Page 8 of Now You See Him
Tina’s heart began pounding. She did not want to see Derrick Sutter again. “I, ah, should ask around to see if I could get a better quote from somewhere else.”
“What’s wrong with going to the one who gave you his card?” Logan asked.
“Nothing…I…nothing.”
As she sat back down in front of her half-empty coffee cup, she thought about what she had to do to just get her sanity back. Therapy? Self-medication? Or maybe it was the house. Maybe there was a ghost. That would require, what, a priest or some sort of exorcism?
Tina pinched the bridge of her nose. Maybe talking to Derrick would be like ripping off a Band-Aid. Maybe he knew something about the house that could shed some light on what was happening with her.
Logan got up and took his plate and mug to the sink. “Call him. Please. I can’t deal with this cold-water bullshit for much longer.”
“Fine,” Tina said. “I’ll call him today.”
“It lookslike your hinges are fine,” Derrick said as he carefully swung the basement door back and forth. “You said the door was opening on its own?”
Tina nodded. “It’s happened a couple times now. I work from home, so I’m able to hear it happening.”
“Oh? What do you do?”
“Market research,” Tina said. “It’s a great remote job, which is how I could move out to Pennsylvania in the first place.”
He smiled, and it was beautiful to see. “You must know some interesting random facts.”
“I do,” she replied with a grin. “It’s actually my superpower.”
Derrick motioned to the phone in her hand. “You may want to check out Iron Fist Brewery. It’s a bar down in the village square. They have trivia on Tuesday nights.”
“Oh thanks, but sadly I’d be on my own, and I can’t face the inevitable judgment from the crowd if I show up as a team of one.”
“Well if you ever stop by,” Derrick said, “I’ll play a couple rounds with you. I also happen to be a whiz at trivia.”
“Really,” she said, cocking her head. Damn it, why did that make him so much more appealing? “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They looked at each other, staring for a heartbeat longer than was polite, before Tina motioned to the door. “And, ah, the door creaks when I’m alone more often than not. The last time I remember it happening was when my boyfriend, ah, I meanfiancé,was out of town. I came into the kitchen to not only find the door open, but to also see that the lights had turned on downstairs.”
She swore she saw him tense and the muscle in his jaw flex. However, his expression was blank, almost as if he was intentionally trying to hide his feelings from her.
He propped his hands on his hips, bringing attention to the thick waist, the narrow cut of his jeans that cupped his ass (not that Tina was looking) and his height. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow and that tattoo was on display again.
“Derrick?” she said, distractedly.
“Yes?”
“Your tattoo looks…familiar. I’m just curious. Is it an original piece?”
There was wariness on his face, as if he knew she was asking about something other than the tattoo. “My brother and I have matching tattoos.Had. We had it designed together and started the sleeves on our twenty first birthdays. Twin brothers, twin tattoos.”
Brother.Twin.The person who owned the house before she purchased it.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Really.” He shot her a crooked grin, and her cheeks began to heat.
Damn, she wished Logan were there. When she’d told him who the contractor was, he’d balked. It was as if he’d recognized the name from somewhere. Instead of sticking around to voice his complaints about the water heater, he’d run off to his mother’s house for what he called aquick visitand tostay out of Derrick’s way. Which meant Tina was alone with a man who she had very dirty thoughts about.
“Do you want me to have a look?”
“Uhm, what?”
