“No, I'm not kidding. I'll take care of it.”
I could practically feel her bristling. “Could you please just give me the information?” Before I could respond, she added, “You know what? Don't even bother. I'll find someone myself.”
Oh, great. Now, I’d have to tell her I’d already dealt with it. “No point. I already called them. It'll be taken care of once the storm is over.”
“Well, how much are they charging? I need to pay for it.”
“No, you don't,” I ground out. “I'll take care of it.”
“Oh, my god. You are really bossy.”
“Maybe so, but I don't really care.”
Jane mumbled something under her breath. This time, I chuckled aloud.
When we got back to the house, Jane promptly went up to the bedroom she’d claimed. That was fine with me. I put away the groceries that I'd left on the counter in a hurry. After that, I
began working on a project I'd started during my last visit here. Between my brothers and I, we were gradually getting this house back in order. This house and the property it sat on were the only assets that had survived the aftermath of my father’s fraud case. The furniture had been sold off, along with just about everything else. We’d used the proceeds to reimburse losses for those affected by the fraud.
The house had sat empty for several years, and it had been old, to begin with, so I had plenty of things to work on. We'd replaced the boiler last year. I'd set out to gradually update the windows and sills and redo the cabinets in the kitchen. With it being winter, I didn't want to do any painting, but I’d basically turned the rec room downstairs into a workshop, so I’d started cutting the trim for the numerous windows in this house. This project would probably take me two or three years, depending on how often I could travel up here.
I didn't mind. It gave me something to focus on and was a complete shift from what I usually did, which was to bury my head in numbers and deal with investment decisions. For the past six months, I'd been smack in the middle of the whistleblower case. It was hard to ignore the tension about that and even more difficult to ignore my laptop and emails. I’d actually disconnected my email accounts on my phone, which was a smart move because then I couldn't easily check them.
After a few hours of work, I got hungry and went into the kitchen to make a sandwich. I was surprised to see Jane there, peering into the refrigerator. I stopped in the archway, hesitating to enter the room. It didn't help that Jane was leaning over, and I had an excellent view of the sweet curves of her hips. She’d changed out of her jeans into a pair of comfortable sweatpants with these giant wool socks on her feet. The cotton outlined her bottom delectably.
Fuck me. Of all the things I had planned on, getting the hots for one of my little sister's old high school friends wasn't one of them. That said, I relished the distraction she offered.
Walking into the kitchen, I commented, “I got plenty of food for both of us.”
Jane squeaked. Straightening and spinning around, she closed the refrigerator.
“Didn't mean to startle you,” I offered.
She lowered her hands, and a lovely pink flush washed over her cheeks. “What are you doing?”
“Coming to get something to eat. What are you doing?”
She shrugged. “Same.” She pressed her glasses up her nose. “Sorry I was a little bitchy earlier.”
“Oh, I don't mind. I kind of like you bitchy. We can argue, and that's fun.”
She pressed her lips in a line and blinked at me behind her glasses. “Seriously, Ian? How old are you?”
“Thirty-two, last time I checked,” I said dryly.
She crossed her arms, oblivious to the fact that doing so plumped up the tops of her breasts. I could see the lush curves along the edge of her V-neck T-shirt. “I do recall you being like this before. That's why I said you were the class tease.”
“Did I tease you?” I asked as I walked over and opened the refrigerator, pulling out bread, sandwich meats, and cheeses. I was a sucker for good cheese and had gotten an excellent selection, if I did say so myself.
“No, you didn't tease me. You didn't really notice me,” she replied.
“I doubt that. I noticed you.”
“Ian, you didn't even recognize me at first.”
“Ithasbeen over ten years. Cut me a little slack.”
Jane’s mouth twisted, and she rolled her eyes. A pleasant hum of electricity chased through me when I saw the flush rise on her cheeks.