How to Love Your Neighbour(58)

“Your team is doing my office. I’ve ordered furniture from Ikea. We’ll be taking on one of the upstairs guest rooms.”

“What’s the side bet?” Stacey looked back and forth between them, rubbing her hands together.

“The side bet is, if we win, I get to do a surprise room for you.” Grace’s smile reached all the way up to her pretty brown eyes.

“What do I get?”

“Besides more of your house decorated?” Chris asked.

“That’s her job. Which she loves.” He knew her well enough to know there was a reason she’d added this caveat. He kept his gaze locked on Grace.

“Whatever you want.”

An actual hush fell over the group. Gracie’s cheeks went a sweet shade of pink. “Within reason.”

Noah spread his arms wide. “I’m nothing if not reasonable.”

This brought laughter from his brother and Everly, as well as from Stacey and Rob.

“Anything else before we get started?” Noah asked.

“One thing,” Grace said. “Josh contacted the magazine to approve all this. They have a photographer coming by in an hour to get some candid shots. Only Noah and I will be in them if they include anything other than the space and changes.”

Grace walked up to him, tipped her head back. “You in?”

Noah lowered his head, ignoring everything but this woman who intrigued and turned him on in equal measure. “All in.”

Her breath hitched. “What do you want if you win?” She asked it low, so he doubted the others heard.

“I’ll let you know.”

Her gaze flashed with a moment of apprehension, so he squeezed her arm. “Don’t worry, Gracie. You can trust me.”

Warmth filled his chest when her genuine smile came back. “I know. Plus, I can kick your ass.”

He was still laughing as they split into their teams and went to gather what they needed. With Gracie, it felt like even when he lost, he won.





26


Noah stole a final glance at Grace as they left her and her team in his house. Morty lugged one of those canvas camping chairs with him, talking about how he had better ways to live his life with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“This will be fun,” Everly said.

“I’m glad you think so. I was worried you’d be uncomfortable. Now, I’m counting on you to help me win.”

Chris shot Noah an amused grin. “You didn’t know what she was up to?”

He looked at his brother as they took the few stairs up to Grace’s front door and let themselves in. “I had no idea. She’s . . . something else.”

Chris pursed his lips, giving a slow nod.

“What?” Noah stared at him.

Everly laughed.

Chris didn’t even try to hide his grin.

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

“Grace has awesome ideas like this in class, too,” Rosie said.

“Never updated anything in my house,” Morty grumbled.

“You told her it was a shrine to a better time.” Rosie lifted her brows, daring him to argue.

Morty chuckled. “Huh. Forgot about that. Okay, let’s get set up so I can watch television.” He moved ahead of them, clearly knowing the layout of Grace’s home.

They stopped at the door to the den.

“This is tiny,” Chris said.

Noah peeked around him. “The boxes make it look smaller. We’re going to crush this. All we have to do is set stuff up and we’re done.”

Morty smacked the clipboard. “Don’t underestimate my girl. Small space, big ideas. Don’t be dumb.”

Chris muffled his laughter behind his hand. “Yeah. Don’t be dumb, Noah.”

Everly leaned her face into Chris’s arm, trying to cover her amusement.

“You can’t do much in a room this size,” Noah said.

“You’d be surprised,” Rosie said.

He stepped into the room, navigating his way around the boxes to open the window that looked onto the side of his house, letting the air rush in.

“Rules are there’s no using the internet for ideas but you can text with your phones. Grace has alerts set for each hour as a countdown. You have to think about what the other person would want and maximize the space. You’re supposed to . . .” He trailed off as he squinted at the clipboard. “Make it functional and enjoyable.”

Morty clucked his tongue. “Lot of hubbub to paint some rooms.”

Noah saw that the others’ expressions mirrored his own. Funny old guy. He was all bark, no bite.

“You’re allowed to get other supplies if you need them but not change the furniture chosen for the room. Bonus points for creativity in design and execution. I guess I get to give those. Also bonus points for doing a theme. What does that even mean? Not my problem, I guess. You have three hours which started ten minutes ago so I suggest you get going.”

Noah reached for the paint, but Rosie put a hand on his arm. “Hang on. We need a plan.”

He looked around, counting the boxes. “Okay. Half of us can paint, half can start putting the furniture together?” He was enjoying a lot of the process more than he expected but he wasn’t a fan of assembling his own furniture. Stupid Allen wrench.