How to Love Your Neighbour(14)

Without a word, Noah turned on his heel and walked away. Disappearing behind a truck, he was back in under a minute with a white to-go cup bearing her favorite logo. Yeah, yeah, she craved the competition. What Ellie didn’t know about wouldn’t hurt her.

Noah handed her the coffee. “Untouched. It’s mine. One of the guys brought it. There’s cream and sugar in it. Maybe not the way you take it but consider it a peace offering.”

The stiffness went out of her stance, her lungs deflating, as her pulse did a double beat. Which Noah is this? Please don’t have a third persona. It’s too hard to keep up. “You don’t have to do that.” The fact that they took their coffee the same way did not mean anything.

“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t want to. Take it,” he said, smiling as he extended his arm.

A peace offering. Did that mean he was willing to negotiate on the timing of the fence painting and repair? Grace took the drink, brought it to her lips, taking a generous sip while telling herself the actual glow inside of her was from the sweet taste in her mouth, not the way Noah’s fingers brushed her own.

“Hmm,” Noah said, leaning a hip against the fence.

With both hands around the warm cup, she glanced at him through lowered lashes. “Hmm, what?”

“Just making mental notes. The way to calm Gracie in the morning is coffee. Noted.”

She narrowed her gaze. “Grace.”

“Grace before coffee but Gracie after. Your whole body softened with your first sip.”

Holy hell, she did not need this man noticing anything about her body. That didn’t stop the full-body awareness his voice prompted. The noise carried on behind him, and even though the guys were working, she felt their not-so-subtle glances.

But while he was being so amenable and friendly . . . “Thank you for the coffee. I appreciate it. Sorry for being so grumpy.”

“No worries.”

She couldn’t shake the feeling he was placating her, and she didn’t like it. “About the fence.”

His brows rose, and he hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going to have my carpenter look at it. He’ll give me an estimate.”

Grace was more than a little intrigued by all the people and what changes he was making to the house and property. Keeping her focus, she walked around the fence, to his side, to the spot where she’d busted the wood.

She crouched, looked at it. “It just needs two slats replaced. I could do that myself. A little paint, it would be fine. Doesn’t mean we have to redo the whole thing.”

Noah wandered over, crouched beside her. She took a drink of coffee so she didn’t inhale the scent of his cologne or soap or whatever made him smell like the ocean at night.

“It’s old. It needs to be fixed.”

Grace stood. “Perhaps, but it doesn’t need to be right now.”

Noah stood. She wished she were taller so she didn’t have to tip her head back.

“You damaged my property. I don’t think it’s crossing a line to want it fixed.” His tone was equal parts reasonable and authoritative.

Grace’s grip on the cup tightened. “I’m offering to fix it. One portion was damaged. That doesn’t mean I should have to foot the bill for a paint job on the whole thing.”

“Half. Half the bill.”

The more reasonable his tone, the more irritated she became. “You have more than enough happening right now. I just moved in. I need a bit of time. Let me fix it myself and in a couple weeks, I’ll get some paint and take care of both sides.”

There. He absolutely could not refuse an offer like that. She didn’t know where she was going to find the time to paint it, but she’d shift things around, hold off on the rooms inside.

“It’s nice you feel confident, Grace. I appreciate the offer but I’m not looking to wrap some duct tape around the post and call it a day.” He gestured to the guys. “As you can see, I have plans for my place. I like pleasing aesthetics.”

If she didn’t need the coffee so bad, she’d be tempted to pour it on him. “First of all, I could fix this fence faster and better than any of these guys you’re paying. Second, do not talk down to me about how things look. If you were that concerned, your hedges would be out by now rather than having them look like misshapen sloped blobs.”

A guy in a backward baseball cap had started to approach but stopped when Grace’s voice rose.

Noah’s jaw tightened but he glanced toward the guy. “Sorry, Kyle. I just need a minute to resolve something with my neighbor.”

His attitude was fuel on her agitated fire. “No. We’re done. Take it or leave it. I can fix this myself and paint on my own schedule or you can forget me chipping in.”

He shook his head, lowering his arms so his hands rested on his hips. “I don’t think you want to go head-to-head like this.” He leaned in, his gaze animated. “You’re in over your head. There’s an easy fix to all of this. We forget about the fence if, say, you sell me your place at a tidy profit?”

She shoved the coffee at his chest. He stepped back with an “oof,” taking the cup.

“I’m not selling my house.” She whirled on Kyle, who looked incredibly uncomfortable. “Do you have some extra two-by-fours? A saw I could use? Whatever you’d use to fix this little break in the fence here? Could I borrow those items?”