Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“I’ll take that drink now,” he said, blithely ignoring her irritation.
She tried not to notice how good the damned man looked in that jeans and raggedy t-shirt combination. He was all muscle and grime and sweat and sex.
No, not sex. God, definitely not sex. Why would she add sex to the list?
She shook her head, impatient with herself, and decided that giving him that drink would be the most expedient way of dealing with him right now. Besides, she would look like a total bitch if she didn’t after he’d gone to so much trouble to help her. He could say it was for the neighbors but they both knew she was the one who was truly benefitting from his aid.
She thumped a tall glass of cranberry juice down in front of him and he glared at it for a moment before diverting his gaze back to hers. “I suppose it’s too early to add a splash of vodka to this?”
She didn’t reply but kept her stare level. He huffed a short laugh and drank thirstily. The glass was empty when he placed it back on the coaster thirty seconds later.
“More?” she asked.
“Please.”
This time she brought the carafe from the refrigerator and placed it in front of him, letting him refill his own glass. He took another long drink while she waited—a little impatiently—for him to finish.
“So the brackets do need replacing,” he said in a growly voice after he swiped his mouth with the back of his wrist. “The wall will probably also need repairing or reinforcing. It’s crumbling in the spots where the brackets were secured. I figure you’ll probably have to replace all the gutters because this problem will recur and likely worsen. I’ve fixed it as best I can for now. But it’s definitely going to come loose again.”
Beth sighed and worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she considered his words.
“That…sucks.”
He grimaced in sympathy. “It does. That’s the thing with these old houses, they’re built to last but you have to stay abreast of maintenance. Things will always need updating. Is everything else up to code? Plumbing? Electricity?”
“Yes. My grandmother had the interior renovated just before she died. She didn’t get around to the exterior. I’ve been meaning to have everything checked. But I’ve been so busy with work, I just figured…if it’s not broken why go looking for trouble?”
He made a vague sound, kind of sucking air in through his teeth, but he didn’t say anything.
But Beth could never leave well enough alone. “What?”
His expressive, beautiful lips thinned and he seemed to hesitate for a moment before appearing to make his mind up. “I could have a look around the exterior sometime if you like. To see if anything jumps out at me as problematic.”
“Do you know what to look for?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I used to work construction during my late teens and through my early twenties. Building homes and restoring historical buildings in Edinburgh. Sometimes in Cape Town as well, whenever I happened to visit.”
“So you’re originally from Scotland?” Beth hadn’t been too certain. Sure, he had an accent, but it was subtle, and because he code-switched so often she had wondered if it wasn’t an affectation. Or perhaps a remnant from a stay in that country during his formative years.
He gave her a long, searching look before shrugging and replying, “My dad is. He and my mum separated when I was ten. She came home to Cape Town and we spent our holidays with her.”
“You didn’t move with her?”
“They felt it would be unfair to uproot us from our schools and lives and everything.”
“You have siblings?”
“Aye, two brothers, older. One sister, younger.” Which placed him solidly in the middle. Also, it was fascinating how his accent thickened when he spoke about his family.
“But you live here permanently now?”
“That’s pretty fucking self-evident, Lizzy. How did this conversation become about me?”
“I—” His question wrong-footed her. She wasn’t sure why she was so interested, but the revealing snippet had whetted her curiosity. Beth was curious by nature, the more she learned, the more she wanted to know. Gideon had suddenly become an enigma to her. And there was nothing Beth loved more than solving a puzzle. “I was interested in how you knew about construction. You volunteered the rest.”
He took another sip from his drink while he watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. He seemed to be waiting for something. Beth wasn’t sure what. She tugged at her lower lip with her thumb and forefinger, maintaining the eye contact, refusing to be the first to speak.
Finally she could stand the increasingly strained silence no longer and had to ask, “Are your brothers and sister here as well?”
There was a flash of…something in his eyes. It looked like triumph. Beth was annoyed that she appeared to have played into his hands by being the first to speak. Probably living down to some expectation of his.