He tried to talk her out of it, tried to get her to see that drywall and tile wasn’t all that interesting and a tour of the Boatworks would take ten minutes tops. Plus, he had a few hours of work he needed to do there.
Maddy was undeterred. “I’ll read a book or take a walk or check in with my investment banker. Sheesh, Sten. Believe it or not, I know how to amuse myself.” Her dimples were flashing and those eyes could coax a guy to jump off a cliff and smile all the way down to the canyon floor below.
Sten knew he was in big trouble. It was official: he could refuse Maddy nothing. “You sure?”
“What part of ‘Take me with you’ didn’t get through to you?”
He surrendered. “Wear something you don’t mind getting paint on.”
“I need a shower. Care to join me?”
He folded his arms across his chest. “That’s just mean and you know it. If I join you in the shower we’ll spend the whole day in your bed.” Which sounded pretty much perfect to him.
Her grin said it sounded good to her, too. “So that’s a no?”
His pants were getting tighter. “Stop it.”
She waved a hand. “Fine. Go...put on your tool belt. I’ll meet you down at your garage in twenty minutes.”
He didn’t expect her to make it in twenty, no way. But seventeen minutes later, she was waiting in the driveway when he opened the garage door. He pulled out and she jumped in on the passenger side, looking ready to lay tile in a plain white T-shirt, old jeans and a pair of high-tops. She’d tucked her hair up in a short wig and finished the look with a Mariners cap and a pair of aviator sunglasses.
At the flip house, the painters were hard at work, inside and out. Sten gave her a quick tour, explained that the floors were covered in the main room because he was keeping the original hardwood. In the kitchen, he planned on refinishing the cabinets, installing quartz countertops and putting in new appliances.
“The yard’s pretty bare,” she said, dipping her head and peering at him over the tops of those flyboy shades. “What about curb appeal?”
“You’ve been watching those home improvement shows.”
“I love them. EspeciallyProperty Brothers.” She pointed her thumb at herself. “Team Jonathan, all the way, baby.”
He happily launched into way more detail than she could possibly need about driveway resurfacing, water-conserving irrigation systems and what would be planted, and where.
Marcus Dunbar, who ran the painting crew, stuck his head in the front door. “Sten. Got a minute?”
“Go ahead,” Maddy said. “I’ll be fine.”
He wasn’t outside for long. But when he came back in, she was nowhere in sight.
“Iloveyou...” The voice—a guy’s voice—came from down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
What the hell? Sten turned the corner to the hall and spotted them down at the other end—a muscled-up guy with long hair knotted up in a manbun, and Madison. The guy had her cornered against the far wall. “I’ve seen all of your movies.Heartbeatsabout finished me. AndThe Deepest Lie? You were amazing.”
“Hey.” Sten practically shouted it as he strode toward them. The guy didn’t turn. “Back off. Now.” Sten grabbed the guy by his brawny shoulder and yanked him around.
“Dude.” The guy had a beard—or the skimpy beginnings of one. Just a kid, one who apparently did a lot of lifting. He looked to be maybe twenty, tops. He put up both hands. “No offense. Seriously. Chill.”
Maddy lifted her chin in Sten’s direction. With the dark glasses, he couldn’t tell if she was scared or not. “It’s okay, Sten.”
“No, it’s not.” He released his grip on the kid and demanded, “Name?”
“Uh. Darby Williams.”
“I’m Sten. I own this house. You’re on Marcus’s crew?”
The kid finally had the sense to get nervous. “Uh. Yeah. New today—and man, I’m sorry. It’s just, you know,Madison Delaney.” He said her name like that explained everything: all manner of unacceptable behaviors, up to and including boxing her in at the end of a hallway to gush all over her.
Sten shot another glance at Maddy, seeking a signal as to how he was supposed to deal with this fool.
She took off the dark glasses. Her eyes were calm—resigned, even. “Darby just wanted me to know he’s enjoyed my movies.”
