Page 63 of Midnight Whispers

“Beggars can’t be choosers. Can you give me your hand to help me balance?”

He holds out his hand, and I take it, gingerly climbing on the pail with one foot, then the second.

“Okay, I’m thinking to about here.” I point at the wall.

With his free hand, Jarvis reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pencil for me. “Make a mark on the wall where you want it to end, then I’ll measure it up.”

I take the pencil from him and lean in, marking the wall. But my weight shifts, and the pail slides out from under my feet, sending me flailing toward the wall. Large hands grip my waist and prevent my head from crashing into the wall.

With all the adrenaline flowing through my veins, my heart beats a thousand times in the minute I take to compose myself. “That was close. Thank you.”

“Told you,” he says.

I turn around to roll my eyes at him but freeze seeing Nero near the front door. I didn’t even hear him come in.

I’m never really sure when he’s watching me. He doesn’t tell me, and I recognize that the man has a life and a job that take up his time. But on the rare occasion I know he’s there, I swear there’s an inner glow inside me because I bask in his attention.

He’s glaring at Jarvis as though he’s deciding where to bury his body. I’m getting the strong message that even though Nero likes to share, he doesn’t like another man’s hands on me without his permission. I don’t blame him. I’d be seething with jealousy if I saw another woman all over him.

I step away from Jarvis, and his hand drops from my waist. “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming by.” I walk over to Nero and place a kiss on his lips, lest there be any confusion where my affection lies.

“Thought I’d pop in and see how it’s going.”

We both know he was watching me from somewhere, but I don’t say that. Instead, I take him by the hand and lead him over to Jarvis, trying to smooth this over.

“Nero, this is my contractor, Jarvis. He just saved me from smashing my head into the wall.”

“Suppose I should thank him then.” Nero’s words are fine, but his tone and his clenched jaw make it clear he has no intention of thanking Jarvis for anything.

“Hey, man. Good to meet you.” Jarvis sticks out his hand, but Nero just eyes it and doesn’t move to reciprocate.

Nero turns to look at me. “You about done here?”

My cheeks heat with embarrassment at how awkward Nero is making this introduction. “Yeah, that was the last thing we had to go over.”

“Great.” He returns his attention to Jarvis. “You can see yourself out, right? You have a key?”

The way he’s talking to Jarvis, the tone of his voice, it’s how I would expect a billionaire to act and sound, but I’ve never seen that side of Nero.

Jarvis scratches the back of his head, clearly as uncomfortable as I am. “Yeah, of course.”

“Great.” Nero places his hand on my lower back. “Let’s go.”

I’m embarrassed and irritated, but I don’t want to make Jarvis even more uncomfortable, so I just smile and nod and let Nero lead me out of the storefront.

Once we’re on the sidewalk alone, I whirl around. “What was that?”

“What was what?” His tone is flippant once again.

“You were rude. Why?” My hands fall to my hips.

“You really have to ask?” He arches an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I do.”

He shakes his head and walks toward the Black Magic Bar parking lot where my car is.

I stop at the edge of the parking lot. “Why are you walking away from me? We’re having a conversation.”

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