7. Arlo
7
ARLO
Stephen was an asshat!
Not all the time, but today he’d taken on the role of the Number One Asshat of all possible asshats! If I was being generous, I guessed he was trying to protect me, but he was going about it in the wrong way. What the right way would be, I wasn’t sure.
He could have parked outside the gate and glowered at Kalen or eaten his lunch with me while keeping an eye on my sexy handyman.
Instead, he lit into the guy, and Kalen had every right to down tools and piss off. If I’d been him, that was what I would have done.
I was also annoyed at myself for cowering in the house when I should have told Stephen to shut up. But every second that passed when I wanted to butt in, I stayed where I was, needing to hear Kalen’s reply. If Stephen was an asshat, I was a junior one for not putting my cousin in his place and defending Kalen.
Now after eavesdropping on their conversation, I discovered Kalen didn’t give a damn about me. I guessed he just got off on doing good deeds for strangers in need.
Since the day of the storm when he answered my call, I’d looked forward to every morning when he arrived, coffee in hand, and I’d have a yummy treat waiting. Now I wouldn’t be able to look the guy in the face. I’d been a fool.
Ahhh!
And Kalen thought Stephen and I were together and in a relationship. I loved my cousin, but yikes!
Stephen stomped into the house as Kalen got back to work.
“What the fuck?” I had muffins left over from breakfast, but he wasn’t getting any.
“That’s how you thank me!” He slammed onto a chair, and it groaned under the sudden weight.
“Thank you?” I shouted, but on realizing my loud voice would be heard outside, I lowered my voice. “Why would I thank you when you’ve berated a nice guy, one who is fixing my roof? If he takes off, leaving the job half done, you’re getting up there and finishing it.”
“Don’t I get a coffee or something?”
Way to change the subject, but I needed more caffeine, so I added water to the coffee machine. I had my back to Stephen, partly because I was fussing with the coffee and partly because I was too angry to look at him, and I was keeping my gaze on Kalen, hoping he didn’t down tools.
My cousin peered at the dark liquid in the mug when I passed it to him. “It looks strong.” He got up and took milk from the fridge.
“Be thankful I didn’t poison it.” I sipped mine and ewww, it was strong, but I refused to admit that to Stephen. I’d have to suffer and drink the lot.
“If you wanted a date, you could have used an app.”
I kicked him under the table. “Keep your voice down. And did I say anything about dating the guy?” I did, but I wasn’t telling Stephen what was in my heart.
“I know you.” He made a face as he sipped the coffee.
That was the problem with family and good friends. They were aware of your history and flung it in your face when appropriate.
“Not as well as you think,” I snarked.
His hand clasping the mug froze halfway to his mouth. “No! You slept with the dude already? Messy.” He put the cup down and poured in more milk. “This needs sugar.”
“You know where it’s kept.” I should have tipped my coffee and his down the sink and made more, but I was peeved and upset, not only at him but also at Kalen. The poor guy had done nothing wrong, but I was irrationally angry at him for not liking me, and so I punished myself by drinking coffee that tasted like motor oil? Ugh, make it make sense.
“And no, I haven’t slept with him or seen him naked. We haven’t kissed. We have a professional relationship.”
“Right.” Stephen rolled his eyes. “I saw you checking him out through the window.”
“Just doing my job as a project manager.”
“He’s conning you.” Stephen got up and took my mug and his and tossed the coffee into the sink. “Also you can’t make coffee for shit. I’m buying you a new machine, one with those pod thingies.”
“They’re terrible for the environment, which you would know if you read anything but comics and gaming instructions!”
Stephen grunted, but the coffee he made was ten times better than mine.
“Why do you think he’s a conman?” I leaned back in the chair and clicked my fingers. “Come on, where’s the evidence?”
“I told you on the phone. Who answers a wrong number and instead of saying that and ending the call, they do what the person on the other end asks them to? That’s messed up.”
“I left a message. You’d have known that if you listened. And it’s called kindness and compassion for your fellow man, woman, and child.”
Stephen leaned forward. “Cut the crap.” He waved his hand back and forth between us. “Stop the blustering and tell me the truth.”
Damn! “Kalen is a nice guy, a good guy, I can sense it. He’s helping me out and seems to be doing a good job.”
“Seems to be is the important word in that sentence.”
I knew deep down Kalen was one of the good ones. How lucky I’d been to get hold of him and not some ass who charged me ten times the going rate.
“Tell me, Arlo, what are you going to do when he says he can’t pay his rent, or he’s behind on his mortgage?”
“Stop it.” I glanced out the window, not to look for Kalen but to blink away my tears. “Do you want to know how I feel about him?” I pounded a fist against my chest. “In here, I feel a connection.”
“Pfft!” Stephen didn’t believe in love at first sight. Lust? For sure. “I have a connection with the mechanic who fixes my truck. He does the work, and I pay him.”
I’d never experienced the pull between me and Kalen previously. From his hair with a reddish tint, to the matching beard and his cologne that drew me in, I wanted to wrap myself and roll around in everything Kalen.
“You need a checklist like you have on the computer. Pros and cons of falling for a stranger.”
Love, if that was what this was—and it was too early to use the L word—couldn’t be weighed based on checking off points on a list. Emotions didn’t always make sense, you couldn’t categorize them. They just were!
“That’s too clinical, so no!”
Stephen fiddled with his mug. “Have you told him about this so-called connection?”
“No, I already said that.” Did I? I thought so.
“And what indication has he given that he’s into you and you’re not his mark? I guarantee he’s biding his time. You might go on a date and then wham!” Stephen slammed a fist on his palm. “He asks for money.”
“He brings me coffee every morning.”
My cousin’s head fell back. “That’s because what you make is shit. The guy is buttering you up.”
That conjured up an image of Kalen rubbing butter all over my naked body. Oh yes, I’d be up for that. Sweat dotted my upper lip, and Stephen stuck a finger down his throat and gagged.
“Stop that.”
“What?” I placed what I hoped was an innocent expression on my face. “Not doing anything.”
“I tell you what. Ask him.”
If he wanted to cover me with butter and lick it off? Or slip and slide into me? I yanked at my T-shirt ‘cause it was getting hot in here.
“Ask him what his intentions are?”
Stephen sounded like an early-twentieth-century father quizzing his son or daughter about a guy they’d been talking to or flirting with.
“I will not.” Kalen would definitely run if I queried whether he wanted to put his dick in me.
“Not about sex.” My cousin slapped a palm on his brow. “Ask why he’s doing this and why he accepted the job.” His eyes opened wide. “I dare you.”
“No. A thousand times no.”
Stephen washed up his mug and leaned against the sink. “What are you afraid of?”
That he’d leave and I’d never see him again.
“I’m going, but I suggest you consider what I’ve said.” He picked up his keys and left, the door banging behind me. He strode past Kalen without acknowledging him and drove off.
Thank gods he’d gone ‘cause he was annoying me. I wandered into my makeshift office but sat staring at the blank computer screen. Hours passed and I buried myself in my work, but a question continued popping up in my head. What if I did ask Kalen, and did I want to know the answer?
I crept into the kitchen because some of the floorboards squeaked, and I peeked out the window. Kalen was headed this way, and I squatted on the floor, hoping he hadn’t seen me.
“Arlo, are you here?”