Page 145 of Story of My Life
“I know how to unlock a door,” she grumbled a moment before the door swung open.
“Holy hell. Give a girl a heart attack, why don’t you?” Hazel said, slapping her free hand to her chest. She was holding the piano bench leg in the other.
“You need to get a security system and a better weapon.” I brushed past her into the construction zone that had once been her kitchen.
“What are you doing here? What happened to your early morning?”
The truth was I didn’t know what the hell I was doing here except that we’d had the best sex of my life and I’d left unsatisfied. My body was happy, but it was the other parts that seemed discontent.
“You got in my head with snacks,” I lied.
“You came to the right place. Follow me,” she said, gesturing with the wooden leg.
The kitchen had been stripped down to studs and subfloor. The plumbing and electrical were looking good. But that was one of the subtle stages of improvement that was harder to appreciate with an untrained eye.
“I know it doesn’t look like much right now, but it’ll be worth it,” I promised her.
“Yeah, listen. I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” She crossed her arms in the middle of the room.
Uh-oh. Nothing good ever followed that sentence after it came out of a woman’s mouth. I suddenly regretted showing up unannounced.
“Are we gonna need drinks for this?” I asked.
She grinned, shook her head. Her ponytail was lopsided, with long strands falling out. Sex hair.
“Blue,” she announced.
Blue the fuck what? Balls? Sadness? That cartoon dog that everyone seemed to love? “Care to elaborate?”
“I think I want blue cabinets. Navy. I know we already planned for the white,” she said quickly. “But really, it’s your fault. You’re the one who sent me the hardware options, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the brushed gold. Which would look amazing with blue. And I think the countertops and backsplash will still work.”
“Blue, huh?”
She bit her lip. “You think it’ll look stupid.”
“I know you do it for a living, but maybe you could stop putting words into my mouth,” I suggested.
“Sorry. Please tell me your honest opinion on navy-blue cabinets.”
“In here?”
“No. In the driveway. Yes, in here,” she said, exasperated.
I shrugged and scanned the room. “I think they’d work.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
I nodded. “More personality. Hide dirt better too. You could always do the island in white or a wood tone to offset it. Maybe a driftwood gray to pull out the veining in the quartz.” I could see it, and it would look…good.
“Is it a huge pain to change the paint color?” she asked.
“Cabinets are finished on-site. The crew just needs to bring the right color with them.”
Hazel danced on her toes. “Okay! Let’s do it. Oh my God. It’s going to be beautiful! I might actually have to learn to cook in here. Come on. You’ve earned that snack.”
“You can’t go barefoot in here, Trouble,” I said as she led the way into the hall.
“I wasn’t planning to go marching through an active construction zone to let my secret sex partner inside.”
