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“Good.”
We drove off to the building in Brooklyn, catching each other up on our days, sharing laughs, and of course, flirting. My new favorite pastime was finding ways to make Cara blush. And boy, was I good at it.
When we pulled up to the building, two cars were already out front: Danny’s and the inspector’s. Cara’s mouth formed into a thin line. “We’ll have to be good in front of Danny. I don’t want word getting back to my parents about us.”
She hadn’t meant for that to sting, but it did. Our relationship wasn’t one for public consumption, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that. To be able to walk down the street with Cara Smith on my arm was a daydream I had regularly. “That’s fine. I’ll be good. I can keep my hands to myself.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Can you now?”
I scoffed. “You don’t trust me?”
“I just know how hard it is for you to keep your hands off me. We’ve almost gotten in trouble before.”
There had been a few instances over the two weeks when I had pushed a bit too far and Lucy had almost walked in to see. From stolen kisses to a groping of the ass, I was always trying to see what I could get away with. “I’ll be good.”
“Good. You’ll be rewarded handsomely later.” Cara got out of the car.
I leaned my head back with a sigh.She can’t just say those things and not expect it to affect me.
I got out of the car and followed her across the street to the front door of the property. Danny Morden was there to welcome us in all his smarmy glory. “Cara, it’s good to see you.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her in close, kissing her cheek.
My blood boiled.
“Hi, Danny.”
Danny turned to me with a wry smile. “Is Mr. Taves your new chauffeur?”
Cara lifted her chin. “Sorry, I thought I mentioned it. Mr. Taves is my business partner.” I had told her to call me this. Not only was it mostly true, but I knew it would rile up Danny.
Danny removed his aviators, a look of shock and bewilderment on his face.
“Why do you look so surprised, Danny?” Cara asked with faux innocence.
He shook off the surprise quickly. “Well, I knew Mr. Taves was, um,investingin your business,but businesspartner, that’s…” He looked me straight in the eye. I raised my chin and smiled subtly, daring him to say anything more that might piss me off. “Good to see you again, Mr. Taves.”
“You too.” I shook his hand and then greeted the inspector beside him.
The inspector was a man a little older than me wearing a hardhat and a reflective vest. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Cara and I exchanged a look. I would let her take the lead until she needed help. She smiled at the inspector. “Sounds good.”
Once inside the building, the inspector set to work. That left a lot of down time for us. Or should I saytorture. I couldn’t touch Cara, couldn’t flirt with her, and had to be party to watching Danny constantly hovering around her, making small talk, and so obviously checking her out.
“I tried this amazing Korean place in the village. We should go some time.”
“I always like when you wear makeup. You’d look amazing with some red lipstick.”
“I still can’t believe you’re single. What’s wrong with those guys? You know, if you were with me…”
I kept my hands in my pockets so no one could see they were balled into fists.
From time to time, the inspector grunted out something that none of us really understood, but I could tell things weren’t going well. Even though I felt bad for Cara that the building was probably in shambles, I still felt smug that I’d been right and Danny had been wrong about the need for an inspection.
The last thing that needed to be looked at was the roof. We all followed Danny through the access door and into the breezy February day.
Cara reflexively moved closer to me as a chill ran down her body.
“It’s a lovely view from up here, isn’t it?” Danny spread his arms wide to the expanse of Brooklyn before us.
