The Fix (The Carolina Connections, #1)(46)
“Aw, man, can’t I stay up later since Nate’s here?” my kid asked, just like any other five-year-old would when presented with the opportunity to do something fun with a friend. No nose twitching, no shyness, no worried look in his big brown eyes. It seemed Nate was in, and I didn’t care one bit that he was thirty-one instead of five.
“Just because we’re building this treehouse doesn’t mean I’m ignoring your house. I think tomorrow I’ll go up on your roof to check things out. I’m also taking a look in your attic,” Nate said as we were saying our goodbyes later in the evening.
“Are those euphemisms? I love it when you talk dirty,” I said, trying to keep a straight face.
“They can be.” He flashed a naughty grin. “But actually, I’m just giving you advance warning. I believe your attic access is in your bedroom closet and I wouldn’t want to have to turn you over to one of those cable TV shows, if you know what I mean.”
Shitballs! My secret wasn’t so secret anymore. “Please don’t tell me you’ve seen my closet.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you.”
Double shitballs! My fingers started itching to do a little cheek rubbing. Nate grabbed both my hands before they could reach my face.
“I’ve decided to find your ‘storage system’ cute instead of scary.”
“Oh God, you’re probably one of those people who doesn’t even have a junk drawer, aren’t you?”
That was met with silence. Who was this guy? Oh, that’s right, I forgot—he’s Superman’s brother. Superheroes don’t have junk drawers.
“I have four junk drawers,” I confessed.
He nodded slowly. “And, like I said, it’s cute. I think. But I had to give you fair warning about the closet since I’ll need to fit a ladder in there tomorrow.”
He finally released my hands and I used one to smack him on the arm. “Haha. It’s not that bad, you big jerk.”
Nate’s back rested against the wall by my front door. Rocco was safely tucked into bed—for the moment at least—but after the near miss with the little night stalker last time, neither Nate nor I were willing to enter the bedroom tonight. At this rate, we’d never get to do the dirty.
He pulled me in for an embrace. “I’m picking up lumber on the way over tomorrow so I’ll be here about ten o’clock. And, Laney, we’ve got to figure out how to have a real date night one of these days.” He growled and gave me a sweet kiss. I wanted to drag him back down the hall and have my naughty way with him, so I was already flipping through my mental rolodex to figure out how to organize some extended alone time for us.
“Definitely. I’ll get to work on it.” I smiled and kissed him back. My kiss may have been a little less sweet than his.
Well, it looked like I owed my vagina an apology. Before I could even ask Gavin to babysit I went and pissed him right the hell off, removing any possibility that he’d grant me a favor anytime soon. And the worst part was I thought I was doing something nice.
“Not interested,” Gavin said over his shoulder as he tried to walk away.
“What do you mean? You’re the perfect person for this, and it’s just one night a week and one game on the weekends.”
“I don’t care, I’m not doing it! And stay the fuck out of my business, Laney!” He hitched his workout bag onto his shoulder and stormed out the door before I could stop him. That went well.
It was Saturday mid-morning and Charlotte had dropped by earlier to give me a plant she foolishly assumed I wouldn’t kill. Yeah … anyway, during the course of our conversation she mentioned that Aiden was signed up for rec league baseball and the coach had just dropped out. She asked if I knew of anyone who could fill in—her husband not being available since he traveled a lot for work. And, in her words, “He’s about as athletic as a basset hound in a patch of sunshine.” Sometimes I just loved the crap out of her Texas. So, naturally, I told her about Gavin. It was like kismet, or so I’d thought. Apparently, it was more like the worst misfortune to hit Greensboro, so fierce was Gavin’s dismissal of the idea. Now he was pissed and I was evidently never having sex for the rest of my life.
Nate showed up at ten o’clock as promised. He and Rocco were out back doing lord knows what, but it seemed like each time I peeked out the window they both had their hands on their hips and were gazing up at the tree in deep thought. This project might take a while.
I still couldn’t quite believe this guy was so interested in me—truthfully, I didn’t really feel like I had that much to offer. I knew if Fiona had been here she would have smacked me upside the head for talking trash about myself, but it was hard sometimes to keep a super confident attitude. I’d just have to go with it, though, because I wasn’t about to give up a chance to be with somebody who made me feel the way Nate did.
I couldn’t help but peek out the window again, and this time I was treated to the view of his cargo pants stretched tightly over his backside as he leaned down to lift a stack of wood. Damn that man could make me swoon.
Back to closet cleaning, Laney! Focus!
A few hours later Nate and Rocco retreated inside to escape the hot afternoon sun. I was fixing us some cool drinks while Rocco washed up in the bathroom when my front door slammed so hard the windows rattled. I thought maybe it was Gavin and he hadn’t gotten over his hissy fit, but it was Fiona’s petite form that came storming into the kitchen, stopping a few feet from me.