"I'm the money guy," Ollie said with a pleasant smile. "And my job is to make sure Ms. Wright doesn't get shafted."
CHAPTER 6
Ollie could think of at least six reasons he shouldn't have landed on the word 'shafted' at the end of that sentence, not the least of which was his koala goinghurr hurr hurr shafted well nobody else is gonna shaft her for sure only we get to do that 'cause she's our fated mate!in the back of his mind. Even if the bloody drop bear hadn't been doing that, Ollie himself was entirely too aware of the word's sexual connotations. He should have chosenanyother word.
His mind helpfully supplied a long list of other words that were absolutely no better. In fact, given how clean Americans were in their language use, all his other choices were probably much, much worse. Ollie had never met an Australian who didn't have to watch their language immensely when they dealt with non-Aussies, and he took a moment to be grateful that his job meant he worked with a lot of international clients. Otherwise, ill-advisedly using 'shafted' in a sentence would be the least of his worries right now.
As he struggled to get his thoughts back on a relatively clean and pure track, West's face went through a strange series of expressions that indicated he resented Ollie's interference, butalso wasn't going to argue with another man. Ollie knew dozens of guys like him, and Tiffany had obviously encountered them in droves. He was positive she didn't need him to rescue her.
But he was also sure that bastards like West never, ever learned to be better unless other men called them out on it. He folded his arms and smiled. His koala said,We can take 'im,and Ollie told it to be quiet. He was not picking a fight in Virtue's city hall.
Probably.
West transferred a sullen gaze back to Tiffany, who was waiting with the patience of a thousand saints. Ollie didn't know how she managed. He was almost tempted tolethis koala kick up a fuss, just because West was so annoying after only two minutes' acquaintance.
We can take 'im! The koala said even more enthusiastically.
I know,Ollie assured it.This is a different kind of fight, though. This kind of fight is where we let Tiffany—and this arsehole—know she's not alone, and then let her do her job.
Which was exactly what was happening. The sulkish West was muttering and prevaricating and trying not to commit to extra time or money, while Tiffany indicated politely and repeatedly that she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Once in a while West's gaze would slide grumpily to first Ollie—who took precedence as 'the money man'—and then Steve.
His cousin was quiet, but visibly concerned about the whole topic, and also huge. Ollie would not personally find any reason to have Steve mad at him, not if he could possibly avoid it, not even being tall, broad, and possessed of a koala self willing to fight Godzilla at the drop of a hat.
Lemme at him! I'll fight him!The koala paused, curious.What's Godzilla?
A hundred-meter-tall atomic lizard.
Whoa.The koala had to take a minute to think about whether it was prepared to fightthat, and went blissfully silent while it considered the whole thing.
West was saying, "—understand it's not myfault," while Tiffany, using the same kind of calm Ollie himself often employed, was saying, "I'm not interested in who's at fault. I'm only interested in a solution."
"I can call Pam Smith," Steve said suddenly, in a deep rumble. "Maybe she can help get this figured out."
For some reason, West's nostrils flared and patches of color appeared on his cheekbones. "That won't be necessary. I'll draw up the paperwork and the accounts to give Wright Construction the time they need."
"And I'll look it over," Ollie volunteered placidly.
West's upper lip twitched. "Yes. Of course."
Ollie was willing to bet that, left to his own devices, the clerk would have fudged the numbers as much as possible and claimed it was either an honest mistake or that Tiffany had known what she was signing. Stuffing up the man's plans gave him a kick, and would even if he didn't also get to defend Tiffany by doing so.
Steve brightened. "So we can go ahead with the wedding and there won't be construction equipment in the square?"
"Then where am I going to put it?" Tiffany demanded suddenly. "I was going to set it up so we can get started Sunday morning!"
"That," West said coolly, "isn't my problem."
"The high school parking lot," Steve said after a visible moment of thinking furiously. "School's out, and there are camps and summer sports stuff happening, but the parking lot is mostly empty. Would that work? Do we need a permit?" He took a step toward West, and despite the fact that there was an entiredesk between him and the clerk, Ollie saw the smaller man tense nervously.
"Yes, you would need a permit, and safety material to cordon the heavy equipment off with, and it's not going to befree, you understand?—"
Tiffany, exasperated, said, "I have the fences and the safety netting. What did you think I was going to put around thegiant pit I'll be digging in your lawn?"
Steve, at the same time, with equal exasperation, said, "I'll pay for the permit, for God's sake," and Ollie, clearing his throat, also took a step forward and smiled.
"Given that this situation was caused by a lack of communication in the transfer between employees, I'm fairly certain that the town of Virtue will want to pick up that permit fee themselves."
Oooh ho ho ho.His koala actually cackled with anticipation.Ooh, he doesn't like that, let's him and me fight about it!If it could crack its knuckles, it totally would. Ollie had to suppress the urge to crack his own. Instead he just waited, smiling.
