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“Yes, but that was before Mr. Bennett tried to kiss you.”
“Right, who is going to protect your honor if we left, Ms. Wilde?”
“Enough, you two.” I groan, reaching my arm up and rubbing the back of my neck.
As if trying to navigate dating for the first time in years wasn’t hard enough. Now, I also have to contend with two teenage girls and their snarky comments. I’m sure they mean well, but they aren’t helping matters in the slightest. If anything, they’re making things even more awkward between Audrey and me.
“Bye, Mr. Bennett,” Love says, before threading her arm through Jade’s and pulling her further into thehouse. “Thanks for bringing Jade over. I promise I’ll keep her out of trouble.”
“Keep me out of trouble? Who says I won’t be keepingyouout of trouble?”
“Call it my intuition,” Love comments, causing both Audrey and me to laugh loudly.
“Bye, Dad,” Jade gives me a small wave over her shoulder. “And you still owe me coffee and donuts.”
“You two have fun, and please, call me Connor.”
“Sorry about that.” Audrey grips my arm, giving it a soft squeeze. “After everything that happened before we moved, Love is a little protective.”
“As she should be.”
Audrey looks down at her hand, realizing she’s still touching me, and snatches her hand back.
“I really need to get going. We have a busy day ahead of us, and if I want to get home while it’s still light out, I better be going.” I smile, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, swallowing down the disappointment that I can’t stay here with her.
“Bye, Connor,” she replies as I slide through the door, closing it softly behind me.
I make my way back to my truck and make a quick stop at Just the Drip to grab coffee and muffins for the guys before heading to the office. I wasn’t kidding when I said I needed to butter them up. I need to get things moving today if I want to get to Bristol’s place to repair the air conditioner instead of waiting until later in the week.
It only takes me a few minutes before I pull into my spot in front of the trailer we use as an office and stroll inside.
“Is that for us?” one of the guys mumbles, eyeing the bag of muffins and the carton of coffee in my hand.
“Who else would it be for?” I reply, dropping everything on the table in the break room before heading into the office in search of Vance.
“Did you bring any for me?”
“You have legs. Get up and get your own. But you better hurry before the guys devour it all.”
“I’d have thought you’d be in a better mood this morning.” Vance raises his eyebrow at me as he leans back in his desk chair.
“I am in a good mood.” I chuckle, grabbing my travel coffee mug and striding back into the break room.
“Is there a specific reason for said good mood?” Vance questions from beside me as he fills his own cup with coffee and grabs a muffin.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re hinting at so we can get to work?”
“Nothing. Can’t a friend inquire about another friend’s good mood?”
I ignore his question, head back into our office, and drop into my chair. Vance and I have been friends for years, so I know when he’s completely full of shit. He must have talked to one of the girls about what happened between Audrey and me. If I had to guess, I’d say it was Bristol because she loves to meddle almostas much as Vance does. It would be easy for her to poke him for information, not that I have anything to report to either of them right now.
“Where is the schedule for today? I know we have a lumber delivery for the Estates project, but Bristol needs me to repair the new thermostat we installed a few weeks ago.”
“I thought you and Jade headed over there to take a look a few days ago?” Vance questions as he drops the schedule for the day onto my desk.
“We stopped by, but I couldn’t get it working. I let her know I’d come by later this week and look at the unit, but it’s going to be hot. I don’t want her to suffer because of a blocked air condenser or a refrigerant leak.”
“I knew we should have convinced her to put in an entirely new unit.” Vance leans against my desk as he takes a large bite from his muffin. “I can head over and look. I’ve been meaning to stop in at the dance studio and say hi to Selina anyway.”
