Page 22 of Tinsel & Tools
Behind the wall, the wire’s insulation was baked and the copper showed in spots. “See the scorch? We might be looking at a full rewire; I’ll know after I map the circuits.”
He nodded slowly. “I trust you.”
Allie slipped in behind us, snapping a picture of the mess. “Before and after,” she said lightly.
By four o’clock, the dumpster was full and we called it for the day.
Out front, Ryan dropped onto the tailgate of his truck and twisted the cap off his thermos. “Karaoke night at The Tap. You guys in?”
Pete peeled off his gloves and tossed them into my truck bed. “Can’t. My wife will kill me if I don’t spend some time with her and the kids before I go back on shift.”
Ryan clapped me on the shoulder. “No excuse for you since you live alone.”
I glanced toward Gavin. He was watching me again until our eyes met, then he looked away quickly.
“Yeah. I could use a beer.”
10
Gavin
Ryan turned to Allie with a flirty grin. “You two want to join us?”
She flicked her gaze to me, silently asking what I thought. I lifted a shoulder. “I’ll go, but I’m not singing.”
Her eyes sparkled. “We’ll see about that. I’m sure after some drinks, I can convince you.”
“Doubtful,” I muttered.
Cole smirked, and damn if that didn’t cause my face to heat. He was too good-looking to grin like that and not expect a reaction. “You don’t have to sing,” he said reassuringly. “Just hang out and have a drink.”
“I can do that,” I replied. “But if anyone tries to hand me a microphone, I’m outta there.”
Allie ignored me, already looking back at Ryan. “I’ll need some time to get ready, but we can meet you there.”
“Great. I need a shower anyway. Does seven work?” he asked.
“Yep.” She nodded. “See you then.”
Cole and Ryan headed to their trucks while Allie and I made our way back inside. I took a minute to look around. We would need to move a lot of stuff out. Allie thought it would be better to get all new furniture, and while I agreed things needed to be updated, all I saw were the dollar signs adding up.
“C’mon, we’ve got to get ready. We don’t want to keep those two sexy men waiting.” Allie shoved me lightly toward the stairs.
“You sure you want to go out? We’ve got a long drive tomorrow to get you home.”
“It’ll only take four hours, and don’t even act like you don’t want to see more of Cole.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, really.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve been sneaking glances at him all day.”
“I wasn’t?—”
“Please.” She sighed. “You were practically drooling when he used his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face.”
“I didn’t drool.”
“I said practically.” She grinned. “The point is, you weren’t exactly subtle, Gav. I saw you checking him out more than once.”
