stood ramrod straight and waited for the backlash.
“Does she know that you’re paying for this?”
Silently, Kyle shook his head.
With another curt nod, Jake looked around. “Is everything else still on track? All the materials ordered for the work upstairs?”
“It is.”
“Okay then.” Walking out of the room, Jake headed toward the stairs. “I’d like you to join Pastor Steve and me on Monday. He was curious about an update and I figure you should be involved in it. We’re meeting for breakfast at eight at the church.”
“I’ll be there.”
It wasn’t until he heard Jake call out a goodbye to Sydney and the front door close that Kyle let himself breathe.
“Figure on the boxes of books arriving by the end of next week and my publicist is going to send you the links to all the software programs and websites you’ll need for postage, graphics, my newsletter, and then the tutorials on how to do social media ads,” Mia said before she let out a long breath. “Am I going too fast? Are you sure you’re going to be ready for all of this? Because if you need more time, just say so.”
“My office space isn’t ready yet, but I’m hoping by the end of the week it will be. Kyle’s probably going to start on it tomorrow. We thought it would be best to get Haley’s space set up first. In another few weeks, she’ll be back at school, but the room downstairs is just going to help so much.”
“Sounds like you still have a lot going on. How’s the rest of the house coming?”
Sydney took a few minutes to talk about all the work that was done on the exterior and why it had to be done first and how they decided the rec room was really the smartest room to start with.
“I guess it makes sense,” Mia said after a moment. “It’s hard to believe so much time and energy goes into keeping a teen happy.”
“Well, in normal circumstances, we probably wouldn’t have had to do it this way. I thought the kitchen was going to be the first room we did. Still, once Kyle and I talked about it, we decided giving Haley a space would mean I’d get to start working sooner rather than later.”
“So…Kyle,” Mia began with a hint of amusement. “You’ve mentioned him quite a few times. Who is he? What’s he like?”
Groaning, Sydney walked down the hall to the guest room and shut the door to make sure no one would hear her.
“Do you remember me talking about Kyle Jones when we first met?”
“Oh, my God! That’s the Kyle who’s working on your house? Ugh…please tell me he’s grown up since then or that his life has been a miserable pit of hell since he was stupid enough to let you go.”
It was hard not to chuckle. “It didn’t seem like it at first, and then I sort of had a meltdown on him and things got a little better. And his life doesn’t seem the least bit hellish.”
“Well that’s disappointing.”
Sydney made a noncommittal sound.
“Did he get fat? Lose his hair?”
“Sadly, no.” Otherwise I wouldn’t have been kissing him senseless fifteen minutes ago.
“Still, I hope you’re being super demanding and making him work extra hard.”
Sydney loved how her friend was still outraged for her. “He’s actually been very nice. Sweet. And he’s great with Haley.”
“Oh? Oh, really,” Mia all but sang. “Do tell! Is he great with you too?” Sydney waited too long to respond and Mia jumped all over it. “He was pretty hot if I remember correctly. Is he still? Are you flirting with him? Is he flirting with you? Oh, my gosh…have you kissed him? Or slept with him?” she asked excitedly.
“Okay, reel it in before someone has to turn the hose on you,” Sydney said dryly. She thought about denying that anything happened, but…she really needed to talk to someone about it because she was still mildly freaking out. “I’m going to tell you something, but…”
“Oh, my God! You did! You slept with him!” Mia cried before laughing giddily.
“No! No, I did not!” she corrected. “We…we kissed. Just once…like today…but…”
“Seriously? That’s great!”
“Why?” she demanded, her annoyance obvious. “Two minutes ago, you were encouraging me to make him miserable!” She groaned. “You know I already have issues with him from the way our relationship ended, and I’ve already had multiple meltdowns in front of him, so…”
“And yet he still kissed you! Why aren’t you happier about this?”