The dude was holding the door open for her just as I came up behind them.
Once we were outside, Violet turned around and saw me. “Oh, hey, Charlie. This is Brayden. I was just telling him about you and Harper.”
“Nice to meet you, buddy,” Brayden said, extending a hand, and I gave him a quick shake.
“Yeah, you too.”
“Nice of you to offer Violet a place to stay while you renovate her home. Is that common practice?” He smirked, but I didn’t miss the edge in his tone.
“Is what common practice?” My voice came out harsher than I meant it to, but I didn’t like the guy. Not because he’d done anything in particular, but because he was on a date with Violet, and it pissed me off. It wasn’t rational, but I never claimed to be a rational guy.
“Offering your clients housing while you work on their homes? Or do you save that just for the beautiful women you work for.”
Well, now I really don’t like the dude, because that was a dick thing to say.
“It’s a small-town thing. And Violet is best friends with my buddy’s girlfriend, and they asked me for a favor. But I agree, she’s a beautiful woman, and you’re lucky she agreed to go out with you,” I said, surprising myself as the words left my mouth. But if he wanted to be a dick, two could play that game. Violet’s gaze locked with mine, and she cleared her throat.
“Okay. I really do need to get going. I’ve got to call my client back, because you can’t leave a bride in crisis. Brayden, thank you for dinner.” She extended a hand to him, which he did not look happy about, but he kept it together.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll give you a call soon.” He went for the hug, and I started walking toward my truck, unable to wipe the smile from my face.
A fucking handshake.
She shut that shit down, and I wasn’t going to lie, I was happy about it.
I climbed in my truck, watching in the rearview mirror as he stood outside her car and she slipped inside and waved. I started the engine and drove right behind her to my house.
She pulled in the driveway ahead of me, and I put the truck in park.
We got out at the same time, and she sighed. “Sorry. That was a little awkward.”
“For him maybe,” I said with a laugh. “The handshake was cold, Firefly.”
“We’re friends. It wasn’t cold. I just wasn’t feeling it. He probably wasn’t feeling it either.”
I moved closer to her. “Oh, he was definitely feeling it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m a dude, and we know these things.” I shrugged.
“Well, that was a nice touch, you playing the jealous neighbor and acting like he was lucky to be out with me. You must have picked up on the fact that I wanted to make it a quick goodbye,” she said, her gaze searching mine.
I glanced over at the house, knowing Harper was most likely waiting up for me to say good night to her. I reached forward and tucked a strand of hair behind Violet’s ear, because I just needed to touch her. “I didn’t pick up on anything, and I wasn’t playing the jealous neighbor. I was just being honest.”
And I turned toward my house, then paused at the door to find her staring at me from her door with a big smile on her face. “You’re smoother than I would have guessed, Charles.”
“Get inside and lock up, Firefly.”
She laughed as she stepped inside, and I waited for her to shut the door before I walked into the house. Abigail was sitting on the couch, knitting a sweater for Harper that she’d been working on for weeks.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“Oh please, you weren’t even gone that long. And Harper is sound asleep. She left you a little card on the counter.” My neighbor moved to her feet. The elderly woman was a lifesaver to me. I was lucky to have her right next door. “And you didn’t need to rush Violet inside—you could have continued chatting.”
I gaped at the woman. “Were you spying on me?”
“Of course I was. I’m old. I don’t get a lot of excitement in my life these days, but I saw some sparks out there.” She whistled.
