Miss Fix-It

“You assume I’m going to tell him that I have feelings for him.”

“Well, that’s the first thing you need to decide.”

“I love it when you state the obvious,” I said dryly. “I don’t even know how I feel. Are you right? Maybe. Maybe it’s just because I see him every single day right now. I don’t know.” I leaned my head against the sofa. “I need to figure it out.”

Jayda nodded, almost grimacing as she did. “And you need to do it quick. Is it just attraction, or are you falling for him?”

“Thanks, Dr. Phil.”

“You’re welcome.” She grinned. “One thing you could do is go on a date and see how you feel about it then.”

I winced. “I haven’t checked the app for days.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“I haven’t had a chance!”

“Because you’ve been getting drilled against a wall?”

I sighed. “Shut up.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

I swept the pencil across the wall, using my phone as a reference for what the Superman logo looked like. I’d spent the last hour drilling and putting up shelves in Eli’s room. The floor was coated in dust from the drilling, but I couldn’t be bothered to clean it up just yet.

I used my spirit level to make sure the lines were straight for the outside of the logo. The gold writing on the pencil read ‘Don’t be a twat,’ and kept catching my attention as it glinted in the light.

Nobody really needed twenty pencils that read ‘Don’t be a twat,’ but I had them, thanks to my mom.

It was a good motto to live by, to be honest.

The silence of the house was welcome as I sketched onto the wall. The logo was simple, but the straight lines were killers. Still, I got it done after about half an hour of drawing, and moved to paint.

I didn’t get to do this often, and it was nice. Nice to break away from the noise and occasional tediousness of my job.

I loved what I did, but there was only so many times you could do something before you got tired of it. I felt that way about painting in general, so doing the Superman logo was fun.

I’d just finished the red when the front door opened and then shut again. The twins were at daycare, and since I’d skipped out last night to go to Jayda’s, this would be the first time we were alone since…well, yeah.

I kinda hoped he wouldn’t come up and talk to me, but I knew him better than that.

No sooner had I thought that than I heard him on the stairs.

I bent down and dipped my brush into the yellow paint.

“Hey,” he said from the hallway. “You’re not holding a knife today, are you?”

“Ha. You’re funny,” I replied, getting excess paint off the brush. “Just a paintbrush today.”

“Am I interrupting a private concert?”

“I’m never going to live any of this down, am I?”

Brantley finally stepped into the room with a wolfish grin on his face. “No,” he said. “Not even close.”

I sighed and started painting again. “So unfair.”

“How is your finger today?”

“Painful, but it stopped bleeding. Just a normal Band-Aid today.” I wiggled my fingers in his direction.

He nodded slowly. “Good.”

I got more paint on my brush and carried on. Neither of us said anything for a moment, and the silence was both comfortable and awkward. How that was possible I didn’t know, but I did know that I didn’t mind being around him in silence.

“Do you want to get lunch today?”

I froze. “Just lunch, or…like a date, lunch?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Does it matter? Lunch is lunch.”

“In a restaurant?”

“The Coastal? Sure.”

“We’d be more likely to keep our clothes on.” Welp. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Brantley considered this. “I can order in.”

I waved my hand at him. “Stop that. I’m working, and I’m determined to get finished on time so they can have their rooms in a few days.”

He glanced around. “Are you really almost done?”

I nodded. “I just have to build the rest of the furniture, mostly. Oh, and put up the curtain poles.”

“Wow.” He cast his gaze over the room. “That’ll be weird when you’re done. I’m used to having you here.”

I smiled. “You’ll like it even more when I’m not.”

He didn’t respond, just inclined his head slightly in my direction. “So, lunch? Here or out?”

I twisted my mouth to the side. “Whenever. I planned to stop in an hour.”

“Do you have time limit for lunch?”

“Not really. I’ll just stay a bit later.”

He bobbed his head. “Let’s go out. I’ll call the Coastal and see if Marcie can save us a table.”

“Sounds good.” I smiled, and he returned it right before he turned and left.

My brush hovered over the wall.

Was it a date?

Damn it.

***

The roar of the restaurant was loud. Apparently, there was some competition down on Rock Bay beach and the Coastal had picked up all the people who’d turned out for it. Every table was full, and I was definitely glad that Brantley had called ahead. We’d been able to walk right in and go to our table, passing the people in the front foyer who were waiting for one themselves.