Page 17 of The Problem with Dating
Mitchell gave him a good-natured smile. “Very well, then. Shall we get started?”
“Follow me, gentlemen,” I said, working on my grownup persona. There was no way I was hiring Gideon to do the work, but unless I wanted to cause a scene, there was no getting out of going through the motions in front of Mitchell.
When I opened the door to let them both in, Mitchell had passed by, still smiling, but Gideon looked pissed. He leaned down and, for my ears only, whispered, “You give this job to Waverly and I’ll make your life a living hell.”
Chapter 10
Gideon~
Itruly felt exhausted.
It had been a long ass morning, and I had no idea how Nathan, Andie, and Steven did it. I was only an uncle by marriage, and sitting in that waiting room, while Grant had to undergo a bronchoalveolar lavage, whatever the fuck that was, had been excruciating.
The kid was already nine-years-old, but he wasonlynine-years-old. And it didn’t matter that this had been his third one or that he’ll have to have this procedure done for many more years to come. Grant may be Steven and Andie’s son, and Nathan’s stepson, but he was my little dude. He was my hockey partner, and he was just the best kid possible. While I got along great with Leta, Sayer’s stepdaughter, she was already on her way to college next year. We didn’t hang out like me and Grant did. I loved her to death, but it wasn’t the same thing.
When the doctor had come out to tell us that the procedure had gone well and that Grant was doing well, you could hear the collective sigh of relief throughout the entire room. With Nathan’s money, he’d been able to procure a private waiting room for us all, and that had helped a lot. Even though Nathan was retired, he was still recognized most everywhere he went. Waiting on Grant had not been the time or place for pictures or autographs.
Needless to say, the entire ordeal had been emotionally exhausting. The initial reports had been good, with the final reports coming back in a couple of days. The best thing about it all, however, was that Andie’s side of the family and Steven’s side of the family had acted like we belonged there just as much as they had.
Nathan lucked out with marrying into a family where everyone got along, and only wanted what was best for the kids. Unfortunately, there were too many divided households where that wasn’t the case and the children suffered for it. But not with Andie, Nathan, and Steven. And it was a good thing, too, because Nathan wasn’t above kicking someone ass, if he needed to. While he was the easier-going out of us three, Nathan was fierce when it came to the people he loved.
So, after having a tense morning, I had planned on just going home, cracking open a beer, and watching the game. But seeing Echo standing outside, taking pictures, had made me curious enough to walk over and ask her about it.
There was also the fact that my chest thumped a silent tattoo when my eyes noticed her. No doubt about it, I was attracted to Echo Woodward, and my dick was demanding I do whatever I needed to in order to make things right with her.
The plan had been simple; engage in some casual conversation, apologize some more, and then get to know each other better. However, that quickly turned around when Mitchell fucking Waverly pulled up to her house. Echo was out of her goddamn mind if she thought I’d just stand back and let someone else fix her water damage.
Was I acting crazy and possessive? Sure. Was I overstepping-constantly?Yeah. Was I acting like I had rights where she was concerned? Maybe. However, as long as she wasn’t calling the cops on me, my behavior couldn’t be bothering her that badly, right?
And now, we were standing just outside her master bath, as Mitchell did his thing. I was leaning against the bedroom door frame, with my arms crossed over my chest, as Echo stood awkwardly in the middle of the empty master bedroom. If Mitchell could sense the tension, he was professional enough not to mention it.
When he came out of the bathroom, I stepped aside, so he could assess the hallway damage. Calling back to Echo, he asked, “Is this a bearing wall?” Her eyes widened a bit, and they quickly looked my way.
I did my best not to growl at Waverly. “Yeah, it is,” I told him. “You’ll see the damage comes out about an inch and about six inches down the hallway.” He didn’t comment as he verified what I’d told him.
I had nothing against Mitchell Waverly. In fact, he was a damn good craftsman. Had things gone differently Friday night, yet I still hadn’t had an opening to help Echo, I probably would have recommended Mitchell to her. He was fair and good at what he did.
However, there was no way he was going to beat my price because I’d be doing everything for Echo at the cost of free. I owed her, and I was going to force my apology down her throat, one way or the other. Fixing her flooring was a good start on my way to making amends. And if she wanted to thank me with sex, well, I wasn’t opposed to that idea either.
Mitchell continued with his assessment, and once he was done, he broke the news to Echo about the bearing wall. “The bearing wall is a problem, Echo,” he said, and I tried not to snap at him calling her Echo. Itwasher name, after all. “Pulling up the flooring isn’t a big deal, and replacing the tile and carpet is fairly cheap unless you have expensive decorating tastes.”
Echo quickly shook her head. “No, I’m not fancy like that. Neutral colors are fine.”
Mitchell smiled at her. “The problem is the bearing wall. It can’t be moved easily, if at all. I’d have to go over the blueprints to know for sure.”
“I…I don’t have the blueprints.”
He smiled at her kindly, and I wanted to punch him in the face. “That’s not a problem,” he assured her. “We can always get those from the county records or the developer.”
“Oh, okay,” she replied, and my caveman almost came out when I noticed the way she inched closer towards me. She might not like me, but that slight movement told me she trusted me with this.
“Worst case, about ten-grand,” he told her.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
“But that’s worst case, Echo,” he reiterated. “That’s a ballpark in case we come across something that wasn’t anticipated.”
“Can I think about it?” she asked him, and I really did hate not putting an end to this bullshit, but I didn’t need to give her another reason not to like me. I’d already pissed her off with the whole movers thing.
