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“I already have my assistant on top of it. The dealership is faxing over paperwork right now.”

I stare at him, mouth agape. On one hand, this is wrong. All kinds of wrong. On the other hand, my car is a dangerous piece of shit.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he says, backing out of the room. “Have a good day, angel. I’ll see you at lunch.”

Buck closes the door to my office, and I sit there and breathe, letting my coffee turn cold.

The assistant that Buck is temporarily lending me pops in every thirty minutes to see if I need anything—coffee, water, snacks. He delivers a bouquet of an assortment of pink flowers that makes my heart ache at how pretty it is. The card reads, “Wood Bros. Inc. is excited to have you on our team!”

My head is spinning, and the guilt is real.

CHAPTERSEVEN

Buck

I’m pacing my construction site trailer like an angry bull while Wade and Harley are giving me shit.

“We don’t even know her!” Wade says, gesturing around wildly. “What are you doing hiring your girlfriend!?”

Harley’s eyes bulge from their sockets. “You hired your girlfriend? When did you get a girlfriend?”

I turn and stare out the window while my brothers continue their infighting. At least it’s not all directed at me.

“Keep up, man,” Wade says. “He didn’t have a girlfriend until yesterday when this completely unknown woman waltzed into his office, and he started thinking with his dick instead of his brain.”

“So he asked some lady on a date he didn’t even know?” Harley asks.

Whatever. They don’t know Grace. They don’t know us. The truth is, I didn’t even glance at her résumé or at her portfolio. I know I gave her the job on sight because I needed a stager and because I needed…her. If that’s wrong, I don’t care.

A frustrated Wade tries to explain the entire timeline to Harley, and at this point, I’m raging at both of them.

I turn around and start shouting. “Listen. Both of you. I know what I did was totally unethical, but guess what? I do not give the slightest of fucks. As far as I’m concerned, she could hose down the house in zebra stripes, and it would still be better than what Susan left us with, which is nothing.”

Wade starts, but I hold up a palm. “Nope, you listen. Wade, go and meet with the landscape guy; he’s waiting outside. And you, Harley, for the last time, call the basement guy. If I have to yell at you guys again, I’m cracking your heads together.”

I storm out of the trailer and eat up the distance to the back of the house. Behind me, I can hear Wade shouting, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. This is the biggest project of our career, and we didn’t get this far by getting bamboozled by a hot ass.”

The earth must have tilted the opposite direction on its axis because I do not recall circling back to shove my brother into a mulch pile. But somehow, I find myself standing over him and pointing. “If you ever look at her ass again, if you so much as mention her again, you’re fucking fired.”

Wade is shocked by my behavior but resolute. “I won’t talk about her ass, but you need to get your head out of yours. You have an entire crew to think about, not just yourself.”

This isn’t happening now. I need to get away from Wade before this comes to blows.

CHAPTEREIGHT

Grace

I could be delusional, but I think I might be good at this job.

The beautiful office, the flowers, the constant flow of snacks that other people fetch for me, and the fact that I have a boyfriend responsible for all of it are really helping me feel good about my dubious skill set as a stager.

The fact that I can see Buck’s construction trailer from my window doesn’t hurt, either.

I’m nibbling on a Reese’s and sipping on a Diet Dr. Pepper and feeling in the flow when suddenly, my office door opens abruptly.

In walks Buck, looking like somebody pissed in his Cheerios.

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