Page 52 of A Package Deal

“I’ve got a guy investigating what’s going on there. We’ll get to the bottom of it. I promise you that.” I looked back at Anton, an idea coming to my mind. “Hey, you like fishing?”

Anton didn’t hesitate. “Is Emmy the most stubborn woman in the world?”

I stood and clapped my hands. “Let’s go pick up Georgia early and take her fishing at the pond.”

Anton stood too, clapping me on the shoulder again. “I think I like you, Warrick.”

A smile spread across my face. “Everybody does eventually.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Emmerleigh

The frenzied pace we kept on the renovation was my excuse for ignoring the intrusive thoughts about Warrick swirling in my brain. Savannah and Pip were absolute rockstars, staying late last night and showing up before dawn today. The inspector was scheduled for late this afternoon and we weren’t ready. Savannah was cutting long strips of baseboard outside. Pip was blowing texture on the wall with the hopper gun as I set up giant box fans angled toward each wall to hurry the drying process. When she finished with the ceiling, I would get the ladder and install the ceiling fan. I absolutely would not be telling Warrick that I was doing electrical work with the electricity still on. I’d shut it off for the most important part, but it was cutting a corner I wouldn’t normally do if time wasn’t so tight.

“Hey, boss, got a question for you.” Savannah dropped off the baseboard for the back wall and brushed off her hands. She straightened with a devilish smile. “Is your brother single?”

I nearly choked. With all my furtive glances at Warrick last night as he interacted with my family like he’d always been part of it, I hadn’t noticed my subcontractor sending her own glances toward my brother. I noticed Pip had paused, waiting for my answer before she kept spraying texture. I rolled my eyes. This might be the downfall of an all-female crew. Especially when our clients were hot, single men.

“Yep, all my brothers are single currently.”

Savannah shimmied her shoulders up and down while Pip hooted a German word I didn’t understand. I needed to get them refocused before Pip started in on more talk of wiener schnitzels.

“But he likes women who have a few pennies to their name…which we won’t if we don’t get this job finished in time.” I gave them both the hairy eyeball before going back to assembling the ceiling fan. Savannah stuck her tongue out at me and we all laughed. I’d already told them about the bonus and the fact that I’d share it with them for helping me accomplish the goal.

My phone pinged in my back pocket. With Georgia at her last day of preschool before summer break, I couldn’t afford to ignore my phone. What if there’d been another outbreak of lice? Or a fall off the monkey bars? Climbing back down the ladder, I slid my phone out of my pocket and groaned with annoyance. It was a text from Cayden.

Cayden: Check your email.

I didn’t bother replying. Instead, I went straight to my email and saw the first message. It looked highly official coming from the county courthouse back home. Clicking on it, I saw that it was a summons to appear in court next month. A heavy brick of worry and anxiety took up residence in my stomach.

Pip bumped my shoulder, clearly reading my email from her tall vantage point. “I can make him disappear tomorrow. No body, no court date.”

I shook my head, shooting her a sad smile. It was a tempting offer, but I was placing my trust in Warrick for this one. He promised me he had a good lawyer working on my case and I had no reason to doubt him. He always went above and beyond.

Huh. Look at me. Trusting a man.

“Warrick’s got it.” I put my hand on her arm. “But thank you. That means a lot.”

We got back to work and didn’t lift our heads until thirty minutes before the inspector was scheduled to show up. Somehow, someway, we’d finished. The paint was still drying and we’d made a huge mess that needed cleaning up, but the room was finished and ready for final inspection.

Pip put her heavy arm over my shoulders and squeezed me into her so tightly I wasn’t sure I could breathe. Savannah flanked my other side, the tools around our waists clanking together. All three of us gazed at the room.

“We make a good team, boss,” Pip choked out, reaching up to swipe at her ruddy cheeks. Savannah sighed and laid her head on my shoulder.

For fuck’s sake, I felt myself tearing up too. These women had done the impossible and without a single complaint. Exhaustion and hormones made for a weepy moment here and there. “You two are getting a raise. I don’t know how but it’s happening.”

“Just take us with you to the next job. And the next. You’re a great boss,” Savannah said sweetly.

“Uh-oh, the sisterhood of the traveling tool belts is at it again,” came a deep voice from behind us.

We disbanded and the women began to clean up as I walked over to Warrick, who was leaning against the doorway. I’d literally nailed in the trim twenty minutes ago. I’d have to paint it later. The inspector didn’t need to check a paint job. Warrick looked amazing as usual, but this time, he wore a black collared shirt with the Levi’s I’d gotten him.

“You going somewhere?”

Damn, I wanted to reach out and pull him in for a kiss. After that one night together, we’d been careful to avoid touching with Georgia and now Anton around. Could a woman become addicted to a man after one night together? I was still so confused about everything between us. The marriage was temporary, and while I was slowly starting to trust Warrick, believing that we might have an actual relationship was absurd. So stupid of me to jump into bed with him. I didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in that department, which meant I wasn’t equipped to keep feelings detached from the act.

He reached out and tugged me into him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

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