Page 11 of Heating Up (Nugget)
Sloane fixed him with a WTF look. He shook his head as if to saynot now.
“When’s your stuff coming?” Brady asked. He clearly could take a hint better than Aidan’s brainless sister.
“My moving truck, tomorrow. The washer and dryer came about two hours ago.” Before Sue had called him back.
“What do you plan to do with the garage?” Brady asked.
It had been Tawny’s studio and a makeshift shop, where she sold her sample boots and seconds. It had heat, drywall, and tons of shelving.
“Park my truck in it.”
“All done.” Dana came out of the bedroom and shoved the tape measure in her purse. “And again, thanks for the gift certificate. You really didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s not much,” Brady said. “If there is anything we can do, you let us know. You got a tough break there, Dana.”
She nodded, and Aidan got the sense she was a little choked up.
“You have a key, or should I make you a copy?” he asked her.
“We keep a spare for all the rental properties in the office. I’ll make a copy of that one.” She headed to the door, cleared her throat like she wanted to say something but instead shyly slinked out.
As soon as they heard her car pull away, Sloane said, “She’s living here . . . with you?”
“It’s a long story.” Aidan waved his sister off, not wanting to get into what a pushover he was.
“We’ve got nothing but time.” To prove her point, she sat on the floor in the middle of the living room.
Aidan turned to Brady for support, but his soon-to-be brother-in-law motioned for him to fill them in. “She didn’t know Tawny had shown it to me and had planned to rent it while her place is being rebuilt,” Aidan said. “But I’d already signed the lease. Then I got to feeling guilty about it, so I offered to share. I didn’t think she’d actually take me up on it.”
Sloane smirked. “You two are a little old for doing the roommate thing. Seriously, Aidan, why do you always have to be so nice?”
“It seemed unfair for me to take the only decent rental in Nugget just so I could plant my ass here a few days a week.”
“It was the right thing to do, bro.” Brady backed him up. “And I think Dana is trying to impress you with them tight jeans.”
They weren’t any tighter than Sloane’s; they just looked a hell of a lot better on Dana. “That’s the way they wear ’em these days, Grandpa. If you don’t believe me, ask your fiancée.”
“Not Dana. Every time I’ve ever seen her, she’s been in one of those dress-for-success suits with the little scarf deal tied around her neck.”
Sloane glared at Brady. “I didn’t realize you were paying so much attention to Dana Calloway.”
He pulled her up from the floor and kissed her. “Nah, only you, sweetness.”
“Maybe you two ought to get a room,” Aidan said and rolled his eyes.
Sloane ignored him. “You think it’ll be weird? You don’t even know her.”
“It’s just temporary until she gets her place back.” Or until one of them found a new living situation. “Why, is there something you’re not telling me about her?”
“I don’t know anything about Dana other than that she and Carol are the go-to real estate people around here. She doesn’t seem to get involved with town stuff . . . keeps to herself, mostly.”
“Griffin used to date her,” Brady said. “I could ask him if you want.”
Before coming to Nugget, Brady had had a brush with a stalker. Aidan knew that made him hypercareful.
“Nah, she seems fine to me.” So she’d dated Griffin, Nugget’s resident billionaire. Aidan found that interesting. “And like I said, I’ll mostly be living at the firehouse. We’ll rarely see each other.”
“And when you need alone time, you can always come to us,” Sloane said. “Oh, and by the way, Sue left a message for you. Something about how you guys keep missing each other and she thought she’d have better luck finding you at our house.” She lifted her brows in question. The silent message:What’s so important?
