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“I didn’t expect anyone home for a while.”
He shrugged. “Deacon—the guy whose place I’m doing the painting in—had to close early for a family emergency. Are you evicting us and changing the locks already?” His teasing was undercut with the faintest hint of concern.
“I mean, once you give a guy a key to your place, he thinks he lives there or something,” I teased.
Colin’s smile was the kind of sweetness and sincerity that could melt a person’s insides. “The nerve of some men. Do you need any help?”
“This would be easier with a second set of hands.”
“I’ll put my hands wherever you tell me to.” Colin winced. “That came out wrong, didn’t it?”
So different from Tanner, and adorably sexy in his own way. “I think it sounded exactly the way you wanted it to,” I said.
“If you call me on shit like that, I’ll have to clean up my act.”
“Never change for someone else.” I paused and replayed my response in my head. “That came out way more seriously than I meant it to.”
Colin smirked. “Where do you want me boss?”
Face buried between my legs, using that skilled tongue of his.
Just because we didn’t put limits on future encounters, didn’t mean I needed to be daydreaming about jumping their bones every chance I got. “Hand me the next screw then hold this exactly where it is.” I nodded at the doorknob.
“Just assume there are going to be a lot ofscrewjokes racing through my head as we do this.” He handed me the hardware.
“Assume it’s the same for me.”
The work went a lot faster with Colin’s help, and I was double grateful he was there when it came time to push the couches to the edge of the living room.
“Explain this cheese puffs thing to me again,” Colin said. “I’m missing something. There’s not a speck of visible dirt in your house, but you’re worried about cheese in the carpet?”
Because I’d cleaned the place top to bottom before they arrived, and I had someone come in three times a week to stay on top of the mess. I tugged on my ponytail. “We bought this powder, and Harmony used way too much on the popcorn, then spilled the bowl on the floor in front of the TV. I’ve vacuumed a couple of times, but I can smell it still. That faint, decaying fake cheese scent.”
Colin wrinkled his nose. “You make it sound so appetizing.”
“It’s a gift.” I grabbed the deodorizer I’d bought at the hardware store, and sprinkled it liberally on the carpet. “The instructions say I have to wait before I vacuum it up. Wanna split that last beer with me?”
“Ms. Lane, are you trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me?” Colin’s scandalized voice rose an octave.
“Not at all. I want you completely sober when I take advantage of you.” Was that kind of joking allowed, especially with Colin? I had no idea. “But seriously, I just want to get it out of the fridge.”
Colin bowed and gestured toward the kitchen. “Sounds reasonable. After you.”
I grabbed the last beer from the fridge and turned to find Colin already waiting with the bottle opener. He popped the top. I took a short swallow and handed the drink to him.
“Tanner’s missing all the fun,” I teased.
A shadow crossed over Colin’s face, but it vanished so quickly I could have imagined it. “You can recruit him to help tomorrow,” Colin said.
Weird. “I don’t have anything nearly as interesting as installing doorknobs planned. I’m cleaning grout.”
“Maybe you could get him to put on a maid outfit and help.”
“A boy maid or a girl maid?” Because I could picture Tanner in a short black skirt that did nothing to hide those iron swimmer’s thighs. An unpleasant whiff of something reached me and I wrinkled my nose. That wasn’t me, was it? “Do you smell that?” I was almost afraid to ask.
Colin wore a similar expression. He lifted his arms and sniffed. “Pretty sure it’s not me.”
The smell was stronger now, and giving me flashbacks to my sorority days before I learned not to mix hard liquors. I followed my nose toward the living room, the scent growing more potent and vile with each step. Was it starting to burn my eyes?
