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“Put your money away.”
“No, you are helping me. The least I can do is pay for food.”
“Who said I’m not going to charge you later?”
She pulled her mask down and tilted her chin up to see me better. “Are you going to charge me later, Brad?”
“Maybe not in currency,” I replied softly.
“Yeah? In what? Sex?” Her brows rose, and she looked hopeful. Man, I wanted to kiss her and give in to her wishes.
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of letting me use those swings sometime and maybe a homecooked dinner.”
She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Fine, but I still want to pay for breakfast.”
“Alright.” I took the money she held out, and before I could think more on it, I leaned down and kissed her softly, once. She looked almost as surprised as I was that I had done that, but a moment later, she winked and stepped away.
I was grinning like an idiot as I went back to my truck. It had felt so natural to do that.
I was back thirty minutes later and found Kayley’s car in the driveway. I was slightly disappointed that my sister was here, but I forced myself to keep a smile on my face as I went in and found not only Kay there but Cam too, inspecting our work from the previous night.
“Food!” Nolan called out as soon as I came in.
“Hey, guys.” I tried not to be embarrassed as I looked at my sister, but the smile on her face made my cheeks warm a bit. “If I had known you were going to be here, I would have gotten you something.”
“That’s okay,” Cameron replied. “We’ve already eaten.”
“You guys got a lot done last night,” my sister stated. “Do you have the drawing of what it’s going to look like?”
“My computer is in my truck,” I told her.
“Okay, after you eat, you can show me.”
Cameron and Kayley had brought coffee travel mugs with them, and they joined us on the back porch as we sat on the steps and ate our breakfast.
“I haven’t even slept here, and I’ve already had two picnics on the back porch,” Nolan commented after she scarfed down her sandwich. “That was good.”
“I should have gotten you a second one.”
“Did you get my fruit?” she asked.
I nodded as I pulled it out of the bag. “And you still have your donut here.”
She winked at me. “Saving that for break time.”
As we finished our breakfast, we made a plan for the work to be done. Mr. Townsend would be here around eleven to go over the pipes again and make sure he had everything on his list that he needed. I pulled out my phone and sent a couple of text messages to Pete, Milton, Chester, and Chad to see if they could stop by and heard back from all of them within a few moments.
Kayley and Nolan were looking over my computer rendering, discussing the cabinets, and Cameron helped me with the ceiling. I used a sheet of drywall that Nolan had delivered for repairs, and Cam and I worked on patching the ceiling. From time to time, I’d glance at Nolan, and we’d share a look and sometimes a smile.
The more times we glanced at one another, the higher I felt that sexual tension climbing. At least Kayley didn’t seem to have noticed, or if she did, she wasn’t saying anything for now.
At eleven-fifteen, Mr. Townsend showed up, and Milton was with him. Kayley and Cam started going around the house looking for cracks, holes, and things in the walls needing repair. Nolan pulled me over to her side as she discussed the plumbing with Mr. Townsend.
A few times, Nolan looked completely baffled at a question or comment, and I’d either explain it to her or answer Mr. Townsend's question with what I thought was best. Upstairs in her master bathroom, Milton was foaming at the mouth as she spoke about her vision for the room.
I left the two of them there as Mr. Townsend and I moved on to look in the crawl space for the main house pipes.
I was squatted down beside the house when Pete showed up and joined me.
