Power Drilled (Roommates, #8)(27)

Jackson straightened up. “But if you’re ever not sure who’s who, feel free to ask.” He gave me a friendly nod and then exited the room, pulling the door shut with one final comment. “Anyway, when you’re ready, come on out. There’s donuts.”

That sounded like the perfect way to cut through all the confusion I’d experienced in the last few minutes. There was nothing deceptive about donuts.



A half hour later, I was glad that Jackson had woken me—well, Jackson and the crashing noise. The house was filled with people, including the triplets, of course, but also a crew that was working on the closets and also a contractor and his team that was going to help build the loft.

Instead of being the only woman among three men, I was the only woman among nearly a dozen, so I was glad I’d had time to freshen up and get dressed.

I found a shirtless Hunter in the living room, but there was no chance to check if his eyes really did have more gold in them than the others because he was doing pull-ups. The muscles in his chest rippled as he raised his chin up to the rafter above him, lowered himself, and did it again.

Wow. He was really fit. He caught me watching and shot me a wink. That brought back some of the heat I’d felt during my dream—and last night when I’d been with him.

I hadn’t expected the night to go like that at all. I thought we’d do a boring kind of couples’ dance with him guiding me around as we swayed back and forth. But there was nothing boring with the way Hunter danced—and it still astonished me that I’d been able to keep up with him.

Then there were other surprises, too. Like the way he put his hand on the small of my back as we walked through the hotel hallways. Then there was the way he’d teased me about my discomfort with swearing. I was used to being thought of as awkward, a wallflower, and perhaps something of a prude. But Hunter hadn’t been like that. He’d teased, yes, but it had seemed like he was genuinely intrigued by me. As if he saw me as a challenge instead of just a shy young woman.

And wow, that kiss. It had somehow melted all my concerns away. These days, I spent a great deal of time worrying about my car. Worrying about how poorly my job search was going. Second-guessing myself for my relationship with Jeff. But when Hunter kissed me, all those thoughts faded away. It was like he’d made me stop thinking and just feel.

I was grateful for that.

Continuing on, I found Reid in the kitchen. Though the cabinets had been torn out, he’d apparently held back two cupboards. A length of wood had been placed on top of them, so he had a make-shift desk. I wondered if I could get a similar setup when I did my video editing later. I didn’t want to always have to do that at the rusty table out back. Squinting intently at a screen in bright sunlight sometimes gave me a headache.

“Morning,” Reid said. I knew it was him by process of elimination, plus, as Jackson had pointed out, Reid was wearing the most clothes. “There’s breakfast.” He jerked his head toward a stool in the corner upon which a white box was balanced.

“Thanks.”

I chose one with sprinkles and then looked back at the so-called big brother of the group. As Jackson had said, Reid did seem the most responsible of the three. “What are you working on?”

“The budget.” He evidently realized how boring that sounded, because he smiled, and it transformed him into someone more approachable. “The whole point of fixing up these houses is to sell it for a lot more than our investment, so I spend half my time keeping my brothers from going overboard. You may have noticed they’re hard to rein in.”

“I did notice that.”

He chuckled. “So why don’t you tell me about my shift today?”

His shift? “I’m heading over for the fitting in a few hours, but I’ll shoot some video first.”

“That’s just for the actual wedding party, right?”

“Just for the bride and bridesmaids, actually.”

“That makes sense. Then what time is the luncheon?”

“One thirty. Will that work? If you don’t have time—”

Reid looked me straight in the eye. “I’ll be there.”

“Thanks.”

“Did everything go okay last night?”

That depended on how you looked at it. I certainly never expected to have Claire and Matthew catch me leaving a hotel room with Hunter. I could only imagine what they thought we’d been up to. I hadn’t even known they had a room on that floor, but I guessed the honeymoon suite wasn’t theirs until after the actual wedding.

And I certainly hadn’t expected Hunter to grab me and kiss me the way he did. After all, the reason I’d created a fake boyfriend was to feel less pathetic after being dumped, not to rub it in Jeff and Tanya’s faces. Still, I couldn’t help wondering if Claire had mentioned that kiss to her sister.

“Did something happen?” Reid’s gaze was shrewd.

“No,” I said, but I wasn’t sure I convinced him. “It’s just that I introduced Hunter to a lot of people, and he had trouble keeping them straight.” Which led to him kissing me, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to regret that.

“Just keep in mind that I’ll know none of them, so if it’s important for me to know who someone is, you’ll have to find a way to sound like you’re reminding me, not telling me for the first time.”