Page 43 of Building Romance

“Everything OK?” I ask, reaching out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.

She lets out a long breath. “Phyllis forgot I changed the ordering system and under-ordered some ingredients and over-ordered others. She was trying to help, but now I have to fix it all. I think I got it mostly squared away.” She pauses as if she’s unsure if she should have even said all that to me.

I raise my hands. “We’re still on a truce. We’re on the same team for now. No judgments.”

She eyes me suspiciously and then sighs. “Fine. Anyhow, uh…” She trails off and looks down at her phone.

“Want a drink?” she asks.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” I stammer as I look around. There’s a local pub about a block away and I assume that’s where we’re going, so I start in that direction.

She laughs. “No. Not Joe’s. Follow me.” She motions across the street and I follow her into Al’s building. We walk up a ridiculous amount of steps and then out onto the rooftop.

I stop as I take it in. I’ve been up here but it’s been years. And it wasn’t like this. I look at the covered bar and seating area, a lounge area with a few chairs, a fire pit, a hot tub, and a greenhouse.

“Wow,” I manage, my voice breathy from walking up all the steps.

“Yeah. It’s impressive, right?”

I nod.

She pats my back. “You need to work out more.”

I glare at her and she grins. Al sees me and waves me over. I recognize Hutch immediately. He eyes me like he can’t decide if I’m a foe or a friend.

A few other men are sitting near him. One with a little girl on his lap. Four women sit talking at a table with two older women and a couple my parents’ age.

“Everyone, this is Fletcher. He’s helping me with the competition, so be nice,” Camryn says.

I get a lot of interesting looks. Some of them clearly hate me already and others can’t seem to make up their mind.

“What’ll it be?” Al asks.

“Do you have whiskey?” I ask.

He nods and pours me two fingers. I accept the glass with a nod.

“Who are you?” the little girl asks.

“He’s what we call a wanker, Ava,” Drew says from the door. I turn to see him coming out from the stairs.

“Unca Bray, what’s a wanker?” she asks the man whose lap she sits on. He tries not to laugh.

“A naughty word, Ava,” he says.

“I think it’s spot-on,” a larger man next to him mutters into his beer as Drew walks over to us.

Camryn whacks both Drew and the man on the back of the heads.

“Hey,” Drew says. “Watch the hair.”

The other man just glares at her. She sticks her tongue out and accepts a martini from Al.

“This is Kasen,” she says, swatting the man’s head again. He looks like someone who kills people, so I decide to be extra nice.

“Nice to meet you,” I say.

He looks me up and down. “Yeah,” he mutters.