Winds of Fortune (18 page)

Of course
, Nita thought,
summertime is the height of the building season
. But Deo had taken the time to write up the estimate. She wondered when. “Deo put this together awfully quickly.”

“She was in here crunching numbers when I arrived at six this morning.” Elana smiled. “She’s never been one to let grass grow under her feet.”

Nita stifled a comment about fast workers and accepted the envelope. It could take weeks to even schedule an appraisal with someone else, and longer still to get the renovations started. And somehow, she didn’t think that Deo’s comment about being one of the best in the business was an idle boast. Her own sublet was proof of that. Annoyed that she was allowing a transient
situation
with Deo to compromise what should be a professional undertaking, she asked, “Do you have local references I can check? She’s already seen the house, and—”

“Deo always includes references at the end of her estimates. If you need any other information, just call me. Most of the businesses in town use her, and there’s never been a single complaint.”

Blushing, Nita said hastily, “Really, I’m sure she’s excellent. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

“Don’t think anything of it,” Elana said. “It’s an important decision, and I’m sure you want to have the right person do the work.”

“Yes. I do. Well,” Nita bounced the keys in her palm. “I think I’ll pay my new house a visit.”

“Welcome to town.” Elana extended her hand. “Call me if you need anything. Remember, you’re one of us now.”

*

One of us.
Nita leaned against the balustrade on the widow’s walk and surveyed the harbor from atop her new home. With still two hours until sunset, the evening had taken on a golden blush, and the white sailboats and yachts floated like pristine clouds atop the deep blue surface of the water. So high above the street, the breeze was cool and brisk, raising goose bumps on her sun-heated skin.
One of us.

She could still hear her brother’s angry words. “How could you, Nita? He’s one of us. You don’t fuck with one of us.”

She hadn’t needed her brother’s fury or her father’s cold disdain or her sister’s shocked criticism to understand that the thin blue line was unassailable. She’d known it all her life. Every member of her family took pride in it, and she had broken the line. Ignored the code, disrespected the fraternity, sullied the family honor. She was no longer one of them, cast out for her transgressions.

“All for what,” she murmured for the thousandth time, but she knew the answer. Sylvia. Beautiful passionate, possessive Sylvia. Sylvia, with her hot demanding hands and her sweet seductive mouth. Sylvia. God, she could still taste her.

“Hey!” Deo yelled up from the street. “Don’t lean on that!”

Shaking her head, feeling as if she were awakening from a dream, Nita stared down the three and a half stories to the sidewalk. Deo stood with her legs apart and pelvis tilted forward, hands on hips, glaring up at her. Despite the height, Nita could make out streaks of dust on her neck and the sweat that sheened on her bare arms. In an instant, memories of Sylvia disappeared and Nita was grateful.

Recognizing the gratitude for what it was, the mindless substitution of one desire for another, she defiantly grasped the iron railing and shook it. Despite the protesting creak she heard as she rocked it, she shouted back, “It’s perfectly fine.”

“Cut it out! Jesus, Nita.” Deo shoved open the scrolled iron gate that separated Nita’s small front yard from the narrow brick sidewalk and stalked toward the house.

Nita lost sight of her, but she didn’t have any trouble hearing her.

“Let me in,” Deo barked.

For one second, Nita considered ignoring her. Then, embarrassed by her reluctance to confront a woman just because she was attracted to her, she abandoned her perch above the town and unhurriedly made her way downstairs. When she opened the door, she felt completely calm.

“Yes?” Nita said.

“Jesus Christ, Nita,” Deo repeated heatedly. “Do you want to kill yourself? You’ve got to be careful around this place until we’ve gone through it completely.”

“There is no
we
,” Nita responded levelly. “And I
was
careful.”

“Leaning over that railing is not careful! If you had fallen…” Deo tried to rein in her temper, but she was still running on nerves after glancing up to see Nita precariously positioned on the widow’s walk, a look on her face that said she was a million miles away and not paying any attention to what she was doing. Deo envisioned the bolts pulling loose from the water-softened wood, the railing crumbling, and Nita falling. Falling and lying crumpled on the grass, her eyes open and empty. She shivered. “Fuck.”

“I appreciate your concern.” Recognizing Deo’s anxiety—surprised and oddly touched—Nita asked more gently, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m working a job not far from here, and I figured you might stop by here after the closing.” Deo shrugged. “I thought we could get a look at the place while it was still light and talk about the work schedule.”

Nita tried to suppress a smile and almost succeeded. “I don’t remember accepting your proposal.”

Catching the smile, Deo leaned against the door frame, her fear and anger giving way to pleasure at the slight chink in Nita’s formidable armor. “Did you look at it?”

“Yes.” In fact, it was the first thing she had done when she arrived at the house. She’d walked through the dusty, barren rooms studying Deo’s notes, imagining the ornate ceilings restored, the woodwork and floors sanded and refinished, the wainscoting and scrolled chair rails replaced. “I still need to call your references.”

“Don’t trust me?” Deo teased.

“Not a whit.”

“Going to let me in?”

No
, Nita’s common sense screamed.
No. No no no.
Reminding herself it was a simple business transaction, she stepped back. “I can’t live here without plumbing and electricity.”

“You need a kitchen.”

“I can live very well on take out.”

“For food, maybe. What about coffee in the morning?” Deo followed Nita down the wide central hall, admiring the way Nita’s rear filled out her navy slacks. Her cream colored blouse was the perfect complement to her coffee complexion, and Deo thought once again how beautiful she was.

“By the way, I think you missed something,” Nita said.

“Impossible.”

When Nita stopped abruptly and turned, Deo almost bumped into her. They were so close she could smell Nita’s earthy floral perfume. Her stomach tightened in the way it did when she was getting hard, and she shuddered with the unexpected surge of arousal.

Nita nearly recoiled at the sexual charge pouring from Deo’s body. The force of Deo’s attraction was so tangible she expected to see it materialize, a beast clawing its way to freedom and hunting her down. But rather than run, there was a beast of her own straining to charge back—aching for the frenzy of mating that left only wreckage in its wake.

“There’s a water mark on the ceiling under the stairs,” Nita said hoarsely, pointing back over Deo’s shoulder. “It’s not on your report. You probably couldn’t see it the other night.”

Swallowing, forcing down the urge to grab Nita and kiss her the way she’d wanted to kiss her the night before, Deo looked where Nita indicated. Frowning, she pulled her jackknife from her pants pocket and scraped at the plaster in the stairwell. When it flaked away, she pressed her fingertip to the small gouge. It was dry. “An old leak. They probably fixed it but never bothered to repair this. Good pickup.”

“Thanks. So,” Nita said, backing up a step. “Want to finish the tour?”

“Sure.” Deo didn’t move. Neither did Nita.
What about
me, Nita? Want to finish me? Just a kiss, just a touch. I’ve been ready since last night.

“Assuming your references check out—”

“They will.”

“Assuming they do,” Nita said firmly, “when can you start?”

“It will take a few days to get materials lined up. Sometime next week.”

“How long before I can move in?”

Deo shrugged. “Can’t tell until I see what kind of surprises we find. There are always surprises with this kind of job.”

“Ballpark.”

“It depends on if you’re willing to rough it or not.”

“I don’t need pampering.”

“But do you like it?” Deo asked softly.

“A condition for you doing this job,” Nita went on steadily, “is that you cease your pointless flirting.”

“Do you want that in the contract?”

Nita laughed and shook her head ruefully. “How good is your word?”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

“Then your word will do.”

Deo shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t oblige.”

“Why?” Nita asked, half aggravated and half intrigued.

“You know why.”

Nita’s pulse pounded as if Deo’s hands skimmed her body. She didn’t bother denying the attraction. They’d both know she was lying.

“I forgot,” Nita said. “It’s second nature to you.”

“I don’t mind if you want to pretend that’s all it is.” Deo regarded Nita seriously. “No more exploring this place by yourself, especially once we start working. I’ll meet you at any time and take you through personally.”

“That won’t be necessary. But I appreciate it.”

“Consider it part of the service.” Deo grinned.

“Come on, let’s finish up.” Nita turned away, refusing to allow herself to succumb to the lure of Deo’s attraction. “I’ll call you when I’ve made a decision.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

The words, even though she knew they were empty, sent a ripple of pleasure through Nita’s core. She was so aroused she knew that denying herself release tonight was not going to be possible, and she didn’t know whether to rejoice or repent.

“Hi,” Allie said breathlessly as she rushed into the waiting room and kissed Bri on the cheek. At nine p.m. on Saturday night, the waiting room was nearly empty. “Sorry I didn’t make it yesterday—hi Caroline—we had a three car pileup on Six last night that took us hours to sort out—how’s the chief?”

“Pretty good,” Bri said. “He still has that breathing tube in so he can’t say anything, but he blinks when I talk to him so I know he’s okay.”

Allie dropped into one of the dark green vinyl chairs and let her arms flop over the sides. She’d changed out of her uniform into low-cut jeans and a scooped neck short-sleeved cotton top that came just to her bellybutton, and it felt great not to be working for a few hours. “That’s good. Everybody’s asking for him. Tell him that, okay?”

“I will. You didn’t need to drive all the way up here, you know. You called yesterday after the surgery.”

“I know, but…” Allie blushed and glanced at Caroline, who stood with one hip cocked against Bri’s and her arm around Bri’s waist. The possessive stance wasn’t conscious, but Allie got the message just the same. “It feels like we’re more than just people who work together, you know?”

Bri nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

Caroline kissed Bri’s cheek and stepped away. “I’m going downstairs to get us something to drink, baby. Allie, you want something?”

“No. Thanks. I’m not going to stay that long.”

“Okay. Back in a few.”

“Got a date?” Bri perched on the wide arm of Allie’s chair and braced an arm against the back.

“Ha. I wish.” Allie leaned back to look up, her cheek nearly touching Bri’s hand where it rested on the vinyl. “I don’t have anything lined up, and if I did, I think I’d be too tired to do anything about it.”

“What about Deo?”

“Oh yeah. Deo.” Allie eyed Bri. “So much has happened this week I forgot you were bent out of shape about her. What gives?”

“I asked you first.”

Allie lifted a shoulder and gave Bri a lazy smile. “She’s hot. I mean like touch me and I go off like a bomb hot.”

Bri rolled her eyes. “I kinda got that from watching her feel you up on the street in front of Spiritus.”

“She wasn’t and so what if she was?”

“That’s a low-life move. You’re too good for her.”

“You don’t even know her, and for your information, she
refused
to fuck me on the street when I asked her to.” Allie sighed in exasperation. “We’re fucking, Bri. She’s fun to be with, and she makes me come like there’s no tomorrow. End of story.”

“Deo’s got a rep for never staying around long, so just…be cool, okay?”

Allie sat forward and rested her hand on Bri’s knee. “Listen, stud, I know what I’m doing, okay? But thanks.”

“I’m coming back to work on Monday,” Bri said.

“Yeah?” Allie brightened. “That would be great. Are you sure?”

“As long as my dad is still doing okay, I want to. I don’t feel right just sitting around here. Especially with how busy all the rest of you are covering for me, and Reese doing double duty with my dad out.”

Allie squeezed Bri’s hand. “You should be here. Everyone understands.”

Bri grinned and shook Allie’s hand playfully. “What’s the matter? Don’t you miss me?”