Boyfriend for Hire (24 page)

“Look, I’m happy for you both,” he lied. “I need to talk to the guys about work.”

“David.” His father’s tone stopped him in his tracks as fast it had when he’d been a surly teen. “We’re planning on moving in together.”

What the—? He shouldn’t be shocked, not after their earlier confession. The thing was, he was happy for them. Since they’d split, he couldn’t really recall either dating anyone seriously or long term. Sure, there had been people in their lives. None had lasted more than a couple of weeks. Was it any surprise his own relationships were over before they started? Look at his role models. And yeah, they deserved to be happy and find love. He just had doubts it would last. Instead of voicing his true opinion, he said the only thing he could think of that sounded positive.

“Well, if you two crazy kids decide to make it permanent, I know the perfect person to plan your wedding.”

Chapter Fourteen

K
atia Torres didn’t like the idea of her baby girl going out with him. Not that she’d said so to his face. In fact, she’d never been anything except nice to him. No, he could tell by the look on her face last night when she looked at Ivan with admiration in her eyes. Not once had she looked at Dave that way. Thankfully, her daughter didn’t share the opinion. Not that it mattered what her parents thought either. While he didn’t have a timer on the relationship, he knew it wouldn’t lead to a walk down the aisle.

He wasn’t ready. Might not ever be, and who could blame him? His parents were the perfect example of how marriage screwed up relationships and turned love into hate.

Or had been.

Every time he thought about their little bombshell last night or tried to wrap his brain around his parents dating again after twenty years of waging war, all he came up with was WT—

Their excuses didn’t help. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see what was missing. They had the same jobs, the same bills, but what they no longer had to deal with was a son with learning problems that landed him in the principal’s office on a regular basis. They’d never came out and said outright that he was the core of their fights, but the walls in their house could have been made of paper for all the good they did to block out the words.

Not his problem, he reminded himself for the millionth time. He had his own relationship to think about, and at least this time the woman knew the score right out of the gate. Thanks to Tawny’s relationship with Cherry, and hers with Jase, his family’s history was no secret. They’d even talked a little, here and there, about their parents and the dysfunctionality of both. Hers were overbearing, old-fashioned, and controlling, where as his were great with him, letting him live his own life and make his own choices, but put them in the same room and look out world. A nuclear explosion would cause less damage than Scott and Cheryl Farber.

This way he and Tawny could enjoy each other’s company, bodies, whatever without any unrealistic expectations of where it was all leading to, which made working on a Saturday bearable. The reward at the end of the day. Between the date tonight and the work he was doing upgrading the B&B’s circuit panel, he’d felt more like himself than he had in weeks. Give him an electrical project and he could complete it in his sleep, unlike the freaking plumbing in this monstrosity of a house. Sure he knew how to insert A into B to get everything to flow out of C, didn’t mean he had to like the task. How the heck full-time plumbers dealt with the smell of clogged, rusted-out pipes he didn’t know.

One thing he’d learned. On plumbing days, don’t eat beforehand.

If the owner weren’t on such a tight budget he’d contract the pipes out, as the whole place needed all of the pipes pulled and replaced.

“Hey, Dave,” Bobby called from the top of the stairs.

“Yo, down here.”

Heavy footsteps made their way down the creaky wooden stairs into the basement. The place was a Halloween dream. “I’ve got the new patio laid out in the back, but I can’t find the cement.”

Fuck, he forgot. Again. “Yeah, knew there was something I forgot to do. I’ll get it and you can start first thing Monday on the patio.”

The big guy braced his hands on an overhead beam. “No prob. We’ve got the kitchen ready to be painted. If you tell me which color she wants in that room, I’ll get started on it. Shouldn’t take but a couple of hours.”

Dave swore under his breath, cranked on the screwdriver, and jabbed himself in the palm of his hand. Yet another thing slipped by. “She hasn’t decided. She’s flip-flopping between Sunflower Yellow and Summertime Blues. Why don’t you finish sanding the bedrooms on the second floor? The third is done and I’ve got the first layer of varnish drying.” He wasn’t about to admit to his worker that he’d forgotten to order both the cement and the five gallons of Sunflower Yellow for the kitchen.

“Sure thing, boss.” Bobby loped up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

Bobby and his brother had been with him and Jase a long time, so a few screwups wouldn’t send him scampering away to another company. Didn’t mean it would stop him from mentioning them to Jase, though. His partner had enough on his mind between the three jobs they had going on and the wedding. The last thing he needed was to worry about whether Dave could handle the B&B or not.

Dave put all the worries about work and his ADD away, vowing next week would be better. He’d ordered the cement and the paint, and both would be ready first thing Monday morning for him to pick up on his way to the site. Another coat of varnish on the third floor and he’d done all he could for the day. A quick stop at home for a shower, then another quick stop to pick up supplies for the night, and he found himself standing on Tawny’s doorway, staring at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Wow.” Swallowing a couple of times didn’t help clear the block in his throat and allow air to enter. “You look amazing.” Which was a complete understatement. The deep blue dress hugged her hips, skimmed across the tops of her breast to dip in the middle, inviting him to trace her curves.

She stood back, took an exaggerated look. Made him spin around with a finger gesture and let out a wolf whistle any guy on his crew could appreciate.

“You do clean up nicely, Mr. Farber.” Stepping outside, she turned to lock the door. “You didn’t say where we were going. I hope this is okay.”

“If I said no, would you let me come in and re-dress you?” His voice came out huskier than he’d expected, but what man wouldn’t have a hard time talking when a goddess stood before him?

“No.” She laughed as she took his proffered arm and they descended the short steps. “Where are we going? You know it’s customary for the person who asked to plan the date.”

He opened the truck door and helped her in. “You said you wanted drinks, dinner, and dancing. I think you’ll like where I have in mind.”

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“Nope. It’s a surprise.” He flashed her one of his famous heart-stopping smiles. She loved to be in charge of everything, so sitting back and letting him take the lead had to be killing her.

“We missed you at the Habitat project today. You know the ribbon cutting is in two weeks? I can’t wait to see the new owners’ faces when Kevin hands them the keys. Have I said thank you for getting me involved?” Her voice softened as she talked about the project while her smile grew. He knew that feeling, knew the sense of pride working on the Habitat for Humanity homes gave you. Seeing the joy on the faces of people who realized a dream, a dream that would never have come true if not for the organization. Priceless.

“You’re welcome. Make sure your calendar is clear that night. The crew will meet up after for drinks and celebration at Paddy’s Bar. I can pick you up at work or your place. Whichever is easier for you.”

“Kind of jumping ahead, aren’t you?”

Yeah, he loved a woman who knew how to take it easy in a relationship. Or he had, before Tawny entered his radar. From the moment she’d looked up at him with those serious brown eyes and flirty smile, he knew one thing. He had to get to know her, to know everything about her. He couldn’t explain it, nor did it make sense.

Instead of answering her question, he routed the discussion back to the building projects, filling her in on previous developments along with the upcoming schedule. Her eyes lit up as she talked. Now that she’d mastered the nail gun, look out circular saw. Give her a year. She’d be one of the best on his team. The woman did nothing halfway.

Turning off the main street in Charlestown, he made a series of turns, taking them closer to their destination for the night.

“Okay, I admit it. I’m lost. At first I thought we we’re heading to Newport, then you went the other direction, so I figured Westerly or one of the casinos in Connecticut. I can smell the ocean, but isn’t this all private residences out this way?”

Two more lefts and he turned down a long driveway edged with tall beach grass that created an illusion of privacy between the homes. Dave turned off the ignition, jumped out of the truck, and hustled around to open Tawny’s door for her. He held a hand out and helped her down before reaching behind the seat to pull out a picnic basket. “Wait until you see the view, darling.”

They took the wooden walkway around the house and up the stairs to the deck overlooking the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. Gray clouds hung overhead, while the waves crashed against the sand. The last of the die-hards played in the shoreline, refusing to give up one minute of their summertime fun.

This far down from the public access point, the crowds were scarce. Mostly rental houseguests, and soon they’d be heading out to dinner or to their own private spaces.

“Does this work?” She hadn’t said a word since they’d pulled up, and for the first time, he doubted his plan.

“Depends. What’s in the basket?” Tawny leaned over the railing while he set up the table. “Could you imagine living here year-round? Getting to watch the season’s change at the water’s edge.”

“Sure, if I had a spare couple of million lying around. Would be pretty sweet to hit the waves first thing every morning during the summer, or take a Zodiac out and do some diving.” The water soothed him, called to him until he couldn’t resist watching the waves rush to ground and back out to sea. He sat the cell phone on the rail and hit play on the music app.

“David, this is lovely.” Tawny turned her back on the sea, eyes lighting up as he held the wine bottle up.

“Red work for you?”

“Absolutely.” She walked over to the table, snatched a piece of bread from the basket he’d set out. “Did you make all of this yourself? I’m impressed.”

“Don’t be. Cherry put it together for me.” He handed her the wine and shrugged. “Figured who would know your tastes better?”

She laughed. “I thought this looked like her chicken pasta, which is one of my favorites. Good call, and no complaints from me.”

“There would have been had I tried to do more than grill. Mom didn’t have a lot of time for cooking 101. Dad pretty much lives on take-out or frozen pizza.”

“My mom had me in the kitchen since . . . I think she started teaching me to cook in utero. Shocking, I know. In all fairness, she made sure all three of my brothers could cook too. She couldn’t keep George out of the kitchen. He’s a culinary genius. Not that I’ll ever admit it to him. Mateo and Dante can hold their own too.”

“Your family’s nice. A bit intense at times. I always wanted siblings. You know, a brother I could blame things on. A sister I could torment.” He dumped a spoonful of interesting-looking pasta on his plate. Veggies. Huh. He wasn’t sure if the red things were tomatoes or peppers.

“They’re a pain in the rump.” She stalled, attention caught on a couple of kids building a sandcastle. He wondered if her brothers had helped her build one or if they played Godzilla and smashed hers to smithereens. Her gaze back on Dave, she grinned at him. “They’re my PITAs and I love them, even if growing up I wished I had less brothers and some sisters.”

He eyed a gull flying low overhead, ready to defend his meal. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d been dive-bombed by the sneaky bastards. “Let me guess. They tormented you by pulling your ponytails, hid frogs in your bed, and read all your secrets in your diary. Am I right?”

With a smile on her face, she shook her head. “Are you kidding? When I was little I used to build lakes and mud dams with Matty, catch the frogs, and do everything they did. Dante wasn’t too bad. George. My father’s clone would tell me girls aren’t supposed to get dirty. They aren’t supposed to catch frogs and lizards. They belonged in the kitchen or cleaning or taking care of the men. He’d order me around and tell me to clean up his mess. Later, when I started dating? You better be glad you didn’t come around me in school. You would have gotten
the talk
. I don’t know how many boyfriends he and Dante scared off.”

The gull circled overhead, closing in on them. Dave took a piece of bread, chucked it as far as he could toward the beach, and watched the gull dive. “Sounds like he had a case of hero worship, and if I had a sister who looked like you, I would have chased away all the boys too. Teen boys only think of one thing. Well, two, food and sex.”

“So what you’re saying is nothing has changed? Oh, and your friend is back, behind you.”

He spun around to eye the seagull stepping slowly toward the table and the breadbasket. Dave took another piece and threw it again. “He’s never going to leave us alone now.” He moved the bowl to the middle of the table and covered it and the pasta with napkins. Might slow the bird down. “I have a few other topics pop up on my radar every now and then. Right now, though, pretty much those two are it. How come you never talk about being on the reality show?”

She glanced up quickly, a surprised look on her face. “I don’t know, probably because it was almost two years ago and lasted for all of three seconds.”

“But people recognize you. Your new coworker, Felicity, did. Does it bother you when it happens?” He chucked another piece of bread to drive the pesky bird away.

A small half-smile turned up the corner of her mouth. “Honestly, it’s no big deal. A few people might recognize me or get that don’t-I-know-you look, but it had very little impact on my life for the most part. I was on and off so fast, only the die-hard fans remember, and sadly, that’s because they followed Cherry’s story. I’m linked more to the show through her than I am from actually being on it.”