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She frowns, pulling her delicate eyebrows down and together. “No,” she says, drawing out the word. “I’m Tegan.”
I stare at her for a moment as her words register with me. Then, I bow my head and tighten my hands on my hips. A chuckle escapes me. “I’m going to kill him.” He led me to believe Tegan was a man. Not once did he correct me. He’s a dead man if I have anything to say about it.
“Who?”
I look back at her with my head still bent. “Your landlord.”
“Why?” she asks, a little unsure. She looks like she wants to run away.
“You’re supposed to be a dude,” I amend as I push past her and head back inside the house. I don’t have time to worry about why admitting that I wanted to kill Derek worried her.
She follows me, and I can hear the stomp in her gate. She clearly didn’t like what I said. The screen door screeches when it shuts. “I wasn’t aware that I’m missing a dick. Why does it matter?”
I whip back around to face her and study her for a moment. “You look like you couldn’t lift a hammer.”
Her eyes narrow, and I can practically see steam coming out of her ears. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms over my chest, daring her to challenge me.
Her gaze flicks to the hammer on the back of the couch. When she reaches for it, her arm brushes against my skin. I’d be lying if I said my cock didn’t twitch. Even during the brief contact, I could tell her skin was as soft as it looked.
She picks up the hammer and weighs it in her hand. “Satisfied?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Hardly.”
Bringing the hammer up to her face, she presses the head to the tip of her chin as if in thought as she scans my body. Her eyes stop at my crotch. “I could always smash it against your balls as an example.”
“You shouldn’t even be living here,” I say gruffly. Though I want to cover my junk to protect it from her threat, I won’t give her the satisfaction. I know nothing about this girl. For all I know, she could be wild.
She raises her eyebrows and tosses the hammer onto the couch. It bounces on the cushion a bit before she says, “Then I suppose it’s a good thing you’re not my landlord.”
I rub a hand down my face. “Do you even know how to do any home renovations?”
“I can paint,” she says defensively. “And I’m a quick study.”
Sighing, I drop my hand back to my side and surveythe room and all that has to be done to just the living room alone. “Teaching someone wasn’t what I signed up for.”
“Well, an ex-con handyman wasn’t what I signed up for either.”
I whip my head back to face her. “What did Derek tell you?”
Dare I say it, it’s almost cute when she places her hands on her hips, ready to lecture me like an old Italian grandma. “Absolutely nothing, which only serves to piss me off more than the fact that you clearly don’t want me here.”
I release a slow breath, hoping to gather some patience. I’m glad that Derek didn’t tell her anything, though. The town may have known what I’d done, but I don’t need her judging the shit out of me. Not that I regret what I did. I’d do it again if given the chance. Maybe I should tell her. If I’m lucky, it just might frighten her off.
Her shoulders slump forward, and her expression softens. “Let’s just start over, okay? I’m Tegan; you’re Cole. I’m going to help you; you’re going to teach me. That’s all this has to be.”
I grunt in response. I don’t see how starting over is going to erase the manner in which we met, but I don’t comment on it. “What all did Derek tell you about this property?” I’ll need to know what she thinks she’s getting into. There’s a lot of work ahead of me.Us. She needs to be aware of it all.
She shrugs. “Just the basics. The tour, a little house history. Learned a little about his family.”
“So, you know this is really his brother’s property.”
“You mean the missing brother, Neil, or whatever?” I nod. “I thought . . .”
“His brother is presumed dead, but there are still legal hoops until it can fully become Derek’s. Technically, it’s notDerek’s yet.” He may act like it’s his, but it’s not. Not yet, anyway.
“I thought he was just missing. Like, ran off.” She scowls around the place as if Neil himself might show up.
