When I walk back to the counter and place his water glass in front of him, he smiles at me, and somewhere in my chest, something squeezes hard.
“Hot Dam Homes can help you with most things you need done around here,” he says. “But you’re right, this is a really big job. It would be a challenge for someone with a lot of experience, but for someone like you, it’s just way too much.”
I laugh self-consciously. “Hey—‘someone like me’? What happened to ‘you just need a little help’?” I say in mock indignation.
He grins at me and shrugs. “Well, maybe it’s more than alittlehelp.”
I snort, but it’s obvious he doesn’t mean any offense. He’s just stating the obvious fact that when it comes to home renovations, I can’t tell my ass from a hole in the ground.
He goes on to explain the issue with the electrical, and when I learn the first company is either incompetent or was seriously trying to gouge me, my jaw tightens, and I grit my teeth. I fucking knew those bastards were trying to scam me.
After going through the electrical problems and a few other things, he leans forward, his elbows on the counter, nibbling on the top of his pen, which looks like he may have gnawed on it a few times in the past.
“I had an idea while I was looking around,” he says. He’s doing that thing where he’s sort of looking at me but is focusing more on the wall behind my head. It’s a little strange, but I can blow past it.
“Yes, what was your brilliant idea, oh Master Renovator?”
He blows past my little tease without so much as a smile, as if he’s laser focused on what he’s thinking about. I shift uncomfortably. Tough audience. I suppose I should stick to business and ditch the lame jokes.
“I think we could work out a deal, if you’re open to it,” he starts. “This place is beautiful, and it’s such a valuable location, I think it’s a waste to only do a basic renovation. I think if you can do everything with top-quality materials and labor, you’ll be able to turn a huge profit. Especially if you can get the materials at cost, which I can. HDH can make this place into a luxury home. We’ll turn it into the jewel of this neighborhood. We can keep all the character while bringing everything up to top-notch, modern standards.”
“Uh.. okay,” I say uncertainly. “But I don’t think I can afford your labor costs, plus I would bet that even getting everything at your cost, it will still be a lot more than basic stuff. I just don’t think I can front that kind of money.”
Dylan shakes his head and waves his hand around. “No, no, I wasn’t finished. There’s a lot of work to do, that’s true, but most of it isn’t complicated; the number of tasks is overwhelming. If you let HDH handle it, I won’t charge you up front. We’ll supply all the materials and get everything done. When it’s finished, if you decide you want to stay here, I’ll invoice you for a discounted hourly rate plus the wholesale cost of materials, provided we can use the home for staged photos for ads and promotions. But if you decide to sell it, we could call me an investor, and my payment would be a percentage of the sale profits.”
“Oh, wow, Dylan,” I say, trying to figure out if this is too good to be true. “Just let me make sure I understand. You’re saying you’ll handle all the up-front costs for this whole thing—labor, materials, everything—and you don’t need to be paid until the house is eventually sold?”
“Or you decide to keep it. But yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” he replies.
“But that means you’re essentially giving me a loan. You’ll be out of pocket for all those costs. And it could take a long time to get all this done. Like you said, there’s a ton of stuff to do.”
He shrugs. “Being out of pocket for a few months isn’t going to break me. If you want, you could pay for the cost of basic materials, and I can cover the difference. But it’s a good deal for me too. I stand to make a lot of money since this place is a little gold mine. But it’s more valuable to be able to use it in our ads and as a reference. Once it’s done, we’ll get it perfectly staged and take some professional photos. I’ve got some examples of our work on bigger homes, but most of our work on homes like this is from several years back. I’d love to have a fresh project of this size to show off.”
“Oh, wow,” I say in disbelief. I swallow nervously. Am I really going to sign onto this weird, crazy deal with someone I barely know? Not to mention the fact that it means I’ll be spending a lot more time with this guy. My stomach flutters, and goose bumps rise up on my arms. “I think I’d be crazy not to take that kind of an offer, Dylan. That’s… incredible.. I mean, whatever way works best for you, I’m in.”
A smile starts to bloom on his face, and a hot ball of lust forms in my lower belly. I shift on my feet, but the movement aggravates my sore butt, so I groan, just drawing more attention to myself, standing there with my rapidly hardening cock beginning to strain against my zipper. Apparently, the pain from my tailbone injury isn’t enough to get my dick to calm down.
“Hey,” I say, attempting to blow past my embarrassment because, really, what more can I do? “Maybe you can teach me a few things. Help me out so I’m not such an idiot around the house.”
He laughs, fixing me with a level gaze. “Right, so you can make someone a good househusband?” he asks, the corners of his mouth twitching.
I stumble over my words, blushing furiously. My face heats with the rush of blood into it, but thankfully, my beard will hide most of it. Score one for facial hair. “Um, I guess.. but uh, no.. definitely no. I don’t plan to be anyone’s husband, house or otherwise.” I finally spit out something that isn’t garbled nonsense, and he shoots me a cheeky grin. Apparently, that was Dylan Campbell toying with me.
“Great, that’s excellent,” he says, the flirty tone gone, and he’s all business again. “I’ll ask the lawyer we use for HDH to draft us a contract, and we can agree on some numbers.”
As the reality of this deal starts to sink in, a ripple of excitement courses through me. The whole thing is fucking fantastic, but the thought of getting to spend more time with Dylan might be the biggest selling point of all.
“We need to celebrate!” I declare, my voice animated. “Can I get you a beer? We need to toast our new partnership.”
“Sure, a beer sounds great,” he says after a beat, and the smile that spreads across his face literally makes me weak in the knees.
Chapter 10
DYLAN
So,apparentlybeingaroundReed Morrow turns me into a completely different person. Being spontaneous like this is so out of character for me I’m wondering whether I’ve been hit on the head and just don’t remember it. But this is a great opportunity for all the reasons I used to convince Reed. It will make me a nice profit, and it’ll be a real-life resume for Hot Dam Homes. When I’m done with it, this place will be just as nice as anything featured in fancy home and garden magazines.
Reed goes to the fridge, and when he turns to hand me a beer, our fingers touch again, and again, it’s like we’ve been shocked. Is this what people are talking about when they say they have “great chemistry”?