The Fix (Carolina Connections #1) Read online

  And not only did I miss my alarm, I also missed half a dozen phone calls from work. The freaking siding we were supposed to install at the apartment project today had arrived late yesterday and nobody noticed until early this morning that it was the wrong kind. Mark called first thing with that one. It was unclear if the error came from the manufacturer or from our end, which would make it even more complicated, but either way it left us with half a crew spending the day with their thumbs up their asses while we fell behind schedule and bled money. Not ideal.

  I made a few more calls and we were able to shuffle some things around but we were still going to be running behind until we got the right siding and who the hell knew when that would be?

  And behind all of that was the nagging fear that somebody would slip up and tell my father about it, and that would bring on a whole new shit storm coming from both him and my mom. Good Christ, I felt like chucking it all and catching the first flight back to Texas. This day was like screwing a skunk – it had hardly even started and I’d already had enough.

  Mark, Doug and I decided to touch base in person at the Old Oak Ridge site where Doug and I were planning on starting our day anyway. So, without time for coffee, breakfast, or my run, I’d taken the fastest shower known to man and headed over there. Suffice it to say, I was not in a receptive mood for any more bullshit when I’d arrived.

  Enter the amateur pageant queen and her friend. Her smoking, fuck-hot friend with glossy dark hair halfway down to her ass and intense light grey eyes that lit my dick on fire. Not to mention the rest of the package. To say I am a tits and ass kind of guy is like saying the Cookie Monster has a vague fondness for sweets. And, goddamn, did this girl have some T and A. She had a little bit of that Christina Hendricks thing from Mad Men going on. And she was serving up the attitude to go with it. Maybe Texas was a bad idea after all.

  I knew I was being a total dick, and I’m sure my hot little friend and her red-headed neighbor didn’t deserve it, but I couldn’t help myself. The crew was almost here and I had just gotten off the phone with the siding company – they were estimating another two weeks before they could get the right order in. That was a shit-ton of money and time and I didn’t have the patience to deal with these neighborhood people who were wasting my time with shit that wasn’t even going to be an issue for months, if ever. So I released the asshole on them.

  Sue me and then get me a coffee.

  But it looked like this girl was just getting started and now I was finding out she was somehow involved with one of my crew? What the fuck was going on with this day?

  Her eyes blazed into mine and I could see her draw in a deep breath in preparation for whatever was about to come. It was impossible to ignore the rise of her perfect breasts and I caught just a glimpse of black lace at the vee of her red shirt from my elevated vantage point. It almost made me want to be cooperative. Almost.

  “Listen here, you misogynistic prick.”

  Contrary to everything I’m sure I was expected to feel at this point, my dick rose to attention (‘You called?’ it said).

  “You can’t stand here making your half-assed assumptions and treating us like we’re some brainless little fairies flitting around all day with nothing better to do than take a crap on you and your macho man bullshit.”

  Yup, still sporting wood.

  “We are all home owners on this street who have a right to know what is happening in our neighborhood.”

  She wagged her index finger in my face and I wanted to bite it.

  “We take the safety of our children and families very seriously, as well as the value of our homes in which we have invested our hard earned money –”

  God, she was in my face now and I could see the dark ring around her flinty gray irises. Would they be the same shade when she was under me?

  “Money we’ve made doing real work the same way you do and I will not stand here and let you treat us like we are somehow less than you and your precious crew while you wave all of your big muscles around and beat your chest!”

  Big muscles? Now we were getting somewhere.

  “Now,” she commanded, “you will apologize to Charlotte for jumping down her throat and you will address our concerns in a tone that smacks a little less of arrogant dickhead.”

  If I didn’t get her out of here I was either gonna kiss her or drop down on my knees and beg her to marry me so I had to find an exit strategy – fast.

  “What did you say your name was again?” I asked.

  “Laney.” Her right hand suddenly rose and cradled her cheek.

  “Your full name.”

  She swallowed. “Laney Monroe.”

  “Monroe.” I felt the name on my tongue and kept my eyes glued to hers. “She belong to you, kid?” I yelled out to Gavin just so I could watch her eyes light up with rage again. God, this girl was smoking.

  “I don’t belong to him!” Her hand dropped and her voice exploded with indignation. “God, you really are an asshole, aren’t you?”

  There was no arguing with that one at the moment.

  With that she turned and I got to watch the show as her perfect ass strutted away toward Gavin and the kid on his shoulders.

  “Come on Charlotte. We’re done here!” To me, she shouted, “This is not over!” And all four of them headed out. I continued to watch the show, noticing Gavin glancing worriedly back at me a few times. He appeared to be arguing with her. With Laney. I couldn’t blame him – that was the most fun I’d had in weeks.

  Ten minutes later, with most of the crew in attendance I saw Gavin Monroe approaching, this time without the little kid and the hot girl.

  “Nate, I am so sorry,” he began. “My sister can be a little hot-headed sometimes but I talked to her and I promise she won’t be bothering you any more, I swear–”

  “That’s your sister?” I cut him off.

  “I know, right. She’s a pain in the ass.”

  I just nodded, not sure Gavin would appreciate anything I had to say about his sister’s ass. “Don’t worry about it,” I threw back to him. “Go see Doug. We’ve gotta get things moving here.”

  And I may have to carve out a little time in my schedule for a rematch with one Laney Monroe.

  ***

  “No, Mark, my dad is not going to want to collect electric trains as his new hobby. And if you like your nuts where they are you’ll mind your own business and tell Bailey to keep her gaping pie-hole shut from now on.” I said to the moron on the other end of the line. Mark and I were pretty good buddies but sometimes I seriously questioned his level of common sense.

  It was Friday evening and I was standing on Gavin Monroe’s front porch, having gotten his address from his employee file and hoping to catch his sister at home. I had yet to ring the bell when Mark called and I’d picked it up assuming, who knows why, that he was calling about actual work. Turns out Bailey had let him in on the search for Riordan Murphy’s new hobby and he couldn’t resist getting in on the action.

  “Why not? I could get him one of those train engineer hats.” He guffawed.

  “Two things, Mark. One, you do know that even with a bum heart my dad could beat you into the ground, right? And two, don’t even think of letting him or my mother get the barest wind of this conversation. The goal is to lower his blood pressure, not elevate it. And, besides, Bay and I are family so he can’t kill us. Just think about where that leaves you.”

  “You’re no fun, man. I’m calling Bailey to swap ideas instead,” he complained.

  See? No common sense. “You go right ahead, man, but don’t come crying to me when he turns you into a eunuch. Later, Mark.”

  “Later.” He hung up and I turned to ring the doorbell.

  However, the door was already open.

  “If you’re looking for Gavin, he’s not here. He’s probably at Jake’s shooting pool. You should try there – I hear it’s a pretty male-dominated crowd – hardly a woman in sight so you should feel right at home.” Laney gave me a fak
e-ass smile and started to close the door but I stopped it with my foot. Her expression changed to a glare.

  “Whoa, hold on there. I’m actually here to see you.” She didn’t try to break my foot right away so I continued, “I wanted to apologize.”

  Her look turned suspicious. “Apologize?”

  “Yes. You were right. I was an asshole.”

  “And have you directed this apology to Charlotte as well?” One hand went to her hip.

  Oooh, she’s a sharp one. “I will as soon as you give me her address. Can I come in before the neighbors start calling the cops?”

  After a few moments she opened the door a touch. “I guess. But you have to act like a normal person. I have company and my son is here.” Ah, so the little kid was her son, not Gavin’s. But she didn’t have a ring, I’d noted earlier. Still, I reminded myself to tread carefully. She stepped aside and left the door open for me. I followed her into the house and closed the door behind me. The door knob fell off into my hand. Huh? I looked at her questioningly. She looked at my hand.

  “Oh crap,” she said and grabbed the knob from my hand while pushing the door to rest in a position that was mostly closed.

  “You’re worried about my building threatening your kid’s safety and your front door doesn’t even close?” I couldn’t resist.

  Her hand shot to my mouth and covered it. “I thought you were here to apologize,” she hissed.

  I was too distracted by the effect her touch had on me to respond. Her warm hand stayed over my mouth a few seconds too long as her eyes rose to meet mine.

  Could she feel that too? Apparently so, because the next second her hand dropped like it had been burned and then both of her hands went to her cheeks and started running up and down over the sweet little freckles I’d just noticed. Sweet little freckles? What am I now, a girl?

  She turned her back and hurried from the entryway. I couldn’t do anything but follow.

  It turns out we were headed into the kitchen where a very petite blond woman stood at a stove that was older than dirt stirring something in a pot. The little boy from yesterday, whom I now knew was Laney’s son, was sitting at a blue table with a pile of Legos in front of him. He had on a gray t-shirt with a yellow chick on it and sported the words “Chicks Dig Me”. Just under the sleeve of the shirt I could see one of those stick-on tattoos but I couldn’t tell what is was supposed to be. I liked this kid already. I could work with this.

  “Nate, this is my friend Fiona and my son Rocco.” Laney did the introductions, one hand still holding her cheek.

  Oh shit, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Were these women a couple and this was their son? I was usually so good at spotting signals and I could have sworn Laney was into me, even if she didn’t want to be.

  The woman named Fiona whirled around suddenly, clearly not expecting a strange man to appear in the kitchen. She looked me over and I can tell you she was not shy about her head to toe perusal. I was beginning to feel a little violated she was so thorough. Okay, so totally straight – that was a relief.

  “Fiona, Rocco, this is Gavin’s boss, Nate Murphy. Rocco, say hello to Mr. Murphy,” Laney gently directed.

  “Nate. Nate’s fine. How’s it going Rocco?” I waved to the kid. “Nice tattoo. Did you get that in prison? I’ll bet it kills with the ladies.”

  Crickets.

  “Five-year olds don’t really get sarcasm,” said Fiona, leaning toward me and offering her hand.

  “Oh,” I said stupidly as I took it. Fiona couldn’t have been more than about 5’4” and she was wearing sky high heels so her actual height was probably closer to an even five feet. She had blond hair and a tiny face to match her tiny body. She was cute in a spunky kind of way, but was a complete contrast to her bombshell of a friend.

  “So, Nate, I hear you’ve been stirring up some trouble in the neighborhood,” Fiona led with a wink.

  “Oh no,” Laney interjected, “none of that. Nate is just here to apologize for yesterday and then he’s going to be on his way.” She had lost her slightly frazzled demeanor and was back in command.

  “No!” Fiona argued and looked beseechingly at me. “You have to stay for dinner. I’m making penne with a fabulous tomato cream sauce and meatballs for my main man over there.” She tipped her chin toward the table where Rocco still hadn’t acknowledged my presence and was busy building a Lego structure of some kind. “You’ll love it!”

  While the two women silently communicated with each other in a series of indecipherable facial expressions and hand gestures I accepted the invitation before it could be revoked. “Sounds great!”

  ***

  “Are you the man with the construction trucks?” Rocco spoke his first words to me ten minutes later. We were all seated at the hideous blue table over bowls of admittedly delicious pasta. Fiona could cook.

  “I am,” I said, thrilled to finally have something that might win the kid over. I needed all the help I could get. “You like construction trucks?”

  “Yeah. Uncle Gavin took me to see them yesterday but we only stayed for a minute. My favorite is the back hoe.” All of his “s” sounds came out as “th” sounds and I had to admit it was pretty damn cute.

  “That is a good one.” I nodded at him.

  He twitched his nose and went back to his meatball. It seemed I was dismissed. So much for that.

  As Fiona had been preparing the pasta earlier, I took the opportunity to explain to Laney that my tirade yesterday had been the result of things that had nothing to do with her or her friend. I did a bit of light groveling and she seemed to be receptive on the condition that I also apologize to Charlotte. I had agreed and the matter was closed. Why she chose to bring it up again over our nice dinner, then, was beyond me. I was just hoping that the presence of Fiona and Rocco would help to keep things friendly.

  “So Nate, you really don’t have any idea what kinds of businesses will rent the space?” She licked some pasta sauce from her top lip and I had trouble concentrating on her question for a minute.

  “Uh, not really at this point, Laney. I mean, certain types of businesses couldn’t be licensed on this particular property anyway. There are rules for required distances from churches, schools and what-not, but I can’t really help you out too much with anything concrete.” I brought another forkful of the delicious pasta to my mouth.

  “But you’ll own the property, so technically you can decide whether or not to rent it out to specific people, right?”

  Oh no, we were not going there tonight. We were having a nice meal, her friend seemed to like me well enough, her kid had even spoken to me. I was not messing this up.

  I finished chewing and wiped my mouth with a napkin. “There’s actually a lot more that goes into those kinds of decisions. Is there any more of that garlic bread, Fiona?”

  “Sure thing, Nate.” Fiona handed me the bread basket. “I’m sure Nate’s company will do its best, Laney. They don’t want trouble any more than you do, isn’t that right, Nate?” Fiona smiled at me and then let her eyes shift to Laney.

  “Right,” I responded and then shoved a whole piece of bread in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to say another word.

  “But let’s just speak in hypotheticals,” Laney continued, undaunted. It was like she was trying to annoy me. What was I saying? Of course she was trying to annoy me. “You wouldn’t rent the space to, say, a medical practice, would you?”

  Genuinely confused, I forced the bread down my throat in a painful lump and responded in a tight voice, “What’s wrong with a medical practice? You could walk Rocco to a doctor’s appointment.” I gestured to the kid.

  “I don’t wanna go to the doctor!” Rocco objected vehemently.

  “Nobody’s going to the doctor,” Fiona soothed him.

  “Yeah, and some junkie would break in at night and raid the drug cabinet. That happens more than you realize,” Laney declared, hand waving in the air.

  I turned my head to the left and then to the right, looki
ng for what? I had no clue. “What are you, a true crime author?”

  “What’s a junkie?” Rocco chimed in at the same time.

  Sensing, as I was, that this was going nowhere good, Fiona interjected, “Time for dessert!”

  ***

  Thankfully, the rest of the evening went smoothly. Fiona was very chatty, Laney tolerated my presence, and Rocco even spoke a handful of words to me. Laney and I exchanged a few more heated looks, hers possibly fueled more by annoyance than lust, but I’d take what I could get at this point. I had yet to get Laney alone again, though, so when it was time to leave I was thrilled that Fiona led Rocco down the back hall and Laney was left to walk me to the door.

  “So, thanks for dinner,” I said.

  “Thank Fiona. She invited you.” Laney tried to glare at me but instead I got a reluctant smile. Damn, she was pretty. Tonight she had her hair up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a black t-shirt and cut-off jeans, neither of which could hide her curves. I was dying to kiss her, but I figured she’d probably slap me at this point.

  As we approached the door I remembered the damn door knob. “Laney, you can’t go to sleep with your door like this,” I told her.

  She waved me off. “I know. It keeps falling off but I can fix it. At least temporarily – until Gavin gets to it.” She opened the door and I had no choice but to step out onto the porch.

  “No offense to your brother, Laney, but he doesn’t know shit about fixing things from what I’ve seen so far.”

  That earned me a bigger smile. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “You know, I did notice a couple things in your kitchen that could use some attention too, and I’ve been told I’m pretty handy…”

  “Handy or handsy?”

  “Funny.”

  “I thought so.”

  “I’ve got some free time this weekend. I’d be happy to come over tomorrow and fix a few things. Truthfully, I’ve been spending so much time on the phone and driving from place to place that I haven’t actually held a tool in weeks – it’s killing me.”