Page 41 of Purr For Me
Chapter Twelve
When Lexie arrived at work the next morning, it thrilled her to find that Zip had finished welding the floorboards on the Alfa. Now she could start the paint job. Excitement zinged through her at the prospect. She hurried to the computer workspace to check on the status of her order. According to the email confirmation, her paint had arrived yesterday.
She also called another vendor concerning some minor hoses, and was pleased to find they would arrive later today. If everything came in on time, and the orders were correct, Lexie calculated that she could finish Kade’s car by next Monday. It was Wednesday now, which meant she had five days to complete the paint job if she worked through the weekend.
She gave a mental shrug. She’d done that plenty of times, and since she had no plans, it didn’t bother her. Plus, detailing jobs didn’t seem like work to her. It was an outlet for her artistic passion.
As she finished writing and sending a thank-you email to the paint company, she saw Tom approaching her with a smile on his face. “Well, you seem chipper this morning. You must have gotten some sleep last night,” she said.
“Some. A little more than usual lately.” He gave her a sly smile. “So, I was driving by Golden Gloves Gym and saw your Jeep there.”
Lexie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why were you going by there? It’s not on the way to work.”
“No, but itison the way to Marcus’. I had to go by his place to get a circular saw I need to finish cutting down some doors at the house. He borrowed it from me two weeks ago,” Tom replied.
He’d bought a rundown house a few years ago because of its large lot. Originally, he’d planned to renovate it, but one of his buddies, who was a contractor, had told him he’d be better off to tear it down and build a new one.
Once he and Kendra had gotten married, they’d built a house on the property. It was almost finished, but there were still some things that weren’t completed, doors to a few of the rooms being one of them.
He nudged her shoulder. “What gives? Are you guys seeing each other?”
Damn it!Lexie couldn’t believe her bad luck. “Please don’t tell Kendra. I don’t really want anyone to know.”
“We never keep secrets.”
Lexie could believe that. They had the perfect marriage even after their rocky start. Tom had gotten Kendra pregnant, and he hadn’t learned about his son for three years. A huge miscommunication, but it turned out all right in the end. It gave her hope. “Define ‘seeing each other.’”
“C’mon, Lex. This is me you’re talking to. You don’t have to hide anything from me. What’s so wrong with you having some attention from a great guy?”
Lexie glanced around to see if anyone was listening. There were usually ears everywhere in the garage. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Tom nodded. “Right. How about the office? Marcus isn’t here right now.”
“Okay. I don’t want him to know anything about this.”
Following Tom, Lexie didn’t know what she’d tell him once they were alone. She didn’t want to talk about it, not yet. How could she explain it to Tom when she didn’t understand it herself?
She sat down in a chair by Tom’s desk while he closed the office door.
Once seated, Tom asked, “So, what’s going on with you and Kade?”
Lexie laughed and made a helpless gesture. “I really don’t know.”
“Are you guys spending a lot of time together?”
“We had dinner that one night, and breakfast a couple of times, and we went running in the park yesterday.”
Tom leaned back in his chair and played with the right sleeve of his overalls. “Okay. Are you just trying to get along with him while we’re fixing his car? Or is it his money you have your eyes on? Kendra told me about the cabin.”
Lexie shook her head. “It started as a way to see if he knew where Jason was, but it’s not like that now. And,” she hung her head, “I did consider that it might be a good idea to keep him around just in case I needed the money for the cabin.”
“You don’t need him to keep your cabin, I’m happy to help. I don’t like the idea that you think you’re beholden to Kade—you should be free of all Colters if that’s what you wish.” Silence fell between them, until Tom shifted in his chair and frowned at her. “Are you gonna tell me what itislike, or am I supposed to read your mind?”
“I’ll admit that when you first told me to work on Kade’s car, I thought Kade would be a great backup plan if I couldn’t find my money. I knew he would pay his brother’s debt if it kept him out of prison.”
“Blood is thicker than water. Of course he wants to help his brother.”
“He is a good guy.” She sat up straight. “I was wrong for treating Kade like crap just because he’s Jason’s brother, so I apologized, and he asked me to dinner.” Lexie looked away from Tom. “We had a good time. He took me to the mission where he volunteers, and we helped serve dinner to the poor people in the neighborhood.”
