Page 42 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)

Gabe

Gretchen was in tears within five minutes of my story, and I’m man enough to admit a little water leaked down my cheeks when I talked about the things that Jake did that reminded me of Bodhi.

She squeezed my hand when she said, “I’m so sorry, Gabe. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been—how it must still be.”

“Thank you. I’m working on trying to focus on the good memories. I went back to my therapist after how shaken up I was when I first met Jake. Obviously, I hadn’t dealt with it as well as I’d thought.”

“I’m sure meeting Jake had to have been a shock to begin with.”

“I’ll admit—that was a surprise. Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

She shrugged. “Why would I have? We both agreed it was a weekend-only fling. I didn’t see the point. Especially after what you said about how crazy your brother was for starting over. I knew we didn’t have a future.”

She wasn’t wrong, yet I didn’t like hearing it out loud.

“I understand.” I broke into a grin. “Kind of. Just so you know, it wouldn’t have mattered; I still would have wanted to spend the weekend with you if you’d told me you have a son.”

“You say that now…”

“I would have said it then, too. ”

That was true. I would have still wanted to sleep with her. The only difference if I’d known about Jake is I probably wouldn’t have considered dating her.

And I wasn’t even entirely sure about that.

“Well, I won’t make that mistake again. I will be forthcoming next time.”

It took me a second to realize she was talking about the next guy she slept with. I didn’t like that.

At all.

Yet, I knew there wasn’t a damn thing I could say about it, considering our circumstances.

She touched my hand.

“Thank you for telling me about Bodhi. I know it must not have been easy for you.”

“It wasn’t. But you deserved to know why I reacted the way I did. It had nothing to do with you or Jake.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

We sat in awkward silence for a beat before I asked, “How about we have a glass of wine while we talk about my proposal for your cabinets?”

“Oh,” she replied breathlessly. “Okay.”

I noticed her nipples went stiff again under her pajama top and wondered what was up with that.

It wasn’t like I was mad about it. Just the opposite, as I subtly adjusted my semi in my pants when I stood to follow her to the kitchen.

She pulled out the open bottle of Riesling I’d noticed in her refrigerator earlier, and I grabbed two wine glasses from her cupboard and set them on the counter .

There seemed to be a slight quiver in her hand as she poured the wine and handed me a glass.

“So, what did you have in mind?”

I swirled the contents of the glass as I spoke.

“I think I found a way we can help each other out.”

She drew a quick breath before saying, “Oh?”

“I can install your cabinets myself after work and on the weekends in exchange for…” I took a swallow of the Riesling and noticed her pupils dilate. “You tutoring Brayden.”

She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head like she was confused, and her tone was clipped when she repeated back, “You want me to tutor your son in exchange for installing my cabinets? That’s your proposition?”

“Yeah, Brayden’s grades have started to slip, so he’s in jeopardy of becoming ineligible to play. I thought we could barter your specialty for my specialty.”

She reiterated. “ That’s what you wanted to talk to me about? Tutoring ?”

“Is that bad?”

“No, I, um, I just wasn’t expecting that.”

“What were you expecting?”

“I-I—” she stammered. “I don’t know. Not that.”

Gretchen didn’t jump at the idea, which surprised me, so I tried to spell out what that would mean for her.

“It’d save you about ten thousand dollars.”

She chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at the countertop, like she was lost in thought before murmuring, “That would help my bottom line after it closes. ”

“What do you mean? You wouldn’t have to put a contractor’s lien on your house.”

Her eyes finally met mine.

“While I really appreciate you making an exception for me and letting me make payments, I still can’t afford the monthly amount Shelly sent.

And that didn’t even include installation.

It’s almost a whole week of wages for me.

No matter how much I cut from my budget, I can’t allocate twenty-five percent of my income for the next three years on cabinets. ”

I felt like an ass. I hadn’t thought the terms through when I’d rattled them off to Shelly. Of course, Gretchen couldn’t make that kind of payment.

“How much can you afford?”

She hemmed and hawed before finally saying, “I think the most I could swing would be three hundred, so, obviously it’s not going to work.”

“We’ll change the contract to three hundred a month.”

Gretchen put her hand on her hip, like she didn’t trust me.

“Just like that?”

“Yeah. I am the owner. I can do that.”

“I thought you had to talk to your brother.”

“He’s my partner, so he’s included on important decisions.”

“And you think your brother would be okay with you giving me an interest-free loan for…” She paused and looked at the ceiling while she moved her lips while writing something in the air before continuing. “Over seven years?”

“Yeah.”

“ And you’d install the cabinets in exchange for tutoring your son?”

“Yeah. It’s a win-win.”

She scoffed. “Just how long do you want me to tutor him for?”

I shrugged. “Maybe the rest of this semester and his first semester next year.”

“And how often?”

“I dunno. A couple of hours once or twice a week and maybe every other Saturday or Sunday, depending on our schedules.”

Her gaze went to the sky as she did more calculations, then she shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay. If that’s too much time for you—”

“That’s not it. But it’s not going to work.”

“Why? You’re getting a good deal.”

“Exactly. I’m getting too good a deal. I don’t want your charity.”

“How do you figure you’re getting too good a deal?”

“At twenty hours a month, it should take at least three years of tutoring, if not four. Not a semester and a half.”

I cut her off. “Three years? Where do you get three years? Ten thousand dollars divided by sixty dollars an hour is…” I did the quick math in my head.

“A little over one hundred and sixty hours. At twenty hours a month, that’s only eight months.

Okay, so maybe a little into his second semester of eighth grade. ”

She snorted. “You think I make anywhere close to sixty dollars an hour for tutoring? ”

“I don’t know, but you should.”

“I don’t disagree with you, but I don’t even make half that.”

“Well, for the purpose of our bartering, that’s what you’re charging.”

Gretchen opened and closed her mouth like she wanted to argue, then finally said, “Okay, even if I did agree to that rate, there’s still the matter of you giving me an interest-free loan for over seven years, when you’ve never let anyone make payments before.”

“We’re exploring if we want to make that an option. You’re our beta test to see how it would work.”

I was proud of myself for saying it with a straight face.

I still hadn’t told Mav we were accepting payments from her.

I knew he wouldn’t fight me on the deal—especially since he knew she wasn’t just any client, but I doubted he’d go for us making it a regular thing with anyone else.

Although, we probably could charge more if we did.

It was something to explore and at least discuss with my brother.

So, in a way, she really was our beta test. I was just discounting our services for the privilege of a payment plan instead of upselling them.

Minor detail.

Looking at her pretty face, I had zero regrets.

****

Gretchen

So, Gabe wasn’t interested in sex for the cupboard installation and instead wanted me to tutor his son. Something that was totally appropriate and in my wheelhouse.

I had no idea why I’d felt a tinge of disappointment at his offer. Of course he wasn’t going to suggest I sleep with him in exchange for the cabinets to be installed.

And if he’d had—there was no way I’d have agreed.

Liar! the devil on my shoulder screamed.

The angel chimed in. We’ll never know, will we?

I swear Gabe had been trying to flirt with me earlier, but then he panicked and left again, leaving me more confused than ever.

Except now I understood why, and my heart broke for him.

While I didn’t want to be a charity case, I wanted my son to grow up in Lancastle more, so I was willing to swallow my pride if it meant we didn’t have to move.

“So, if we do this, when do you want to get started?”

“I can start demoing the kitchen Friday after work.”

I winced at the word demo .

“How long will I be without a kitchen if you’re going to do this in your spare time? I can’t really afford to eat out every day for months on end.”

“I’m hoping to have things operational in less than a month. In the meantime, I can help you move the refrigerator and microwave into your formal dining room. I know it’s not ideal, but you’d at least be able to prepare a few things in a clean room. ”

“I’ll be without a sink, too, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I recommend paper plates.”

I wasn’t looking forward to that, and it must have shown on my face because he continued, “I’ll try to get here as often as I can. I promise.”

“Are you going to bring Brayden with you when you come this weekend?”

“I will if that works for you.”

“Yeah. Just let me know what time.”

“I will.”

He drained his wine glass and rinsed it out in the sink before putting it in the dishwasher.

Which reminded me…

“Thank you for cleaning up tonight. I really appreciate it.”

“And I appreciate you making me dinner, so it was the least I could do.”

“Anytime. As long as it’s not lasagna.”

That made him chuckle, then he said, “You should try it one more time before abandoning it altogether.”

“I think it’s cursed. Besides, I won’t have an oven for a while.”

“When your kitchen is done, then.”

“Maybe.”

We stood in awkward silence until he nodded toward the direction of the front door.

“I probably should get going.”

Even though I had to get up for school in the morning, I was disappointed at the idea of him leaving. I enjoyed being around him .

Still, I walked him toward the door without argument.

“Do you think you’ll be here all weekend?”

“It’s my weekend with the kids, but they’re spending Friday night with friends, so I was thinking I’d come Friday evening, Saturday morning before Brayden’s lacrosse game, and then on Sunday afternoon, I’ll bring Brayden with me, if that works for you.”

I thought of how I could get Jake out of the house during those times.

“That works great.”

He offered me a smile when he put his hand on the doorknob.

“Thanks for letting me come back.”

“Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about Bodhi.”

“I owed you that.”

I shook my head. “You don’t owe me anything. We’re not dating.”

I think I was reminding myself about that, too.

“I know we’re not dating, but we were intimate. Not only that, you’re a client. You deserved an explanation for why I freaked out on you twice.”

I wasn’t sure what being a client had to do with anything, but I replied, “I’m honored you shared that with me.”

Gabe opened the door then paused before he stepped out.

“I’ll have Shelly send you a revised contract with the updated terms.”

“I’ll look for it.”

He gave a wave and left .

With my hand on the doorframe, I watched him head toward his truck. When he was about ten steps down the walk, I called out, “Gabe?”

He turned around with raised brows. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for helping me keep my house. You have no idea how much it means to me.”

The corners of his mouth lifted.

“I’m glad I could help.”

I closed the door feeling incredibly grateful, and yet a little sad. But I couldn’t explain why.