Len laughed, the sound coming out shaky as Janey dragged her nails down his chest. “I would like to see you try, but no. I’m serious.” He covered her hands with his, mesmerized again by their softness. “This is real, you and me.”
Her tongue darted out over her bottom lip, and another shot of fire raced up his spine. Yet somehow, Len pulled away. Setting her free and placing some distance between them in spite of the disappointment on her face.
He knew the sensation. “I’ll see you at six.”
And he turned, and walked away. Doing his best to hide exactly how difficult it was leave her behind.
Chapter Three
If she’d been confused that morning, her condition hadn’t changed much in the past four hours. Janey paused in the middle of her sanding to stare at the wall.
She had a date with Len. That was the last thing she could have imagined.
It was what she wanted, but a sense of unreality hung over the whole situation. While he had finally agreed to go out with her—it still made no sense. Or at least not yet.
One thing for certain, she was going to get to the bottom of the mystery of his change of mind. If not tonight, eventually. Len might not be a huge conversationalist, but she could be a squeaky wheel if she had to.
The contrast between her plans for the night compared to the previous evening struck.
A moment of fear rushed in, and she pushed the sensation out just as quickly. The fact someone had slipped her drugs while in public would make her more cautious in the future, but she refused to allow fear to rule her.
Still, if she ever saw that cowboy again? He’d be riding sidesaddle for the rest of his earthly days.
In the meantime, now that her head no longer ached, she had a long list of things to accomplish in a relatively short time. She turned the sander back on and applied it to the floorboards, working to level the surface.
This was the house she had grown up in, and it was going to help her dreams come true. Not because she thought the structure or location was the best ever, even though she loved the place, but because the house would prove she could stand on her own two feet.
She adjusted the coveralls she wore, the logo on the front a bold red hammer framed with the words “Handy Gal”. Around the house, she had three major projects underway, all of which she had to finish before she painted the walls and finished the trim.
But she loved the work. Every dirty, dusty task, no matter how hard it was for her family to understand.
She wasn’t interested in getting a line of letters behind her name like the rest of the family. Her mom and dad’s decision to move had been the perfect opportunity. She would do a modified flip on the family home. Deal with the needed repairs, plus modernize everything that had been neglected, because considering the rest of the lot of them were a batch of geniuses, the house was rather worn down.
And when she sold the place, it wasn’t only the money in the bank she was looking forward to. It was going to the family with her head held high in spite of being the only one with nothing but a high school diploma.
Her hands and brain worked just fine, only down a different track than the rest of them. She was happy with her career choices. Why weren’t they?
The sound of the sander buzzed in her ears even after she’d stopped it. Janey laid aside her tools and grabbed the broom to tidy up. She’d barely gotten started when her phone rang.
She examined the screen and fought the urge to make rude faces like a little kid. “Oh joy, oh bliss.”
Marty Jons. The bane of her existence. She debated ignoring the call, but that would only increase the chances of her parents calling to check up on her.
“Mr. Jons, how nice.” Gack. Janey hated lying, even for social conventions. “What can I help you with?”
The man’s patronizing chuckle grated on her nerves like always. “I’m calling to see if I can give you a hand with anything. You staying safe over there, young lady?”
“Sure am,” Janey quipped back brightly. “Same as yesterday, and the day before that.”
He paused, and she felt a little guilty. Was he wondering if that was sarcasm in her voice?
“You know your parents worry about you. I feel it’s only right I take the time to reassure them.”
Fuck that. She was pretty sure Jons was the reason her parents had any concern in the first place. She swore the man was feeding them updates, and not accurate ones. “Things are going very well with the renovation. Thanks for your concern, but I’m doing very well.”
And if she stayed on the phone with him much longer, she’d probably find a way to say very well another dozen times.
“Well, if you hit any snags, you be sure to let me know. I’ve got lots of contacts in the community, and they’re all at your disposal.”
Lots of contacts? A nephew who swung a hammer, who also did renovations. Janey wondered if Brad was pissed off she was taking business away from him. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for touching base.”
She had her finger halfway to the end call when his voice carried from the speaker. “Have you given any more thought to my suggestion regarding the apartment?”
The man simply never gave up. Janey could appreciate his determination in some ways—she had a reputation for being a bit of a bulldog herself—but right now? No way would she be the one who caved. “Right in the middle of some thing, can’t really talk right now. So good of you to phone. All the best to Mrs. Jons.”
She hung up without too much guilt, tucking her phone away and getting back to her task.
But her happiness at the rapidly approaching evening dimmed as her annoyance rose. The only thing stopping her from telling Mr. Jons to take a flying leap was the fact he was good friends with her parents. Telling him to fuck off was tempting, but the sentiment would go over like a sack of bricks.
Hell, he was probably trying to get her in trouble.
She couldn’t resist one long, loud shout, more a roar of displeasure than any particular word. The sound echoed nicely off the bare walls, ringing in her ears.
“I hope that’s not some side effect from what happened to you last night.”
Janey whipped around, smiling at her friend who had let herself in the kitchen door. “The screaming? Boy, if that was the only side effect, it would be pretty low on the crazy list.”
Shannon placed her purse on the counter before determinedly marching forward to examine Janey. She took control, moving Janey into position to peer into her eyes, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “You are one of the luckiest fools I have ever met.”
“But you do agree I’m lucky, so there’s that.” Janey wiggled from under Shannon’s hands. “I didn’t break anything. I don’t even have a headache anymore.”
“Dehydrated? Seeing stars? Any unusual or erratic behavior I need to watch out for?”
“Does the urge to throw darts at my parents’ best friend count, because other than that, situation is pretty normal.”
It took less than a second for Shannon to figure out her cryptic comment. “Mr. Jons hounding you again?”
Well. It wasn’t her imagination, not when her friends even noticed. “I still haven’t figured out his game, but I know it’s not from the goodness of his heart that he’s checking up on me all the time.”
“He sells real estate. You’re fixing a house. It’s not that strange he’s interested in what you’re doing.” Shannon wandered farther into the living room, looking up at the repairs to the ceiling Janey had already finished. “Maybe he wants to sell the place once you’re done.”
“Then why doesn’t he come out and say that instead of being creepy?” Janey was sure his motives weren’t as pure as Shannon suggested. “Plus he keeps going on about that damn apartment he has for rent. I have zero interest in moving into anything he owns.”
Shannon shrugged. “Well, you don’t have to have anything to do with him if you don’t want to. Ignore him.”
“The list of people to ignore is getting bigger,” Janey complained. If it wasn’t Jons, it was one of her older siblings. She stopped in the middle of the room and examined the improvements. “Joe called the other day, wondering if I wanted help filling in college registration forms for the fall.”
“Oh, hon. not again.”
“And Pamela offered to send me another of those tests. You know the ones, to help you figure out what career you’re best suited for.” Janey made a face. “You think my brother and sister would have learned by now I’m made of different stock. Maybe not as classy as them, but I like myself.”
“You are made of fine stock,” Shannon reassured her. “You don’t have to go to college or university to make a good living, especially when you find something you like to do.”
“Hey, no arguments from me.” Janey pointed in the general direction of Calgary where the family had all moved. “But you’re going to have to do a hell of a lot more talking to convince my parental units and sibling one and sibling two that what I’m doing is valuable. After all, I’m not saving lives, teaching future generations or discovering a greener source of energy.”
“I refuse to respond to that.” Shannon folded her arms over her chest. “I know they’re your family, but sometimes they are nothing but enormous jackasses.”