Page 102 of Never Kiss the Bad Boy
But she’s actually suggesting that Dani paid for patio work with sex and outright calling her a whore.
And I am so fucking done with her bullshit.
“My work for other customers is none of your business,” I snap. “If there’s nothing else with your project, sign the paperwork.”
She jumps at my harsh order but scribbles her name, which is all I need.
“I don’t know if I’ll feel comfortable referring you and your company to my friends.” She sniffs. “You’ve been utterly unpleasant to work with, and your crew’s hostility toward the customer” —she places a hand on her chest like she’s the wronged person here— “is deplorable. Such a disappointing lack of good service.”
“Kathy, if anyone so much as mentions your name to me, I will refuse their project on the grounds that they’re too stupid to get the hell away from you and your rudeness.” With that, I snatch the clipboard from her hand, say fuck it to the pen I don’t care about, and walk off her property for the final time.
Thank fuck.
Out front, Wayne looks at me with his brows lifted, questioning whether we’re solid. Zeus and Frogger have their arms wrapped around each other like they’re waiting for me to tell them they made the varsity football team.
“Done.” They cheer, and I laugh, not giving a shit if Kathy hears us. “Take tomorrow off. You deserve it. And the pain in the ass bonus will hit with paychecks this week.”
Frogger and Zeus cheer even louder. Wayne levels me with a glare. “Still not worth it. The next job had better not be like this one or I quit.”
It’s a hollow threat, but thankfully, I know our next job is nothing like Kathy. Next up, we have a vacation home install with a step-down seating area inset on the side of the pool that should be easy with no homeowners onsite until final inspections. After that, we’ve got a cool infinity pool situation I’m doing for a bigshot hockey player at his home away from the ice.
“Thanks, man.” I shake Wayne’s hand, then high-five Zeus and Frogger. “Dinner’s on me if you wanna stop on the way home.”
“Fuck yeah,” Frogger says. “Subway’s got buy one footlong, get one free. Dinner’s on you tonight and tomorrow.”
Zeus chuckles before teasing, “You can eat my footlong.”
“Preston,” I scold.
He holds his hands out. “What?”
“You owe me,” Wayne reminds me, and I nod, agreeing easily. I owe him so much, for so many things, least of all sending him home with those two making stupid jokes and talking about how to get the most bang for my buck with their dinner order.
“See ya Monday. I’ll send you the address,” I call out as he climbs in.
They wave as they drive away, and though I throw a wave over my shoulder, I’ve got somewhere else to be.
Dani and I have had dinner. The dishes are done. The kitchen is clean. We’ve hypothetically discussed the merits of either throwing weed seed over the fence into Kathy’s yard or injecting weed killer into the soil along the fence line so that her bougainvillea will never take root as payback for her awfulness. And all the while, Peanut Butter’s been lying in the corner on his new dog bed that Dani surprised him with, snoring loudly.
We flop to the couch, me sitting to one end, and Dani lying along the length with her head in my lap.
“So, it’s really over?” she asks.
I nod, my head laid back on the couch and my eyes staring at the ceiling while I twirl a tendril of hair that escaped today’s bun around my finger. “Finally, though she tried every trick in the book to keep us there longer.”
“Do you think her grandkids are really gonna come?”
I roll my head forward, looking down at her with my brows furrowed. “No.”
She sighs and shifts against me. “I know. It’s just sad.”
“No, it’s not. What’s sad is that she thinks she can manipulate people—especially children—into coming to see her with a pool instead of just being a nice human whom they might actually want to visit.”
“True,” she concedes. “It’s a shame the pool you built won’t get any use, though.”
I showed Dani the pictures Frogger took, and she oohed and ahhed over them, calling it the most beautiful pool she’d ever seen.
An idea strikes me.