Bayou Baby - Lexi Blake Page 0,49
She pointed to the computer monitor. “However, this rental agreement was signed and agreed to twenty-four hours before yours.”
“But the other person only talked to a computer,” Sera argued, desperation starting to sink in. “I talked to a person. People trump computers, right? I mean, I had the courtesy of actually coming in here yesterday and talking to you, Mr. Nichols. You remember how we talked about the Saints and how they’re going all the way this year?”
Mr. Nichols nodded. “I do and it was nice of you. People should communicate more. It’s why the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Computers. They’re the real problem. You can’t look a man in the eyes over a computer.”
She might still have a chance at this. “I agree. You don’t even know who rented the truck. It’s just a name on a computer screen. You don’t know that this person won’t drive away with the truck and never come back.”
“I promise to come back,” a deep voice said. “I was not going to flee with the truck.”
Sera groaned inwardly because she knew that voice. It was deep and musical and haunted her dreams lately. Harry Jefferys, of the gorgeous face and the handy ways. It had been a week since she’d told him it couldn’t work. One week since he’d kissed her like she was the most important woman in the world. She’d called him arrogant, but he was right about his skills. The man could kiss, and she hadn’t wanted him to stop. There had been a big piece of herself that had wanted him to keep kissing her and stroking her, and if they found themselves horizontal, then she could have blamed it on her emotional state.
He’d been a gentleman, and now she dreamed about his hands on her. After he’d managed to rewire the kitchen lights, she’d told him he didn’t need to come back in the morning, that she could handle it. And every single day he showed up during his morning run. Every single day she told herself she would smile and send him on his way. And every single day he ended up fixing something, and damn but that man was even sexier when he was holding a hammer.
He’d fixed the porch steps, making it possible for her to safely enter her new property and buying her ninety days with the city. On Tuesday she’d been smart and hadn’t been outside when she knew he would come through. He’d knocked on the door and explained that Shep really needed some water and could she help a puppy out? He’d then stayed four hours to work on the kitchen sink, which now gave her access to clean water and not brownish sludge. On Wednesday he’d caught her in town buying the wrong screws for the repairs to the light fixture in the living room. It threatened to fall on her head every time she walked under it. He’d helped her get the right ones and followed her back because he assured her it would be a two-man job. It hadn’t been. He’d handled it all by himself while she’d made a couple of extra sandwiches because the man could eat. By Thursday, she waited on the porch for him because that furniture wasn’t going to move itself. On Friday she’d let him help her fill the back of his truck with donations to the local women’s shelter, and when he’d claimed he needed lunch, she’d gone to Guidry’s with him and they’d eaten gumbo in the kitchen and drunk sweet tea.
And the weekend. This weekend he’d helped her pull the carpet out of the living room and hallways, and it had been a bit warm so he’d taken off his shirt. Then it had been even warmer.
She liked him. Really liked him. She couldn’t stop thinking about the man, and it was getting annoying.
She turned and there he stood in jeans instead of his usual athletic wear. He had on a T-shirt that hid all those muscles of his, but the sight was imprinted on her brain forever. Shep sat at his side, tail thumping against the floor.
“Is there a problem?” When Harry moved, the dog shifted with him. The leash wasn’t really needed, but Harry tended to attach it when they were in town.
She already knew way too much about his habits. She knew how he liked his coffee. A splash of cream. A lot of sugar. Knew he hummed when he got lost