Page 39 of A Package Deal

“The women around here are multiplying.”

I whipped around at the deep male voice, my skin prickling in response. I’d managed to avoid Warrick all day. Something about that honest conversation last night had my insides betraying me. I’d lain awake in my bed last night, not berating myself for calling my client gorgeous, but from the memory of the heat in his eyes when I said it. I hadn’t flirted for so many years I wondered if I even knew how any longer, but I’d managed to make a successful, handsome man smolder at me. Somehow the alcohol had made me temporarily forget that he was my client and this marriage was most definitely not real in the ways that mattered.

Even if I was tempted to daydream that it was.

Warrick had his hands on his hips, wearing the cheap jeans I’d gotten him and looking far fancier than any man should in them. The hideous boots should have been the focal point of the outfit, but it was Warrick himself and the way he wore clothes that made it all look like he was posing for a modern cowboy fashion magazine. Even his dark brown hair with the couple of threads of silver at the temples was perfectly disheveled.

“Warrick, this is Savannah. Savannah, this is Warrick Wolfe, our client.”

Pip snorted, as if she disagreed with my abbreviated introduction. Giving all the details as to who Warrick actually was to me would have been too confusing. And not really something I needed my new subcontractor to know about her boss. Yes, he’s our client and I’m living with him and we got married, but no, we’re not actually together.

Shit, that was a mouthful.

Warrick shook Savannah’s hand, but he quickly stepped back again. “Looks like the sisterhood of the traveling tool belt in here. I’ll leave you to it.”

Savannah, a brunette in her midthirties, fanned her face as he departed, heading back into the house. “That’s Warrick Wolfe?” She spun to look at me, green eyes twinkling in a way that rankled. “I heard talk of the Wolfe boys being back in Blueball, but being fairly new to the area, I didn’t realize they looked like that. Maybe I need to dress a little better, even for work.”

We all glanced at her ripped jeans and sawdust-covered T-shirt. Pip looked down at her overalls, maybe just now realizing that they looked like they’d been through some things.

“No, what you’re wearing is perfect,” I said quickly, needing to redirect the conversation before I fired the perfectly wonderful worker I’d just hired that morning. “Let’s start on the bedroom. I think we can get it framed out before we leave for the day.”

We did get it framed out before Pip and Savannah left for the day, but they subjected me to constant comments about Warrick and his good looks and how sweet he was to upgrade his mother’s house and what good shape he was in. I drew the line at Savannah speculating at his bedroom prowess as a middle-aged man, barking out orders just to shut her up. It was a relief when they left for the day and I could sit on the back porch and make some phone calls for tomorrow. I also had several voicemails from prospective clients that I needed to return.

After confirming the electrician for tomorrow to wire the new bedroom and the city inspector at the end of the day so we could proceed with drywalling immediately after approval, I returned phone calls. I heard Warrick return with Georgia and I wanted nothing more than to head into the house and hug my daughter, but work had to come first right now. Just a little bit longer before we were on our feet financially. Staying here with Warrick rent-free was speeding the timeline up and I was grateful, though I thought his mother might have differing opinions on us invading her house. I needed to be ready to move out on a moment’s notice if she disapproved of the living arrangements.

“Two weeks is fine,” the man on the other line said, agreeing to me coming out to give him an estimate on new siding for his house. “I heard you do good work. I suppose I also owe you congratulations on the marriage.”

“Oh, um, thanks.” I frowned, not realizing this potential client knew Warrick. Then again, Warrick had grown up here, so he probably knew everybody in the small town. And clearly word had gotten out about our marriage, which might complicate things when we eventually split up.

We hung up and I plugged in the address into my calendar for two weeks from now. I folded my arms across my chest and stared out into the backyard, a beautiful nature escape of manicured green lawn backed by a copse of trees. The sun was just setting into the tree line when I stood up and went inside, the conversation I just had gnawing at me. I thought it through the whole time I tossed a salad while Warrick grilled the chicken he’d been marinating all day outside on the barbecue.

The slider opened and Warrick came back in, a platter of steaming chicken in his hands and a grin on his face. Georgia cheered and raced over to the dining room.

“Salad ready?” he asked casually, like us making dinner together was a normal thing. It felt so domestic and cozy I wanted to cry. He paused when he noticed I didn’t immediately answer. With a sigh, he put the platter down on the unfinished cabinets. Hopefully the countertops would be in tomorrow like the crew had promised. “What’s wrong now?”

I shook my head, too tired and hungover to have another fight with him. “Nothing. Let’s eat.”

I went into the dining room and made sure Georgia ate her food. Like usual, she fought me over the vegetables, but Warrick made a big show of cramming lettuce into his mouth at a rapid speed, which prompted Georgia to giggle and imitate him. By the time I’d gotten her bathed and tucked into bed, I’d worked out the issue in my brain. Warrick was right. Something was wrong and I needed to speak to him about it. I’d made the mistake of sweeping issues under the rug with Cayden for the sake of peace and look where that had gotten me. Not that I was in any kind of relationship with Warrick, but after last night, I felt like we’d at least become friends.

I kissed Georgia on the forehead and inhaled her little-girl scent. It was getting fainter by the day, replaced by dirt and sweat from playing so hard at preschool. I tried not to let the mom guilt hit me over the head and vowed to spend a whole day just her and me after this job was done. Closing our door behind me, I listened for Warrick in the house, but heard nothing. I searched the downstairs and didn’t find him. Stepping out onto the front porch, I saw the light on in the barn. Heading in that direction, I finally found him talking to Bessie in the pen, his back to me.

“Did you let Pip milk you, you stubborn heifer? My hands aren’t good enough for your teats?” He shook his head. I swallowed a laugh. Bessie simply lifted her nose in the air like she was better than him. “You’re making me look bad, you know. A grown man and I can’t even milk a cow?”

Despite the issue I wanted to discuss with him, that made me laugh. He spun around and gripped his chest.

“Jesus. Warn a guy before you sneak up on him.”

I spread my hands. “I tried, but you were too busy crooning to that cow.”

Bessie shoved her head over his shoulder and licked his ear. He flinched away and gave her a death look, wiping away the slobber.

“I got some calls today about some jobs in town,” I blurted out, not at all good at confrontation. Jeez, way to transition into it, Em.

Warrick walked over to where I stood in the doorway of the barn, his nearness making me wish I’d never taken this job or agreed to marry him for his help with the court case. Cayden hadn’t contacted me in a while, which was a relief, so maybe being married wasn’t necessary to get him to drop the case entirely. If I had no affiliation to Warrick, maybe I could have explored this attraction to him without all the baggage. Without the complicated strings attached.

Who was I kidding? I never would have explored anything with any man.

“Congratulations. I knew M Builds would take off once people around town knew about your work.”

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