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“Yo!Boss man, you up there?”
Bryson called back and continued chewing, listening as the man made his way up the stairs.
Zack didn’t have a head for business, but he was a hard worker with a knack for building and design, which made him a really good foreman.
“Hey,” Zack said, joining Bryson on the second-floor oceanfront balcony.
“Hey, yourself.You bring that tarp I asked for?”
“Yeah, I got it.”Zack braced his hands on the balcony and stared out at the view.“Still can’t believe you managed to snag this one.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to had it not been tied up in estate court and in such bad shape after the last hurricane.The judge made the family sell it just to make peace.”
“Yeah, well, lucky you.Once it’s all fixed up, you’re gonna kill it.”
“That’s the plan.”At least it had been the plan.Now, he wasn’t so sure.He found himself wanting to hold on to this one rather than sell it as he’d intended.
But was his reasoning the house or because it put him closer to his beautiful neighbor?
Zack whistled long and low.“Man, no wonder you’ve been hanging out here so much.Who’s she?”
Bryson instinctively knew who Zack referenced before he turned his head and saw Hadley walking toward her house.“New owner.”
“I need to win the lottery or something.Move up in the world so I could get a piece of—”
“Watch it,” Bryson all but growled.“I know her, and even if I didn’t, no one on my crew is going to disrespect women.We don’t need to catch any flack for that should someone ever overhear you.”
Zack’s eyebrows shot high above his sunglasses but he didn’t comment further.“It’s a compliment.There’s just a certain look when it comes to women like that, you know?”
Yeah, he did.The look was called money and it reinforced his thoughts from earlier.
Expensive clothes, designer hair, perfect makeup.There were normal women and then there were women who wore their money.Some did it better than others, but it all boiled down to the same thing.
Bryson finished the sandwich and washed it down with water.“Come on.You can help me get the tarp up over there before you go to the jobsite on Sixth.”
Bryson got to his feet and led the way through the house.They got the tarp and a ladder off the company truck, carrying the items between the hedges separating the properties.
By the time they’d climbed up and spread and secured the tarp, Hadley stood in the yard, a hand shading her eyes as she gazed up at them.
“Is it supposed to rain?”she asked.
“Showers possible tonight,” Bryson told her.“Better safe than sorry.”Right now the damage inside the bedroom ceiling could be fixed fairly easily, but a downpour and fresh leak could lead to more serious problems requiring a lot more work.
Zack climbed down first and stood there like a lump on a log, staring at Hadley.
Once his feet hit the ground, Bryson introduced them.
“Pleasure, ma’am.”
“Oh, please don’t ma’am me.It makes me feel old.”
“You’re hardly that.”
“Zack,” Bryson said, tilting his head to indicate the man should get going.
“Yeah, right.I gotta git.Nice to meet you, ma’a—uh, Ms.Hadley.”
Bryson focused on Hadley and noticed she looked much better than she had this morning.“How are you feeling?”
