We arrive at my old childhood home but stay by Mauro’s truck to eat our breakfast burritos since it’s gross inside and I’m already fearful I’ll lose the burrito minutes after walking in and dealing with the stench.

“So, you were saying…this is where you grew up?” he asks, glancing up and down the street instead of at the monstrosity in front of us.

“Yeah, when we were in high school…not that you knew me, so it’s not really we, but you know what I mean.”

“I knew you,” he says probably out of obligation.

“You don’t have to pretend you did. I’m fully aware of our differences.”

He bites into his burrito, a low satisfactory moan leaking out of him. It makes me wish I pulled those sounds from him.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about.” He sips on the iced coffee he stopped to pick up on the way over.

“Mauro, you were captain of the football team and I was captain of the geek squad.”

“There’s a captain?” He winks.

“Hardy har har. If we’re going into this, I need you to know a few things.”

“You’re the woman American Psycho and you’re going to seek your revenge and kill me?” He devours half of his burrito when I’m only a quarter into mine.

“No. The night we saw each other at the auction, I might’ve been a little awestruck.”

God, this is embarrassing, but I need him to know I am not some dork that he can push around.

“I thought maybe you saw me as Ogre and couldn’t stand to look at my face.”

He’s smirking when I glance up from my burrito. If I’m going to tell him this I have to look him in the eyes, so he respects me.

“No, that’s not why. A person like you is probably used to always having the advantage. Having people cower down and listen to you because…well…you’re really attractive and attractive people usually get what they want fairly easily.”

“You must be speaking from experience.” He raises both eyebrows.

I roll my eyes at him, trying to act like we both aren’t aware of where we stand.

“I just need you to know, I know what I’m doing here. This is my fifth house and I’ve learned from my mistakes, so I’d like it if you didn’t try to intimidate me into getting your way. That you believe the decisions I suggest and make are what is best for us and come from a place of experience and knowledge.”

“Did you think if I wanted a different molding stain I was going to strip off my shirt? Or if we didn’t agree on what price to sell it at, I’d do a strip tease?” He hops off the back end of the truck, crumpling up his foil wrapper and tossing it in the bed. “If we’re being so honest, than I’d like you to know that I’m more than just brawn, I have some brains, too. So please respect any suggestions I make.”

I’ve offended him.

I follow him to the passenger side of the truck. “I didn’t mean—”

His head turns and his blue eyes are lit with anger. It’s a side of him I’ve never seen before.

“You meant that you thought I’d use my looks and my charm to get my way with you. That I wouldn’t respect you as an equal partner.” He steps closer. I swallow down the small amount of saliva pooling in my mouth. “Let me tell you, Madison, you might think you know me, but you know nothing about the real me. I seem to remember you telling me something similar last week.” His arm lands on top of the truck, effectively caging me in. “I’ll tell you this, you might be hung up on what you looked like in high school, but I’m not. I’m sorry if I was an idiot and didn’t notice you back then, but I could accuse you of using your looks to get what you want in our arrangement, too. ”

I stare into his eyes, watching anger transform to heat.

“I would never disrespect you, Madison. We’ll both get what we want out of this partnership.” He winks and pushes himself off the truck, leaving me weak in the knees. “Now let’s go get dirty.”

God, I so want to get dirty with him right now, but not at all in the way that he means.

Two hours later, we’re back to sitting on the lowered tailgate of Mauro’s truck. I’m finishing up sketching what I’m imagining for the main living space after we knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

Mauro is lying next to me, his forearm over his eyes, halfway to dreamland. Part of me wants to tell him to go home and sleep, but if we’re going to start demolition tomorrow, then we have no choice but to figure this part out today.

“What do you think about the staircase?” I ask.

“It’s dark and scary,” he mumbles from underneath his arm.

I laugh. “When I was younger, it left a great space to eavesdrop on my parents.”

A flashback of their composed conversation when they decided on a divorce overtakes the one about the Barbie dream house they put together on Christmas Eve during happier times.

“How long did you live here?” He sits up, his back slouched.

I laugh. “You can lay back down.”

“Nah, I’ll fall asleep on you.”

“Do you want me to sketch this and send it over to you tonight?”

He slides closer to me, shifting his weight to the arm behind me. “No.”

He leans in a bit more and he points to the top, where the stairway bends to go upstairs. “We could open this up. The light from the window will come through, but there’s still room for a little girl to eavesdrop on her parents’ conversation.”

My gaze meets his and he smirks.

“I like it.” I smile at him.

“You do?” The disbelief in his tone is surprising.

“I do. So…” I scribble away to show that we’ll be taking out part of that wall. “That’s gone.”

I hop down, mostly to get away from his nearness before I drown in his scent which may only be soap and shampoo but is still intoxicating when it’s on him.

“That’s enough for now. It’ll be a couple days of demo,” I say.

He follows suit, his boots hitting the ground. “I have tomorrow off and then I’m back on shift for twenty-four hours.” His fingers thread through his hair, stress lining his jaw.

“No worries. I’ll hold down the fort when you’re at the station. We do need to hire a crew.”

“I already have guys coming tomorrow,” he says, hands on his hips.

“Pretty sure you were going to get the house then?”

“Well, I didn’t think there would be a lot of people vying for this much of a fixer-upper.”

“Only me.” I shrug.

He smiles, the one that melts my insides. “I’m glad that we’re doing it together. I think it will be fun.”

“Hmm…you are a newbie,” I tease. “Remind me how much fun we’re having in a month.”

He chuckles, his hand pulling on his neck.

“Are you going to be okay to drive home?”

He nods before I finish the sentence. “I’m good. I’ll probably be asleep until dinner. You’ve got my cell.”

“Yep. We’re all good. I need you rested for tomorrow. If you can tell your crew to come in at nine or so. I’ll probably be here at seven, but don’t feel like you have to join me. Nine is fine for you.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “I’ll be here at seven. Fifty-fifty, remember?”

I giggle and nod. “See you at seven.”

He nods and I grab all my stuff off the bed of his truck, turning to head to my car.

“Enjoy the rest of your day, partner,” he says, securing the tailgate and heading to the driver’s side.

“Sweet dreams.” I open my car door.

Why don’t I want to leave him?

Because you’re still infatuated with him.

“Probably won’t even remember them if I have them. Bye, Madison.”

“Bye, Mauro.”

We both get into our vehicles and Mauro pulls away from the curb. Rather than follow suit, I open my purse and pull a few M&Ms from the bag I always have in there, then grab my phone and pull up Vanessa’s contact. Lauren should be at work and besides, Vanessa will be more on board with the crazy decision I made to be business partners with Mauro on this project.

“What’s up girlie?” Vanessa’s huffing with labored breaths into the phone.

“What are you doing?” I check my blind spot and pull out onto the street.

“I’m running.”

Vanessa and working out is about as common as seeing a leprechaun riding a unicorn skipping down Michigan Avenue.

“Um…why?”

“Oh, fuck it. Where are you? Can you pick me up on the way home?”

I laugh. “Where are you?”

“On the corner of Irving and Western.”

“Van, that’s like two blocks from home.” I chuckle.

“Yeah, there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts, I’ll be in there.” There’s a pause. “Large ice coffee… definitely cream and sugar.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.” Her tone sounds about as frazzled as I feel emotionally right now. “Wait, what’s up? Why did you call?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there.” I brake at a stop light.

“No, distract me from the lack of oxygen going into my lungs.”

My fingers tap the steering wheel while I wait for the light to turn green. “I got that house.” I start with the really good news.

A loud screech echoes over the phone. “That’s great news! I can’t wait to see what you do with it.”

The light changes and I accelerate through the intersection. “It is, but I decided to partner up with someone on it.”

“Why? You don’t need a partner. Please tell me it’s not that sleazy Oswald ass you’re always telling us about…Thanks.” I hear her sipping through a straw so she must’ve just been handed her order. “Tell me it’s some hot guy with a nine-inch dick.”

“You do know you’re in public?” I shake my head even though she can’t see me and turn right at the next intersection.

“Yeah, the woman is kind of looking at me funny. I’ll be waiting outside.”

“You really need to be more aware, Vanessa.”

She huffs. “It’s not my fault if people are prudes. Like she wouldn’t want a nine-inch dick. Who doesn’t? Oh, crap.”

“What?” I ask.

I can hear someone who’s not Vanessa yelling on her end of the call.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am. I didn’t see him. Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Van?”

“Hold on…I will. Promise. Yes, I will definitely try to act more like a lady. Sorry again.” The phone sounds muffled for a second then she comes back on. “Okay, my lips are officially zipped.”

“A mom and child?”

“Yeah.” Her apologetic voice says she knows how wrong she was, but it’s Vanessa and she tends to act before she thinks things completely through. “Let’s get back to you. Who’s the lucky partner?”

“Mauro Bianco.” I bite my lip, waiting for her to either lecture me or tell me to find out if he’s got a nine-inch dick.

“Really?” I get neither of those reactions. Her voice is one of concern and worry.

“Yeah. He was there and we were both bidding on the same property, increasing the cost for each other, so he proposed that we partner on it and I accepted. We’re fifty-fifty.”

Silence.

Deafening silence.

“And he put down half the money?”

I’m stuck behind some guy on a bike and though I know it’s good for your physical health and the environment and all that, they are really annoying when you’re in a car and can’t get around them.

“Yeah. And he said he’s good with his hands and has friends on the department who do side work.”

Traffic eases in the opposite lane so I pull out and around the bike.

The lack of enthusiasm on the other end of the call is popping my balloon filled with excitement.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asks after a moment.

“I am.” Not entirely true, but glass half full and all that.

“But this guy is the guy you had a crush on all through high school, right?” she asks in a wary voice.

“I can handle myself, Vanessa. You would’ve been so proud of me. It’s like after our date when he was annoyed with me, I’m not afraid to speak to him anymore.”

“That’s good, Mad. Has he done this before? Flipped a house?”

“No, but he wants me to show him everything there is to know.”

I make a left onto the street where she’s waiting.

“But don’t you wonder why he wants to partner up?” she asks.

“I just told you. It just made sense for this project. I’m a big girl, Van.”

“Of course you are.”

“I’m excited. To have a contractor who is as invested as me can’t be a bad thing. He’ll want to get it flipped as quickly as I do. Time is money and since it’s half his money, he won’t be dragging his feet.”

The more I work to convince Vanessa what a good idea this is, the more my own reservations at the back of my head ease. I could list a bunch more reasons, but I’m stopped at the light across from her. I spot her sitting on the cement block of a parking space, head in her hands.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt. He could be…using you.”

I don’t respond right away because to be honest, I’m a little hurt that she thinks I’d let myself be manipulated like that.

“You think I’d just sit there with a smile on my face and let him fuck me over?” I ask.

“No.” Her head picks up and she’s shaking it. I watch her until the light turns green. “I just think this guy is your ‘what if’ guy and you might not even realize you’re letting him take advantage of you until it’s too late.”

Vanessa comes from a place of caring and I have to remember that as I accelerate forward to pick her up. She doesn’t think I’m weak, she just thinks my long-lasting crush on Mauro could cloud my judgment.

“I’m here,” I say and she glances to her right and spots me.

Instantly, a smile overtakes her face. She slides into my car, her arms around my shoulders. “Congratulations, Maddie.”

“Thanks.” I pat her arms, sweaty from the two block walk. “Nice try with working out.”

She falls back into my seat. “I’m done with that. It was a stupid idea.”

I giggle, pushing back the deflated feeling she left me with admitting her worries with Mauro swindling me. “One day and you’re calling it quits?”

She sips her pale iced coffee and shrugs.

Typical Vanessa, bored with something after two point two seconds.