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I’d spread myself too thin, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d have a critical tear to mend.
I was deep in the midst of staring a hole in the numbers on screen when Daisy walked in.
There was something extraordinary about her, something latent in her that turned every face to hers when she entered a room. It wasn’t just her smile, but the way the tilt of her lips lifted her cheeks and what it did to her eyes, how it made them spark alive. It was in the tone of her voice, the easy lilt and sweet sound, a song that made everyone she spoke to feel like they were important. Like they were wanted and loved.
It was how she greeted me, as if last night never happened, a blip of fantasy we’d only imagined.
As she settled in at her desk, I wondered if I really had imagined it.
Until she asked with that easy smile, “Do your brothers sill have all their limbs?”
A laugh slipped out of me. “Yeah, but I can’t account for all their teeth. How about your sisters? You didn’t do anything rash like replace their conditioner with Nair?”
“I used your napkin trick on their shoes. They didn’t think it was funny.”
“Good.”
Her face was light, full of hope without expectation. “But I’ve gotta hand it to them—I really did enjoy your company.”
“I did too. Enjoy your company, that is,” I stammered like a dumbass.
Fortunately, she seemed to find my idiocy endearing. “Maybe someday we can do it again. As friends.”
“Sure,” I answered noncommittally, but she was unshaken as she turned to her laptop and got to work.
The thought struck me that maybe she didn’t really want to date me after all. Maybe her suggestion was just that—a convenience without any feelings to put behind it. My deep and aching disappointment told me more than I wanted to admit.
I played over last night through that lens, considering everything she said from a place of mild interest, nothing more. And there was nothing that indicated otherwise, aside from the awkward, charged hug we’d shared. I didn’t know how it’d happened, exactly. Maybe it was a telegraph of my desire for her, the feeling I’d been trying so hard to keep in check. But when she threaded her arms around my neck and tucked her head under my chin, I’d closed my eyes and basked in her, in the warmth of her touch, in the comfort she gave with every breath that left her lips. It had been a long, long time since I’d been hugged, truly hugged.
In fact, I’d been starved for affection for so long, I’d forgotten how it felt to be loved.
My eyes were trained on my screen as my thoughts wandered and the stone in my chest grew heavy.
Too many feelings. Just another reason to avoid Daisy—she dredged up too many thoughts, thoughts that were better off staying where they were.
The door to the temporary building flew open, and my foreman Jace walked in, his face colored in anger.
“Inspector’s here.”
“Oh?”
“It’s Mason.”
I swore under my breath and pushed away from my desk, rising to deal with the decidedly problematic extension of our mayor.
John Mason stood just at the bottom of the steps with a clipboard in his hand, scanning the site with the scrutiny of a drill sergeant about to make an example out of somebody. That somebody being me.
“Mornin’, John,” I said in my most diplomatic tone. “What can I do for you?”
“Just a routine inspection, shouldn’t be long. Anything I should know about?”
The weaselly son of a bitch wore a gotcha smile I’d have loved to wipe off his face. Instead, I smiled.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. You’ll let me know if you need anything?”
“Sure will. Mind if I pop in when I’m finished for your signature?”
“’Course. I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee for you.”
He didn’t answer, just gave me that terrible smile and a nod before wandering off toward the site.
“Goddammit,” I said under my breath.
“I know,” Jace said. “He’s not gonna leave until he finds something that’ll shut us down.”
“No, he won’t.”
I turned and stormed inside and made that pot of coffee like I’d said, needing something to do.
“Is everything all right?” Daisy asked.
“Nope. Mason is about to shut us down.”
“What?” she breathed. “For how long?”
“As long as he can.”
“But why?”
“Because nobody paid attention to him in high school? Too many swirlies in the locker room made him an asshole? It’s anybody’s guess, but I’ve never met a man so thirsty to swirlie everybody else.”
“Did you give him swirlies?” she asked with a touch of amusement.
“I was the quarterback of the football team. My job was to stop the swirlies, not initiate them.”
“Maybe in his grade the quarterback wasn’t so noble.”
I snorted. “You’re probably right. But whatever his grudge, he’s easy to buy. Mitchell’s had his hand on Mason’s back as long as he’s been an inspector.” When the pot was full of water from the cooler, I poured it into the tank of the coffee pot, fuming. “Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t had more interference from Mitchell. Windley was the first, but this?” I scoffed, shook my head, but didn’t finish the thought.
