Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,34

I'd walked into my brother's condo. He'd spent nine of those minutes laughing – at me.

Hell, I might've laughed too, if only I weren't the one in the hot seat.

We were standing out on his main balcony overlooking the river. An hour had passed since I'd left Arden at the crew house, and I was still royally ticked – mostly at myself for letting Arden get under my skin.

In reply to Chase's question, I said, "Oh yeah. I told her." In fact, I'd called Waverly on my cell just as I'd pulled up to the place I called home – a waterfront development that contained a dozen upscale condos, including mine and Chase's.

This made us brothers and neighbors, which worked out better than you'd think.

Chase grinned. "I bet she loved that."

Waverly? She had, actually – but only after she'd learned that I'd be staying at the crew house, too. This begged a serious question. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

Under normal circumstances, Waverly and I would be staying in separate hotel suites while the camera crew stayed in a rental somewhere near the job site.

But this project was local, which meant that I'd been planning to stay at my own place, just a short walk away from where I was standing right now.

But instead, I'd be shacking up with Arden Weathers, and Waverly, too, while I was at it. Obviously, I'd lost my fucking mind.

And now Chase was laughing again. "So, what are you gonna do? Sleep in a big ol' pile?"

I gave him a look. "I already told you, it's got three bedrooms."

"You didn't need to tell me," he said. "I saw the place. Remember?"

Had he? Shit, the last few months had been so packed, I couldn't recall much of anything. When my only reply was a loose shrug, he suggested, "Or maybe you could take turns."

I wasn't following. "What?"

"You know," he said with a laugh. "Waverly one night, Arden the next."

Nope. Not a chance. There's this saying – Never stick your dick in crazy. It was a good rule. And unlike Chase, I followed it easy enough. Crazy chicks weren't my thing, which ruled out both of my new roommates.

I gave Chase a stiff smile. "If you want to trade places, let me know."

At this, he paused as if actually considering the idea.

I wasn't buying it.

We both knew that he wouldn't be going anywhere near the crew house, not unless we were filming. He had responsibilities of his own – duties that didn't involve supervising construction projects, here or anywhere else.

Chase was the face of our company.

He was the one who shook hands and smiled for the cameras. He wasn't a politician, but he was good at dealing with people – government officials, suppliers, and the public in general.

He dressed sharp, talked smart, and made people feel like they really knew him, whether it was true or not.

He had a real knack for marketing, too, which is how we'd gotten the show in the first place. Chase had made it happen. And me? I was making it work.

Unlike my brother, I was the one who got dirty, who inspected the houses and ran the crews. It was the way I liked it, and I didn't need Chase or anyone else honing in on my turf.

But I wasn't worried. Even though I'd offered to trade places, we both knew that Chase wouldn't consider trading any more than I would. He was juggling projects of his own, along with enough crazy chicks to fill an asylum.

With a laugh, he said, "You think I won't."

I made a show of eyeing his hands. No callouses. No scars. No raw knuckles from the occasional mishap. Still, I had to admit, the guy could swing a hammer with the best of them.

When I made no reply, he said, "Eh, forget it. I'm too pretty for construction."

Pretty? It's not how I would've put it. Like myself, the guy was six-foot two and packed with muscle. But I knew what he meant. If he ever decided to give up on the business, he could make a decent fortune modeling underwear.

I wasn't kidding. He'd been offered such a gig already. Then again, I had, too. We all had, even Mason, who had all the charm of a hitman heading to the gallows.

And speaking of gallows, I recalled my murderous new roommate. "Get this," I said. "Arden warned me that if I tossed her off the roof, the show would suffer." I made a scoffing sound.