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“No.” She drops her hands and props them on her hips. “Nothing else is messed with, just this. Which is weird, right? Wouldn’t you think that, if someone went through the trouble of coming here to destroy stuff, they’d ruin everything? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they didn’t, but this is petty. You’re an electrician. Come look at this and tell me if you can fix it.”
I move past her and look over the damage. “If this were a newer model, I could probably rewire the whole saw in about an hour, but this one is older, so I’m not sure. You might be better off replacing it.”
“I was going to wait until after the first of the year to do that so I could put it on next year’s taxes.”
I grin. “I kind of love that you think of things like that.”
“Yeah, well, I guess it’ll be going on this year’s return. What are you up to?”
“Working and flirting with you. Two of my favorite things.”
“No.” She holds up her hand and presses it to my chest. “No flirting on the job. How many times do I have to remind you? It’s unprofessional.”
“You’re the one touching me.” I take her hand and kiss her palm. “Besides, I hardly saw you all weekend.”
“I had to help clean up from the party, and I wanted to spend some time with Lauren before she went back to Vegas this morning. Since the exterminator came and took care of the mice and a family of squirrels in the attic, I don’t mind sleeping there when I have to.” She licks her lips as she shuffles her feet. “But, I can admit, I’d rather sleep at your place.”
“Then I hope you’ll be back tonight.”
“Yeah.” She nods and looks around to make sure no one’s watching us. “I will. It’s been a crazy morning, and I’m a little hangry, so I’d better go find something for lunch.”
“Why don’t you let me buy you lunch. How does the diner sound?”
“I’d give my right kidney for a cheeseburger,” she says. “But it’s not a date.”
“Call it whatever you want, and I’ll call it a date if I want to.” I laugh when she scowls at me. “Come on, grumpy girl, let’s feed you before you commit murder.”
Fifteen minutes later, Sunny takes our order, and I sit back in the booth, watching Juniper as she looks around the diner as if she’s searching for someone.
“What’s wrong? Don’t want to be seen with me?”
This has her looking a bit guilty as her attention comes back to me. “I’m sorry. It’s so stupid. I never should have told you that we can’t tell people we’re together. It feels like I’m in too deep to change the rules and let the whole town see us be all mushy and kissy face. The last thing I want is for Luna and Sarah to find out from someone other than mebecauseit’ll hurt their feelings.”
“Luna might kill us.” Not really, but the way Juniper’s eyes widen in fear is adorable. “Her brother and her best friend have been doing the horizontal mambo for weeks and haven’t bothered to tell her. In fact, they’ve been lying and vehemently denying it the whole time. Yeah, she’ll be a little pissed.”
“I’m dumb.” She buries her face in her hands. “I’mreallydumb.”
“Nah. You just didn’t plan on catching feelings for me on top of enjoying the sex.”
Her head snaps up. “I amnotcatching feelings.”
“It’s okay. You can admit it.”
“No way. It’s not happening.”
I move to hold her hand, and she pulls it back out of my reach, making me raise an eyebrow.
“Good sex doesn’t equate to feelingsof any kind.”
“No, it doesn’t, but looking at me the way you do does. Wanting to spend time together does. Needing to be close to you, to hear your voice and tell you about my daydoes, Juniper. The sex is just a very fun perk.”
She lets out an annoyed huff. “Well, shit. When did that happen?”
“It’s been happening; you’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
“You.” Our heads swivel as that asshole Eric storms across the diner toward us, his eyes shooting daggers in June’s direction. “What did you do?”
“About what?” June’s voice doesn’t waver, and her face looks bored as she looks up at the man. “And hello. It’s not nice to see you. I thought you went back to New York where you belong.”
