“But you’re not living with her,” Fallon said, accepting a tower of bowls from Finian. “It’s just an extended pajama party?”
His brother snort-laughed. “Doubtful there are any PJs involved.”
“Shut up, Finian.”
“Boys,” his mom said in that voice that said cut the shit now. “So, help me understand what’s going on, because she seems lovely and she’s an Ice Knights fan.”
“It’s complicated.” Figuring out world peace would be easier than finding a way out of the mess he’d made for himself. “It’s work.”
“Just work?” she asked.
He nodded as he snagged a bunch of paper towels from the counter and started to sop up the lake of gravy Felicia’s practically feral cat had knocked over. “Yes.”
“So, the fact that the room crackles when you two are in it?” Fallon asked as she closed the fully loaded dishwasher.
He rolled his eyes at his sister. “That’s not scientifically possible.”
“Oh Ford,” his mom said, taking the gravy-soaked paper towels from him and dropping them into the trash can under the sink. “Denial is more than a river in Egypt.”
She wasn’t wrong. Then again, Kate Hartigan rarely was—and if you asked her, she’d say she never was. And he no idea what to do with that, because falling for Gina Luca wasn’t something that fell under any heading in his book of personal rules and regulations.
“Am I interrupting?” Gina asked from the kitchen doorway.
All the frustration and confusion swirling around inside him settled as soon as he looked at her.
“Not at all, honey,” his mom said. “What can I get for you?”
“Actually, I just got a text from Juan that the special order to fix the wonky stair is in, but he can’t pick it up before they close.” She held up her phone. “Do you think we can swing by on the way back home and get it? I told Juan that you said you’d agreed to fix the step so he could tackle something more pressing on his list, like the front porch.”
“Not a problem,” he said, more than ready to get back to the Victorian with its creaks and leaky faucets and—most importantly—her alone.
“Great.” She flashed that smile at him, the one that did funny things to his breathing. “I’ll just go tell your dad goodbye.”
She ducked out and every eyeball in the room except for the ones in his own head zeroed in on him.
“Go home, huh?” Finian asked, picking up on the one thing Ford had been hoping his family would miss. “That’s what you boys in blue call work? Maybe I did pick the wrong line of work.”
After flipping his brother off—behind his mom’s back, of course—Ford issued his goodbyes as Gina came back into the kitchen and did the same with his mom and siblings. It was strange to watch. The other women he’d brought home had all been more than a little freaked out by the crazy that was the Hartigans, but Gina had taken it all in stride. Next time, she’d be yelling at the TV during the hockey game like the rest of them.
Next time, Hartigan?
Where in the hell had that come from? There wouldn’t be a next time. Like he’d told his mom, it was just work. And that’s what he kept telling himself, even as he checked out the way Gina’s ass looked in those jeans as she walked up to the customer service desk at the big box hardware store. He reminded himself again when she did that thing where she twirled her hair around a finger while she waited for him to ring up the order. She did it a lot and probably wasn’t even aware of it. However, since it was his job to watch her, he’d seen her do it repeatedly. It always made him want to reach out and run his fingers through her wavy hair, curl it around his fist, draw her in for a kiss, and then—
“You ready to go?” she asked as she carried a box that had to weigh at least forty pounds.
“Let me,” he said, reaching for the box.
“I can do it.”
“I know you can, but you don’t have to.” He took the box and led the way out to the car parked closer to the dollar theater in the shopping center than the home improvement store. People were lined up at the ticket booth. The marquee read: One night only! Jaws. For a man who couldn’t wait to get back to Gina’s place not that long ago, the idea of spending a few hours in a darkened theater sounded pretty damn good.