What a Bachelor Needs (Bachelor Auction Book 4)(19)

“What about you? What are you doing today?”

“Don’t you have other brothers to con?”

He did. Jett was all about equal opportunity conning. “Cal and Ryder will be here by lunch time. C’mon, you can be foreman. We can get it done by three. Concrete in— “But not dry.”

“Beams bolted—

“Assuming you can find the right sized crossbar and get it here.”

Jett nodded, because good point. “Roof secure. Deck back on. It’ll be a challenge. Pizza can be here at one. Can’t work hard and fast on an empty stomach.”

Seth’s patience with Jett’s haste to get this done appeared to be wearing a little thin. Seth was doubtless juggling half-a-dozen other priorities that Jett didn’t know about. “This is outdoor space. Your client and her daughter won’t conceivably be using this area for months. Why the rush?”

“Because it won’t get done otherwise. I only have the rest of the week.”

“Surely that’s negotiable?”

“I’d rather do it now.”

“So that your little waitress can tell everyone how fast you get things done? Can’t you give your ego a rest for once?”

“Screw you!” Temper flared, hot and unruly. “Why do you always think that I have this burning need to be bigger, better, and faster than anyone else at everything? I haven’t been that person in years, Seth. These days, I leave that attitude on the competition circuit, where it belongs.”

“Okay.” Seth didn’t arc up the way Jett thought he would. Seth’s voice came at him, low and careful instead. “I’m listening, man, but you’ve got to help me understand. Why does it have to be done this week? Or at all, for that matter? It’s above and beyond handyman work.”

Good question. Fine question. And there was only so much answer he could give without breaking Mardie’s confidences.

“Remember that woman I told you about a couple of years back? The one I found in an alleyway in Bozeman? It’s her. This is her place. And this time I aim to do what I didn’t do last time and give her some tangible, f*cking help. Now, this week, while she still feels obliged to take it. Is that a good enough reason for you?”

Seth just stared at him.

“I have got a protective streak I can’t even see past when it comes to this woman. I take one look at her and all I want to do is kiss her better.”

“Hey.” Seth held up his hand for Jett to stop. “Too much information.”

“You did ask.”

“Won’t be making that mistake again.” Seth ran a hand around the back of his neck and started walking back to his pickup. “All right. Start ripping up the deck and getting the holes dug ready for the concrete. I’ll send a couple of the boys over to help and try and find you that beam. And I want spicy pepperoni on my pizza and a case of beer for every one of my workers who turns up here, regardless of whether they’re here for four hours or five minutes.”

“Done.”

“And you do not talk to me about wanting to kiss anything better ever again.”

“Got it.”

“Because I will staple your mouth shut.”

“My kissing lips are zipped.”

“Jett!” his brother barked. “No. More. Talking!”

Okay.

He loved every last one of his brothers but none more than Seth.

Seth was a legend.

*

Mardie arrived home just before eleven on Tuesday night, turning into the drive and cutting the engine before sitting back and staring at the array of ropes and tarpaulin lit by her headlights. Someone – she assumed Jett – had covered her porch and a goodly section of her roof in thick builders plastic and tied it up like a demented present. Heaven only knew what she’d find underneath.

The path to her back door had been cleared, probably hours before, and it had been snowing ever since but she could still see it faintly, and there was some kind of light fixture tucked in under the eve, right at the corner, where there had never been a light fixture previously. Strange as it might seem, this was her house and she tracked these things. The light came on as she opened the car door to get Claire out. Motion sensor activated, and that was just plain handy.

Not to mention presumptuous, inevitably expensive, and not something Jett Casey needed to be doing for her.

So why the hell was he doing it?

She’d given him a list of what she wanted done this week.

Could the man not stick to a plan at all?

With her hands full of Claire in her carrier, Mardie scowled her way around to her back door, at which point another light came on, illuminating the steps.

“Goddammit!” And, yes, okay, maybe she’d thought about replacing the broken light out the back, and maybe it should have been on the to-do list, but still…

She stomped inside and grumbled her way through to the kitchen, turning lights on as she went. She took a still sleeping Claire and put her to bed, blessing the timer on the new heating system and the deep sleep habits of her little girl.

Claire rarely woke during the late night transfer from her grandma’s house back here.

Back in the kitchen, hands freer than they’d been all night, she picked up a note that had been left on the bench. ‘Stay off the porch – the concrete’s still setting’ the scrawl declared boldly. ‘Stay off the floor in the front room – it’s still not dry.’ There was more. ‘End of stock clearance on outdoor lights. Seventy percent discount. I thought of you.’ He’d left the boxes for the lights on the counter, alongside a receipt, and the price was beyond reasonable and edging towards a steal. Huge red stickers on the boxes confirmed the big discount.