Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Hudson took a step back and sighed, rotating his shoulders, which were aching. He’d just finished stripping the last of the horrendous wallpaper in the front foyer. The entryway had a tall ceiling, so he’d spent the last few hours on a ladder, stripping the highest parts.
Today was technically the end of Paige’s one-month trial. After the Battle of the Living Room—that was how he and Paige referred to the war they’d waged against the wallpaper in there—he’d started getting calls from other people in town, looking to hire him.
He was sure he had Granddad and Paige and probably Macie to thank for that, because he hadn’t expected things to start booming quite so quickly, though God knew Ryan Construction needed it to.
Most of the work he’d been called to do so far had been minor repairs or emergency plumbing jobs, the types of things that didn’t require more than a couple hours or a contractor.
Regardless, he’d said yes to all of it, aware he needed to climb the ladder of success one rung at a time.
And those tiny jobs had done exactly what he’d hoped. Opened the door to bigger opportunities.
After fixing a clogged garbage disposal in Mrs. Kenner’s kitchen, Mr. Kenner asked Hudson about putting a new roof on the house as soon as spring hit. That contract had already been signed, the job scheduled.
Mr. Kenner mentioned his work to Mr. Hott, who then called and asked Ryan Construction to bid on repairs he hoped to do to the Feed and Seed. Hudson was stopping by tomorrow to see what the job entailed and to offer his bid.
With things on the Ryan Construction end heating up, Hudson’s time the past two weeks had been limited in terms of helping Paige with her renovations.
Not that she seemed to mind. She’d assured him countless times she knew her home repairs were going to take time—like years’ worth of time—so she didn’t mind that his new work hours had been reduced to just a few in the evenings.
Hudson was pulling long hours, but he’d come to look forward to working beside Paige, so even though it meant he was putting in up to sixteen hours some days, he didn’t care. It was worth it to see her every evening, chatting while sharing those beers before calling it a night.
Last week, however, he’d been offered a legit gig—a big one—and after hashing out the details, he’d signed the contract right after lunch today.
When Hudson told Granddad they’d landed the courthouse project, the old guy had choked up, overcome with happiness.
They made plans to grab some donuts from Sparks Bakery in the morning to share with the crew when they announced the job.
It was a big project that would keep Ryan Construction busy for the next few months.
Winning that bid had felt like the answer to a prayer, and he’d been flying high ever since signing on the dotted line.
The only bad part of the deal was he’d have even less time to work with Paige, which bothered him more than he cared to admit.
While it was her house, he felt truly invested in it, and in seeing the renovations through.
He intended to ask how she felt about him continuing on, working on the weekends.
“Oh,” Paige said, as she walked into the house, returning from work. “Wow,” she said, looking at the bare walls he’d just been admiring.
“Yep. This is officially the end of the wallpaper downstairs.”
Paige waved jazz hands in the air. “Hallelujah! This foyer already looks better, even without paint.”
Hudson agreed. “You have to wonder what’s wrong with someone to make them want to plaster the entrance to their house with that wallpaper.”
“Clearly, Ms. Bly was certifiable, probably a serial killer living in our midst and we never knew.”
“She was pretty rich, wasn’t she?”
Paige nodded.
Hudson chuckled. “Granddad always said, ‘Money can’t buy taste.’”
“He got that right in this case,” Paige agreed.
“I can stay late today if you want to start tackling that closet in the kitchen. I’ve got a sledgehammer in my truck,” he offered.
One, because he wanted to see if she was keeping him on, and two, because he enjoyed Paige’s company.
They’d spent days working side by side in various rooms. If someone had told him in high school that he’d not only be hanging out with Paige one day, but actually looking forward to it, he would have told them they were full of shit.
Originally, their conversations were all business as they discussed her plans for the house, but the last couple of weeks, they’d ventured into more personal topics.
He told her about some of the weirder jobs he’d worked in Dallas, and she’d blown him away the night she’d shared her plans for the future of Sparks Barbeque.
He hadn’t been more than a week into the job when Hudson was forced to admit to himself that he was attracted to her.
Which was as shocking as it was inexplicable.
He and Paige were polar opposites as far as personalities went…
a complete mismatch, but there was no denying the sparks that flashed whenever they were in a room together.
There had been countless times when one of them would brush against the other, and every single time, it hit him like an electrical shock.
Every night for the past couple weeks, he’d had to take a cold shower upon returning home, merely to try to keep his hormones in check.
Not that it worked. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d jerked off since starting this job, the image of Paige’s black eyes, her plump red lips, her perfect tits and ass, fueling his desires.
Originally, he’d chalked up the attraction as a physical thing.
While teenaged Paige had been skinny, and as awkward as a baby giraffe learning to walk, she’d fucking bloomed in the years since.
Nowadays, she was still trim, but she’d acquired curves in all the right places.
Not to mention, she was goddamned beautiful with her cute little button nose, high cheekbones, and thickly lashed onyx-colored eyes.
There was no denying, she’d turned his head since his return to town.
But the more he got to know her, the less it was her looks driving his attraction.
Nope. It was all the other things that made her Paige.
She was a damn hard worker, an interesting conversationalist, and a hell of a lot funnier than he would have expected.
She had a wicked and—at times—inappropriate sense of humor that matched his own.
Home improvement opened itself up to lots of sexual innuendoes and dirty jokes.
He was used to making those with the guys on the previous crews he’d worked with, but he hadn’t expected Paige to start slipping dirty little jokes in.
It all started when she was struggling with a nail, and he’d told her to “hammer it in harder.” An innocuous comment, until Paige retorted, “That’s what she said.
” After that, it was on. Most days, they spent way too much time laughing their asses off together as they made countless dirty construction jokes.
If Paige was some woman he’d met out socially in Dallas, either at a party or bar, he would have asked her back to his place by now. But this was Paige. The girl he’d tormented. He was pretty damn sure she’d laugh him into the next county if he asked her out on a date.
“I’m afraid I can’t work on the house tonight,” she replied.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Got a hot date or something?”
Paige grimaced. “I wouldn’t say hot.”
He frowned. Paige hadn’t gone out once in the past month, not on dates or even with friends. He got the sense she was one of those people who were perfectly content keeping their own company. He understood that because he was the same. He enjoyed the far-too-occasional moments of solitude.
For the last twelve years, he’d shared an apartment with his dad, not because he couldn’t afford his own place but because his dad couldn’t. Then, Dad got sick. So for the past three years, he was less Dad’s roommate and more his caregiver.
Nowadays, he was living with Granddad, and they hadn’t discussed whether that would be long or short term.
While Granddad was fine living on his own, he’d mentioned on more than one occasion how nice it was having someone else in the house, which told Hudson his grandfather had been lonely.
Plus, the guy was getting older, and when the rheumatoid arthritis flared up, he needed help with stuff around the house.
“You are going out on a date?” Hudson asked, with more surprise than he probably should have revealed.
Paige narrowed her eyes. “What’s so shocking about that?”
“Nothing,” he hastily replied. “I just didn’t think you were seeing anyone.”
“This guy isn’t a boyfriend. It’s just a date.”
“Who is he? Do I know him?”
Paige hesitated just long enough that he knew she didn’t want to tell him. “You wouldn’t know him. He moved to Maris a few years ago. He plays golf with my dad.”
Hudson rolled his eyes. “Of course, he does.”
Paige huffed out an annoyed breath, as she always did whenever he made snide comments about her father. He swore to behave himself, but it was like the mere mention or thought of Judge Sparks had him reverting back to that same punk kid he’d been years ago.
“So where is the golfer taking you?” he asked, sounding like the jealous ass he was.
“Not that many choices for date night in Maris. Since my family owns one of the two decent restaurants in town—and I have no interest in having my date under the noses of Macie and Uncle TJ—I suspect we’ll go to Santucci’s.”
Santucci’s was an Italian restaurant, and it wasn’t half bad. Personally, if Hudson was going to spend money eating out, it was going to be at Sparks, but Santucci’s was a decent second choice.
“If you’re hoping to get lucky,” he teased, “you might want to skip the garlic bread.”
Paige snorted. “No one will be getting lucky.”