Chapter 4

FOUR

Fuck.

I had to believe it was her at this point. There was no reason for all of this bad luck to be following me around. And lo and behold, there she was.

Hellcat.

Crazy on every level and here I was with no porch, aching balls, and that woman back in my life. I stared up at the breathtakingly blue sky. "Why?"

Of course there was no answer. And if there had been, I'd probably have ignored it, anyway.

The silt and stones of the rocky shore sifted under my boots as I stalked back and forth. The anger burned on low even on a good day, but the minute I'd glimpsed her again, it had ratcheted up to fifty, making me reckless.

I should have taken a minute to put up supports before I'd started hitting, but the energy was like a live wire inside of me. I had no outlet, no purpose, no grounding. I'd thought taking it out on the demolition would be safe.

And I'd almost hurt her.

Those huge espresso eyes full of passion, and a fair bit of impetuousness, had been haunting me since last night. The fact that she turned up here seemed like a lot of damn coincidence. Maybe the universe was messing with me, after all.

I didn't need her brand of crazy, no matter how soft and delicious she smelled. This time, there was no rain to dampen her attractiveness. Not that it had last night, either, which made me even more irate. First my truck, now she was in the vicinity of my house—and the damn thing had crashed around my ears.

Our ears.

Fuck.

Definitely the Universe taking a swing at me—again.

"Hey!"

I laced my fingers behind my head and stared out at the water, ignoring her.

"Don't ignore me when I'm trying to say thank you."

I turned to her. " Thank you ?"

I couldn't deny she kept me guessing. I never knew what she'd say next.

Nervously, she twisted her hair and draped it over one shoulder. "Yeah. I mean, it's your fault I almost got crushed by a ton of masonry and rotted wood, but I won't hold it against you, since you did push me out of the way."

I bent at the waist as a laugh jerked out of me, almost without my consent. "You are something else, lady."

"Dahlia."

As if I could forget her name. Of course, she'd be named after one of the more intriguing flowers out there. Dark, almost prickly, and the blooms so fragrant their scent stuck in your brain. They also required a whole lot of work—and sunlight.

How did I know this?

I'd looked up the flower when I couldn't sleep. Even with the drumbeat of the rain on the roof of my Airstream, I'd found myself scrolling far too late into the night.

She paused at the top of the hill and took off her shoe. She picked up a rock and whacked off the heel, then put it back on to match the other broken one. Then she resolutely picked her way down the rocky decline to my private beach. Her skirt was now ripped, showing off far too much leg for me to ignore.

Her arms were scraped up and a gash on her forearm was actively bleeding all over the rocks and sand.

"You're hurt."

She looked down. "Could be worse. That was a lot of porch that came down around our heads."

I sighed. "Yeah."

"If I wasn't here, you might have been more hurt, you know."

I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Is that right?"

"All that could have come down on your stupid head because you don't know what you're doing."

I whipped off my respirator and tossed it on the bench I'd bought to look out on the water. "I'm not a complete novice, Hellcat."

"Dahlia."

I just arched a brow at her.

She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I came here."

"So you keep telling me."

"I just so happen to own a design studio."

"How fortuitous for me."

Her lips twitched. "Isn't it? Look, I know you think I'm certifiable."

"Bet you'd look good in white."

She put her hands on her hips. "I look spectacular in white. With and without buckles."

I resisted the urge to laugh—barely. Instead, I gritted my teeth, waiting her out. She couldn't stop talking as far as I could tell from both of our interactions.

"This house is special. Let me help you bring it back to life."

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because I already love it. I'll do everything in my power to make it great again."

"And what? Take away all the character?"

"What? God, no." She twirled around to face the house and spread her arms out. All the lithe muscles of her arms were marred with long scrapes and made me swallow down a growl. She was battered and bleeding because of me. "Technically, it's a Victorian, but Harriette had a taste for Gothic romance. The dangerous angles of the roof with the iron, the twin towers with their turrets. Even the stone details that make up the arches...all of it is so beautiful."

All the things that had drawn me to Gothic churches and homes. I'd always loved the macabre. Something that me and my sister had always shared. When we used to speak to one another. Sometimes when we'd needed to get away from our dad and his rages, we'd hide under the blankets and watched Halloween just to block out the noises.

Each of us sharing an earbud with the volume turned way up.

I blinked away the memory as Dahlia spun back around. "I don't want to change anything."

"I wouldn't go that far. I want to add some modern touches." When she opened her mouth, I held up a finger. "It's my house. You're supposed to want to work with the client, aren't you?"

She closed her lips for a moment. "Of course." She skidded her way down the rest of the hill to where I was standing, her shoes pointing up ridiculously since they were now missing the four inches of heel. "I owe you for the truck and the save up there—even if it was your fault."

I gave her a bland stare.

"Well, it was. And I'm damn good at my job."

I knew she was. In my endless scrolling, I'd searched out her website. Designing Women was a relatively new firm, yet they already had a dozen high-end properties in their portfolio.

But she was pushy and made my blood boil more often than not. I just wanted peace.

There was nothing peaceful about Dahlia McKenna—I could feel that in my aching bones. She was pushy and opinionated, and while she talked a good game about working with me, I had a feeling she'd be anything but cooperative.

The wind off the water came up and blew her hair around her face and shoulders. Christ, she looked like a goddess with her torn up skin and ripped clothes. With her chocolate hair whipping around and her wild, dark eyes. Her high cheekbones and just a hair too pointy chin. Just imperfect enough to make me want to grab my sketchbook.

The sketchbook that was locked in a trunk at the bottom of a storage unit.

One I didn't want to take out, dammit. Ever.

"Not interested."

She grabbed my hand. "You are. I can see it in your eyes. You can't do this all yourself."

I twisted out of her hold. "I can."

"No, you can't. Do you have demolition training?"

"Who needs training to destroy?"

She folded her arms, winced and let her arms dangle at her side.

My gut clenched. "C'mon. Let me get you cleaned up. You're bleeding all over my freaking beach."

She looked down at the trail of blood on her forearm. "Fine."

I frowned down at her. "You agreed too easily."

"Just more time to convince you to hire me."

"You know what? Never mind. Go find a drug store and fix yourself up. Or go to Urgent Care and send me the bill."

"I've had worse scrapes on jobs, Mr..."

"Good, then you can see yourself out." I brushed by her and grabbed my mask before climbing back up the hill to the house.

She scrambled after me. "You need me."

"I do not."

"Do you have a carpenter? A landscaper, and two designers with five years of experience?"

"I can hire them. I can hire ten of them." I pulled the mask back on as I picked up the rotted post that I'd been beating the hell out of a little while ago. With a disgusted sigh, I flung it into the Dumpster.

"Who?"

I just gave her a hard look.

"Let me guess. Overpriced Donner? He'll give you a shit product and half-assed work."

Donner had been one of the names on my list. I wanted to try and give some local people jobs since I was now going to be part of the community. Even if I wanted to be left alone for the most part, I preferred to bring money into the town.

It had been my sister's town first. And I knew she loved it.

It was the least I could do after I'd left her alone. After I didn't believe in her.

"He works with Maitland. And he wants to take away the quiet of the lake."

I tore off the mask. "What are you blathering on about?"

"See all those signs?" She pointed across the lake. "Maitland Enterprises wants to make a row of condos and spas over there. Sure you want to work with them?"

"Progress comes whether we want it or not, Hellcat." But I didn't want that. I'd bought this house for the quiet. I didn't want tourists and rich assholes taking over the area.

This rich asshole just liked my space and not to make waves.

"Pete Donner just wants to make money. He'll take one look at you and this mansion and charge you triple for everything."

"Money is no object." Probably a dangerous thing to say, but it wasn't. I had more than I'd ever need for five houses. Five lifetimes.

She licked her lips. "I have the talent. Let me bring in my crew and we can write up a plan. If you don't like it, then I'll leave you alone." She fisted her hands. "If you don't have a budget, don't tell Donner that. He'll make you wish you didn't."

"And you won't?"

"Oh, I'll spend your money. And I'll make you cry sometimes with how much I'll spend. This is an old house, and it will need lots of work to bring it back to her old glory. But I'll do it correctly. I've been researching this house since the first second I saw it."

"That's why I don't want to hire you. You won't like my input."

"No, I'll prove to you that my knowledge is a strength."

I hauled up another huge piece of the shattered post and tossed it into the rapidly filling Dumpster. "It's my house. I'm not sure you can get that through your head."

She blocked me when I tried to go to pick another piece. "I know that. I was just surprised to see someone had bought it. It's not like I'd ever have been able to afford it without the help of the lottery, but this is the next best thing for me. You need me."

I went around her. "I don't need you or anyone."

"I'll change your mind. And I'll make sure she's grand again."

"I don't want to just pay someone to do it." I fisted my hands at my sides. "I want to be a part of it." I needed to be a part of it. I needed something to fill my days. They were eternal these days.

She chewed the inside of her cheek. "It will take a lot of people to get this done, so I'm sure we can find somewhere to put you so you can help out. We've had clients help out to keep the cost down. Not that this is exactly the same thing."

"Nonnegotiable."

She held out her hand. "Then we have an agreement, Mr... You gotta give me your name sooner or later."

I took her hand, and this time, I was prepared for the zing. I wasn't disappointed. Her softness was backed by steel as she shook my hand firmly. But there was a part of me that wanted to pull her in closer as much as I wanted to send her off the property and never see her again. "Nolan Devereaux."

Her eyes widened. "Devereaux?"

I was going to have to get used to that look. Crescent Cove was a small town, and my sister was a large part of it.

"Any relation to?—"

"Macy's my sister."

"Well, shit." She looked back at the house then to me. "That tracks. This job just got a helluva lot more interesting. I didn't think that was possible."

"Why is that?"

"Does Macy know you're in town?"

"She will." I let her hand go. "And I'm here to stay."

Whether my sister would be happy about that fact or not remained to be seen.