Page 144 of The Fixer

“Do I care? No. I only care that they want to fix up that old place.”

Charlie left the dogs with the crew and Angus scratching his shaggy head. Hours later, as he was wrapping up his meeting with the potential pet store client at the Grand Majestic, he got a frantic call from Cade, who’d returned to Crystal Harmony Haven.

“Boss, I think you’d better get back here right quick.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“There’s a lady here wants to see ya, and she ain’t taking no for an answer.”

“Sheisn’ttaking no.”

“No, she’s not. And I don’t mind telling you I’m a little scared of her,” he hissed. “She’s tapping her foot so hard I think she might crack the sidewalk.”

“All right. I’ll finish up here and come straight there.” Charlie sighed. Now what?

He climbed into his truck, running through a mental list of possible terrifying women. Had Bea made an unheard-of field trip to check on her permits? To quiz him about depot plans? To set him up with Becky? Shit! What if itwasBecky? He shuddered involuntarily.

Only one way to find out.

He parked in the back beside a nondescript silver SUV. No doubt a tourist who couldn’t find a spot on the street and decided to make this his own public parking lot. Damn it, Charlie needed to get “No Parking or Your Ass Will Be Towed” signs posted. Grumbling, he stalked across the backyard toward the Haven. Cade rushed out of the back door, looking like he was running from a killer clown.

“She wanted inside, but I said no. I told her it’s a construction zone!” The kid was out of breath. Charlie’s imagination sketched a seven-foot Amazon with biceps the size of his head, pointy teeth, and a nasty attitude.

He put a calming hand on Cade’s shoulder. “Okay. You did the right thing. Is she still out front?”

Gulping air, Cade jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “On the sidewalk. She’s …”

“Scary,” Charlie finished for him, squelching the eye-roll.

Cade shook his head. “Pretty.Reallypretty.”

“I thought you said she was scary.”

“She was.”

Charlie went inside and eased his way toward the front door to take a peek at the pretty, scary lady who had tied Cade’s tongue—and his brain—into knots. He heard the tap-tap-tap of her high-heeled sandal right before he caught his first glimpse of a slim woman in a flowing, sleeveless dress covered in bright yellow sunflowers. Her back was to him, and one hand held onto a floppy-brimmed hat on top of her head. Her form struck a familiar chord inside him, and his pulse went into a sprint.

He opened the door and stepped outside. “Can I help you?”

She turned, her skirt twirling around her long, tan legs. “Well, I certainly hope so after I drove all this way to check on my project.” Her voice was haughty as hell, and his heart banged against his chest wall. He burst out with a smile, but her scowl knocked it from his face.

He took a cautious step toward her, then another. “What are you doing here, Joy?” Oh, that didn’t sound right. “I mean, I’m happy you’re here, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of you, and Estelle said you were unreachable, and I … Sweetheart, is everything all right? Shit. Sorry. ‘Sweetheart’ just kind of slipped out. Habit,” he babbled.

Three feet of crackling air separated them, as though they stood on opposite sides of a charged electrical field. Dumbfounded, he was frozen to the sidewalk as if his feet were encased in the concrete.

She arched an imperial eyebrow. “Do me a favor.”

Swallowing hard, he croaked, “If I can.”

She rushed at him so unexpectedly she nearly knocked the air from his lungs. Flinging her arms around his neck, she pushed up on tiptoe. She fused her mouth to his and kissed him as though she’d been walking across the plains for days and he was a cool mountain stream. He clamped his arms around her, splaying his hands against her narrow back as he mashed her against him.

Breathless, she pulled away, her whiskey-colored eyes shimmering with tears. The hat was gone, and her hair whipped around them. “Don’t stop calling me ‘sweetheart’ or ‘princess’ or ‘baby’ or whatever the hell strikesyou.” She tilted her head to one side, those eyes searching his. One corner of her mouth hiked up in a hesitant smile.

When he got his mouth working, he blurted, “Does that mean you’re here to stay?” He bit his bottom lip, daring to hope, afraid to hope.

She nodded and smiled as though she held a secret.

“If you’re staying, what are you doing about your career? It means everything to you.”

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