Page 9 of The Billionaire Benefactor

Chapter 5

Roman tried to let his frustration cool as he mowed what little grass was in the backyard, then switched to the fuller, weed-choked front yard. It’s not about me, he reminded himself. But thinking about the person it was about, Jenny, just stirred up his emotions again.

When Tony had pulled him in the backyard, he told Roman that he was being rude. “Dude, you walked in and started telling her all the things wrong with her house. She probably feels attacked.”

“But she said we could come fix things. I was just pointing out what needed to be fixed.”

Tony said. “Look. Think about your mom. Drives you crazy sometimes, right? You might even complain a little bit about it. But if I walked into your house and said that your mom is all up in your business and you need to tell her to chill, are you going to agree? Or are you going tell me to get out?”

Roman practically growled. “My mom isn’t all up in my business.”

“See? You proved my point, man. It’s one thing to talk about what’s wrong with your own stuff, but it’s totally different when someone comes in and starts pointing it out without being asked. You get it?”

Roman was too upset to even respond, so he started up the mower, killing further conversation with the noise of its motor. He knew Tony was right but didn’t want to admit it. Twice now with Jenny he’d put his foot in his mouth or overstepped a line. It was embarrassing. But he was just trying to help. Why was she so incredibly stubborn about accepting it?

He thought again of her face, irritated the day before when she’d slammed the door in his face. And then again today when he had started talking about the things that needed work. Even angry, she looked beautiful. It was actually kind of cute when her eyebrows scrunched together like that. She was so tiny that when she drew herself up mad, it was comical. She’d barely come up to his chest when the dog had thrown her into him earlier. He caught himself smiling when he thought about it. Jenny felt good in his arms. Remembering made his heart speed up.

She just lost her husband. Don’t be gross.

He sighed. It had been a long time since he’d even gone on a date. Probably it was just loneliness making him react to Jenny. Obviously she could hardly stand him. And even if she could, what kind of guy asks a woman out three weeks after her husband dies? He shook his head.

Because the yard wasn’t huge, it only took about thirty minutes to mow the whole front. He put the mower back in the garage and stopped to talk to Blake and Tony. They had the kid, Matt, working the weed-eater at the edges of the fence with safety googles on.

“What’s next?” Roman asked.

“You’re asking questions now, not just telling people what to do?” Blake said.

“Give him a break,” Tony said. “He didn’t mean to run all over her. We talked. He’s cool. Right, Roman?”

Roman crossed his arms as Blake continued, pointing a finger toward the house. “That woman in there is struggling. Hard. She’s trying not to show it with her kids around. I said something nice to her and she practically broke down crying. You need to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Roman said. “For trying to help her out? For bringing you guys here? For mowing her lawn when I’ve never even mowed my own?”

“You’ve never mowed a lawn before?” Blake said, a smile playing on his lips.

Roman shrugged. Tony started to laugh. “I forget sometimes that you grew up with the silver spoon, man.”

“Shut up,” Roman said.

“Just be a real man. Apologize,” Blake said. “It can’t be harder than mowing your first lawn.”

Roman shoved him, but he was laughing now too. Blake had a way of doing that—he could push his buttons and press him on things, but also could really lighten things up.

Matt came back over with the weed-eater. He looked eager and still a bit awed by the guys. “What now?”

Tony surveyed the yard. “I think sod was a good idea. If she’s putting this place on the market, having a yard full of mud isn’t going to win any points.”

“Yeah, our yard sucks,” Matt said.

“I’ve got my truck,” Blake said. “We could find the nearest garden place and go pick some up pretty quickly.”

“Home Depot might have that and wood for the fence. It’d be pretty easy to fix with the right lumber,” Roman said.

“You can’t mow lawns, but you can build fences?” Blake said, elbowing him.

“I’ve built fences on mission trips—Mexico, Uganda. Okay?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Fine, master builder.”

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