When she’d first walked in, she’d fought frustration that he’d been working without her direction. Not that she minded that he was working harder or longer than her, but it was the lack of having control. She supposed it was a harmless enough first step, though she wondered if the fact that Gage was easy on the eyes made it easier to excuse him. She would enjoy spending the day with this man, especially if he was the only one coming. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if Mr. Konewko never showed up.
“I wasn’t sure where to start.” Gage motioned the expanse of the store. “There’s a lot to do. Since we’ll be replacing the whole floor, which do you think is more efficient? Keeping everything on the racks and shelves and moving them from one side to the other as we work, or packing it all up? That seems like a lot of time to spend packing and then unpacking it all in the end.”
Knowing the limited square-footage in the stock room, Brynn wasn’t quite sure what to do either. “We can’t exactly leave the clothes exposed to the dust. Once we start pulling up carpet, it’s going to get super dirty.”
“Good point.” Gage shook, indicating that the thought hadn’t occurred to him. He must have been so used to construction that the dirt and dust didn’t even register anymore.
“Have you seen the back rooms?” She tried to size up the number of boxes and the amount of space they’d need for things like clothing and sleeping bags at least.
“Yeah, there’s no way all of this will fit back there.”
Brynn wasn’t sure why she hadn’t processed these details before. She had decided to close the store during the reconstruction even though Nora seemed to think they could stay open and put up plastic tarps and Excuse Our Dust signs, but in a space this small, it didn’t make much sense. Beyond that, Brynn hadn’t exactly figured out the logistics of the remodel.
“How about we fold the clothing into plastic bins and take everything we can into the back—emptying shelves and racks as we go,” Brynn suggested. “We’ll just pack it in as tightly as we can.”
“And the bigger stuff like kayaks and mountain bikes, we’ll have to work around, I guess, right?” Gage seemed to agree.
“Or throw them on top of everything else,” Brynn teased.
“That technique. Of course.” Gage twisted his kissable lips to one side, making him all that much more adorable.
“I don’t see any other way.” She walked toward the closest plastic bin, dragged it to a nearby clothes rack, and began folding.
“I’m sure you’re right.” Gage followed and did the same, but from his first fold, Brynn could see it was going to cause more work getting the wrinkles out in the long run.
Wanting to work with him and not wanting to offend him, she tried to ignore it—she was just being picky. “I’m surprised Mr. Konewko didn’t leave minute instructions on every little detail. Surely the man has strong opinions of exactly how this renovation should go.” Brynn didn’t hide the touch of bitterness in her words.
Gage looked up, his eyebrows raised. “What makes you say that?”
“Oh, come on. He hired you, right? So you’ve had some interaction with him. You have to admit he’s a control freak.” Like she wasn’t. “He’s always telling me exactly how he wants things done, as if I have no say at all.”
She continued folding, trying to calm herself so she wouldn’t say anything else that might get back to Mr. Konewko. She’d probably already blown it, so she worked hard to keep her frustration with him in check.
Gage’s laugh sounded forced, but his words were kind. “I guess you could say that about him.”
He gave up folding clothes, instead started stacking nearby small camping equipment into a cardboard box. Brynn relaxed a little. She’d be fine with doing all the folding.
“To be fair, I don’t think he means to be controlling,” Gage said, “but I guess I can see what you mean.” He lifted a stack of heavy cast-iron griddles that thudded thunderously when he placed them in the box. “I’m sure he’ll see that you have great ideas and back off. He’s really not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Brynn forced herself to keep her voice light. “You should read the emails he’s sent so far. He hasn’t even made the time to meet me yet, and instead goes gallivanting around the country, all the while ordering me around as if I were his employee rather than his partner. He’s condescending and arrogant.” So much for controlling her frustration now. If Gage wanted to, he could make things quite uncomfortable for her in the future.
Gage ran a hand over his hair and then across the back of his neck. “Wow. Why don’t you tell me exactly what you think?”
A knot of guilt settled into her stomach. She knew she’d pushed too far, and this guy was probably a friend of Mr. Konewko’s. “I’m sorry.” She hoped she hadn’t offended Gage. “Please excuse my venting. I probably just misunderstood him. I’m sure as we work together, I’ll find he’s not that bad.” The emphasis on the word showed she wasn’t quite buying it.
After filling the box, Gage closed it by folding the flaps together, and then placed an empty box on top to begin the process over. “Give him a shot. You might even find that you like him. The two of you seem to have a lot in common.”
“Like …?” It was hard to concede she had anything in common with Mr. Konewko right now, but it would be a great topic of conversation for the time being. Besides, if Gage could help smooth out the rough edges between the partners, it wouldn’t hurt.
“Obviously, the store.” Gage gathered a few more products, packing them into various boxes. She appreciated that he was trying to keep things organized. “You both want it to succeed. The mere fact that you’ve both decided to make this your career. And then there’s what you like to do in your off time—you both love the great outdoors …”
As he allowed his voice to trail off, Brynn figured he was having difficulty coming up with more ways the partners were similar. When she looked up to see if he was going to continue, she found him staring at her. He flushed and turned back to his task.
“I think you’ll like him if you give him the chance,” he finished.
As if he was trying to set her up on a blind date. Why couldn’t it be that Gage was interested in her? She wanted to trust him.
“Just because we’re in the same business and both like the outdoors,” Brynn said as sincerely as she could, “doesn’t mean we’ll get along.” She snapped the lid on the now-full plastic bin. “But if you say he’s okay, I’ll try.” She struggled to keep her hurt pride in check. She couldn’t help but add a caveat. “If he quits being so bossy,” she muttered, not wanting Gage to overhear.
Brynn desperately needed a change in subject. Lifting her full bin, she turned her best flirty smile Gage’s direction. “Ready for the storage room?”
After he settled a few more flashlights into the last of the open crevices, his box was full. When both boxes were full and the tops secure, he lifted them together and stood with a look of expectation. “Ready.” He waited for her to lead the way to the storeroom.
Chapter 10
From his first encounter with Brynn, Gage had been impressed with everything about her. He’d pored over every online picture he could find and had known she was pretty, but she was easily more beautiful in person—even when she was dressed in grubby clothes with her long, auburn hair pulled into a ponytail, ready to work. She was graceful and thin, strong and confident. Someone he could hang out with in a less-professional situation—like fishing, hiking, going to the gym.
But it was more than her looks that impressed him. He admired her work ethic—showing up early, working as hard as he did, making decisions easily and logically. He hadn’t given the woman on the other end of the emails enough credit.
From that first conversation, he knew she didn’t realize that he was the Mr. Konewko she disparaged so easily and so thoroughly. It hadn’t occurred to him before they met, but of course she wouldn’t know he went by his middle name. It wasn’t like he was hiding his identity from her—he s
igned only what he had to with his legal name, Joseph Gage Konewko III, but on most of the papers, he either omitted the Gage part for brevity’s sake, or used only initials where permissible, as he did with his business emails. The entire name was too much work.
Once he realized the misunderstanding, he’d been about to set the record straight, trying to figure out how to reintroduce himself, when her feelings about Mr. Konewko came out. He couldn’t exactly interrupt her then. It would only embarrass her once she’d started, so he’d allowed her to assume he was the hired hand. Which was good and bad. It made for a nice day, but now, he was in the uncomfortable position of somehow letting her know exactly who he was.
This was all Keenan’s fault. At practically the last minute, Keenan let Gage know he and Avery had to finish a job in Corpus Christi, which meant Gage had to cover. That required an unexpected all-day drive back from the expo. The morning after his late night dawned way too early—a malfunction of his fisherman’s early-morning internal clock. If he hadn’t been so stinking tired, he wouldn’t have allowed things with Brynn to go so awry. He’d pay for it eventually.
Instead of setting things straight, like an idiot, Gage had allowed the misconception to continue as the two of them worked in tandem. Because Nora had slacked off in ordering replacement stock over the summer, it took far less time to empty the room of the portable products than Gage had expected. The hardest part was scrounging up enough boxes and bins to temporarily store everything, but a couple of visits to nearby boutiques replenished their supply.
“Hi, Brynn!” The jewelry boutique owner next door seemed genuinely happy to see her when the two of them walked into her shop. With the familiar greeting, Gage had to wonder if the two were old friends, though the proprietor had to be fifteen years older than Brynn. Brynn introduced Hope to Gage, and after a quick conversation and a hug between the women, both he and Brynn were laden with boxes.
Back at their shop, they filled the boxes quickly and set out for more. A similar reaction and conversation at the next shop caused Gage to wonder. “Do you know everyone on this street?” Gage asked in front of the shopkeeper. This time it was a guy named Bill who managed the old-fashioned general store. Gage was becoming more impressed with Brynn than ever. It wasn’t often that he felt out of his element, but he was feeling like a third wheel everywhere they went.
“Not really.” Brynn’s neck started to flush, the heat rushing toward her cheeks like a cartoon thermometer.
“She’s an amazing neighbor,” Bill said. “I think she’s met everyone on the street personally. Great at marketing, too. You should see her website.”
“Oh, I have.” Gage allowed his appreciation of the site to show in his voice. Brynn turned a quizzical look on him. Since she didn’t know who he was, she was likely surprised that he would have run across the website on his own. Gage wished he could assert himself as her partner and introduce himself properly to Bill, but the threat of alienating her in front of a stranger didn’t seem worth the anticipated fallout.
When every inch of Owen’s storage room was packed, Gage and Brynn moved the remainder of the stock to the other side of the wide storeroom and covered it with tarps. Hands on hips, she stood satisfied as they surveyed their progress.
“What would you say to lunch before we tackle the messy part?” he asked, leaning against the register counter. Although he was exhausted already, he tried to cover it up since Brynn seemed just as energetic as she’d been at seven that morning.
“That sounds great, but I don’t want to interrupt our momentum. What do you say we order a pizza and keep going?”
They settled on a restaurant and toppings, and he called it in while she went to the back to pull a couple of cold water bottles from the fridge.
“What were you banging on when I got here?” Brynn asked as she handed him a bottle.
He twisted the lid and took a long, quenching drink. “I’d pulled up a corner of the carpet, but it’s glued down, so parts of it were sticking to the concrete.”
“So you used a hammer and crowbar?” Brynn pulled her eyebrows together as if trying to figure him out.
Without thinking, he reached out to smooth the crease in her forehead. It wasn’t until his fingertip hovered over the crease that he wondered at the advisability of flirting with the business partner who thought of him as competition. And a jerk. Except she didn’t know who he really was. He also noticed that she didn’t back up or look like she would object. Things were getting complicated. “You know, you really shouldn’t frown at me. It can’t be good for you.”
Brynn laughed lightly, like the sound of a bubbling brook, and caught his hand, her touch warm and soft. Her eyebrows relaxed as she smiled at him; then she dropped his hand all too quickly. “I was just wondering what kind of handyman Mr. Konewko hired if you’re trying to remove old carpet with those kinds of tools.” Busted, he thought as she kept talking. “Ever hear of a scraper? Long handle like a broom but with a big blade? Makes it so much easier?”
This was why he’d been all too willing to allow Keenan and Avery to take over the demolition. Gage had known he’d be useless at this. He’d never so much as lifted a hammer before today. Now a small part of him wished he didn’t detest handyman tasks so much.
Brynn was observant to catch that he didn’t know the correct tools for the job, but luckily for him, she was trusting enough to let it go. Interesting.
“Right. Yeah, I know. I just didn’t have one with me.” Hopefully, Keenan had already thought to bring one, since he was currently driving across Texas somewhere. Gage should probably shoot off a quick text. Keenan would have easier access to a home improvement store on the drive than when he got out to this dinky town. “Maybe we should concentrate on removing what carpet we can easily and worry about the stubborn pieces later. There are big sections already coming off on its own.” As he pointed to the creases where it had bunched up under the years of foot traffic, he noticed the pizza delivery guy. “But first, pizza.”
Brynn boosted herself onto the counter, her feet dangling like a kid on a swing. She patted the counter next to her, indicating to Gage that he ought to place the box there. He did so and then hopped up to sit on other side of the box.
“Are you from around here, Brynn?” Gage already knew a few things about her—this was one of them—but he couldn’t exactly admit to that if he was the handyman who’d just shown up for a job.
Even when she answered with much of the background Gage already knew, he gleaned a lot from their interaction. For one thing, Brynn was an excellent conversationalist. Fortunately, she allowed him to redirect the question or simply change the subject whenever she asked something that might get him into trouble with her later when she found out he was the Mr. Konewko she despised already. Also, she had a wide range of interests. If they had that conversation again about what the two business partners might have in common, that list had grown over the few minutes’ break they shared.
“Ready to go again?” Brynn jumped off the counter and threw her napkin and empty water bottle into the large trash can Gage had dragged over for the small scraps of carpet he’d been able to liberate that morning.
“Ready.” He had a feeling he just might be following her lead more often than not, but for some reason, Gage wasn’t sure that would be such a bad thing. He handed her a clean dust mask, and the two of them got to work, cutting the carpet and tugging on sections until it loosened. By the time they finished pulling up what they could, they were exhausted. They’d worked well past dinner—more than twelve hours working together. Gage’s lungs strained from hard work and contaminated air. Both were coated with fragments of dried carpet glue, carpet fibers, and decades of dirt. Gage felt beyond disgusting and could think of little else than wanting a shower.
Brynn was locking the outside door behind them before Gage deemed it safe to rip off his mask. “Oh.” He breathed out and then inhaled deeply. “It feels so good to be able to breathe without risk of inhaling car
cinogenic toxins.”
Brynn laughed, but then started coughing on cue. “Don’t blame me if you end up with lung cancer. I’m sure there was some kind of indemnification Mr. Konewko made you sign before you started.” Through her teasing, she couldn’t keep a straight face; the corners of her mouth held tight to keep her laugh at a minimum.
“I don’t know about that.” Gage shook his head, feigning seriousness. “This is the definition of something covered by workers’ comp.” He strained to think of something that would almost sound plausible. “Some clause about death by dirt.”
Brynn nodded her head slowly as if considering. “Be that the case, workers’ comp means you couldn’t sue me.”
“Dang.” She had him. He smiled.
Wow, even covered in filth, she looked gorgeous. Behind her, the evening stars sparkled like tiny crystals tucked into her ponytail. To keep from staring, Gage looked around, seeing only his old pickup. “Did you walk here?”
“Yeah, I’m super close.” She pointed to the distant lights in the area behind the now-silent storefronts.
“Then you won’t mind if I take you home.” His eyes had searched hers out again. He was hooked.
She shifted from one foot to the other. “You don’t need to take me home.”
Oh, yes, he did. If his mother ever learned that he let a young woman walk home alone—through dark parking lots behind stores, no less—she would give him the biggest lecture he’d received. Ever. He’d been brought up better than that. Besides, he thought it was a pretty smart move on his part, a smooth way to spend a few more minutes alone with her and find out where she lived.
Tomorrow, things would be different. Tomorrow, he would be joined by Keenan and Avery. Keenan and Avery, who wouldn’t know that Brynn hated Mr. Konewko’s guts but seemed to like Gage okay. He had to make the most of things tonight.
Oy, he’d dug himself a hole.
“We’re both exhausted; you don’t want to walk. Please. Allow me to take you home so I can rest easy.”
Kayaks and Kisses: A Romance Renovation Novel (Vintage Romance) Page 8
