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Three
I hadn’t seen my redheaded Valkyrie in a damn long time. She’d been playing hide and seek with me since we'd made our pact during the insanity that was Caleb and Luna’s engagement.
Well, more hiding than seeking in my damned opinion.
I’d barely seen her since that afternoon in September. I was hella disappointed that she hadn’t taken me up on the favor she’d threatened me with. Now that my best friend was on easy street with his girl, Luna, I’d been bored as fuck.
Gideon was ready to sell me on Facebook marketplace because I wouldn’t stop bugging him for jobs to keep me busy. Luckily, we usually had more work than men to cover, but I was pretty sure he was down to giving me the shit jobs until a few bigger ones came up in the schedule.
Problem was, I didn’t like to spend the night alone. Add in the endless weekends and I was going nuts.
Of course I could’ve sought out some company of a personal nature. I wasn’t exactly hard up for dates. I just didn’t seem to want any.
It wasn’t as if my flagpole wouldn’t raise anymore. No, sir, it was fully operational. The mental side of things was what was slowing me up. I had gotten pretty particular lately.
Hell if I knew why. Or would admit it, which was almost the same thing in Lucky land.
Deny, deny, deny.
So, I worked. I told Gideon I’d take anything—even the jobs with back-breaking physical labor. Like this job in cookie-cutter nation, Cove Gardens. Putting a fence up on my own was doable, but it wasn’t ideal. A bevy of MILFs watching me didn’t suck though.
I didn’t poach on married ladies. Even I had some limits when it came to women, but I didn’t mind showing off for them. Their excuses for stopping by were getting more interesting. Most of them included baked goods and the occasional apple-laden treats or spiked cider, which was my personal fave. Kimmie was usually exasperated, but I was pretty sure she enjoyed the adult conversation. Her day consisted of a kid strapped to her chest and the little blond devil child twirling around the yard. Abby, the devil, asked many, many questions about my process.
Pretty sure Kimmie was glad to unload question time to me for a few hours. As long as the kid stayed behind the big pink chalk line I’d sprayed in the grass, I was cool with it. I figured it was good practice for when my goddaughter or godson showed up.
Caleb had promised me I was first in line to be the kid’s godfather. Which was a rather official and scary title but I intended to use it as cred all over town.
At least I had before the psycho chick at The Mason Jar had slowed my roll and I’d gotten super selective when it came to the dating scene. I wasn’t sure which sucked more.
I was usually proud of my easy standards. I looked at it as a Lucky loves the ladies benevolence program.
Now it was more Lucky loves his right hand.
Tish was in Abby’s line of fire right now. She was circling her like a shark. I couldn’t hear the questions, but her little bow mouth was flapping so I was sure there were a lot of them. Kimmie kept trying to corral her, but the kid would not be deterred.
Kimmie gave up and ate a brownie from today’s bounty. I wondered if they were the macadamia nut ones Mrs. Jones made last time.
Absently, I rubbed my belly. I’d definitely been working up an appetite.
Maybe I could get the Valkyrie to go to dinner with me. All friendly like.
I could have female friends. It was doable, right?
Maybe.
My shoulders hunched at the squawking shriek coming from the deck. I spun around fast enough that the bucket of cement splattered upward, dousing the front of my jeans. “Awesome,” I muttered.
I glanced back at the women and found Tish smirking at me. Her hands were on her hips, showing off the delicious line of her leather-clad legs. Goddamn, she was magnificent. I was no poet, but her hair was that kind of red that made a man think of black silk sheets.
I didn’t have silk sheets, but I’d damn well get them if she deemed me worthy of a tumble.
A friendly tumble.
Another shriek of mom voice broke my little daydream. I shoved a rogue curl back into the knot of hair on top of my head. Some days cutting off my hair seemed like a good idea, but then again, it was my best feature according to the ladies—so, it always stayed.
Kimmie was running around the table up on her porch. I couldn’t hear what she was screaming about, but I had a feeling the kid was to blame since she was trying to hide behind Tish.
And honestly, what kind of grown woman still called herself Kimmie? It reminded me of a doll covered in pink sparkles—which I only knew about because of the baby boom in this town. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d had to go buy a gift card for baby shit.
