It was going to be a struggle for him, but he had a right to work too.
“How about you don’t start until after noon and be done by four?” she countered without looking at him.
“Lady, you’ve got a hell of a nerve. It’s obvious there’s a lot of work to be done on the house! I can’t be locked in to only four hours a day just to suit you! How many hours a day do you work?”
“Thanks to you? None!”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Austin walked over to the kitchen and forced himself to calm down.
“If this is your attitude, it’s no wonder Jake’s the one in charge of the family business,” she threw at him. And…yeah. That stung.
“You don’t know anything about it,” he said wearily, refusing to take the bait.
“I know I can call Jake and ask him what is reasonable for how loud a renovation should be and I can talk to your cousin and see if maybe she can talk some sense and manners into you!”
Okay, that was enough.
“You don’t even know…” he began, turning to face her, and was surprised when she was standing right there.
“I met Jake and Mallory a few months ago when I was here for my best friend’s wedding! Her husband works for Jake and I happen to think your cousin is incredibly sweet. Unlike you,” she added under her breath.
“Jake and Mallory have nothing to do with this!” he shouted and immediately felt like a bully when she cringed. “I am trying to find a happy medium here, but you’ve got to meet me halfway!”
That seemed to do the trick because she visibly relaxed. After a minute, she nodded and said, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to make a snide comment about how that wasn’t so hard, but he kept it to himself. “Can we just try the ten till four thing?”
She nodded. “And the loud music?”
It was hard not to laugh because she was being so serious, but this all seemed a bit ridiculous. “Fine. I’ll lower the music.”
“And where did we land on the singing?”
Austin laughed because he had to. “You’re a bit of a ball-buster, I’ll give you that. Okay, I promise to only sing in the house.”
“With the doors and windows closed?” This time, he noticed her lips twitch and thought maybe she wasn’t so bad.
She was definitely attractive, but it was clear she thought very little of him, so flirting to get his way was pointless.
“With the doors and windows closed.” He drew an X over his heart. “I promise.”
And then the wildest thing happened.
She smiled.
Like a really joyful smile.
His heart kicked hard in his chest again and the only thing he could do was leave because…yeah. Nothing was going to happen here.
“Uh…you sure your foot is going to be okay? Maybe you should go to the emergency room and get it checked out.”
She waved him off. “I’m sure it will be fine. I’ll just have to stay off of it for a day or two. No big deal.”
Feeling like his job was done, Austin wished her a good night and all but sprinted from the house.
He had a feeling his renovation job just got a whole lot more complicated.
3
Early the next morning, Mia stared at her computer screen and knew she had to make some adjustments to the story because…well, just because.
He had a reputation around town.
He could turn any home into your dream home, but it was going to cost you. Whether it was money, time, or your sanity, he would get the job done. Unfortunately, not all clients were satisfied.
And neither were most people he came in contact with.
Austin Maxwell was a sexy son of a bitch, and after working on homes for more than a decade, he didn’t give a damn what people thought of him. They didn’t like him, but he didn’t like them either.
In her mind, she no longer saw an old, bitter contractor, but a younger, more muscular man who had the best hands she’d ever felt in her life.
“I am so going to need therapy by the time this is done,” she murmured, reading through the manuscript and making adjustments to her victim’s name and appearance. “But that’s it. Everything else stays the same. He’s still annoying and going to turn up dead so…”
For an hour, she made her edits and was surprised that she was doing it in relative silence.
Okay, so he’s a man of his word…
And sure enough, at 10:01, she heard the first hum of some sort of tool. The timing worked for her, however. She needed to get in the shower and get ready for her visit with Sydney.
Just the thought of her best friend put a smile on her face and made it so she didn’t even care about the noise coming from Austin’s place.
Austin.
The sigh was out before she could stop it and when she stepped into the shower and the hot water hit her body, she knew she was going to be thinking about him.
A lot.
Not only because of the book she was writing and killing him off in, but because…wow. Most of the men Mia associated with were academic types; they wore suits and talked literature and politics and were…clean. Austin Coleman looked like the type of man who told off-color jokes, watched a lot of sports, and was dirty.
Very, very…dirty.
Yeah, she’d never seen the appeal until last night and now it was all she could think about.
Well, that and his hands.
It was going to be a long time before she forgot how good they felt on her.
“Ugh…maybe I need to turn on the cold water.” Refusing to be reduced to that, Mia took her time in the shower. She washed and conditioned her hair, shaved her legs, and then simply enjoyed the feel of the hot water on her skin. The bathroom had this massive shower and a soaker tub that could easily fit two people. She hadn’t used it yet, but it was something she thought she’d use to help her relax after a long day of writing.
Something she had yet to experience since arriving in Magnolia Sound.
Thanks to Austin.
Having a face and a name to go with the man who was making her crazy was not helpful at all. If anything, it made things worse.
With a groan, Mia turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. After drying off, she moisturized her body from head to toe before brushing her teeth. She wore a minimal amount of makeup—her mother told her wearing too much made her look garish—and dried her hair before getting dressed. She knew she didn’t need to make a fuss for Sydney, but to Mia, this was kind of a special occasion. This was a girls’ day to simply hang out and relax—something they hadn’t done together in a really long time.
After meeting freshman year of college and becoming roommates, they had formed a bond that felt more like sisters than friends. Of course, Mia was an only child, so maybe that’s why she felt the way she did, but Sydney had often said she felt the same—especially recently, after her own sister died last year.
They’d been there for each other through career highs and lows, and when Mia’s writing career took on a life of its own a year ago, she enlisted Sydney’s help with it. So now as a virtual personal assistant, Sydney handled things like Mia’s social media and marketing, her newsletter, and book orders for fans. There were easily a hundred other things she did as part of the job and it had been a lifesaver to have someone she knew and trusted working with her.