Page 3 of Claimed By my Frenemy

“Mr. Roberts.”

I spin around and put on my business face as one of the contractors, James, approaches me. “I need you to come look at what we’ve found while digging the foundation for the second part of the resort.”

“Just tell me.”

I don’t need to be taken on a treasure hunt across the property.

The contractor wipes a cloth across his face. “I think it will make more sense if I show it to you.”

Sighing, I prepare myself to step out into the heat of early May. I follow the contractor’s strides across the property, refusing to glance in Mia’s direction. The last thing I want her to think is that I’m thinking about her.

Because I’m definitely not. I would never be thinking about her.

Several men are standing around a large hole, an excavator idling beside it.

James points into the hole, and I’m forced to lean forward and examine what they found. There’s a large blue pipe, and it looks like it’s been damaged. There is a slow drip, drip, drip of water, and the dirt around it has turned to mud.

I sigh and run my hand across my face. “Did you not pay attention to the plans that showed all of the pipes and electrical lines?”

James looks sheepish, scratching the back of his head. "We did, Mr. Roberts, but this pipe wasn't on any of the plans we reviewed. I’m not sure how it could have been missed, but it looks like the excavator could have damaged it."

I clench my teeth, resisting the urge to unleash my frustration. Instead, I take a deep breath and focus on the problem at hand. "Alright, let's figure out what we're dealing with here."

I jump down into the hole, careful not to slip in the muddy mess. The pipe is old, probably dating back to when Mia’s house was first built. I trace the line with my eyes, noting how it cuts diagonally across the property, heading toward Mia’s place. "This must be a main water supply line," I say, more to myself than anyone else.

James nods, standing above me. "Looks like it. We could reroute it, but that'll take time and money. I’d need your okay and approval to purchase the right supplies."

I rub my chin, weighing the options. Rerouting the pipe will set us back at least a few days, and time is money in this business. Plus, there’s no guarantee Mia won’t put up another fight if she finds out we’ve messed with her water supply. "We need to fix it temporarily. Then, we can look into a permanent solution that won’t interfere with the project. Can you work onthe south end of the foundation first while you get a patch job on this pipe?”

James signals to the crew. “We’ll get it done. Let us know when you’ve figured out if we need to reroute it so we can get it done before the next big storm.”

I nod. The last thing I need is the pressure of making another decision, but I can take twenty-four hours to weigh this one out. James’ crew starts gathering the necessary tools to move their project to the other end of this section. I climb out of the hole, wiping my hands on my pants.

As they work on patching the pipe, I turn my attention back to the bigger picture: Mia and her property.

She’s a problem that I have to figure out how to deal with.

An idea starts to form in my mind, and I can’t help but smirk. If she wants to play hardball, I’ll show her what it means to be stubborn.

I finally turn and study Mia’s house from up close. She’s out in her backyard with a tape measure in her hand. I watch as she runs it back and forth across the porch, noting things down on her phone before stretching the measuring tape out again.

She has to be purposely ignoring what’s happening on my property because the excavator is loud. It’s not a noise that can be ignored, especially when it’s happening so close by.

The excavator turns off, and a couple of the construction workers start shouting back and forth in Spanish. I watch as Mia’s shoulders visibly relax. She continues her measuring like nothing has happened, but I can see the little rounding of her shoulders, which means the noise is bothering her.

That’s the start of my idea.

When the excavator starts up again, Mia jumps.

I smile as I head inside. This plan is going to work perfectly.

Once everyone takes off between five and six, the street gets a lot quieter. I watch from the third floor of the resort as peoplewalk their dogs by the building. Some of them pause and assess the progress, curious as always about what is happening. But what most interests me is Mia’s reaction to it.

She has come out on her front porch and is sipping something that could be wine from a glass. I’m too high up to see the details of what she’s doing, but I want to get closer.

I head down the wide staircase. The elevator hasn’t been put in yet, but that should be coming in two weeks.

After checking our city’s noise ordinance, I smile. It’s perfect. Technically, no one has to be quiet until 11:00 p.m. so I start my project at 10:30. I don’t know where Mia is in her house, but her car is still in the driveway. She hasn’t left since she arrived this morning.

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