Home > Hold Me Today (Put A Ring On It #1)(16)

Hold Me Today (Put A Ring On It #1)(16)
Author: Maria Luis

Marriage. Kids.

Even Effie doesn’t know all the reasons why I’ve avoided the possibility of a quintessential familial unit, and the reasons extend far beyond my hair salon. Husband. Babies. A dog—although I wouldn’t mind this one so much. It’d be nice not to feel so alone all the time. Yes, opening Agape is my sole focus, but I can multi-task with the best of them. If I want to date a guy and run a business, I know that I could—easily. When I want something, I make it work, no matter what.

But aside from youthful infatuations and uncomplicated flings, I’ve never craved anything more. Never craved longevity. Probably because my own parents have shown me that longevity doesn’t always equate to trust, to true love, to loyalty. Growing up in the Pappas household taught me one lesson that I’ve never forgotten: love comes with conditions. And I’ve never been the sort of person to let anyone hold power over me, especially not a man. Hell, the only men I’ve truly trusted are George Pappas, Effie’s dad, and my uncle on my father’s side, who we visited in Greece each summer before he passed away.

Although I suppose Nick fits in that group, too.

The wind blows sharply around us, whipping the hem of my skirt against my legs, and I shove my shaking hands deep into the pockets of my coat. “I get it, I promise.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Why be sorry?” I nudge her, as is our way, and then step to the right. We live in completely different areas with me in Harvard Square over in Cambridge, and her and Sarah living the glam life in Beacon Hill. “You’re looking out for your brother, just like I look out for Katya or Dimitri. We’re all good.”

“Promise?”

Though ten feet or so separate us now, I hold up my pinky. “Promise. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She offers a wave, then calls out, “Filakia!” Kisses.

I shout it back because it’s a major red flag if I don’t.

“Filakia,” I whisper to myself, trying to emulate her exact pronunciation. Unfortunately, I still feel like a complete sham. And I don’t suspect that feeling will be going away anytime soon.

11

Nick

“Hey, boss, you did say ten, right?”

Hands on my hips, I glance away from the front window of Agape to one of my guys, Bill, and give him a swift nod. “I did.”

“You didn’t get the key?”

I hold up the hot-pink key in question and promptly feel three pairs of eyes narrow on it. “Looks like Miss Pappas either forgot to get us the right one or—”

“I can pick a lock,” offers one of my other workers, a guy named Mark who’s done a round or two in the local penitentiary for misdemeanors. I took a chance on him when no one else would, and he’s been one of the hardest-working employees I’ve ever had. At my raised brow, though, he backtracks with a cleared throat, his gaze flicking up to the sky. “Not that I would because, ya know, laws. And jail.”

“And handcuffs,” calls out Vince, my assistant GM and oldest friend. Standing next to Mark, Vince looks like a dark-haired mountain with an olive-toned complexion that matches mine. He’s the Italian Stallion to my Greek Adonis—according to him, anyway. He punches Mark in the arm, nearly sending the shorter man sprawling to the pavement. “Don’t forget the handcuffs.”

“Furry handcuffs or that shit’s not happening,” Bill tells the group. As one, we all look his way, and he shrugs. “Listen, until you’ve done it, I don’t want to hear any back talk.”

Mark raises a hand. “Since I’m the only one who’s done any time, I’d like to take a moment to point out that furry handcuffs aren’t on the menu in jail.”

“Neither are women,” snickers Vince, and I choke back a laugh.

“On that note, ladies,” I say dryly, “I’m going to give Mina a quick call and see if we can get ourselves inside and working sometime before I turn ninety.”

Only, Mina doesn’t pick up the phone.

Not the first time around.

Not the second time either.

By the time I’m listening to Beethoven’s Für Elise for a third go-round, my patience is threadbare. Where the hell is she? Mina was the one to suggest today’s meeting time, and the fact that she’s over thirty minutes late doesn’t make a lick of sense. My sister’s best friend may be a lot of things, but she’s never been forgetful. When she commits to something, she rarely turns tail and changes her mind. Her steadfast attitude is one thing I admire about her.

But admiration isn’t the reason why I’m taking time out of my day to overhaul her dingy building.

Between the two of us, she’s getting the better end of the bargain with this deal of ours. If I invoiced her a bill for the renovation, it’d number in the five-figures. My guys need to be paid, and if I do it all on my own, I’ll be here for weeks—which means that their wages are coming out of my own pocket, and, unlike a normal contract, my palms aren’t being greased beforehand. I let my guys think she’s shelling out the money, mainly so they don’t raise any brows and wonder why I’m bending over backward to help a woman who, for all intents and purposes, I’m known to not to get along with.

All so I can help her out.

And so I can help her to reach her dreams.

It was blatantly obvious how much it bothered her to come and ask for help—to me of all people, her old, high school crush. I’m not an idiot. Despite the fact that we both apparently know more about each other than either of us has ever previously let on, Mina and I have never been close, no matter the fact that she and my sister are practically inseparable. After that fateful prom night when she closed her eyes and swayed, ever so much, and I told her about Brynn, we’ve kept a wide birth from each other.

It felt safer that way. We stuck to our lines, to our roles as older brother and best friend, respectively, and continued on with life. Until she came to my rescue and had my back when I was spiraling.

Now she’s the one spiraling. The “pro bono” renovation might as well be my form of repayment, though I have no illusions that she feels anything remotely “more” for me at this point.

Asking Mina to help keep the paps off my back keeps the playing field between us equal.

I scratch her back. She scratches mine, even if I highly doubt the media’s interest in me will last longer than a few weeks. I’m not fooling myself: a construction guy in Boston isn’t nearly as exciting as Dom, a former NFL tight end and a sports analyst on Sports 24/7. Poor bastard is already getting the brunt of the press, if our few phone calls are anything to go by.

But I wanted Mina to keep her pride, even when it’s easy to see that her pride’s already been scraped raw, and now . . .

Now she’s fucking late, wasting time and money. Both of which are coming out of my pocket, not hers.

Impatience boils deep under my skin, and I shove my phone into the back pocket of my work jeans. She thinks I’m such a rule-follower? Maybe it’s time to change that.

Turning on my heel, I move back to the guys. When I’m within earshot, I gesture toward Mark. “Pick the lock.”

He makes a weird gurgling sound in his throat. Then, “Uh, boss?”

I kick my chin in the direction of the door. “Not gonna report you to the cops, Sheldon. Pick the lock, and let’s get to work.”

Vince steps up next to me. Like he’s a mother checking for a fever, he plants the back of his hand against my forehead. When I move to bat it away, he jumps out of reach. “No temperature. If you’re telling someone to pick a lock, it could be the end of the world as we know it.”

“Is it wrong that I’m hoping for the zombie apocalypse?” Bill asks as he steps to the side to let Mark past him. “Like, there’s something about The Walking Dead that’s always called to me.”

I glance over at him. “You got a fetish about becoming someone else’s snack?”

His cheeks turn crimson. “Hey, if it was a zombie woman eating me—”

Vince claps him hard on the back. “There’s help out there for people like you, Billy. 1-800-Got-Fetish. Press four on the menu and wait for the zombie specialists to come on. Rick’s here to tell you to figure your life out before you end up like him, old as fuck and crying on every single episode.”

Laughter reverberates in my chest, just as Mark pipes up, “Rick’s a pansy. Everyone knows it. Also, we’re in.”

“We’re in” sounds way too close to an actual B&E, so I shuffle the guys inside and break down today’s objective. Tearing down the walls leading to the two backrooms is a hassle and a half, but the rooms are weirdly angled and useless as they are now. I’m envisioning an open floor plan, something expansive and elegant that captures a visitor’s attention immediately upon entering the salon. A middle-sized backroom with sinks for the shampoo bowls will lead, through a set of antique parlor doors I’ve got in my warehouse, to a room that can be used for anything else Mina wants to incorporate into the salon’s lineup. None of it, though, matches the plans I have for the main room’s ceiling. A friend of a friend owes me a favor for the job I did on his house, and I didn’t hesitate to call it in.

Annoyed as I am about her missing this morning’s meet-up, I can’t turn off the creator in me. I want to be the one to give Mina the salon she’s always dreamed of.

I also want to know why in the world she hasn’t come down to meet us.

“You guys got this, right?” I ask Vince once we’ve lugged in our tools from the company van parked outside on the curb. “I’m gonna head upstairs a sec and see if everything’s all right with the queen bee.”

The guys wave me off. Not even Vince sends me a second glance, and I wonder if it’s because he would never think that Mina and I . . .

That Mina and I what?

Jaw clenching, I shove away the thought and head for the stairs that lead up to her apartment. I didn’t have the chance to scope out the second floor when I was here earlier in the week, and now I can’t help but note every creak and whine under my heavy work boots. The dark, wooden walls are splintered, too, with slivers of concrete peeking through. When I get to the top of the stairwell, there’s no disguising the floorboards that sink an inch when I step over them.

   
Most Popular
» Nothing But Trouble (Malibu University #1)
» Kill Switch (Devil's Night #3)
» Hold Me Today (Put A Ring On It #1)
» Spinning Silver
» Birthday Girl
» A Nordic King (Royal Romance #3)
» The Wild Heir (Royal Romance #2)
» The Swedish Prince (Royal Romance #1)
» Nothing Personal (Karina Halle)
» My Life in Shambles
» The Warrior Queen (The Hundredth Queen #4)
» The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)
romance.readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024