He sent a subpar material but charged us for the premium product we ordered. The imbecile wouldn’t dream of pulling something like that on Donny.” I shake off my irritation. “Anyway, I need to get to work. Thanks for the ride, Duke, and it was nice to meet you.”
The two men exchange a look, each pull out a stool, and sit down at the island.
“What are you doing?”
Duke rests his elbows on the granite. “Getting a front row seat to the show.”
I laugh. “There’s not going to be a show. I’m only going to explain that we don’t do business that way.”
Cash matches Duke’s position. “Like we said, we’re here for the show.”
“You two are ridiculous.”
Cash shrugs. “Maybe.”
Duke nods. “Probably.”
A car door slams outside, and two of the three stooges grin and bump fists again.
Definitely ridiculous.
Nineteen
Cash
Duke and I are being casual, but the truth is, we’re here in case this guy gives Tiger a hard time.
“Tiger, Lou’s here.” The big man I accused Tiger of screwing around with—not my best moment—escorts a guy in khakis and a wrinkled button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow into the room.
“Hey, Lou. Thanks for coming by.”
Lou plops his tattered satchel onto the island. “I’ve already explained everything over the phone. I’m not sure why I had to make a trip all the way out here. Speaking of which, I saw your billboard on the way into town. Geez, somebody really doesn’t like you. A couple of your teeth are blacked out.”
I catch the flash of irritation on Tiger’s face, but Lou must’ve missed it because he keeps talking. “Anyway, I hope this doesn’t take long. I’m a very busy man.”
This guy’s only been in the room for a minute, and I already hate him. What a dick.
Tiger doesn’t react to this douchewad’s comments, only reaches into the box and withdraws a piece of tile. “Lou, this isn’t what I ordered, and you know it—”
“I’ll be damned.” The guy turns his back on Tiger and extends his hand to me. “If it isn’t the Bullet himself. I’m a huge fan.”
I take it and he pumps it up and down like he’s trying to get water from a dried-up well. I pull my hand away at the first opportunity. “It’s always good to meet a fan.” It’s my go-to response when I’m approached, but I can’t deny that I deliver it with less enthusiasm than normal. “This is Duke Wayne, my trainer.”
“Nice to meet the man who keeps this guy in the game.” Lou slaps my bad arm like we’re old friends.
Tiger exhales and extends her hand toward Lou. “Cash, this is Lou Howard, our tile sales rep. Lou, Cash is the new owner of the house.”
“Is that right?”
I can practically see dollar signs flash in the salesman’s eyes. I motion to Tiger. “Don’t let me interrupt. Y’all go ahead with your business.”
A smirk slides across Lou’s face like the grease of an oil slick. He puts his hand on one of Tiger’s crossed arms, but is still looking at me. “I’ve told Miss Tiger here that I understand how she could make the mistake of thinking she ordered one thing, but accidentally ordered another, but I promise this is the product she requested.” He lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper that’s loud enough for the whole room to hear. “The order forms are complicated, she probably got confused. Construction’s not really a woman’s game. Kind of like sportscasting isn’t a woman’s game either.” He winks at me. “Am I right?”
Is this guy for real? What 1950’s misogynistic hole did he crawl out of? I cross my arms over my chest, which I know is intimidating. “No.” Hadn’t I basically said the same thing to Donny yesterday, but somehow hearing someone else say it makes it sound like the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. “I believe Ms. Lyons was speaking to you.”
The guy’s shell-shocked face would be funny if I didn’t have the urge to rearrange it for him. He turns back to Tiger, and he’s still touching her arm. “As I was saying, you simply got confused when you placed the order, Miss Tiger.”
Miss Tiger doesn’t say a word, only stares at the guy’s hand until he removes it. When he does, she picks up a piece of paper from a folder she retrieved from the box. “Lou, I have every piece of correspondence and every purchase order for this job. I’ve highlighted our emails here”—she picks up another piece