Page 15 of Waiting for Forever
Paige snickered. “Smartass. I just like the idea of bringing the house into this century myself. Or…as I said…with help.”
“What was your handyman going to do when you were at work?” he asked, referring to her schedule.
“While I was at the restaurant, Bobby was going to rip up all the carpet, tear down the wood paneling, and strip the wallpaper.”
“So the grunt work,” Hudson said with a smirk.
Paige grinned. “Yep. I might like the idea of renovating, but I’m not so green that I can’t tell which jobs are the shit ones.”
Hudson crossed his arms, and Paige couldn’t stop herself from admiring the impressive muscles he’d acquired in the past twelve years. Somewhere along the line, the lean boy he’d been had bulked up…in all the right places.
“I’m assuming Bobby wasn’t qualified to do the electrical work or plumbing.”
“He wasn’t. Which is why my handy-dandy notebook also has a list of electricians and plumbers.” Paige turned to that page, painfully aware it was a rather skimpy list, especially on the plumbing side.
Hudson read over her shoulder, and smirked again.
She sighed, then her phone beeped with an incoming text.
When she saw the name—the last potential handyman on her list—she hoped maybe she was about to be saved. Unfortunately, this response was a no, just like all the others.
“Damn,” she muttered under her breath.
“Bad news?”
Paige turned to look at Hudson, admitting defeat. “You really want to help me do some of this?”
“You need someone to help you renovate, and I could use some good local references if I’m going to get Grandpa’s business back off the ground. He’d been struggling with arthritis the last few years.”
Paige nodded. “I know.”
“And last time I was in Maris, I didn’t leave a very good impression.”
She snorted. “No shit.”
Hudson didn’t bother to look chagrined. “Your dad still a ball-busting judge?”
Paige crossed her arms. “Yep. So it’s in your best interest not to mess with me.”
Hudson chuckled, looking far too handsome for her peace of mind. “Don’t have any plans to, Princess.” He glanced down at her schedule. “It doesn’t look like you intended to use Bobby full time.”
“I didn’t.” Bobby had other jobs he’d planned to work on as well as hers. And while she was anxious to put a dent in her list, she was aware that most new homeowners spent years slowly working their way through renovations. Her main goal had been to rip up the carpet and strip the wallpaper in the primary living spaces. As a single woman in—okay, yes—a large house, there were several rooms she probably wouldn’t even be using for the foreseeable future.
“If you’re still fine with part time, I could step in for Bobby. My crew is working a couple other jobs, so I’d need to get them started each morning, and I need to put some bids in on other jobs. If you like my work,” he paused, grinning, “maybe you’d consider using me when you expand Sparks Barbeque.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Macie has areallybig mouth. I haven’t even finalized that deal yet, and I swear half the town knows.”
Hudson nodded. “Why don’t we just see how things go here?”
Paige feared she was making a huge mistake, but she was excited about her new house and anxious to fix it up. She and Bobby hadn’t even started to make a dent, accomplishing little more than tearing up some of the carpet. Regardless, she still felt the need to test him a bit. “You can’t smoke around here. I hate the smell.” It was a petty demand, but the tormented teen girl felt the need to exert control.
“Quit smoking nearly ten years ago.”
“Oh. Okay. Um, maybe we should just try it for a week, see how it goes.”
“A month,” he pressed. “After that, we’ll have to revisit the deal anyway, because while work is slow now for Ryan Construction, I’m determined to score some projects for the company.”
She pursed her lips, tempted to say no…but Paige wasn’t an idiot. Wasn’t about to cut her nose off to spite her face. “One month.” She still wasn’t sure this was the right call to make. “And, just so you’re clear, I’m the boss. I run the show. I say what we do—when and how.”
