isn’t about the deck. Do you think I’m blind and stupid?”
Okay, now he knew where they were at.
“What is it you want me to say?” he asked defensively, and when Jake’s eyes went wide, he knew he needed to tone down his attitude. “I know what we talked about before and how I needed to be objective, and I have. I have kept you up to date with everything I’ve been doing here and I haven’t added anything extra that wasn’t already in the plans.”
Jake nodded.
“But what I do in my personal time is my business,” he stated firmly and mentally crossed his fingers that this was all going to end well.
“That’s something I completely agree with you on,” Jake began reasonably. “However, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t insult my intelligence by telling me nothing’s going on between you and Sydney.”
Stiffening at the implication, Kyle said, “Again, what I do in my personal time, is my business.”
Jake took another step toward him. “And I’m telling you that in this instance, you seem to be blurring the lines between personal time and work time! I let it slide when I thought I interrupted something going on between the two of you that first day I stopped by, but we’re two for two now, Kyle. I don’t believe for one minute you just happened to stop by this morning with breakfast so you can look at the deck! You look like you just rolled out of bed!”
“So what if I did?” he yelled. “It’s a Sunday morning and I’m not on the clock!”
“Right now you’re not. But how do I know what the hell you’re doing here while I’m paying you? For all I know, you’re just screwing around here and taking the time that I’m paying you to be messing around with your girlfriend!” He muttered a curse. “I trusted you! I genuinely trusted you, and this is how you thank me?” Now he began to pace. “Is this something I’m going to have to worry about if I send you on other residential jobs? Are you going to try to sleep with all the clients?”
It took everything Kyle had in him not to punch him in the face. Unfortunately, he knew that would only make things worse. And as much as he tried to think of something to say to respond without being equally insulting, he was momentarily stumped.
That’s when he heard someone clear their throat.
A female someone.
Both he and Jake turned and saw Sydney standing on the deck stairs looking none too pleased.
Shit…
Glaring at him hard, Kyle found he was a little intimidated. The only comfort he took was that Jake looked just as uncomfortable as he did.
When she stepped off the last step, Sydney came and stood between them—hands on her hips and looking like she was ready to kick both their asses.
“Okay,” she began firmly, “I want to start by saying how incredibly insulting this entire conversation is.”
“Sydney, I’m…” Jake began, but she completely ignored him.
“For your information, Jake, I am not the kind of woman who takes advantage of others. This entire home renovation thing has been an incredibly emotional time for me, and I have like…oh, I don’t know…a thousand things on my plate and none of them involve having sex with Kyle while he’s here working!”
“Okay, but…”
She stepped directly in front of him. “You and I grew up in this town together, Jake! I realize you’re older than me, but you ask anyone here in Magnolia, and they’ll tell you I am someone who plays by the rules—no matter what! I am trying very hard to come to grips with all the ways my life has been torn apart. I’ve lost my sister and my brother-in-law, and now I’m trying to raise their daughter. I had to give up the life I had up in Boston to come here and essentially start over. Do you have any idea what that’s like? The kind of mental, physical, and emotional toll that takes?” Her voice got louder with each word. “Well? Do you?”
“Um, no. But…”
“No!” she cried. “No buts! Every single day is a struggle for me. Every day I have to figure out how to care for a grieving twelve-year-old girl while dealing with my own grief. And every day, I am trying to learn an entirely new job so I can afford to keep us both alive!” She took a steadying breath before going on. “And if all that wasn’t enough, I’ve