Page 12 of From Grumpy to Forever

He was advertising his handyman services? After turning down my job?

“Interesting.” The word came out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Reid turned at the sound of my voice. The moment his eyes landed on me, his expression changed. His lips dipped down from a sullen smirk to a full-on frown. But his eyes sparked. “You’re still here.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I never planned on going anywhere,” I fired back. With my head, I gestured to the pinboard and the notice he’d just posted. “So it’s just my job you don’t want.”

Reid glanced behind him before crossing the short distance to my table. His gaze dropped to the papers spread out in front of me. “These your plans?”

“They’re a start.” I shrugged. “Mostly just lists and ideas.”

“Huh.” Without asking, he slid the papers around, scanning the information.

“Huh? What does that mean?”

Finally, he looked up. His dark-brown eyes stared at me with such intensity, that my stomach clenched.

“It’s ambitious is all.”

“I can handle it.” I put a smile on my face and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “Besides, I’m not going to be doing it alone.”

His eyes darkened. “What do you mean? You’re not doing it alone?”

It was the last thing I wanted, especially now that I had Reid Lyons standing in front of me, but before I could stop myself, I told him, “I was just talking to Danny Davis.”

Reid’s nostrils flared.

“I’m going to hire him to?—”

“To hell you are.”

* * *

Reid

The words came out much stronger than I intended, and I regretted them the moment I saw Avery flinch. Her smile faltered, but her eyes flashed.

“Excuse me?” She straightened her shoulders and tilted her chin up. “Last I checked, you didn’t have a say in who I hired to help me.”

She wasn’t wrong. I had absolutely no say. But I’d be dammed if I let Danny Davis anywhere near her. He was a sleazy son of a bitch who had no sense of ethics, morals, or a job well done.

Not only would Avery be wasting her money on a spit-and-polish cover-up job, but she’d be subjected to his demeaning harassment. And if he laid a hand on her—there was no fucking way.

“Don’t hire him.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at her. “You’ll regret it.”

“Is that right?” She stood and crossed her arms, too. She was a good foot shorter than me but challenge sparked in her eyes, and I knew I was going to have a brand-new image of her occupying my thoughts at night.

“I don’t suppose you’d care to give me a good reason I shouldn’t hire him?” She fired the question at me. “I mean, if you can bring yourself to speak to an outsider like me, that is.”

Fuck.

I regretted every single shitty thing I’d ever said to her. Especially if it had driven her to hire the likes of Danny Davis.

“Because he’s not as good as me.”

She laughed. She actually laughed. But there was no humor in it as she threw her head and chuckled before once more looking me in the eye. “You rejected me, remember?”

---