Page 41 of Claimed By my Frenemy

“I’m not trying to be right. I’m just trying to do this the best way possible. I mean, maybe you like sweating. I just thought it would be helpful. The paint isn’t super necessary but installing the windowpane is.”

She huffs, turning away from me. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

We continue working. I take the lead on installing the windowpane once Mia’s shown me where it is. She works oncutting the film into rectangles that are the right size for the windows.

“It’s looking great,” I say with a smile, hoping to change the mood of the atmosphere.

Mia pauses, her scissors frozen as she looks at me as though checking to see if my compliment is genuine or not. I smile at her and continue adding the sealant around the edge of the new window.

Finally, I need another water break, so I sit down next to where Mia is cutting and watch her.

“So, why did you start this business? Buying property and flipping it?” Mia asks suddenly, catching me off guard.

I take a deep breath, considering how much to share. “Honestly? I did my time in fast food, dead-end jobs. There’s only so much work that can be done in the off-season. Nothing I started into seemed to work out for me.”

“So, you bought a house?”

“I got a loan from the bank for my first property. I bought it, flipped it, and invested the profits into the next property. Like that.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It took years. And…it wasn’t always easy. I didn’t go to college. There were only so many jobs open to me. And…” I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but it just sort of slips out of my mouth. “I was scared of failing. I needed something I could control, something that would prove I could be successful. Even though I can’t control everything in this business, I’ve learned how to make a profit. I piggyback off that for the next property I invest in.”

Mia looks at me, her eyes softening. “Everyone’s scared of failing, Theo. But you’ve built something great. You should be proud of that. I mean, it’s pretty impressive to own multiple properties at our age. At least, I think it is.”

A warmth spreads through me at her words. “Thanks, but it’s not always easy. There’s a lot of pressure to succeed, to keep everything going. I mean, if for example, this property fails completely, I would lose a couple million dollars.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re trying to guilt me into selling you this property.”

“No, no!” I promise her. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m done trying to make business deals with you.”

We fall into a comfortable silence, finishing our waters. I study the glass and try to estimate how much work is ahead of us. Because the sunroom is on the opposite side of Mia’s house, I can’t see how my own contractors are coming along. But somehow, I like the privacy this room makes me feel with Mia.

As we get back to work, Mia puts on some music, and the whole atmosphere feels lighter. Mia holds the film in place over the windows while I use the plastic tool to smooth out the wrinkles. The job requires us to stand close to each other, and I wonder if Mia feels the same attraction toward me that I feel toward her.

Obviously, we have physical chemistry. We know that from what happened between us last time. But is there something more than that between us?

“What are you thinking?” Mia asks suddenly.

I drop the plastic tool like an idiot, and I have to bend down and pick it up. It buys me a couple of seconds. “I was just thinking about everything that needs to get done.”

“You had this look on your face.” Mia makes a look that is supposedly a copy of how I looked, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself make that face before.

I burst out laughing and drop the toolagain.

Mia’s hands are stuck to the wall, holding the film in place, but I see them wobble as she starts laughing too.

“You better stop making me laugh or we’renevergoing to get this done.”

I go back to pressing the air bubbles out of the film, and Mia is finally able to remove her hands as the film adheres firmly to the glass.

She shakes her arms out. “My arms are getting sore from doing that.”

“Do you want to switch jobs? I’ll hold and you press?”

“Sure.” Mia takes the next piece of film and hands it to me. I situate it so that the edges are perfectly aligned with the window glass. Mia ducks under my arms and starts pressing the film down, one stroke at a time. Her back is to me, but there is only a couple of inches of space between us.

Her bare neck is in front of me, and it would be very easy to bend down and start kissing her skin. It takes a lot of self-control to keep my hands on the window film. But just thinking about what we could do in this position makes me start to get hard.

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