“Can you blame me? You’re beautiful and passionate and adorable . . . should I go on?”
Heat flamed in her stomach. “Is there more?”
“I could go on for days,” he teased, but she saw sincerity in his eyes. “But first I need to know, has anyone used the wordscoundrelin the last fifty years?”
She grinned against the rim of the cup. “I’m bringing it back just for you.”
Paul chuckled. “You like mebecauseI’m a scoundrel. You don’t have enough scoundrels in your life. The question is whether or not I’m an irresistible one.”
Yes! Absolutely, 100 percent, yes.“As the Magic 8 Ball would say, ‘outlook good,’” she said, matching his smirk with her own.
By the time Tessa and Paul finished breakfast and arrived at Honeysuckle Hollow, the crew had already started working. Much of the plywood had been removed from the antique windows in the front rooms, and workers strengthened the window frames and added new molding where the original had rotted. One man used a professional wallpaper steamer to remove the peeling paper on the wall leading up the staircase. A paint-splattered drop cloth covered the entire staircase, and chunks of sticky, goopy wallpaper fell away in patches as he pulled. Charlie stood at the dining room table with paperwork spread across the top. She looked up when Tessa and Paul entered.
“Good morning, Charlie,” Tessa said. “This is Paul Borelli. He’s in town for a while, and he’ll be the architect on this job.”
Charlie’s cheek twitched as she smirked. She slid a pencil stub behind her ear. “Is this the handsome Italian traveler who cooks like a chef?”
Paul passed a glance at Tessa. “Is that how I’ve been described?”
Charlie chuckled. “I can see why the one-bedroom offer was dangerous.”
Tessa cleared her throat. “Paul, this is Charlie Parker.”
Paul reached out his hand to Charlie and grinned wider. “Hello there, Yardbird. Nice to meet you.”
Tessa gaped at him. “Paul, why would you say that?” To Charlie, she said, “His manners are sometimes lacking.”
Paul looked affronted. “Charlie Parker was a famous jazz musician nicknamed ‘Yardbird.’ It wasn’t meant to be offensive.”
Charlie leaned her hip against the table and crossed her arms casually over her chest, which accentuated her toned arms. “No one, and I mean,no oneever knows that. My parents were huge fans of his. Supposedly I was created during one of his more famous tunes.”
“They have good taste,” Paul said. “When I was in Paris, I visited a nightclub called Le Caméléon. I knew there was someone special playing in the vaulted, downstairs room because at least a hundred people were trying to squeeze through the door. We were packed in so tightly that we could hardly breathe, which wasn’t so horrible because the club reeked of stale sweat and cigarettes. But in that cramped, damp space, a group of musicians transported the crowd to the 1930s with Charlie Parker’s greatest tunes, and we lit the space with our luminous cocktails and the fiery glow of cigarettes.”
Charlie smoothed her hand down her ponytail, and her expression softened. “Wish I could have been there.” Her voice sounded much too dreamy for Tessa’s liking.
“You would have loved it,” Paul agreed. “I could have shown you—”
“Paul,” Tessa interrupted, shaking off the enchantment he had cast. She felt surprised by the pricks of jealousy in her stomach. She didn’t want to think of Paul showing Charlieanything. “Can we focus on the house for a minute?”
Even though Charlie looked mildly disappointed that the conversation was shifting, she refocused her gaze on the drawings Paul added to the papers on the table.
“Here’s what I’ve been thinking,” Paul said. He explained each drawing in detail before unrolling the blueprints. He gathered a few tools and weighted down the corners of the curling paper.
Tessa turned her attention to the front door when she heard someone knocking. The door opened, and Lily, Anna, and Eli stepped into the foyer. Tessa squealed, startling both Paul and Charlie, and she hurried over to her friends.
“You’re here!” She hugged Lily and Anna and then gave Eli a side hug.
Eli gave her a quick squeeze in return. “Long time no see. This is some place you got here, Tess.”
“Wow,” Anna said as she drifted toward the staircase railing. “Look at the craftsmanship. It has all the original woodwork and molding? Look at the millwork. The running trim spandrels.”
Tessa raised her eyebrows in question.
Anna shrugged. “What? I’ve listened to you talk about them enough through the years. Iwaslistening. Most of the time.”
Lily looped her arm through Tessa’s. “You forgive us for raining on your parade when you told us about the house? We weren’t trying to make you feel bad, but I know we did. We were surprised by you making such a big decision without talking to anyone. That’s not like you, not these days. This house needs a lot of work, but I can see you’ve already gotten off to a good start. Cleaning up the front yard makes a ton of difference already, and, whoa, is that Paul? Ain’t he all easy on the eyes!”
Anna stepped away from the staircase and peered into the dining room. Paul leaned against the dining room table with one hand shoved into his front pocket. He lifted the other hand and waved. Just looking at him almost made Tessa swoon.
