more than I want to admit, which is why I shouldn’t be spending time with her. Not that anything would happen. She’s committed to someone else. But why be tempted? It’s better to just stay away.
She shuts off the shower and comes out of the bathroom. “It’s a lot better. Thanks for fixing it.”
“Sure. You need anything else?”
“About what Cole said.” She walks up to me. “Are you really looking to hire someone?”
“Not really. I mean, yeah, I’ve been wanting to get those storage units organized, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.”
“I’m available if you want me to do it. I’m only working nights for now so my days are free.”
“Don’t you want to spend that time looking for a job? A job you actually want?”
“I’m not sure what I want. I don’t think I want to go back to working for a designer.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I haven’t decided. I want something in fashion, but maybe not on the design side.” She smiles a little. “That’s the first time I’ve admitted that. I’ve spent my whole life telling people I want to design clothes. It feels strange to say I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“Why? You’re allowed to change your mind.”
“But this has been my plan since I was a little girl. I was going to go to New York, go to fashion school, and become a famous designer. If I don’t follow through, I feel like I’m giving up my dream.”
“You’re not giving it up. Like you said, you can still work in fashion.”
“Yeah, I’m just not sure what I’d do. Anyway, back to the job. If you want help with your storage units, I could really use the money. I’m excellent at organizing. I did it all the time at my old job. I could get you references, if you want.”
She’s really eager to do this, and I know she needs the money. But having her work for me means having to see her all the time. I’m not sure that’s a good idea.
“Would you at least consider it?” she asks. “I’d really like something to do during the day. It’s kind of depressing being in this apartment all the time, and then I think about Asher and—”
“Yes,” I blurt out. “I’ll hire you.”
Her face lights up. “Really?”
I shouldn’t do this, but I’d rather have her working for me than spending all day thinking about her ex. And it would be nice to get those storage units cleaned up.
“You can start this week if you want.”
“That’d be great!” She bites her lip. “So, um, what does it pay?”
I pause to think about that. “How about I don’t charge you rent this month? I’ve already deposited the money, but I can transfer it back to you.”
“Are you sure? That seems like kind of a lot for just working a few hours a week.”
“I think it’ll be more than a few. Those storage units are a mess. We can go take a look at them now if you want.”
“Yeah, I should probably see what I’m getting myself into.” She grabs her keys from the counter.
“Hey, before we go, I’m sorry about this morning. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“But you did.” She walks over to me. “And I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”
I nod. “Got it. I won’t say any more about it.”
She smiles. “Then we’re good.” She goes past me to the door. “Do I need a hazard suit for this?”
“It’s not that bad,” I say with a laugh.
That went better than I was expecting. The way she ran out on me this morning, I thought she’d still be upset. I didn’t think she’d get over it this fast. Maybe she’s only doing it because of the job. The one I wasn’t planning on giving her.
Stupid Cole. I can’t believe he told her I was looking to hire someone. If this is his attempt at matchmaking, he’s wasting his time. He knows I don’t want a girlfriend, and if I did, it wouldn’t be some girl whose heart belongs to someone else.