Page 31 of The Lake House

“Think we can have the project completed before the wedding?” Roger asks me as he sips on his morning cup of joe.

I scan over the proposal and say, “The demo, absolutely. You know that’s fairly quick. If we can get them to sign today and start the demo by Friday at the latest, I’m thinking we can start reconstruction by Monday or Tuesday next week and then have it all done by the end of next month.” I take a moment to ponder over the work to be completed. “We’re going to have to push it, but it’s doable. It’s definitely doable.”

Roger nods. “Good, because I don’t want to leave you in the middle of a job.”

I chuckle. He’s thinking about his honeymoon, but it won’t be a problem. Even if we don’t finish in time for his wedding, I have other employees who can assist on this project. Granted, he’s the absolute best that we have, but the other guys here are all dedicated and work hard as well.

“You’re fine. Even if we don’t finish it all in time, we’ll manage. I can have Angel and Raymond fill in for this one, should that be the case. But I’m really hoping we can have this all finished before then.”

The faster we finish a job, the sooner we get paid. And that’s key.

“Yeah, I know,” Roger says and pulls out his phone. He’s texting someone, probably Rachel, so I know he’s distracted and this is the perfect time to tell him all about Giuliana.

“I went to see Giules a few days ago,” I throw in casually and then take a sip from my cup.

“Cool, that’s gr—wait, you did what?” Roger almost has an aneurysm.

I see him from the corner of my eyes, looking at me dumbfounded, but I make it a point to keep my eyes everywhere but on his. I chuckle under my breath. I knew that would get to him.

He places the phone on top of my desk and stares at me, waiting for me to tell him more. “Dec?”

“Hmm?” I question as if I had said nothing at all about Giules, and take another sip of coffee.

Roger stands and leans over my desk, punching me in the arm. “Dude!”

I laugh, full-blown this time, and finally meet his gaze. “What’s up?”

He rolls his eyes and walks away from my desk, pacing toward the door. Then he turns around and says, “You went to see Giules… and then what happened?”

“Oh, nothing really. We only talked for a few moments. It was nice to see her, though.”

“Oh my God!” He marches toward me. “Did you ask her out?”

I shake my head. “No.”

His eyes are practically bulging out of his head right now. “Why the fuck not?”

I shrug. “I didn’t want to come off like a creep. I want to take it slow. She did say we should catch up some time, so there’s always that.”

A smile forms on his face. “She did?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“So when?” he pushes.

“When, what?”

He sucks in a deep breath. “Ugh! You really know how to grind my gears.” He shakes his head and then asks, “When are you going to see her again, man?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Hopefully soon.”

He drops back into his chair, facepalming himself. “Ugh, I wish you would have asked her out. It would have been perfect.”

“In due time, my friend. In due time.”

I can practically see the wheels turning in his head as he’s considering my words. After a few moments, he says, “You’re getting older by the second, dude.” He chuckles. “I wish you would have just gone for it.”

“I will. But this way, it gave me time to feel her out and see where she stood. I didn’t even know if she wanted to hang out or anything. I don’t know how she feels about her divorce and stuff, you know? I don’t want to seem like an insensitive prick.”

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