Page 12 of Waiting for Forever
Paige’s hands flew to her hips angrily, aware that she’d fucked up and given Hudson an inch. Obviously, his apology had been a way to get her to lower her guard, so he could give her shit for buying the house.
Plenty of other people had already questioned her wisdom in buying it…because, while it was structurally sound, every single room in the place needed not only an update, but a lot more work than she’d anticipated.
Ms. Bly’s nephew hadn’t been looking to make money, rather he’d just wanted to get rid of it, so he’d put a lowball price on the listing, making sure prospective buyers understood he was selling the house as-is. She’d had a professional go through it before buying, and he had pointed out quite a few things she would have to fix, but when she crunched the numbers, she figured out she was still getting a hell of a deal.
Then she moved in and discovered there were more issues than she realized. She couldn’t run more than two appliances in the kitchen without blowing the breaker, there were nowhere near enough outlets in the living room, her bedroom, or the office, and the slow leak in the bathroom hadn’t been repaired, as she’d been led to believe—something she discovered after taking her first shower in the house and coming down to find a huge wet spot in the office, the carpet saturated.
Of course, that discovery came after she’d dodged no less than eight tiles falling from the wall and into the shower with her.
She was starting to feel like she was in a reboot of that old Tom Hanks movie,The Money Pit.
“Yes, I did buy the house,” she snapped at Hudson. “All by myself. And while you might think it’s too big for me or too much work, I happen to think it’s perfect. Or at least, it will be after some renovations. Renovations I’m completely capable ofhandling because I’m a grown-ass woman who doesn’t need a man telling her which end of the hammer to swing.”
Hudson threw his hands up in surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I wasn’t inferring it was too big or a bad purchase.”
Paige reined in her anger, feeling stupid for her outburst. She was still a bit defensive after her second—and final—date with Beck Reed last night. The only reason she’d said yes to another date with the guy was because she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss Logan and Lacy had shared after discovering they were having twins. She decided she needed to start making a more concerted effort when it came to dating and, God willing, entering a relationship.
So, when Beck called, she’d decided to give him a second chance, and the dinner conversation had been slightly better, though she wasn’t sure if that was because he was more interesting or she was trying harder.
After dessert, she invited Beck back to her new place for a cup of coffee and a tour when he expressed interest in seeing it. She’d thought she could pick his contractor’s brain about some of her plans.
That hadn’t happened.
In the midst of the tour, Beck had remarked it seemed premature for a single woman who was looking to get married to buy a house on her own—and that was when she realized her first impression of the man had been the right one.
She’d stupidly decided to give Beck a more sporting chance, thinking that if they got to know each other better, perhaps sparks would begin to fly.
Well, sparks flew alright. Right out of the top of her head after his misogynistic comment. She cut the night short after that, too pissed off to find the words to tell him what she thought of him.
As always, those words came to her in the middle of the night. And she’d just whipped them out on Hudson.
“I…um…I’m sorry,” she muttered.
“I really wasn’t criticizing you. This is a cool old house. I’m sure it has lots of potential. You can tell by looking at it, it has good bones.” Then he walked toward her house, rather than away, taking a closer look. “I love this wide porch. Perfect for a swing over there,” he said, pointing to exactly where Paige intended to hang a swing. “And maybe a couple of rocking chairs or comfortable wicker furniture on that end. You could even put some flower boxes along the railing. It would really brighten the front of the house.”
Paige hadn’t thought of flower boxes, but she liked that idea. “I could. Yeah.”
“What other things are you planning to do?”
“Retile the master bathroom, paint the kitchen cabinets and all the rooms—the walls are currently covered in some of the most horrific wallpaper I’ve ever seen. I swear it makes my eyes bleed. And obviously, I’m ripping up carpet,” she said, gesturing to the godawful shag rolled at her feet.
“What are you doing with that roll?” Hudson pointed at it.
“Dragging it to the end of the driveway. Lacy’s husband, Logan, makes bespoke furniture. Has a little shop on Main Street. He offered to bring his work truck to haul stuff to the dump for me whenever I need it.”
Hudson nodded, then bent down and easily hefted the heavy roll of carpet over his shoulder, walking back to his truck. The move drew her eyes to the muscles in his arms and back, and she forced herself to look away because sherefusedto drool over her high school bully. Apology or not.
Despite her better judgment, Paige followed him to the curb. “What are you doing?”
Hudson tossed the carpet roll into the back of his truck. “Dump is on my way home. I’ll save Logan a trip. Got anything else that needs to go?”
Paige hesitated, uncertain if she should be accepting help from Hudson. The guy really had tormented her when they were kids, so she was struggling to trust him.
He grimaced. “No strings attached. No hidden whammies. I’m trying to make up for the shit I did to you in school.” He gestured toward the rug. “I know this doesn’t come close, but it might help assuage some of my guilt.”
Hudson felt guilty for what he did to her?
“There are, uh, a few empty boxes in the front foyer, the last from my unpacking,” she said.
