That made her laugh.
“What time is it anyway?” She stirred a bit.
“10:30.”
That made her eyes bulge.
“I never sleep that late?—”
A knock at the door cut her off, and she blinked at me.
“It’s Rico and James,” I told her. “I saw the truck pull up.”
“OMG! I’m going to get you fired.”
“It’s probably against company policy to sleep with the clients, huh?”
“Exactly!” She gasped.
“Chill, the owner is my future brother-in-law, and he encourages this.”
“What?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve been telling people about me?”
“Since day one.”
Her mouth dropped open, and another knock sounded on the door.
“You gotta go,” she said, and I dipped my head and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“You need anything before I take off? I can help you up?—”
“No,” she said a little too quickly, then softened it. “I got it.”
I paused for a second, searching her face for anything more, but she just reached for the edge of the sheet and tucked it tighter around her like she was going back to bed the moment I walked out the door.
“I would walk you out, but I take a minute in the mornings to roll out of bed.”
“No trip. I got it. I’ll be back in a bit. Rico and James gonna get started in the front room. What time does Teagan come?”
“Mondays are her early class days, so she should be here soon.”
“Cool.” I leaned down and kissed her again. She didn’t have any regret in her eyes, and that was all I needed. I headed for the front door just as another knock sounded. I grabbed my phone off the couch and threw the door open. There was no need to check the peephole; I knew who it was. As soon as the door flew open, Rico stepped back, grinning widely.
“Damn, you were eager to get to work this morning, huh?”
“Wait… I know that ain’t a button-down and a blazer.” James squinted at my outfit.
I didn’t respond, just moved to the side so they could walk in.
“Look at this nigga,” Rico said, elbowing James. “Coming out of the client’s house dressed all nice and shit. You hit, didn’t you?”
James laughed. “He definitely got that ‘got some pussy last night’ glow. Look at him.”
“I will fire both of y’all,” I warned with a slight smirk on my face. I wasn’t about to dignify their silly asses with a response.
“Don’t be mad at us, bro.”
I gave them a hard stare that only made them laugh harder. “Get to work,” I said, brushing past them toward my car. “Y’all got the list. Finish the trim and start patching the back wall.”
