Page 28 of Silver-Tongued Devil
She was full of fire, all right. But fire got you burned.
Inside the house, Russell was in his easy chair, and Evan was sitting on the couch watching the game with him.
Evan didn’t look overjoyed to see Blake. He didn’t look disgusted, either. Evan had “impassive” down pat. He picked up a plastic grocery bag from the floor beside him, held it out, and said, “I put your shirt in a bag.”
Message received.Now go home.
Blake could play the body-language game too, though. He stood still, hooked a thumb in his waistband, and said, “I’d like to hire your company to paint my house on the lake as soon as you’re done out at the resort.”
Evan glanced at Dakota, then said, “We’ve got another job.”
Blake said, “I know you do. You’ve got a crew, too. I want my job done now, and I’m willing to pay to move it to the head of the line.” He knew why Evan wanted to turn the job down. The same reason Blake wanted to hire them. Dakota.
Evan locked eyes with Blake for a good ten seconds until Dakota sighed and said, “No need to do the staredown, Evan. We already talked about Dad.”
“Not that I asked you to,” Russell said. He reached for the remote and muted the game. “Leave me out of it. We don’t need charity,” he told Blake. “If that’s what you’re offering, forget it.”
“I’m not offering charity. I’m offering a job. And in my experience, figuring out how you can get the job done is a better technique than turning the job down, if you’re looking to make money.”
“Right,” Evan said. “I’ll do your house. Dakota can do Main Street and then start on the Lake Street house. Danny’s the only guy still available,” he told Dakota. “Least I think he still is. He can help you.”
“Nope,” Blake said. “She’s the one who’s good at color, right? Well, I want color. Besides, I find you hostile.”
“That’s because,” Evan said, “Iamhostile. But I don’t like lots of people I paint for.”
“You findEvanhostile?” Dakota demanded. “Did you hear a word I said?”
“Yeah. But like I said, I want color.”
“If I don’t have a helper, it’s going to take a while.”
“As I mentioned,” Blake said, “turning down work probably isn’t something you want to include in your business plan. Yeah, it’s going to take a while. The house is five thousand square feet. Something like that, anyway. Big monster. I want it done in time for the resort’s grand opening on the Fourth of July, because I’ll be here for that, and I might have company.”
Her expression turned thoughtful. “That’s only a little more than a month away. I might be able to do it, though, if I have some help from Evan eventually. Is it furnished?”
“Yep. Bought it that way. Not saying it’s beautifully furnished, but it’s furnished.”
“So you just walked into a new town,” she said, “and bought a five-thousand-square-foot house for one person,onthe lake,withfurniture.”
“It has a good view. And like you said, I can afford it. Which I’m telling you, even though I should be saying that I’m stretched right now so I can bargain you down.”
“Somebody told me not to bargain.” Her eyes weren’t stormy anymore, and how could she look that sassy-good in those librarian glasses and not a speck of makeup? Dark, winged eyebrows, perfect golden skin, and killer bone structure, that was how, not to mention all that personality. “Somebody told me to say that was the price, and that he could go on and find someone else to do it if he didn’t want to pay it. Plus—rush job. I think that’s, oh, fifteen percent tacked on.”
He rubbed a thumb along the side of his jaw and gave her a rueful smile. “Now how did I know that would come back to bite me?”
“You’re probably very bright,” she said sweetly.
He had to laugh. “Well, that’s true, darlin’, but you aren’t so bad yourself. Right, then. You’re done with the resort on Thursday. I’ll see you out at my place on Friday morning at eight. I can tell you my color ideas, and you can tell me I’m wrong. And then you can tell me how much it’ll cost, and I can tell you I’ll be getting other estimates, and you can say ‘fine’ and know I won’t.”
“If you do business like that,” Russell said, “you’re a damn fool.”
“I never do business like that,” Blake said. “But then, a man’s entitled to a little extravagance now and then. Twelve-twenty-one Arrowhead Drive,” he told Dakota. “Eight o’clock Friday. See you then. Catch you later, Russell. I’ll be in and out over the next couple weeks, but when I’ve got time to get out on the lake, I’ll get in touch. I’d appreciate your guide service again if you want to sell it to me. Got to get a salmon of my own at some point here if I’m not going to hang my head in shame.”
“You can buy the boat,” Russell said. “You can buy all that fancy equipment, too. But you can’t buy the salmon, and you can’t buy Dakota.”
“Somehow,” Blake said, “I already figured that out. But then, as she pointed out, I’m a bright guy.”
Except, he thought as he climbed back into the Explorer, that she’d never given him a price for his eagle. He didn’t have that, and he didn’t have his iris. Those ruffled petals, that dark, secret center…
