Home > The Fix (The Carolina Connections #1)(11)

The Fix (The Carolina Connections #1)(11)
Author: Sylvie Stewart

“I am,” I said, thrilled to finally have something that might win the kid over. I needed all the help I could get. “You like construction trucks?”

“Yeah. Uncle Gavin took me to see them yesterday but we only stayed for a minute. My favorite is the backhoe.” All of his “s” sounds came out as “th” sounds and I had to admit it was pretty damn cute.

“That is a good one.” I nodded at him.

He twitched his nose and went back to his meatball. It seemed I was dismissed. So much for that.

As Fiona had been preparing the pasta earlier, I took the opportunity to explain to Laney that my tirade yesterday had been the result of things that had nothing to do with her or her friend. I did a bit of light groveling and she seemed to be receptive on the condition that I also apologize to Charlotte. I agreed and the matter was closed. Why she chose to bring it up again over our nice dinner, then, was beyond me. I was just hoping that the presence of Fiona and Rocco would help keep things friendly.

“So Nate, you really don’t have any idea what kinds of businesses will rent the space?” She licked some pasta sauce from her top lip and I had trouble concentrating on her question for a minute.

“Uh, not really at this point, Laney. I mean, certain types of businesses couldn’t be licensed on this particular property anyway. There are rules for required distances from churches, schools, and what-not, but I can’t really help you out too much with anything concrete.” I brought another forkful of the delicious pasta to my mouth.

“But you’ll own the property, right, so technically you can decide whether or not to rent it out to specific people, right?”

Oh no, we were not going there tonight. We were having a nice meal, her friend seemed to like me well enough, and her kid had even spoken to me. I was not messing this up.

I finished chewing and wiped my lips with a napkin. “There’s actually a lot more that goes into those kinds of decisions. Is there any more of that garlic bread, Fiona?”

“Sure thing, Nate.” Fiona handed me the bread basket. “I’m sure Nate’s company will do its best, Laney. They don’t want trouble any more than you do, isn’t that right, Nate?” Fiona smiled at me and then let her eyes shift to Laney.

“Right,” I responded and then shoved a whole piece of bread in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to say another word.

“But let’s just speak in hypotheticals,” Laney continued, undaunted. It was like she was trying to annoy me. What was I saying? Of course she was trying to annoy me. “You wouldn’t rent the space to, say, a medical practice, would you?”

Genuinely confused, I forced the bread down my throat in a painful lump and responded in a tight voice, “What’s wrong with a medical practice? You could walk Rocco to a doctor’s appointment.” I gestured to the kid.

“I don’t wanna go to the doctor!” Rocco objected vehemently.

“Nobody’s going to the doctor,” Fiona soothed him.

“Yeah, and some junkie would break in at night and raid the drug cabinet. That happens more than you realize,” Laney declared, hand waving in the air.

I turned my head to the left and then to the right, looking for what? I had no clue. “What are you, a true crime author?”

“What’s a junkie?” Rocco chimed in at the same time.

Sensing, as I was, that this was going nowhere good, Fiona interjected, “Time for dessert!”

Thankfully, the rest of the evening went smoothly. Fiona was very chatty, Laney tolerated my presence, and Rocco even spoke another handful of words to me. Laney and I exchanged a few more heated looks, hers possibly fueled more by annoyance than lust, but I’d take what I could get at this point. I had yet to get her alone again, though, so when it was time to leave I was thrilled that Fiona led Rocco down the back hall and Laney was left to walk me to the door.

“So, thanks for dinner,” I said.

“Thank Fiona. She invited you.” Laney tried to glare at me but instead I got a reluctant smile. Damn, she was pretty. Tonight she had her hair up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a black t-shirt and cut-off jeans, neither of which could hide her curves. I was dying to kiss her, but I figured she’d probably slap me at this point.

As we approached the door I remembered the damn doorknob. “Laney, you can’t go to sleep with your door like this,” I told her.

She waved me off. “I know. It keeps falling off, but I can fix it. At least temporarily—until Gavin gets to it.” She opened the door and I had no choice but to step out onto the porch.

“No offense to your brother, Laney, but he doesn’t know shit about fixing things from what I’ve seen so far.”

That earned me a bigger smile. “We’ll figure it out.”

“You know, I did notice a couple things in your kitchen that could use some attention too, and I’ve been told I’m pretty handy …”

“Handy or handsy?”

“Funny.”

“I thought so.”

“I’ve got some free time this weekend. I’d be happy to come over tomorrow and fix a few things. Truthfully, I’ve been spending so much time on the phone and driving from place to place that I haven’t actually held a tool in weeks—it’s killing me.”

Oddly, she seemed to be holding back a laugh at first and ducked her chin to her chest. But then she raised her head back up, schooling her expression and starting to shake her head.

“That would be awesome!” Fiona’s head popped in from out of nowhere. “She’ll see you tomorrow morning.” The door closed in my face.

“I’ll be here at nine. I’ll bring coffee!” I yelled through the door before turning around and stepping off the porch.

“She doesn’t drink coffee!” came the voice through the door.

I smiled. I’d have to get creative then.

Chapter Eight

Boom!

LANEY

“Oh my God. When I turned around and saw that man I swear I ovulated on the spot. Boom! Instant fertility. They should give that guy out as a prescription—fertility clinics nationwide would fold overnight.” Fiona looked at me dreamily and then switched to her mad face (which was ineffective on its best day). “Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do—you did not accurately describe just how edible that guy is!” Her expression changed again as the wheels turned. “And did you see the way he was eye-fucking you across the table?” She fanned herself.

I put my hand over her mouth and looked over her shoulder. “Little ears, Fee!”

She peeled my hand off her face. “He’s in the bathroom. I told him to brush his teeth so I could come back and eavesdrop.”

“You know he’s not brushing his teeth, right? He’ll be back out here in three minutes wearing only his underwear and asking what he was supposed to be doing in there,” I told her. “And Nate was not eye-fucking me! I can’t believe you invited him over here tomorrow!” I whisper-yelled.

“Maybe I should open my own matchmaking business—it’s coming back in style, you know. It could be Matched by Fiona.” She motioned an imaginary sign in the air in front of her. “Kind of like Nate’s company, Built by Murphy. It could be kind of a family thing.” She gave a giggle.

“Fair warning—I may kill you. In the meantime, do I owe you a portion of my dowry now or will later be fine?”

“Later works for me.”

A second dessert, one supervised round with the toothbrush, and three books later, Rocco was finally in bed and Fiona and I were relaxed on the couch with wine and girl talk.

“So, what happened to his dad?” Nate was still the topic at hand.

“Gavin said he had a heart attack a few weeks ago and Nate moved back to take over the family business until he recovers,” I told her. “I heard Nate talking on the phone about trying to find relaxing things for his dad to do with his time. Sounds like a fairly long recovery.”

“Oh my God,” Fiona gushed and put a hand to her face as though I’d just handed her a puppy with a giant pink bow. “That is so sweet. He said he just moved back but I didn’t know all of that. See? He’s hot and he loves his family.”

“Yeah, just what I’ve always wanted—a sexy man who loves his family and hates women,” I sniped. I was trying desperately to hold onto my mad but my resolve was fading. Evidently I was holding a puppy too, but mine had taken a roll in a pile of poo and still needed some work before it was as adorable as Fiona’s.

Fiona swiped at my arm. “He doesn’t hate women. So he was totally sexist yesterday—a real pig—but listen to us. We’ve been reducing him to a cut of brainless man meat for the last ten minutes! Face it—we all suck. But he apologized, didn’t he? And he did seem genuinely interested in helping you.” Her eyes sparked with a familiar shine. “And besides, did you see that ass? Like I said, ‘Boom!’” She did the fist-explosion thing.

“Stop. The last thing my ovaries need is encouragement to start sending out party invitations. Do I need to remind you what happened six years ago? And besides, you’re missing an important point. We kept our sexist talk private—he broadcast his to all and sundry!”

“‘All and sundry?’ Are we in a Jane Austen novel now?” She set down her wine glass and sat upright on the couch. “I say, that gentleman’s posterior looked positively fetching in those britches, don’t you concur?”

I threw a couch pillow at her.

“Anyway,” she continued. “It doesn’t matter now because he’s coming over tomorrow and there’s nothing you can do about it. Can I come over and watch? I’ll bring popcorn.”

“Give me that pillow back. I need something to smother you with.”

“Aww, I love you too, Laney.”

A voice came from the kitchen. “There is a God. I think they’re gonna kiss.”

   
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