Page 76 of So Not My Thing
I saluted him. Cool. Casual. I could totally do this.
“So you’ll come around more? I want you to love this place. I want you to help me make it a place that becomes an organic part of the Bywater DNA.”
He was appealing to my strongest instincts. What choice did I have? “Of course,” I said. “Can’t have a carpetbagger ruining things.” I threw an empty creamer pod at him to let him know I was kidding.
“Carpetbagger? Seven generations of Crowe ancestors just rolled over in their Louis Cemetery graves.”
“Nah,” I retorted. “That was them doing a happy dance that I won’t let you screw this up.”
“And I’m glad to have my friend back.” He smiled at me over his coffee.
Right. Friend. As long as I stayed inside that boundary, I wouldn’t screw this up either.
Chapter Twenty
The next few weeksfell into a predictable pattern. Miles had extracted a promise from me that I’d come in through the kitchen door in the future, so a few times a week, I’d pop down after work when he wanted to ask my opinion or to show me some renovation progress.
The first time, he’d tried to turn it into dinner afterward, but I’d put him off by saying I had more work to do.
The next time, I’d straight up lied and told him I had a date to get ready for. I wasn’t proud of the fact that it was a test to see how he reacted. All he’d done was give me an easy smile and tell me to have a good time.
Which sucked.
But it was exactly how I needed him to react to keep my boundary lines bright and shiny.
The next day, Miles ran up and knocked on my door when I got home.
“How was the date?” he asked when I answered. Hope thrummed in my chest. Hedidcare.
“Fine,” I answered.
“Good,” he said, and the hope died. “Want to come see the paint?”
After that, he didn’t ask if I wanted to do anything after coming down to the club. He’d show me whatever had been done that day, we’d chat, and I’d head upstairs.
There were things I liked about this. I loved seeing the progress every day. It hurt less to watch the old traces of Miss Mary’s place disappear when I felt like I’d had a hand in the changes. The walls became a shade of umber, warm and dark. The redone floors shone with a deep walnut stain, all the character still there but more elegant. And yet, the space was retaining a comfortable feel, the kind of place people could come and relax while they listened to live music. Booths with leather bench seats went in against the walls. Soon the tables and chairs would arrive to fill in the floor space.
