And since Faith’s nonprofit depended on those funds, she’d want to be there of course. Thea was so hard up for company that she almost offered to join her for the meeting, but she wasn’t quite that desperate. Also, she was half a bottle into the wine already.
Then another idea popped into her head. “You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna get a start on tearing out these kitchen cabinets.”
“Wait,” Faith said. “You’re doingwhat?”
“Demolition time!”
“Whoa, are you sure?” Faith sounded alarmed, but Thea didn’t care.
She had to do something to purge the dark energy bunching in her limbs and clenching her stomach. Tearing out some ugly 1970s cabinetry was exactly what she needed.
“Yeah, I’m good, actually. This is what I’m doing tonight. Thanks for listening, Faithy.” She hit End and tossed her phone down, then picked it back up and powered it down. She was done talking for the day.
Was she worried about Aiden’s fingerprints all over her new house? Then she’d better be the one who did some of this work herself. She’d leave her own imprint.
She drained her glass and marched upstairs to change into work clothes. Once she was back in the kitchen, she tied her hair back with a bandanna and got to work.
Fourteen
Aiden pulled into Thea’s driveway and turned off his truck. Faith had called him twenty minutes ago in a state of mild panic to ask if it was safe for Thea to start pulling out the cabinets alone tonight. He’d assured her it was, then bolted out the door as soon as he hung up.
He walked to the back of his truck to grab the necessary supplies before heading up her sidewalk. Lights blazed from the front window, and from the front porch he could hear music thundering through the house. The sound of the doorbell hadn’t finished echoing through the house when the music snapped off and Thea appeared, holding a screwdriver in one hand and a wineglass in another.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello, ma’am.” He pretended to tip a hat at her. “We’ve received complaints of unauthorized home repairs happening after hours and sent a crew to inspect it.”
Her forehead creased and then immediately smoothed. “Faith called you,” she said flatly.
“Faith called me,” he confirmed. “I’m just here to make sure you don’t accidentally knock your house down.”
She heaved an impatient breath. “Fine. Come in. Work during your off hours. See if I care.”
He hid a smile and stepped over the threshold. He’d seen nervous Thea, chatterbox Thea, excited Thea, charming Thea. Grumpy Thea was new and kind of fun.
“Why does Faith even have your number?” She wheeled around and brandished the screwdriver at him. “You know what? Don’t answer that.”
He followed her into the kitchen. She was wearing a thin white tank top under baggy denim overalls, and goddamnit looked good on her. He tried hard not to notice that she wasn’t wearing a bra, but her small breasts pressed against the tight fabric of her shirt were impossible to ignore.
He swallowed hard and dragged both his thoughts and his eyes away from her body to refocus on why he was there. “Okay, killer, let’s see what you’ve got going on.”
She’d unscrewed three of the cabinet doors so far, and a fourth hung by just one hinge.
“Good start,” he said. “Did you kill the power along this wall?”
“Yep.”
“You’re a natural.” Their agreed-upon timetable floated through his head, and he couldn’t help but point out, “You know this wasn’t supposed to happen until next week.”
She rolled her eyes. “You and your schedules.”
“Your new cabinets haven’t been delivered yet! I’m trying to save you from inconvenience.”
She sent him the world’s greatest “you have insulted my intelligence, sir” look, and he hid his smile at her adorable irritation.
“Okay then. Hope you enjoy having no kitchen for a week. Why don’t you keep removing doors, and I’ll come behind you and unscrew them from the wall.”
She scowled. “This isn’t nearly as destructive as I thought it would be.”
