Page 10 of Housebroke

He obviously had passed the Penelope test. Then again she’d always been the first one to make friends with strangers.

Okay, wow. She hadn’t paid much attention to Linc over thepast week because he’d been in jeans and a T-shirt and she’d just been grateful to still have a roof over her head, so she’d kept her focus on feeding him and staying scarce so he wouldn’t change his mind about her being at the house. But now? He wore board shorts and no shirt and there was tan and muscle and wet skin.

Linc was hot. She did not want to think about Linc being hot. She had a lot of questions about said hotness and tanness.

But she shouldn’t engage with him.

“You’re very—tan. Do you spend a lot of time outside?” she asked, immediately regretting opening her mouth.

Now he’s going to know you were ogling his body. Good move, Hazel.

“I took some time off from my last project and did some fishing. Gotta unwind a little, you know?”

She would not know anything about unwinding. “Sure.”

“And you obviously like the pool,” he said.

“I do, but mostly because Gordon has arthritis and it’s excellent therapy for him.”

“I noticed you also bring a stroller for him when you take the dogs for a walk. That’s very considerate of you.”

She wasn’t used to being complimented. “You notice a lot.”

“Is that bad?”

“I guess not. I just assumed you were too busy wrecking the inside of the house to notice what I was doing.”

“I see plenty. By the way, thanks for all the amazing food.”

Her lips curved. “You’ve thanked me for every meal. It’s what you’re paying me for.” Which she definitely appreciated. They’d negotiated what she thought to be an extremely generous salary,considering she was also getting to stay for free at the house and he was also paying for the food. Which meant she could bank the salary he was paying her. It would go a long way toward giving her money to put a deposit down on a rental whenever he was finished here and ready to put the house on the market.

“How long is this project supposed to last?”

He shrugged. “Six weeks to two months, give or take. And that’s only if nothing major comes up or we don’t have delays getting materials.”

“Are there often delays?”

He laughed. “All the time. But I like to be hopeful.”

Okay. She’d put some numbers together and figure out if the salary he was paying her would be enough for a down payment on a rental. If not, she could pick up some shifts at one of the restaurants she’d worked at before.

“How’s that going, by the way?” she asked.

“The demo? Good. I’ve got the kitchen taken down and everything cleared away. You know you can come check it out if you’d like.”

She had been curious, especially considering all the noise, but she’d tried not to bother him. “I would like to see it.”

He hopped up and held his hand out for her. “Let’s go.”

“I’m all wet.”

He laughed. “There’s nothing in there right now, so you can’t hurt anything. Though you might want to put some shoes on. I vacuumed the floors after I cleared the debris, but I’d hate for you to step on a nail or a piece of wood I might have missed.”

She grabbed a towel and dried herself off, then slipped hercover-up on over her suit, slid into her sandals, and followed him. She held her hand palm up when the dogs started to follow, so they all immediately stayed put, though none of them seemed happy about it.

She didn’t blame them. After having free run of a big house, being cramped up in a one-bedroom guesthouse wasn’t exactly roomy for either her or the dogs. But she was still so grateful to have a place to stay, she wasn’t complaining.

She stepped inside, shocked at how different it all looked. The kitchen had been completely removed down to the floors, and all that was left now were walls. Actually, there was a wall missing, too. One that had separated the kitchen from the living area.

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