Page 291 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11
I grabbed the key from under the mat and unlocked the door.
All the lights were on in the entranceway. I cringed. Sophie and I had left in such a hurry the other day. We’d probably left them on.
I pulled off Jacob’s jacket as I made my way into the Russian woman’s bedroom. I started humming as I walked into her closet.
It took a while, but I finally found a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. This chick had so many bikinis. Whenever she was in New York, she must have only ever attended pool parties.
I tucked my wet clothes under my arm and smiled to myself. Now that I was dry and almost home an eerie sense of calmness washed over me.
Had tonight gone perfectly?
No, not even close.
But Jacob had given me his varsity jacket. And asked me to homecoming. And told Noah off when he’d kissed me. And said that the kissing booth had made him jealous. I squealed. It was a great night. A really freaking great night.
No, Jacob hadn’t asked me to be his girlfriend. But maybe he would on Monday night when I went over to his house for dinner. For just a few minutes, I wanted to forget about everything else. I’d been waiting my whole life for a night like this. And I just wanted to focus on the good things.
I started humming again as I walked out of the closet. But my feet froze when I heard the sound of a power drill.
What the...I tiptoed down the hallway. And then I could hear the sound of humming that wasn’t mine.Crap.Was the Russian woman home? I should have gone out the front door, but I was too curious. I kept tiptoeing.
The door to the room with the hole in the ceiling was closed. But the humming was definitely coming from in there. I opened up the door.
Uncle Rob was holding a power drill in his hand beneath the ladder. He hummed to himself and twirled around in a circle before grabbing a screw.
“Uncle Rob?”
He didn’t hear me as he shimmied his shoulders and stepped up onto the ladder.
What the hell was he doing here?
“He has earbuds in,” someone said.
I jumped. Someone was sitting on the couch, his face hidden behind a magazine.
I screamed.
And then Uncle Rob screamed and dropped the drill. He cursed as he pulled his earbuds out of his ears. “Shit, Scarlett. You scared me.” He laughed and picked up the power drill and screw. And then he proceeded to climb up the ladder and start drilling again.
Mr. Tanner lowered the magazine he’d been paging through. He looked at the wet clothes tucked under my arm. “Rough night?” he asked.
I stared at my parents’ friend in horror. Wait, my parents! I looked around, waiting for my parents to pop out of nowhere and yell at me. But unless they were hiding behind that couch...Wait.This room had been empty. Where had that couch come from?
“There,” Uncle Rob said and blew on the end of the power drill. He hopped off the ladder. “We still need a few more items. And maybe a fresh coat of paint. But it’s a work in progress. Why is your hair all wet?”
I opened my mouth and closed it again. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
Mr. Tanner started whistling and looking through his magazine again.
“I asked Tanner for help,” Uncle Rob said. “He’s not very handy though.”
“I’m handy when no one is looking,” Mr. Tanner said as he kept flipping through the magazine.
What the heck did that mean?
“I know your Uncle Matt knows how to do all this stuff,” Uncle Rob said. “But I thought he might freak out about this. Since he has a son your age and all that.”
“Speaking of which,” said Mr. Tanner. “Is that Jacob’s jacket? Are the two of you dating?”
