Tessa
The doorbell rang right on cue, and my dog Sully, a three-year-old blue and gold Yorkie, sprang to quiet attention. I scooped his little ten-pound body into my arms on my way to the front door. “Such a good boy.”
I was both nervous and excited about my renovation. After going back and forth about it for almost a month, I’d finally made an appointment with Six Brothers Construction. It wasn’t because the house didn’t need it. It did. It was because I found change and the idea of the disruption of construction too stressful.
But it was time. Okay, past time. I’d procrastinated a bit too long. If I was going to make a serious go of my new venture, Bow Wow Meow, Tessa’s Mobile Pet Treats, at the very least I needed to gut the kitchen. I’d bought the house from my Grandma Gigi, and I was pretty sure everything in it was original. From the plumbing to the appliances to the kitchen cupboards with six coats of paint. Authentically vintage was how I liked to think of it. But the kitchen wouldn’t handle all the baking I needed to do.
Today was simply the initial meeting with Beck Thorne to discuss my renovation, and so he could get measurements for an estimate and put together a proposal.
That’s what I told myself when I swung open my front door and found Gray Thorne on my porch. My inner voice whispered again, only this time it said, “This one.”
Holy heck, inner voice, why would you say that now? As if I wasn’t already nervous about all the changes in my life; talk about going into freak out mode. Before I could stop myself—or think, obviously—I slammed the door in his face. Crap.
I leaned my back against the door and hyperventilated. Because one look at the man and I was back in the bar, his hand warm and firm on my belly, my back pressed tight against his hard body. Goosebumps popped up on my arms at the memory.
This one? No. It can’t be this one. This one gets around. This one doesn’t do commitment. This one won’t have my back any more than my ex did. Just no. No matter how gorgeous he was. No matter how much he turned my insides to a honeyed hive buzzing with need.
I fished my phone from my pocket and texted Laura.
Me: Crap! It’s Gray. I wasn’t prepared for him.
Laura: Relax. It’s just a sales pitch. Ignore everything I said about kissing him.
Me: OMG! Why did you bring that up?!
Laura: Grab Sully. Calm down and have the meeting. Don’t stare at his lips.
Me: You used to be my best friend.
Laura: Tough love, sister.
Okay, I could do this. I could do this. I ran my hand over Sully’s fur and felt my muscles let go of their tension. I turned around, took in a bracing breath, and threw the front door open again.
“Hello,” I said, using my cheerful, I’m-not-crazy-voice. Oh, boy, even knowing he was on my porch, I was still unprepared for him. He was a shock to my system. It had been a month since Halloween and I’d forgotten everything. How tall he was. How solid and strong he looked. How blue his eyes were—so blue.
Do not look at his lips. Do not look—I looked. Nice. Really nice. Kissable.
Focus, Tessa, focus.
“Hello again.” Gray’s apologetic half-grin was too sexy for words. “Ms. Madigan? I’m Gray Thorne with Six Brothers Construction. I thought we had an appointment scheduled for today at one, but maybe I got the day or time wrong.”
“No, the time is accurate. Wow, some wind, huh? Woo, just slammed the door closed. Sorry. Anyway, I was expecting your brother. He and I spoke on the phone and…” Sully, the traitor, was whining to get closer to the new human. “Quiet.”
I was talking to the dog, but my command had Gray’s eyes jerking over to mine. Whatever.
“Uh… Every Thorne brother has experience in all phases of the renovation and building process, so we can each cover any part of a job as needed.” Again with the smile, which was darn powerful. “If you’d rather wait for my brother…”
“If you’re telling me you Thorne brothers are interchangeable, then I guess it might as well be you giving the spiel. So, no reason you shouldn’t come in.” I didn’t want to give myself the chance of procrastinating longer, so I led the way into the kitchen at the back of the house. “Coffee? Oh, sorry, no. Never mind. I forgot I was out. No coffee.”
“I’m actually fine.” Gray looked around the kitchen with interest, his gaze doing a thorough sweep. “Very nice. You’ve got one of the original old ladies built back in the ’50s. These houses can withstand a nuclear blast.”
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not true. A nuclear blast would level the whole city.”
His head whipped around to me. “Right. It was just an expression. I meant that these are well-built houses.”
Nice, Tessa. I stared at him longer than was comfortable for either of us. Mostly me.
“Well, let’s sit and you can tell me about your company, how you work, and what type of timeframe I can expect.” I took the farthest kitchen chair from him, settling Sully on my lap. Sully would keep me calm while I listened to the reno details and tried to keep the idea of kissing Gray Thorne (thank you very much, Laura) out of my mind. I needed to pay attention as I was spending real money on this renovation. It was just that I was having a hard time focusing while I was this close to Gray. Close to Gray and his beautiful mouth. He had nice, well-formed lips. The bottom one plump enough to bite. I was so distracted I was even more awkward than normal. “I assume you have a laptop in your purse.”
Purse? No, what was the dang word? Briefcase. I knew that. Heck, my mind went blank when his blue eyes landed on me, and I couldn’t think of the correct word. So purse fell out. My years of working in the business world and careful observation revealed that many men were allergic to purses. Not only did they not like to hold their significant other’s purse, but they didn’t appreciate their briefcases, portfolios, or manly-man attachés being referred to as purses. But Gray Thorne just grinned at me as he slid his laptop from his bag. Of course he did.
“All right, why don’t you tell me everything I need to know about your company as if we were on a speed date?” The faster I could get away from Gray Thorne’s pheromones, dimples, face, body, and what looked like very sexy, kissable lips—well, the better for my sanity.
“Never having been on a speed date, how about I give you the scouting report instead? Six Brothers Construction has officially been in business for over five years in Raleigh. We’re licensed and bonded and have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Of course, I’m more than happy to provide you with a list of references to call for an unbiased opinion. We’ve handled projects from a few hundred dollars to whole house renovations of million dollar mansions. Each and every job we do gets the same specialized attention no matter the size and scope. No job is too small for our best work.”
He proceeded to present a small slideshow on his laptop, which I appreciated because it gave me something else to look at other than his mouth. He clicked through their company’s portfolio (very impressive) and wrapped it up by giving a bit of the brothers’ background about how they were raised on a commune in Montana and learned the building craft at an early age (sort of sexy and unique).
“Why you, Mr. Thorne?”
“Please, call me Gray.”
“Why you, Gray?”
“Why me what?”
“Why should I hire SBC over the other construction companies I’ll be interviewing?”
“At SBC we’re guided by the core principles of hard work, quality craftsmanship, and integrity. We’ve got the expertise to design and implement your vision. And we firmly believe a job isn’t finished until the client is satisfied.”
“Six brothers? Will every brother work on my house? How does that work?”
“Usually, each of us has our hands on some phase of every project. Except today, since I’m stepping in for Beck while he wraps up a big job. Which means I’ll put together the proposal and write up your estimate. Beck watches the bottom line so we stick to the budget. As the project manager and designer, it’s my job to help a client find exactly what they want as far as style. Aesthetics, textures, colors. I help bring it all together so each room in the house harmonizes in a cohesive way. Wyatt is our in-house architect; he’ll be the one drawing up the plans and specs depending on if you’re wanting to tear down walls and expand rooms to create a more updated, open-house feel. Eli oversees the actual construction. And then our brother Ash subs in as his schedule allows and pitches in wherever there’s a need.”
“What about the last one?”
“The last one what?”
“The last brother. You only listed off five brothers. What does the sixth one do?”
I watched his jaw clench as his eyes flicked away from mine. He blinked twice before turning back to me.
“The last Thorne brother is off on sabbatical right now.”
“What is his role with the company?”
Once again his eyes slid away and the muscles in his jaw tightened and released before he answered. “He actually doesn’t have a role within the company at the present time.”
“So you’re saying Six Brothers Construction is really Five Brothers Construction?”
He frowned at me. “Technically, yes. But I don’t actually see how that matters.”
“As a potential client, it makes me wonder if you’re misleading on purpose or just rounding up to an even number.” Ugh. My quirky brain needed to get the numbers to match up. It was the former accountant in me. Plus the communication skills of an awkward introvert. I wanted to stop talking, but my mouth just kept going. “And if you do that with the name of your company, will you do it with measurements, costs, and budgets?”
Gray’s eyes narrowed, pinning me where I sat. His face went stiff, his forehead creased with a frown, and his nostrils flared.
Oh, nice. Awkward Tessa had taken over the meeting. Awkward Tessa had a way of putting her foot in her mouth and innocently pissing people off.
“Why not just change it to Five Brothers Construction?” Seriously, stop it.
“Because,” he growled out the answer.
“It would be more accurate.” Shut. Up. Tessa.
“But not more truthful. Look—not that I need to explain this to you—but the deal is due to circumstances out of our control, we lost track of our brother years ago. Because we need to know he’s okay—because we want him to know he’s always a part of our lives—we included him. So six brothers. Always.”
Oh wow. The fierce passion in his blue gaze knocked me back. I knew exactly how it felt to miss someone that much. I wanted to offer my apology, but my throat had gone tight. I couldn’t look without feeling the hollowness in my chest. I dropped my gaze away, down to Sully’s look of unconditional love and concern, letting his sweet face settle my emotions.
It wasn’t my intention to make Gray angry.
“I’m sorry I brought it up. I wouldn’t if I’d known. It’s just—I have this thing with numbers. Sorry. The six and the five—they didn’t add up. I hope you find him.”
His look changed. He either recovered quickly or hid it well. Neither of which I could do, so I sank my fingers into Sully’s fur, my mind too numb to think.
But that flash of pain and anger I’d seen in Gray’s eyes was all too familiar. I’d been there. I hated that cold hollow feeling in my chest. So empty. So sad. I didn’t want to go back there for fear I’d be stuck wandering around and never find my way out again. The crazy feeling that Gray Thorne was wandering around in the same cold, empty place was what thrust me back into the moment with a burning need to grab on to the promise of something better...something bordering on happy.
I felt like I’d been given a secret glimpse into the real Gray Thorne. It seemed the sexy smile and laid-back cool playboy image he projected hid the inner man. A man who was deeper and more vulnerable than I would have guessed. That glimpse made me want to take a second look at Gray. Okay, fine, more like an eighty-sixth look, but the man was hard to not look at.
Laura’s idea of kissing Gray Thorne didn’t sound so crazy all of a sudden. And it had nothing to do with needing a benchmark kiss to compare Paul’s kiss to. Not one thing. It had to do with the pull I’d felt toward Gray the first time I’d seen him. But mostly it was the glimpse of the Gray Thorne he kept hidden from the world. I’d seen his flash of pain and need. I’d seen his flash of passion and devotion. Pay attention. I think I was beginning to understand.
The look in his eyes. The passion in his voice when he talked about his brothers. I felt a yearning for a taste of that fierceness and passion. I shivered at the idea of a man having that level of fierceness and passion for me.
It was everything I’d convinced myself I’d had with Paul—only to find out just when I desperately needed it—poof—it had never been there. It had been an illusion.
And suddenly I craved the real thing. And the damn voice in my head was urging me on. Not helpful when I needed time to digest all this new information and think rationally. Or was this where risk takers simply leapt off the safe and sure path into the void of possibilities?
“Enough.” Shoot. Did I say that out loud? I’d been trying to get my brain to stop whispering at me. “Enough…information for now, thank you, Gray. I thought maybe you’d like to walk through the house and I could tell you what I’m thinking for the remodel.”
“Absolutely.” He snapped his computer closed, slid it in his bag, and stood.
I pried my gaze from watching his every move and stood, bending over to put Sully down, since he was wiggling to get free. “Are you okay with dogs?”
“Sure.” He turned and looked like he braced his feet, ready for some hundred-pound lab to pounce.
Sully trotted over, his body visibly quivering in excitement, but sat at Gray’s feet on his best behavior, waiting for some sign it was okay to show his undying love. Which usually included lashes with his tongue, excited barks, or if he really, really liked someone, an accidental tinkle. I hoped he didn’t do that.
“He’s wearing a bowtie,” Gray said with a suspiciously emotionless face.
“We’re visiting his friends later, so he likes to dress up for it.” The patients we visited at the rehab facility thought he was adorable when he dressed up. Mostly the kids. Since Sully was willing and it helped make them smile, we had a whole wardrobe for him.
“Friends? Little bit of laser tag or out for ice cream?” Gray shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned.
“How did you know?” I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes at Gray, which made him do a double-take. Hey, he was the one giving me attitude. And maybe I was overly protective of my dog.
Sully and I had dealt with this attitude before. People who saw me carrying Sully around in my purse and assumed I was a Paris Hilton wannabe. Whatever. Sully and I knew what we did was important no matter how many times people rolled their eyes at us.
“Have we met before? I feel like we have…” Gray’s gaze had changed and he was all of a sudden looking at me more closely. From my hair, over my face, a quick once-over down my body to my shoes and back up.
“No, I don’t think so. You’re not ringing any bells.” Huge lie. There were bells and whistles going off. I felt sure under the right condition fireworks would be involved also.
Then his eyes jerked back down to my shoes. “Yes we have. I recognize those shoes. The flats.”
“My flats? Oh, that was you?” I notched up my chin and crossed my arms over my chest, quickly employing the offense-is-the-best-defense tactic. “The guy who manhandled a perfectly innocent woman in a public place?”
Sully picked up on my tension and he took a step toward Gray with a warning growl.
Gray’s eyes jerked down to the dog, dismissed it, and refocused on me. Later, when he was revisiting what went wrong, which I was almost sure he would, I felt sure he’d zero in on the moment he dismissed the ten-pound dog in a bowtie.
Because all it took was one more scowl in my direction and Sully had a mouthful of impressively pressed Chino pants caught between his little sharp teeth.
“What the hell, lady?” He looked down at Sully and laughed. He laughed. “Poor guy is as dangerous as a gnat.”
“Sully, release.”
Sully released and plopped his butt back down in front of Gray and went right back to staring at him like he was a rock star. Or a bone. Or a rock star with a bone.
“Fine. So maybe it was me in the bar. I wasn’t the one who spiked your drink.”
“It’s all just a big coincidence, isn’t it? Meeting at Big Eddie’s, the spiked beer, and now this appointment?” His face turned suspicious (yes, still gorgeous) and one eyebrow cocked way up. “Did you set up this appointment just to meet me?”
“Oh my gosh, you caught me. You’re on to me. That’s exactly what I did.” You bet I rolled my eyes. “I went out and found the most rundown, in-need-of-a-renovation house, and dropped a couple hundred thousand dollars just so I could meet the famous Gray Thorne. Or should I say infamous. That sounds totally sane, doesn’t it, Fifty?” Oh, yeah. I went there.
His gaze narrowed on me in a what-did-you-just-call-me way.
“Oh, please. Like I have Viagra lying around.” I began opening kitchen cabinets to prove the obvious. I was a smart-ass Vanna White, only with cabinets. Until I opened the medicine cabinet.
Guess what was front and center on the bottom shelf. Uh huh. A bottle of Viagra.
“You were saying?” Guess who still looked disgustingly gorgeous with an I-told-you-so-expression on his face?
“Oh my. That must be my grandma’s.”
His eyebrow arched in disbelief. “Your grandmother’s Viagra? Sure it is. Or, a Viagra in a beer is your signature pick-up maneuver.”
The sudden shimmer of lights in my peripheral vision warned me I was about to be body-slammed by a migraine. Stress brought them on. Or a changing barometric pressure. And sometimes they seemed to hit just because. I had two options. Option one: Cut the meeting with Gray short, so I could take my medicine, curl up in a dark room, and hope I caught it in time. Option two: Throw up on Gray’s shoes.
Some choices in life were easy.
“Gray, I appreciate you coming by. I’ve got a few more remodeling companies on my list to call.” I ushered him to the foyer, and swung the front door open wide, and pushed a frowning Gray out onto my front porch. I squinted my eyes, trying to keep out as much light as possible. “Thank you.”
If his face was anything to go by, I’d pissed Gray Thorne off. Again. Probably not a good plan now that I’d decided I did want to kiss him. Especially because I already knew…I wanted more than just one kiss from Gray Thorne.