Chapter 4
Riley arrived at work the next morning in a vastly better mood than the day before, which, of course, his brother and cousins noticed.
“Did you get laid last night?” Finn asked in front of everyone as they drank the coffee Mac brought for them every morning.
“Shut the fuck up.” He said that no fewer than six times a day to the brother who alternatively amused and annoyed him.
“Well, did you?” Finn asked, undeterred.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I didn’t.”
“Huh… Coulda fooled me. You got that freshly fucked look to you.”
Riley appealed to his cousin for help. “Mac…”
“Shut up, Finn,” Mac said. “Leave him alone.”
“You guys are no fun,” Finn said.
Shane laughed. “I can name many, many people who would say otherwise about the entire lot of us. We’re known for being a good time had by all.”
Luke Harris snorted with laughter. “I’ll attest to that.”
“Everyone except Riley,” Finn said. “He’s a good time had by no one lately.”
He’d had a damned good time with Nikki last night, and he was fairly confident she’d enjoyed their time together, too. He couldn’t wait to see her after work.
Today, they were installing windows, which was frigid work this time of year. Riley was thankful for the intense activity that kept his brother too busy and too cold to continue busting Riley’s balls. By late afternoon, they were all frozen and tired.
“Go home, everyone,” Mac said at four thirty when they’d installed more than twenty windows that would provide a panoramic view of the beach from the restaurant and bar. “Get warm, and we’ll pick it up in the morning.”
Riley didn’t have to be told twice. After stashing his tools, he headed for the main doors.
“Riley, wait up,” Finn called after him. “You wanna grab dinner tonight? I’m in the mood for pizza.”
“I’ve got plans.”
“What plans?”
“The kind you make with people who are not your brother.”
“Ouch. That hurts my feelings.”
“You don’t have feelings.”
“Ha-ha,” Finn said. “Seriously, though… What’re you doing?”
“I’m going out.”
“By yourself?”
“Nope.”
“So she was glad to see you, huh?”
Riley ignored the question and kept his head down against the wind as he walked to his truck, thankful that he and Finn had driven separately today. Finn had still been asleep when Riley left at eight, eager to get his hours in so he could get to the best part of the day—after work.
Finn grabbed his arm and spun him around. “Come on. Don’t be a dick.”
“I’m not being a dick just because I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Even with me?”
“Especially with you.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t want you busting my balls right now. That’s what it means.”
Finn held up his hands. “I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise.”
Riley gave him a skeptical look as he unlocked his black pickup truck.
“I will! I mean it.”
“I’ll see you at home.” Riley got in the truck and fired it up, blasting the heat.
He was frozen to the bone after the long day.
Today was an exception to the norm. They were inside most of the time.
According to Mac’s plan, they would start on the outside of the building as soon as the weather broke.
The job at McCarthy’s Wayfarer would take them most of the winter and well into the spring.
Their goal was to be ready to open by Memorial Day weekend, which would be a close call.
But if anyone could get it done in time, Mac could.
He did an impressive job of coordinating the delivery of building supplies to the island, the timing of which could be tricky.
However, the fact that Mac’s brother-in-law Joe Cantrell owned the ferry company helped to simplify the process.
Mac could get trucks on the boat pretty much whenever he needed to, especially this time of year, when things were quiet on the island.
On the way home, Riley stopped at the island’s only liquor store and bought a six-pack of beer. He wasn’t a big drinker, but he did enjoy a beer at the end of a long day at work.
When he got home, Finn was already there and had begun cleaning up. He had hip-hop playing so loudly, it was impossible to talk, which was fine with Riley.
He wanted to take pictures to document the unprecedented event of his brother cleaning, but he didn’t want him to stop. So he didn’t say anything. Rather, he pitched in. It took an hour, but they got the kitchen and bathroom cleaned and a load of laundry done.
Riley rewarded his brother by sharing the beer he’d bought.
They each opened a bottle and clinked them together.
Finn tipped his head back and drank most of his in one big gulp.
Riley took his a little slower. He wasn’t looking to get buzzed when he had to drive soon. He’d told Nikki he’d be there around six thirty. At lunchtime, he’d made a reservation at Domenic’s, not that they’d need it this time of year. But he was leaving nothing to chance tonight.
He went into his room to text Nikki. They’d exchanged numbers last night, which had been another significant development. He took comfort in knowing he’d be able to reach her, even if she had to leave for some reason. Got out of work early. You need help finishing the tree before dinner?
She wrote right back. Watching the little bubbles dance as she typed her reply had him holding his breath in giddy anticipation. That’d be great! I didn’t get to it today.
Be there in thirty or so.
Sounds good! She punctuated her reply with Christmas tree emojis that made him smile.
“Is your widdle girlfriend sending you sexts?” Finn asked, attempting to look over Riley’s shoulder at his phone, which Riley quickly hid from him before ducking into the clean-smelling bathroom to shower.
Standing under the warm water, it occurred to Riley that it might be time to get his own place.
Filled with nervous energy, Nikki went around straightening up a house that didn’t need straightening.
She fluffed pillows in the living room and wiped down the outdated kitchen countertops that screamed for an update.
What she wouldn’t give to be able to get her hands on this place and put to use all the otherwise worthless info she’d gained from hours of watching HGTV.
The kitchens and bathrooms were woefully out of date and the old hardwood floors so scuffed, they barely retained the varnish. She’d thought about asking her grandmother if it would be okay to do some work on the house but didn’t want to offend the older woman who’d been so good to her.
Perhaps she could work it into conversation when her grandmother called tomorrow to check on her, as she’d vowed to do every day, since Nikki was there alone.
Conversely, she hadn’t heard a word from Jordan, which was indicative of an all-consuming reunion with Zane.
It wasn’t the first time the two of them had gone deep underground.
Nikki could only hope that Jordan was using good judgment and not allowing her larger-than-life husband to push her around with the sheer force of his personality.
Nikki had to force herself not to text Jordan. The impulse was so ingrained in her as to be automatic. She resisted, telling herself that as a grown woman with her own life to lead, Jordan could handle whatever came her way. Or so Nikki hoped…
A car door closing outside alerted her to Riley’s arrival.
Throughout the day, she’d tried not to think too much about him, the date they had planned for tonight—the first real date she’d been on in years—or anything beyond the next few minutes.
But when she’d gotten his text, her heart had skipped a happy beat from knowing she would see him again soon.
In that moment, she’d realized he represented the first significant threat to the rules for dealing with men she’d made for herself years ago—rules that had only been reinforced by the nightmare her brother-in-law had perpetrated upon her sister.
Men, she had discovered at an early age, were not to be trusted.
Her parents had split after they found out that her dad had a whole other family with another woman.
Almost fifteen years later, Nikki still found it hard to believe.
She and Jordan had been forced to live with him and his new family after the court gave him primary custody over their emotionally erratic mother.
That was the first time she’d learned that men were not to be trusted, but it wasn’t the last. As she went to the door to admit Riley, she vowed to enjoy his friendship without expecting anything from him.
Keeping her expectations low, she’d learned, went a long way toward protecting her from things she couldn’t handle.
Jordan had once accused her of being an emotional cripple.
The words had hurt to hear, mostly because they were true.
As she opened the door to Riley’s handsome, smiling face, she wished things were different and she could be the kind of young woman to get excited about the prospect of a new guy in her life, especially a sinfully handsome, sexy, sweet man like Riley.
But Nikki wasn’t a typical young woman and hadn’t been for a long time. Her plan for the moment was to enjoy Riley’s company until he decided she wasn’t worth the effort of continuing to come around for something that wasn’t going to happen.
“Hey,” he said, bringing the scents of fresh air and appealing cologne in with him. “You look pretty.”
“Thank you.” She wanted to tell him he looked good, too, but she needed to be cautious about encouraging anything more than platonic friendship with him.
Though it was nice to have a friend on the island, she had no idea how long she would be here, and it wouldn’t be prudent to get overly involved with him.
Friendship she could handle. Romance? Not so much.
He wore a brown sweater with well-faded jeans that fit him to perfection. Not that she was looking as he led the way to the living room, where the tree waited for finishing touches. She wasn’t looking. Well, not really…
“How was your day?” he asked, picking up where they’d left off on the tree the night before when they’d both started yawning.