Page 26 of Rocky Mountain Desire
Matt took his time putting the final shelf into place. He’d been gone from his chores for a lot longer than anyone expected, and he still wasn’t completely sure why.
It was weird, eavesdropping as the two of them talked about nothing in particular. Guilt hit over what he was doing, hiding out in the back room as the guy he’d intended to muck with sat out front sharing a meal with Hope.
“Want to know my surprise?” Clay teased.
“All depends. Does it require me to do anything other than relax?”
“Definitely not. That’s the good bit—you know those shelves you ordered from Home Hardware?”
Matt grinned and glanced over the assembled units, the old wooden ones lined up at the back door ready to be hauled away.
Hope answered hesitantly. “Yeah…?”
“I’ve come to put them up for you.”
“Oh, really?”
Perfect timing. Hope was launching into her protests when Matt stepped into the room and their line of vision. “All done.”
Clay’s jaw swung open. He glanced quickly between Matt and Hope. “What are you doing here?”
“Matt set up my shelves.” Her cheeks were flushed.
“What the hell he do that for? You ask him to?”
“He’s…” she swallowed hard, “…my Secret Santa.”
“But that’s not possible. I signed up. My name was on the list.”
Hope muttered. “Mine wasn’t supposed to be.”
Clay frowned. “What?”
Matt hid his smirk, the total confusion on Clay’s face worth the effort it had taken to sneak away from his tasks for a couple hours.
Hope looked him over, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. Maybe he hadn’t hidden anything as well as he thought.
She rose to her feet. “Guys, I have no idea what’s going on. I didn’t put my name on any list. I don’t know why you’re both here, but I don’t have time for…whatever this is. Thank you for lunch, Clay. And thank you for putting up my shelves, Matt. But if you don’t mind, I need to get back to work. I need the two of you to stop acting like children and let me get on with what I decide I want. This is my life, not yours. Butt out.”
She glared at them in turn, almost daring them to respond. Matt wasn’t stupid. He’d seen that expression on his mama and Jaxi before. It was the “pissed-off female, don’t mess with me” look. The one the men in the family ignored at their own peril.
“Matt, the supplies your mom wanted are ready to go.”
With perfect timing the front doorbell rang, and Hope turned her back on them both, heading to the front with a surprisingly cheerful call for her customer.
Matt’s guilt dimmed as he caught the way Clay stared at Hope as she walked away. “Eyes off her ass. She’s not a piece of meat for you to try on for size.”
Clay swung back slowly to face him. “Coleman, you and I are going to have troubles if you don’t get the hell out of her life.”
“That’s not your decision.” Ultimatums didn’t sit well with him. Matt might not know exactly what to make of this weird thing going on between him and Hope, but being pushed made him want to push back. “As she pointed out, Hope is a grown woman. It’s not up to you who she’s friends with.”
Clay stepped in close, glancing toward the front of the store to be sure they weren’t overheard. “It’ll be up to me when she and I start hitting the sheets. Because I don’t let my women fuck around with other guys.”
Instant pain crippled Matt’s intended response. He held his fists at his sides, containing the rage that wanted to explode out and take Clay to the floor in a scrambling heap of violence.
He shuffled off numbly to grab his tools from the back. By the time he came out, Clay was already gone, saving him from having to figure out what to do to the guy.
At the front counter, Hope didn’t smile much as she rang in his mom’s purchases. She wasn’t rude, but what she gave him sure wasn’t the same smart-assed take-charge attitude he’d come to expect. More as if she was resigned and upset, and her wretchedness broke through his protective wall, the one that snapped up involuntarily every time he was reminded about Helen.
