Page 9 of Kiss Me Now
Chapter Four
Brooke
The pounding on mydoor started at 8:30 AM. It was loud and insistent, even over the high whine of the floor sander the hardware store owner, Grace, had delivered to me at 7 AM before going in to open for business.
I slid my safety goggles up to rest on my head and headed for the door, wrinkling my nose behind the mask I’d worn to keep out all the sawdust. I had no doubt it was Ian the Idiot standing on the other side of the door, but I didn’t want his help. I’d send him back to Miss Lily so I could get back to sanding. And there was just So. Much. Sanding.
Ian’s eyebrows flew up when I pulled open the front door. I barely refrained from an eyeroll. Who had he expected to answer? The ghost of Great Uncle Fred?
“Hey,” I said without ceremony. I’d almost found my rhythm with the sander and I didn’t want to lose it.
“Good morning. Looks like you already got started. Are you renovating or doing mad science?” He pointed at the safety goggles.
Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “I’ve been at it for over an hour. Sanding, that is. I don’t start experiments until next week.”
He blinked at me and looked confused.
I pointed a thumb at myself. “Science teacher, remember?”
His expression cleared. “Biology, right? I thought experiments were more for chemistry.”
“Congratulations, you know your high school science. And I have good news for you: you’re off the hook. There’s only one sander, and I’ve got it down, so you can go hang out with Miss Lily, guilt-free.” I hadn’t enjoyed him at dinner the night before, the way he watched me so closely, like he was trying to figure out what made me tick. He’d tried to be so smooth in his questions, but I’d had too much experience with other smooth operators to find his interest flattering. It felt intrusive, and I had no interest in being under his magnifying glass again, like I was one of his suspects. I started to close the door, but he stuck his foot inside it.
I stared down at his sneaker then back at him and gave him the teacher stare I’d been practicing. I narrowed my eyes slightly in a way that I hoped demanded, “Just what do you think you’re doing?” but with no words.
He didn’t move the sneaker. “If you think she’s going to let me back in the house without putting in my work over here, you don’t know her. If you don’t let me in, I’m going to have to wander out of her view for a few hours, and you’re going to have to tell her you let me help you. So maybe just let me come in and do some sanding?”
I didn’t have time for this. I only had the sander for one day, and I didn’t want to waste any more time arguing with him about it. I turned away from him and left him to decide whether he wanted to follow or not. “Shut the door behind you,” I called over my shoulder, and I didn’t care if “behind” him was him coming or going. But the door clicked shut as I resettled my goggles, and the creak of his footsteps followed right behind.
“I’ve never been inside Fred’s house before.” He stood at the edge of the dining room where I’d decided to start. I planned to turn it into a library, and if I botched the floor horribly, it would be the perfect place to put a nice, thick rug so nobody ever knew.
“Like I said last night, it has good bones. I’m mostly in here doing cosmetic surgery, not orthopedic, thank goodness.” I flipped the switch on the sander but before I could begin the steady grind along the oak grain, Ian waved his arms to get my attention. “Is this charades?” I asked, cutting the motor.
“Just wondering where you’d like me to start,” he said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “There’s one sander. That’s what I’m trying to explain. I don’t have anything for you to do.”
“I could supervise.”
My eyes narrowed again until the corner of his lips twitched. It kind of sucked as a joke. “I guess you can sweep up the sawdust.” There.Slink home in defeat, buddy.
