by Sara Whitney
“That so?” he asked, curiosity creeping into his voice. “I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
“I had extreme bathroom envy, I tell ya.” She grinned triumphantly at Trip, who was listening to her end of the conversation with his mouth open. “Anyway, I don’t want to keep you on the phone any longer. I’m going to find out about the status of that door, and I’ll call you back as soon as I do, okay?”
She confirmed his phone number, and Gil McConnell hung up a much more cheerful man than he’d been three minutes earlier.
“What the hell did I just watch?” Trip was looking at her like she’d just poured gasoline on the countertop and set it on fire.
“Customer service, hello,” she said. “Now where do you guys keep your records? I’d like to call him back this afternoon.”
Trip pointed behind her, and she swiveled to find three identical black filing cabinets. “No. No way. You guys keep physical records?” She was already up and moving to the drawer marked M, and after rifling through the alphabetical-ish files, she produced a folder with Mr. McConnell’s name on it. “Okay, says here he finalized his product selection, but I don’t see any record that it was ordered. Would it be in here if it was?”
“Far as I know.” Trip peered over the counter at the papers in her hand and tapped his finger on the scrawled writing on the sheet. “That’s Dad’s handwriting. I’m guessing he forgot to tell Mom about it, and it fell through the cracks. Shit.”
Thea smoothed her hand down the paper in thought. “Okay, we can salvage this.” A memory from the home expo tickled her brain, and she swiveled back to the computer for a quick Google search that confirmed her recollection. “Do you trust me to try to make this work, or do you want to call him? Or wait for Aiden to get here and handle it?”
At his brother’s name, Trip’s face closed down entirely. “No. Just make the call.”
Yikes. So that weirdness was still going on apparently. She blew out a breath, cracked her neck, and punched in the grump’s number. As it rang, she told Trip, “You guys need a Bluetooth headset. This phone ties you down like an umbilical cor— Hi, Mr. McConnell! It’s Thea from Murdoch Construction.” She crossed her fingers for luck and held them up so Trip could see. “Okay, good news and bad news. The bad news is that we don’t have your door in just yet. But the good news is that there’s still time to change your order.”
“Why would I want to change it?” he asked suspiciously.
“Would you believe, it’s that silly home show again!” she chirped. “At the booth next to the magic shower, the Adriatic Window company had its new products on display, and I saw the cutest screen with a built-in doggy door that gives your pal the freedom to run in and out, and it’s tied to a chip in his collar to make sure he’s the only animal that can get through. Wouldn’t that be great as things start to warm up this year? Give your best bud backyard access without having to get up and down all the time to open the door? And the chip means no possums get into the house, only your dog.”
She held her breath and bared her teeth in a comically nervous smile as Trip looked on. She was gambling that she’d actually heard a dog in the background, that they lived in a house with a fenced-in backyard, and that the grump on the other end of the line loved that little beast enough to spring for a fancy door.
Thank God, he let out an interested exhale. “Computer-chip doggy screen door, you say?”
“Absolutely. Why don’t I shoot you an email with options and you can take a look to see if you might prefer that model? We’d be able to make that change for you, no problem. And I’ll also see if I can dig up a promotional video of that voice-control shower just for fun. Some things a man’s got to see for himself.”
Once he’d confirmed his email address, she made him promise to let them know right away which screen door he preferred. “And if you want to book us to install a shower you can control with a literal word, we’ll be here!”
She ended the call and sagged into the chair with an exhale. “And that’s how you do customer serv…” When she looked up, she discovered two pairs of hazel Murdoch eyes staring at her. Her pulse ratcheted up. “Um, hi puddin’. Been there long?”
“Long enough,” Aiden said.
Her shoulders tensed. He looked pissed. Well hell. She’d bulldozed her way into his business when she had no right to, and he was probably counting all the ways she’d crossed all kinds of lines in their “agreement,” whatever that meant anymore. She opened her mouth to apologize, but just then the phone rang. Horrific timing, that. She raised her brows at him in a question, and he gestured for her to go ahead with a sharp motion of his hand. After a quick exhale, she picked up the handset.
“Murdoch Construction, this is Thea. How can I help you?” She kept her eyes on her fake boyfriend’s unreadable face as she listened to the caller. “That’s a good question, ma’am. Will someone be here at seven a.m. on Thursday to accept delivery of a shipment from Calloway Granite Countertops?”
He nodded once, and she shot him a thumbs-up. “Absolutely. Please schedule delivery for that time, and I’ll be sure to add it to the work calendar. Thanks!”
When she hung up, she asked, “Have you guys ever considered upgrading to some kind of online project-management system for the company? No offense, but searching through Excel sheets and physical files for dates and phone numbers is a literal nightmare.”
Even though she’d just given them useful, actionable advice, Aiden continued to stare at her stone-faced. “We’re not making any changes until we know what’s happening in the long run.”
She laughed, shooting for breezy and landing on nervous as hell. “Gotcha. It’s not in the plan yet, so of course you’re not ready to jump. I was just thinking that the most efficient places I’ve worked all had some kind of synced, app-based program.” God, what was she doing? She and Aiden had spent an incredible weekend together and then he vanished, and here she was babbling about software.
Aiden turned to his brother. “Can I steal my girlfriend, or do you need her to keep doing your job for you?”
Her heart sank. His voice was as hard as the side of a mountain, and the brothers glared at one another until Trip pivoted to stomp around the counter.
“She’s a hell of a lot better at it than I am,” he grumbled. She moved to stand next to Aiden as Trip’s suspicious eyes landed on them. “I don’t buy it, by the way.”
She laughed nervously and snaked an arm around Aiden’s waist, shocked at the tension she felt in his back. “Don’t buy what?”
“Any of this.” He folded his arms over his chest, his jaw set. “For one thing, you’re way too nice to be with him.”
The urge to defend Aiden rose up hot and fast, even though he’d kind of been an asshole this week. “I’ll have you know your brother is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met.” She rested her hand on his chest and glanced up at Aiden to see his lips tighten, but she forged ahead anyway. “And I’m not nice. I’m bossy.”
Aiden finally stirred to life. “Aaaand that’s enough of that.”
He took her hand and started heading down the hall, but she dug in her heels long enough to ask Trip, “You’ll email Mr. McConnell? I left all the links up in the browser.”
His grunt sounded vaguely affirmative, so she let Aiden tow her behind him. Once they were alone in his office, he slammed the door shut and stared at her long enough that she squirmed under his gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she said at the same time that Aiden said, “I can’t believe he—”
They both laughed weakly, and he spoke first. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have asked you to cover the phones for him. He knows that’s his fucking job while Mom’s away.”
Wait, that’s why he was mad? She waved a hand from her head and down her body. “Hello. Bossy, party of one. I basically ordered him to hand the phone over. I couldn’t stand watching him butcher customer relations like that.” She nervously twined her fingers together, worried that she’d made th
e situation between the two of them even worse. “I tend to take over when I shouldn’t. I won’t do it again.”
“Are you kidding? You were great. If McConnell calls back to buy that shower, I’m giving you a finder’s fee.” He smiled at her for the first time since he’d entered the building, and everything inside her unclenched a little.
“Yes!” She gave a comical fist pump, then let her hand fall. “But why the hell would Trip say I’m too nice for you?”
“I wish I knew.” Aiden’s shoulders slumped as he jammed his hands in his pockets. “He’s been a dick for months now. Between him and Dad, it’s been…” His eyes fell on a framed photo on the wall, and Thea followed his gaze to see a photo of him, his brother, and his father posed in front of their trucks, each with a Murdoch license plate. “My mom’s big idea for company branding a few years ago. I swear it’s one of the last times I remember the three of us getting along.”
His jaw bunched, and he looked so sad that Thea’s heart squeezed. Last week at this time, she’d have rubbed his arm or maybe even pulled him into a hug, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react to that now. Thanks to the past weekend, they now shared an intimate language all their own, one made up of sighs and gasped breaths and one-word commands. How was she supposed to come back to touches-for-show and kisses-for-an-audience after that?
“I’m sorry.” She clasped her hands behind her back so she wouldn’t be tempted to reach for him. The warm, laughing guy who’d melted seamlessly into her friend group on Saturday was nowhere to be found in this office, and for an absurd moment, she battled back tears. She’d known there was a chance she was risking triggering his fuck-and-run impulse by sleeping with him, and now here they were. He could barely look at her. Even though she knew damn well they had an expiration date, this unexpected distance pained her.
“Thanks.” He sighed and dropped into one of the chairs in front of his desk. “My mom called on Monday. Asked if Trip and I could come this weekend for an update on Dad.” He dug his thumb into his forehead like he was looking for a pressure point to release all his tension. “So I guess I’m driving to Chicago with Trip.”
She cautiously took a seat next to him. “Sounds awkward.”
“You have no idea.” He finally looked at her. “It’s why I sent you Danny. I was planning to finish your kitchen this weekend, but since I won’t be able to, I thought you might appreciate having the damn thing done already.”
Ah. Well, that explained why she’d had a worker in her house all week. “Thanks.”
As gorgeous as the new cabinets were, she’d rather have lived with a torn-up kitchen for longer if it meant that she’d be able to hang around and hand Aiden tools when he finally had the time to do the work. But her own disappointment fled as stress brackets appeared around his mouth.
“I know we’re not actually a couple, but I’m here if you need me.” Then she quirked a brow to lighten the mood. “And furthermore, fuck Trip. You’re extremely nice.”
He snorted. “Okay, let’s not rehab my image too much. I like a little mystery.”
She laughed along with him, although her heart still hurt at his disappearance this week.
“So what brings you by the office?”
“Oh right.” She’d almost forgotten she actually did have a reason to be there. “Danny told me he’d leave a can of paint for me to do some touchups in the kitchen, so I was swinging by to grab it.”
He looked toward the door. “I can get it and bring it over. If not tonight, then—”
“Hey. Don’t worry about it,” she said firmly. No need to turn herself into one of his volunteer charity projects. “I’ll do it when I get a chance. I can paint.”
He leaned his elbow on the back of his chair and rested his head on his fist. “Did I miss your job as painter somewhere down the line?”
“Believe it or not, I touched up my share of exhibits at the zoo. All my skills come from somewhere, baby.”
He laughed and walked with her to the front desk, where sure enough, Danny had left a can of paint with her name taped to the top. Trip handed it over with a glare and nothing else, and Thea was glad to escape out the door with Aiden.
As he stood with her outside her car, he still didn’t touch her, which she couldn’t help but notice. In fact, he was radiating keep your distance in a way she wasn’t used to from him. Even when they’d been casual friends, he’d always been approachable, but this was a whole damn wall he’d put up. It made her check her instinct to offer to ride along with him to Chicago, just so he’d have somebody in his corner. If he wanted her along on this family trip, he would’ve asked. And he definitely hadn’t done that.
Their goodbyes were subdued, with Aiden barely brushing a kiss on her cheek before he headed back into his office. She drove home wondering if the problem was that he’d gotten her out of his system and was ready to move on to the next woman. It was inevitable; she just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. The thought hurt more than she’d expected, which was ridiculous. She’d always been the one to end things in the past; Aiden was just saving her the trouble.
So why did she have to blink away tears as she headed toward home?
Twenty
The hollow shell of Aiden Murdoch sat in his truck outside his brother’s house early on Saturday morning, waiting to get started on what was shaping up to be the worst day of the week. And that was saying something.
Everything had been off since he’d said goodbye to Thea on Sunday and returned home. What used to be his meticulously renovated haven now felt as inviting as a tomb; it simply didn’t glow with the warmth and energy of Thea’s princess house. Even in the middle of the chaos, with furniture and boxes stacked in whatever room wasn’t being sanded or painted or improved in some way, her Tudor house with the round-topped door was bright and vital and welcoming. Not returning to it this week had been almost physically painful.
But he’d forced himself to stay away for one simple reason: he liked it too much. Liked being in her bed. Liked being included in her circle of friends. Liked being the one she shared secret smiles with and draped her hot little body across when she was worn out at the end of the day. And he had no idea how to deal with any of that. He’d never been a boyfriend, had never felt that confusing mix of affection and lust and tenderness that Thea sparked in him.
Responsibility too. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against his seat. He wanted to make things better for her. He wanted to be the one making her smile. Instead, she’d been as nervous at his office on Thursday as she’d been when they started this whole thing. It made him feel like shit. He’d wanted to pull her down on his lap and kiss the strain off her face, but that instinct had no place in their relationship, such as it was. He was only good for one thing, and that wasn’t what Thea deserved. The whole damn town knew it. Hell, even his brother wasn’t afraid to say it to his face: Thea should be with someone who could give her more than one weekend of sex that had no promise for the future.
That’s why he’d thrown himself even more frantically into work this past week, combing through notes on their completed projects over the past six months and finding countless little tasks that his father had left unfinished. Small things that made the difference in a job done and a job well done. And his insistence that they go back and finish those stray jobs had led to blowup after blowup with his fucking brother, who argued that done was done.
“’Sup.”
Ah, there was his fucking brother now, slamming the passenger door of the truck and yanking his seat belt across his chest.
“Morning,” Aiden said. “I grabbed coffee.” He gestured to the two take-out cups in the well between the seats, and Trip grunted and grabbed one. Aiden put the truck in drive but didn’t pull away from the curb. “Ashley not coming?”
His brother’s frowning face frowned even harder. “Nope.”
“Okay then.” Aiden had always thought Ashley got along great with her in-laws, but maybe not. He turned up the
radio and pointed the truck north, bracing himself for an awkward drive with only the radio for company. They probably should’ve driven separately, but they’d reluctantly agreed on Friday that it didn’t make sense to have two vehicles headed to the same place. So here they were, sipping their coffee and listening to the Brick and pointedly not speaking.
As one mostly silent hour turned to two and edged into three, traffic started to pick up, and the pockets of businesses and office buildings flanking the interstate grew thicker. By the time Aiden had found his exit to the UChicago Medicine neighborhood where his mom had rented an apartment and was weaving through the city’s Saturday-morning traffic, looking for parking, his shoulders ached from tension. He should’ve asked Thea to come along. She’d have kept up a running conversation for the whole drive that had them all laughing.
“Looks like this is as close as we can get.” He’d finally found an open on-street spot, and he and Trip left the truck to walk the handful of blocks to his parents’ new building.
“God, that’s depressing.”
It was the first full sentence Trip had spoken in miles, and Aiden heard the sadness in his voice as they studied the tall, blocky building. So he made himself a little vulnerable too. “I’m dreading this. I don’t want to see how much worse Dad’s gotten.”
Trip’s eyes cut over to him, his broad face radiating nothing but apprehension. “Yeah. I fucking hate it.” Then he laughed once, a pale echo of the uproarious guffaws Aiden remembered from their childhood. “But we’d better get in there. I bet Mom’s pulling something out of the oven right now.”
The observation made Aiden laugh too. “How does she always do it?”
“Mom magic.”
