“It’s straight!” I yelled down from my perch at the top of the ladder as I held a long level against the main ceiling joist. “Bubble is directly in the middle.” Owen and Garrett were manning the nail guns at either end of the roof frames and I was double-checking the positions, level, and angles of the triangular pre-builds. This was critical to the open ceiling look the interior of the building would have, and each set had to be exact.

“Check it again, girl!” my da yelled back up. “Can’t afford any more screw-ups!”

I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t screwed up any measurement yet, so I wasn’t sure what previous screw-up he was referring to.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, cailín leisciúil! Get your ass movin’!”

Shit! He could always tell.

I wiped the sweat from my brow, smearing another layer of dirt on my forehead. We were supposed to wear hard hats on the job site, but we weren’t today as no one wanted to deal with the hot, heavy headwear. OSHA would not be happy with us, and if we got caught, they would shut us down in a heartbeat. I wore mine for most of the morning but when the sweat kept dripping into my eyes, blurring my vision, I decided to take a chance.

I spotted Stud coming out of the air-conditioned work trailer. He was wearing his nerd glasses—as I had called them to his face—and was sipping on a cold bottle of water. The bandana around my head was soaking wet and I’m sure my ponytail was dripping as well. I wanted to punch him.

“Yo, Stud! Throw one of those up here! I’m dry as hell!” I called out.

He disappeared briefly inside the trailer and brought out a fresh bottle. Walking toward where I was perched on the ladder, he answered, “Looks like you’re wet enough, Cactus.”

“That’s what she said!” Garrett hollered across the work area. Gah, my fucking brothers! If I had something I could have thrown at him, I would have.

“Can’t you find something new, smartass?” I hollered back while coming down from the ladder.

“Do they ever give you a break?” Stud asked, sounding irritated. He handed me the dripping bottle. He really didn’t like the way my brothers talked to me sometimes, even though I’d reminded him more than once that’s just the way they were and I was used to it.

“What do you think?” I answered, placing the cold bottle under my chin and rubbing it to the back of my neck.

It was late morning on Sunday and we had been working the site since just before dawn in what was essentially overtime, mainly because Fergus had rented the lifting crane on the wrong dates and we had limited time to use the heavy piece of machinery to lift the pre-builds for the roof framing. This did not fill me with joy as even though we were well over forty hours this week, closer to seventy, my da didn’t pay out overtime. I was glad no one lived too close as they wouldn’t be filled with joy either at being awakened by the earsplitting sound of grinding machinery. Stud had joined us after he drove by the site and saw us hard at work. To say the least, he wasn’t happy we were on the site, but begrudgingly understood why.

It had been several weeks since he came by my house to bring me that fantastic cream and treat me to a rubdown I wouldn’t soon forget. I hadn’t seen him with bike bunny Bambi again. But then again, he hadn’t had much time for her, since he’d started coming over to my place several nights a week to watch movies. The night after Bambi’s ride, I got a knock at my door again. Stud had strolled in with a pizza and a six-pack.

“You eaten yet, Cactus?” he’d asked, setting the pizza on my table and lifting a Wicked Weed beer from the cardboard holder. Asheville wasn’t too far away from Bryson City, and there were some killer microbreweries there.

“Nope,” I’d said, feeling a little confused as to why he was there. “Why are you here?”

“Pizza, beer, and Roger Moore,” he’d stated, opening the flat box and picking up a slice of the steaming food. The rich tomato and spice scent hit my nostrils and I caved. Someone bringing food was preferable to going over to my family’s place. Da had been in rare form that day, yelling and griping at everything and everyone, and I’d just as soon not deal with him again that night.

“I hope you didn’t put anchovies or pineapple on that,” I had declared testily, trying to act nonchalant about him showing up at my place at that hour. “Pineapple should be in sweets and cakes, and little fishes on pizza is just wrong.”

He laughed. I really liked looking at him when he laughed.

“Not at all, Cactus. Just plain pepperoni tonight. Let me know what else you like, and I’ll bring it next time.”

I wasn’t sure what was worse, him telling me he’d bring me my pizza preference or the fact that he planned on coming to see me again. Then it hit me.

“You’re hiding,” I crowed with a smile.

He nearly choked on a swallow of beer. “What? Hiding? How the hell did you come up with that?”

I rolled my eyes and plopped down on my sofa with the remote in one hand and a fat slice in the other. “Oh come on, Stud! You’ve had more women come see you at the job site than I have tourist mugs. You’re coming here to get a break from them.”

He looked at me funny. “Maybe I do want a break.”

Something about his tone sent a warning shiver down my spine, but it didn’t last any longer than it took him to pop one of my movies in the DVD player and then flop down next to me. Mmmmmm, he smelled good! Old Spice or Axe or some other good-smelling male stuff.

The opening scenes to Moonraker came on and I settled in to watch. Not my favorite James Bond, but not the worst either. I tried to stay awake but long days of physical work didn’t make for long movie nights. I drifted in and out for a bit, but at some point dropped off completely. I came back to full awareness right when the credits were rolling. Somehow we had ended up with Stud leaning back into the sofa and me draped halfway over his lap. His arm was around my shoulders with my head on his chest tucked under his chin. His fingers were softly stroking my ribs, just under my breast. I could feel his heat surround me as well as that masculine scent I liked so much. I both froze in place and nearly bolted from it at the same time.

“Please tell me I didn’t snore or drool on you,” I had implored in as normal a tone as I could. I needed to break the awkwardness of finding myself this close to him and the best I figured was to be Hard Hat Eva. Irish Bitch Eva wasn’t right and he’d already seen that side of me.

He’d burst into laughter and I’d shifted off him, shaking my head and running my hands over my explosion of bed hair. He squeezed me once and lifted his arms, letting me sit up.

“Sorry about falling asleep on you. Long days, you know,” I’d muttered, hoping I sounded nonchalant and normal when I was very aware I wasn’t wearing a bra and my nipples were hard and pointed. Stud didn’t seem to notice. I was sure he’d seen plenty of pointy nipples and one more set wouldn’t be a big deal.

“No problem, Cactus. A little drool never hurt anyone.”

My eyes had then darted to his in fear and embarrassment, but when I saw the teasing light in them, I groaned and playfully punched his shoulder.

“Smartass!” I growled.

He laughed and stood up. “I noticed you have Netflix. Can you get a signal here?”

“Spotty. Couple of private signals but we’re too far away from any real coverage,” I said, standing up and stretching. His eyes dropped to my chest and I cringed a little, remembering my pointiness. “It’s not like I don’t have stuff to do in the evenings. I don’t miss it—much.”

“Ever seen House of Cards on there?” he asked, gathering the empty pizza box.

“Yep. One of my favorites. Waiting for the new season to come out,” I answered.

“It’s out now,” he said, grinning.

“Damn! I’m missing it!” I lamented. It really was one of my favorite series and even better, I didn’t have to wait week to week to see a new episode. I did binge watch from time to time when I was able to. Didn’t happen often unless there was a rain deluge and work at whatever site was impossible.

He nodded. “I have band practice tomorrow night, but I’ll come Thursday and bring food. We can get in one or two episodes if you can stay awake long enough.”

He wasn’t asking. He was telling, but I could still say no.

“Sure, sounds good.” Holy shit! Was this a date? Did he just make a date with me? Argh!

He sauntered in his Stud way to the door and opened it, still carrying the pizza box.

“Gotta work on that snoring, Eva. I thought the roof was gonna cave in at one point.” He grinned as he turned in the open door and gave that parting shot.

My mouth gaped open and my eyes went wide. I picked up a pillow from the sofa and threw it at his head.

“Smartass!” I shouted again as he closed the door against my missile. I could hear him laughing as he fired up his bike and left.

Netflix and food on Thursday night with Stud. Fuck my life!

True enough, Stud had showed on Thursday night, this time with Chinese food. I wasn’t picky, especially when I didn’t have to cook. He also brought some sort of device thingy that boosted the spotty Wi-Fi for the bar’s signal. Netflix came in clear and we settled in for a night of political and character debate on the series. I didn’t fall asleep this time, mainly because of the lively conversation and endless teasing.

This past week he’d been out to my place every night. He was becoming a comfortable but confusing habit. A habit I didn’t want to quit but one I didn’t know what to do about. Connor had asked me about the sound of the Harley motorcycle coming to my place so often but didn’t give me any shit about it. Da could sleep through Armageddon and never noticed. If my other brothers knew about the visits, they were minding their own business for a change.

Betsey’s Mustang rolled into the lot, top down and blaring an Aerosmith song. She slipped out of it on her heeled boots and tight distressed jeans. Her two grandchildren were bouncing in the back seat.

“Stud!” she called. “Brick’s called for a church meet at noon. I got the kids and we’re doing a grill-out on the fly. The prospects are setting up, but I need some stuff from Costco and you still got my card. Hey, Eva!”

How she got all that out in one breath, I didn’t know. I poured the last of my water down my throat.

“Hey yourself, Betsey.” I waved.

“You look plumb tuckered, child!” she exclaimed as she made her way over to where Stud and I stood. “Come on up to the Lair as soon as you can. We got plenty of food and I bet the pool will feel real good on a day like today. You bunch been workin’ nonstop since you got here. Time to take a breather.”

Da and Conner came up.

“Well, Ms. Davis, I’m not sure about that,” Da started, shaking his head. No one could ever call him a social butterfly. His life chiefly consisted of work, more work, traveling for work, and occasionally sleeping.

“Pshhht!” exploded from Betsey’s red painted lips. “Nonsense, Fergus! All y’all come up. Ain’t nothing better than a summer party. The boys have that church meeting, but there ain’t much to talk about as far as I know.” She snatched the white Costco card from Stud’s outstretched hand. “Y’all got swimsuits?” she asked. “Don’t matter none. Most of the boys just wear cutoffs anyway, and I’m sure you got some somewhere. Michelle! Quit jumping on my seats and sit your butt back down! How ’bout you, darlin’?”

It took me a moment before I realized she was talking to me and not the squirming child in the back of her car. “Yes, ma’am, I have one,” I replied, thinking of the bikini I made for myself last summer.

“Lord a’mercy, darlin’, I ain’t no ma’am. I’m just Betsey to everyone round here. Anyway, it is Sunday and we got us a date at the pool, remember? All y’all come up! Don’t you get some time off on the Sabbath?”

Fergus grumbled a bit but nodded. Connor spoke, “We’re ahead of schedule and at a good stopping place for the day. Thank you, Betsey, we’ll be glad to come up to the Lair. It would be a glorious break, and I think we all need it.”

“Fantastic! Come on up in about an hour. Just bring yourselves and an appetite. Cody! Imma gonna spank your behind if ya poked another hole in my headrest! Put that pencil away! I love my grandkids to death but they’re ’bout to drive me crazy! I hope I can get ’em tired enough in the pool so they’ll sleep tonight. Their mama and daddy are going through a nasty divorce right now and it ain’t pretty at all! I gotta run. See y’all later!” She got into her car and waved as she drove off.

Da and Connor looked stunned, as if they just got hit by a wild storm. They finally wandered off toward my other four brothers, who were still working the site, to share the spur-of-the-moment invitation.

I stood holding my empty water bottle, still trying to make sense of her smiling and speaking to us in a friendly Southern voice and in the next moment yelling like a banshee at her grandkids. I turned to Stud with a slightly stunned expression on my face.

“Did that just happen?”

Stud grinned and slapped a hand on my shoulder. “Yep. That’s hurricane Betsey. Best mother hen you’ll find anywhere on the planet.”

I grinned a sweaty grin back at him. “I think I’m a little scared of her.”

He laughed out loud. “Yeah, me too. Listen, I have a couple items to finish up. How ’bout if you go get your stuff together, get cleaned up a bit, and I’ll give you a ride on my bike. Bring regular clothes in case you want to change later. Yeah?”

I blinked. “Never been on a bike before that I didn’t power with my own two feet on a set of pedals.”

It was Stud’s turn to blink. “Never?”

I shook my head. “Nope.” I said popping the p a bit.

He smiled what I had dubbed his devil smile. “Oh, Cactus! You’re in for a treat!”