“I was in his office when you called kissing up to him for a price break. He asked me to come down and give you a hand because he got caught by a phone call before he could come himself.”
Her hackles rose. “I dont need help to buy paint.”
“You do if youre seriously considering buying that sprayer.”
“I was just looking.” Her mouth moved into a pout as she poked a finger at the machine. “Besides, what do you know about it?”
“Enough to know if I say too much more about it, youll buy it just to spite me.”
“Thats tempting, but Ill resist,” she shot back.
He reached down, cupped a hand under her elbow to lift her to her feet. “Seems like youve had enough to deal with for one day. Heard you quit your job.”
There was sympathy in his eyes. Not the smug and sticky kind, but a quiet understanding that soothed. “What, does Sandi report to you too?”
“Sorry, that names not on my list.” He gave her arm a careless little rub, an old gesture that both of them remembered as soon as he did it. And both of them took a half-step back. “Word travels, Stretch. You know how it is in the Valley.”
“Yeah, I know how it is. Im surprised you remember.”
“I remember a lot of things. One of them is how much you loved working there.”
“I dont want you to be nice to me.” She turned away to stare hard at the paint sprayer. “Its screwing up my mood.”
Because he knew she would work through it better if she was angry or occupied, he nodded. “Okay. Why dont I help you take advantage of your friend-of-the-owner discount? Its always fun to scalp Brad. Then you can verbally abuse me. That always cheers you up.”
“Yeah, it does.” She frowned a little, bumped the sprayer with the toe of her shoe. “This thing doesnt look so tough.”
“Let me show you some of your other options.”
“Why arent you back at Flynns hacking out a stale plot with cardboard characters?”
“There, see, youre feeling better already.“
“Have to admit.” “What we have here is an automatic paint roller system,” he began, steering her toward the machine Brad had recommended to him. “Its small, user-friendly, and efficient.”
“How do you know?”
“Because when Brad told me to show you this one he used those specific adjectives. Personally, Ive only painted a room the old-fashioned way, and thats been…” He trailed off. “A long time ago.”
She remembered. Hed painted his mothers bedroom when she was in the hospital the first time. Dana had helped him, cutting around the trim, keeping his spirits up.
Theyd painted the walls a soft, warm blue so that the room would be fresh and peaceful.
And less than three months later she was dead.
“She loved it,” Dana said gently. “She loved that you did that for her.”
“Yeah.” As the memory was painful on too many levels, he flipped the topic back. “Well, Brads got a list here of handy products and tools to make your home improvement project more enjoyable.”
“Okay, lets clean him out.”
She had to admit that it added to the fun and interest of the expedition to have him along. And it was easy, a little too easy, to remember why theyd once been friends, once been lovers.
They had a way of slipping into a rhythm, of understanding short-speak and expressions that came from a lifetime of knowing each other every bit as much as from the two years of physical intimacy theyd shared.
“This is the color?” Jordan rubbed his chin as he studied her list. “Island? What kind of color is Island?”
“Greenyblue. Sort of.” She handed over the paint chip. “See? Whats wrong with it?”