globs of oil as required. She’d gotten him into this glittery mess, and so she had to help him get out of it.
“I feel like a grease slick.” He squirted some body wash into his hand and lathered it up over his chest. “And I am officially banning glitter from this project.”
“Wait until you see the damage we did to the carpet.”
“We?” He smirked. “Really? What do you have against carpets, anyway?”
“I’m just a klutz, apparently.” So much for all the years of charm school her parents had forced her through—she was still that bumbling, awkward girl who regularly dropped her books and never knew what to say.
Maybe it was a good thing she was repelling Trent with her awkwardness, because he was way out of her league. Who sneezed glitter all over the hot guy? Ugh. It was like a bad high school flashback. Like that one time she’d made a Valentine’s card for her crush in history class and then tripped and fallen flat on her face while trying to stealthily slip it into his locker.
She’d never lived that one down.
“I’ll, uh…start vacuuming the living room,” she said, bundling up all the paper towels and backing out of the bathroom, keeping her eyes studiously averted from Trent’s almost-naked form. Would it be possible for her to get through any more of this vacation without embarrassing herself?
Not likely.
Chapter Nine
As much as Trent loved his job—getting his hands dirty and seeing the fruits of his labor rise up from the ground, something he was damn good at—there was one thing he hated: the early starts. Even now, having worked for more than a decade in the construction industry, getting up before sunrise was a kick in the nuts.
He padded through his sister’s quiet house. It was still dark outside, the dusky twilight casting a purple-tinted filter over the world. Soon the magpies would be warbling and rousing Patterson’s Bluff from sleep.
Cora’s door was closed, and not a sound came from the room. She’d crashed early last night, still thrown off by jetlag and—more likely—avoiding him after the glitter incident. Despite his telling her it wasn’t her fault, Cora seemed determined to take responsibility. The poor woman had spent more than an hour trying to clean up the mess, vacuuming and wiping the table down and washing the bath mat and towel that had also been tainted with sparkles. He’d tried to help…but no dice.
It was a rare quality, he’d found. Most people seemed eager to toss blame onto the person next to them, passing it along like a game of hot potato. But not Cora.
By the time Trent made it to the building site, the sun was finally peeking above the horizon. The light was reddish and warm, predicting it was going to be another scorcher of a day. At the hottest part of the year in Australia—February, which was also known as the “holy shit everything is melting” month—construction work started early and finished early.
Trent’s boots crunched over the loose gravel and soil as he walked from his ute onto the site. Nick was already pacing, speaking firmly into the mobile phone he white-knuckled beside his head. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was bitching out some supplier who’d failed him.
Woe anybody who failed Nick Walters.
“Bad day?” Trent asked when Nick hung up the phone.
His brother tipped his head back and looked up at the rapidly lightening sky as though God might poke his head out from behind a cloud and offer some advice. “Like every other bloody day on this job.”
“You love it.” Trent slapped a hand down on his back. “I don’t know what you’d do with yourself if there wasn’t someone to bark orders at.”
“Good thing I’ve got you around,” Nick said with a rueful smile. “Speaking of which, when are we getting started on your place?”
Ah, this old chestnut. “You know I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment. I need to finish up with Liv’s place before I even think about starting.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. Just because you’re the kind of person who wants everything done yesterday doesn’t mean I’m going to shirk my responsibilities to rush into my own project. Besides, I haven’t found a design I like yet.”
“I thought you met with that architect I recommended,” Nick said, frowning.
“I did.”
“And what tiny little flaw did you find with this guy, huh?” Trent’s brother rolled his eyes with the kind of exasperation he often leveled at people who didn’t