“It wasn’tmysystem. It came shooting over fromthatproperty.”
Well, that made more sense. Things rearranged in J.P.’s head, revelation suddenly snapping into place. He thought he’d been testing out the water pressure up near the house, but the valves had obviously been mislabeled. Figured. Seemed like everything in that ramshackle house was.
“There are sprinklers all the way out here?” He looked at the ground beneath him, but it didn’t appear very wet. Her garden obviously got the brunt of the forceful spray. “And they’re in working order?”
“Um, doesn’t it look like they’re in working order?” She moved her hands over her thighs to slough off more water. Her palm landed on Waylon’s head, and she scratched absentmindedly behind his ears.
“Well, that’s great news!”
“You and I have very different definitions of great news.”
J.P. wheezed a laugh. “Miles and I thought we’d have to run plumbing all the way out here if he ever wanted to landscape this section of the property. Looks like that’s already been done, which is going to save him tons of money. He’ll be really happy to hear this.”
“And will it also shave off some of your timeline?”
He realized she only cared to know because she wanted him gone sooner rather than later. He just shrugged. “Maybe.”
That answer didn’t satisfy her. She gaped at him blankly.
“Oh, come on,” he prodded. “Looks like you could use a little cooling off, anyway.”
“I did come out here to cool off, but this wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“You came outside…in ninety-degree heat…to cool off?” He cocked a challenging brow.
“For your information, I came out here to cool my head by doing some yoga. This wasn’t the peaceful retreat I had envisioned.”
J.P. rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, I’m sorry about all of this, but maybe it’s karma for the whole milkshake thing earlier today.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe in karma.”
“Divine intervention then?” he offered, shrugging.
That made her pause. “You think this is the will of some higher power?”
“Hey, all I know is that we keep crossing paths. Maybe there’s something else orchestrating it all,” he mused aloud. “And from my experience, getting a taste of humble pie isn’t always a bad thing.”
“I don’t think I’m the one who needs humbling.” She bent down to shake out her yoga mat. Water flicked off the slick sides and Waylon chomped the air to catch the flying droplets in his mouth. “Mr. Cocky Pants.”
“Mr. Cocky Pants?”
“Yeah, you know.” She rolled the mat up and waved it over him. “Walking around looking like that.”
Looking like what? J.P. was sure he didn’t look his best right now in his white work tee and carpenter khakis, complete with steel toe boots. He could clean up much better than this.
She carried on. “Acting all heroic, rushing over here hoping to rescue some damsel in distress. Well, buddy, I’ll have you know, I’m no damsel and I’m not in distress.”
“It sure sounded like you were,” he countered. “And just so you’re aware, there are noise ordinances around here. You might want to be a little quieter in the future or you might get reported.”
“I see what you’re doing there, Justice Police.”
“Justice what?”
She shoved her yoga mat under her arm. “What kind of name is J.P. anyway?”
“Mine.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Nora sputtered a haughty laugh. “What does it stand for?”
