She eyed him warily. More questions popping in her head at this new, helpful, Andre in front of her. So different from the person she remembered. Well, not so different. They had become friends when the chain on her bike had broken at the playground in third grade and he’d helped her fix it. She’d shared her pack of Skittles with him and they’d talked about their favorite TV shows. She’d lovedRugratsand he’d been a fan ofPinky and the Brain.
He had been helpful, a little brash and sometimes moody, but still cool enough that she’d considered him a friend. Then everything changed.Boys can be fickle. Be gratefulyou’ve outgrown each other, her mom had said when Tamara complained about the change in Andre. But today there was a glimpse of the Andre she’d liked from the start. Was that Andre still there? The question made her want to know more about what his life had been like since he’d left Peachtree Cove.
“I appreciate that, but no thanks,” she said. “I’ll be fine.” She was already intrigued by Andre and him being back in town. Spending more time with him would only make this more awkward.
He nodded. Looked at the side of her house, then scanned her yard. “Well, see you around.” With that he turned and walked to his truck.
That was it? He was just going to be all helpful, then stroll off into the sunset? Which made the sudden urge to call him back instead of letting him go completely bananas. She was all over the place. This was why she never liked being around Andre. He took her from hot to cold to annoyed in milliseconds. She’d never been able to get a read on him. He liked her, then he didn’t. She was too old to let him play yo-yo with her feelings.
“See you around,” she said with a stiff wave. He lifted his chin, got in his truck and backed out of her driveway. “Judgy McJudgy,” she mumbled to herself. “I’ll fix my house when and however I like. I should just leave it like that for another month.”
She marched to her door and pressed the button to put down her garage door. Then pulled out her cell phone and called her cousin Kenny.
CHAPTER THREE
SATURDAYWASTAMARA’Sfavorite day. She didn’t have to get up early for work or church. The one day of the week when she slept in late, lounged in bed with a book or watched multiple episodes of her favorite streaming show. Basically, Saturday mornings were the best mornings.
So when someone rang her doorbell at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, she seriously considered pulling out the baseball bat she kept under her bed and threatening the important body parts of the offending person. Instead, she dragged herself out of the bed, snatched her bathrobe from where it hung over the treadmill in her room and slowly shuffled down the stairs to the front door. When she looked through the window next to her door, she sucked in a breath so hard and fast she nearly choked.
Andre! What in the world was he doing at her door so early? She ran a hand over her head. Snatched off the satin bonnet that covered the braid she put her hair into and tossed it aside, then pulled on the edges of her robe to hide any cleavage that might be peeking through before opening the door.
“What are you doing here?” The question came out in a rush. She didn’t care if she didn’t sound welcoming. For Andre to be at her house, there must be something wrong.
Andre stared at her for several seconds. Then his gaze lowered to her legs, bared below the knee by her short nightgown and robe, before they jerked up. “You were still in bed?”
Tamara shifted from one foot to the other. Heat spread up her chest and into her cheeks. “I mean, it is eight a.m. on a Saturday morning. What would you expect?”
He, on the other hand, looked bright-eyed and ready to take on the world. His clothes were obviously for work, but they weren’t wrinkled or dirty. He even smelled good. The subtle woodsy and seductive scent of whatever cologne or bodywash he used drifted to her on the breeze.
“I assumed you were an early riser,” he said, as if everyone should get up early on a Saturday.
“Well, I’m not. Is something wrong?”
He shook his head and held up the toolbox in his hand. His biceps flexed beneath the dark blue shirt he wore. “I need you to let me into your shed. I came to fix that siding on your house.”
Tamara blinked three times. Her brain short-circuited over the words he’d said, which made perfect sense in English but might as well have been spoken in a foreign language from the way they bounced around in her head. “What?”
Had he really been thinking about that since dropping her off the night before? Not only that, but thinking about it enough for him to show up early to do something about it? She’d spent more time than she’d like to admit thinking about him and their interaction. His apology, the play of his muscles as he’d tried to change her tire, the way he’d been helpful but also standoffish. The unexpected interest in him made her want to ignore the happy flips trying to manifest in her stomach at the idea of him thinking about her, too.
“There is a storm that’s supposed to come through later this afternoon,” he said. “You really shouldn’t let the sheathing get exposed to any more rain.”
“You seriously came over this early to fix my house?” Tamara was not prepared for a sexy helper to appear on her doorstep or for her to like seeing him there so much. She bit the corner of her mouth to keep her jaw from dropping and from letting the pleasure she felt from bubbling up into a silly grin.
“Just being neighborly. Unless you think your cousin can get out here before lunchtime?”
Not likely. Kenny hadn’t answered her call but had responded to her text by telling her he was out of town for the weekend. “You really don’t have to do this.”
“I know. I want to do it. Can’t help myself. I’m a contractor and I can’t stand to see things unfinished that I know will only take me a few hours to fix.”
And just like that her pleasure turned to disappointment. He wasn’t here because he’d spent the last several hours thinking about her. He’d spent the last few hours thinking about—what did he call it? The sheathing going bad? She wasn’t going to read more into this than that. Just because the man showed up on her porch, looking sexy and offering assistance, didn’t mean she had to lose her senses.
Besides, she did need the siding repaired. Waiting on her cousin meant he would get around to it in time for the next solar eclipse. She would accept Andre’s assistance, accept the fact that he was also incredibly attractive, but not start making up any type of fantasies. They may not be friends, but they could be neighborly.
“Well, if you really want to do that, I’ll get you the key.” She stepped back and opened the door. “Want to come in while I get it?”
He shook his head. “Nah, just bring it to the back door. I’ll take my stuff around the side of the house.”
He turned, went down the steps and headed around the house. Tamara shook her head and went inside. She may never understand Andre’s actions, so no need to even hurt her brain trying.
