Action

“So,” she said at last. “I was wondering if you could do me a favour.”

“Does it involve me getting injured in any way? Because I’ve had my quota for this week.”

“You are very accident prone.”

“Yeah, but most of those accidents happen around you.” He thought about it for a minute. “Actually, they happen because of you.”

Her head snapped up as her cheeks flushed.

“That’s not fair,” she said.

“Hey, I’m just saying how it is. I’m not the one who vented my anger over losing my car on Mr Big.”

“For the record – I didn’t lose the car. You killed my car. And as for last night – I slipped,” she said earnestly. “Did you think I meant to injure you like that?”

“Well.” He considered her. “You do have a violent streak.”

“For goodness sake.” She threw her arms wide in exasperation. “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Don’t tell me, tell Mr Big.”

She put her hands on her hips.

“I’m not talking to your penis, Jack.”

He actually seemed disappointed.

“How about kissing it better?” he said with a wicked smile.

Unwelcome images flashed through her mind and made her heart beat faster.

“How about we stop talking about your package?”

“Fine, we’ll deal with this when you’re in a better mood. You know, you can be really grumpy.”

His eyes

sparkled, Davina’s jaw dropped. She’d just said the exact same thing about him.

“I think I have plenty of reasons to be grumpy, don’t you?” She ticked them off on her fingers. “You interfere with my life. You stalk me. You’ve moved into my garden. And you killed my car. That would make anyone grumpy.”

“I’m going to fix the car,” he said as he looked at it. “Maybe.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. She opened her mouth to ask what he meant but he beat her to it.

“What do you want, Davy?” he said.

The brownies were gone. She wondered if he’d even chewed them before swallowing.

“I need some help,” she said. She shuffled her feet. “I’m doing this acting thing, for my class. I mean, the one I teach. You know I’m an actress, right?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Well, I try to be, I haven’t had a job in a long time.” She waved a hand in front of herself. “Well that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, I’m working on a project and wondered if you would read some lines with me.”

“Can’t you get one of the kids to do it?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I need a man.”