Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,9

given me an opportunity I doubt I’d have found anywhere else. He brought me in and taught me everything about the construction business, and treated me as an equal for the years leading up to his death.

At the time, I knew he had a son off at college, whom I’d met a couple times. But after Mr. McKinney passed and Case took over, we became friends pretty quickly. I knew Case didn’t want to leave school, but he wasn’t about to let his father’s legacy die. He’d walked in, learned like a motherfucker, and had worked his ass off every day since.

He was a great guy. Just like his dad.

And earlier in the year, when Rosie’s mom hit the road because she’d decided she wasn’t mother material, he was totally cool about my taking some time off to make sure the baby’s needs were taken care of.

And in an incredible turn of luck, my mother was willing to watch Rosie every day. What better arrangement is there? I mean, who can you trust your kid with more than your mother? Rosie might have to grow up without a mom, but her grandmother was filling that role like she was made for it. When one door closes, another opens and all that.

But that didn’t lessen the sting of Rosie’s mom bailing on the two of us. I’d never understand how a parent could abandon their kid. Or their partner, for that matter. There had been some dark days for a while, but I thought they were behind me now. For the most part, anyway.

“So did Case tell you his news?” Mrs. McKinney chirped.

I looked between the two of them. “What news?”

She slapped her thigh. “I knew it! He’s embarrassed.”

Case’s lips were pressed into a thin line.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Really, Mom?” Case started to say.

But there was no stopping her.

“Case was voted Most Eligible Bachelor,” she said, beaming.

Case was not beaming. “Mom, can we not do this?” he hissed.

I held my breath to avoid laughing.

“Yeah, I heard, Mrs. McKinney. You must be so proud.”

Case scowled at me again.

Mrs. McKinney waved him off. “Oh, Case, relax. Anyway, one more thing before I go. Now that I think about it, please tell me you’re not taking the job at the old Buckner house. I just don’t think it’s a good move for the company now that I’ve seen those photos.”

“Why—” I started to ask.

“The girl has no money,” she interrupted. “We can’t take on charity cases.”

How did she know about the woman’s financial situation? Oh wait, this was Mrs. McKinney. She knew everybody’s business.

This was quite a departure from the way her husband had run the business. Bless him, he couldn’t say no to anybody.

“I hear what you’re saying, Mom. And maybe if Dad hadn’t done so many jobs like this, we wouldn’t be up to our ears in debt. But this woman is in a bind. I want to help her.”

Mrs. McKinney got to her feet. “All right, Case. I don’t think it’s a good idea, but it’s up to you. Just remember this when you turn down a profitable project for this. We all know helping people does not pay the bills. No matter how pretty those people are.”

7

ALDEN PIERCE

“Here’s a key to the house, and my deposit.”

Our new client Esme handed Case a check and me the key.

She was pretty. Mrs. McKinney hadn’t been exaggerating. Funky too, in her old school dress and Converse Chucks.

And when Case stared at the check for a moment too long, I glanced at it and saw it was for one thousand dollars.

Guess he hadn’t told her deposits are usually in multiples of thousands of dollars.

She smiled proudly. “I know you said no deposit was required, but I had some money from… well, wedding gifts, and I wanted to pay you so this was a fair deal for you, too.”

Crap, she was cute. So sincere and without an ounce of guile. You didn’t see a lot of that in this business with all the entitlement out there. People are suspicious of builders. I guess because there are so many crappy ones, that when they do find someone to work with, they’re just waiting to get screwed over. The relationship starts off on the defensive. It’s a vicious cycle.

This project was… different.

While Esme and Case went on discussing it, I marveled over just how attractive she really was with her long, thick hair, curvy as shit figure, and perfect sly smile.

I hadn’t dated much—correct that, at