Page 35 of Sunshine
My eyes fly open to peek through my fingers. Thankfully, she hasn’t opened the door but has her face practically pressed against it. And Case is nowhere to be seen.
“What the hell?—”
“Is he doing?” my friend finishes and then flashes me a smile. “He’s fixing your deck.” She assesses me for a reaction. I do not give her one, but…he’s fixing my deck?
“But he already nailed down the boards last week.”
“Well now he’s replacing them.” She looks over her shoulder at me. “Do you have any beer?”
My forehead tightens. “No, of course not! You know I don’t drink beer. And why do you want one? It’s not even 11 am.” I frown at her eye roll.
“Because he looks like a guy that drinks beer when fixing things. With his handy tool belt and bulging, glistening, tatted muscles.” She sighs, her eyes taking on a dreamy look, her smile suddenly hidden as she bites her lip hungrily. “His massive pecks working under that tawny sun-kissed skin…. I wonder what’s under that tool belt— Is that—” Her head snaps back to me. “Is that anipple ringI see through his shirt?”
“Stop!” I hold up my hand. “I don’t want to hear another word.” I have the sudden urge to tap the keys of my Mac after her description but don’t give in to it. Instead, I turn, go to my fridge and pull out a juice box. I consider first the can of cola sitting there, but when I see the juice box, I smile.And then to add further to his humiliation, I grab two of the butterscotch candies Gran kept in an old ashtray on the table.
I push my friend out of the way and open the door. Setting the juice box and two candies down, I turn, slam the door, and walk straight into the front room, the farthest room from the back deck besides my bedroom, and I don’t dare go in there because Paige would take that like a dog with a bone and chew it to death.
I hear my best friend making oohing noises from the back room but don’t leave my spot on the couch. I don’t need to know what she’s oohing over. Nope! Nuh uh. Except, dammit, I really do.
“He can even make drinking a juice box look sexy, Tess.Holyfuckingshit!”
Gah! No, I will not go look. But I can’t completely ignore my urges, so I stand up onto my tiptoes, swaying to find the perfect angle to catch a glimpse through the window.
And damn. He does. I mean it’s partially my fault since I chose a box with no straw attached but …man-oh-man. He’s leaning back, squeezing the box just hard enough that the juice pours into his open mouth. And his Adam’s apple… I drop down to the floor as soon as he turns my way and my ankle twinges in discomfort.
That’s where I stay until I hear the door slam shut and talking outside. I’m about to crawl through the kitchen over to the window to see what’s happening when Paige comes back in and blurts, “It’s fixed.” She sighs then, that dreamy look still all over her face. “I’ve always wanted a regular handyman, haven’t you? And he just left, not expecting even a teeny-tiny thank you.”
“No, I haven’t wanted a handyman,” I say, sounding incredibly petulant. “I have enough money to pay a different stranger each time I need handy manning anyway. Ugh, and I’m not thanking him for something I didn’t ask him to do.”
“You actually don’t have the money, and you can’t lie to me. As kids, we both used to swoon watching Charmed when Leowas playing their handyman.” She pauses her sentence when I shoot her a dark look. “But regardless, your handyman and I introduced ourselves. And he had a message for you.”
I hold my breath, trying not to seem eager or even curious. “Don’t care,” I reply breezily. Her laugh tells me she can see through my bullshit.
“He says, and I quote,‘Tell Ms. Fancy Pants we will be discussing the neighborhood diesel thief. And by discussing, I mean her naughty ass is mine and where there’s diesel, there’s fire.’ End quote. While he said that last bit, he pointed at your gas cans.” She bites her lips, her eyes sparkling mischief and I press mine to suppress my smirk.
“Don’t you think you should have hidden the evidence, Tess?”
I roll my eyes but don’t speak. My heart has been pounding between my thighs since the moment she relayed his message, and I still haven’t found the power of speech.
“Unless… You wanted him to know it was you.” Paige points at me, and like an evil sprite, she grins. “You wanted to piss him off again, but not for revenge. You wanted another angry kiss! Tess Harlow, you are a badass and I have never been prouder. He’s the perfect fling—no strings attached. Right next door whenever you get horny.”
“Oh stop. He’s annoying. And I can’t write with all his noise. That’s why I syphoned his diesel. It’ll give me a few extra hours of peace and quiet. And I planned on returning it, just at a more decent hour.”
Paige is pressing her lips tightly together to hold back her laughter, but I ignore her. “He legit just threatened to spank you like Tank Long did to the heroine of Harley and Hearts…” She assesses my face before hers brightens. “And you like the idea.”
I don’t reply to her accusation, I’m not sure I can, so I shrug instead, hoping the heat I feel on my face isn’t too obvious.
“Ohmigod!That’sso fucking hot.You kinky bitch!”
“Let’s just go to lunch,” I say and grab my purse, my insides as melty as ice cream in the hot sun.
“Maybe you should change your panties first,” she says with an evil laugh.
I shoot her a deadly look even though, dammit, she’s right, I should.
Paige pesters me the entire drive to the restaurant, but I don’t give her an inch, so by the time we get our menus, she’s given up and in place of my best friend, is my agent. And Paige’s face is no longer dreamy, teasing or fun.
With her mouth is set in a stern grim line, she opens her phone to show me the not-so-friendly reminder emails from my publisher that my manuscript is long overdue. She taps her phone with her short pink nails.
