Chapter 19

CHAPTER19

God, she was adorable when she was pissed, Cole couldn’t help but notice as he watched the small teenage girl sitting across from him struggle with the need to grab the napkin holder and-

“I vote yes,” his partner in crime said with a firm nod and a sip of her juice box.

“Never going to happen,” Chloe said with a glare that was just too damn adorable for words.

“It’s a good deal,” Cole pointed out.

“It really is,” Katie murmured in agreement as she shifted her attention to the box of crayons that she’d grabbed for this meeting.

“No, it’s not,” Chloe said, her glare never leaving him as she folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.

“Then, what’s the plan?” Cole asked, even as he found himself wondering what the hell he was thinking. He should be at the dance finding out why Amanda Johnson couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him during English class, but…

He didn’t like the idea of leaving the teenage girl whose gaze was now shifting between him and the baseball bat by the door alone on another Saturday night. She needed him, Cole thought with a heartfelt sigh as he was forced to reach over and gently tap the girl, who seemed to have anger issues, on her nose to draw her attention back to him.

“I’m going to need you to focus here,” Cole said as he dropped his hand away and helped himself to her Coke as he waited for her to agree to this plan so that they could get started.

“And I’m going to need you to drop this,” Chloe said as she got up and made her way to the cabinet, where she grabbed a box of microwave popcorn.

“And I’m trying to help,” Cole said, wondering why she was being so goddamn stubborn about this.

“We don’t need your help,” Chloe said as she put a popcorn packet in the microwave.

“We need a car,” Katie said as she climbed off her chair and made her way to the refrigerator and grabbed the chocolate milk.

“We have a car,” Chloe pointed out as she grabbed a large bowl from the cabinet.

“It doesn’t work, which is why my deal is perfect,” Cole pointed out as he got up and helped Katie pour a glass of chocolate milk.

“Cole,” Chloe began with a heavy sigh as she grabbed the bag of popcorn out of the microwave and dumped it in the bowl, “we’re not a charity case.”

“This isn’t charity,” Cole said, even as he had to admit that he had no idea what this was, but he knew that she wasn’t a charity case.

At least, that’s not how he saw her anymore.

Once upon a time, he’d been completely oblivious when it came to the girl next door, but now, she was one of his best friends and it killed him knowing how hard everything was for her. She just…

Christ, she deserved better than this.

“Then, what is it?” Chloe asked, throwing him a curious look as she grabbed the large bowl of popcorn and followed Katie into the living room, leaving him with no choice but to follow her.

“A deal that benefits both of us,” Cole said as he dropped down on the overstuffed couch next to Katie and helped himself to a handful of popcorn while he watched the stubborn teenage girl who refused to see how perfect this plan was.

“How exactly does this plan benefit me?” Chloe asked, blinking as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“You get a working car,” Cole pointed out, wondering why she was being so damn difficult about this.

“And you?” she asked in a tone that did not properly convey the overwhelming gratitude that she should be feeling at the moment as she crossed her arms back over her chest.

“Get all my needs met,” Cole said, shrugging it off as he helped himself to some popcorn.

Nodding slowly, Chloe asked, “By making me be at your beck and call?”

Wondering why she didn’t see the beauty in this arrangement, Cole shook his head as he released a long-suffering sigh and said, “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

“Then, how would you put it?”

“An exchange of services,” he said with a solemn nod.

“I see,” Chloe murmured absently as she narrowed her eyes as she considered him. “Break this plan of yours down for me again.”

“He fixes our car and you do whatever he wants for the rest of the year,” his partner in crime said around a handful of popcorn.

Nodding slowly, Chloe said, “So, your asinine plan is to change the battery on our Jeep in exchange for me doing whatever you want for the next nine months?”

“There’s a little more to it than that,” Cole pointed out, even as he debated doing this another way, but…

This was for her own good.

“I’m all ears,” Chloe said, gesturing for him to get on with it before going back to folding her arms over her chest so that she could glare at him.

“First of all, the Jeep needs more than just a new battery,” Cole began as he reached over and helped himself to Katie’s chocolate milk and finished it off. “The belts and several wires need to be replaced, the gas needs to be removed, the oil changed, the brakes need to be replaced, the AC needs to be recharged, your back tire has dry rot and needs to be replaced, and it needs to be converted from a manual transmission to an automatic so that you can drive it.”

“And how much is that going to cost?” Chloe asked as Katie looked from her empty cup to him and back again before grumbling and reluctantly getting up and heading back to the kitchen.

“I could probably do it for fifteen hundred dollars,” Cole said, watching her expression turn calculating.

“And if I brought the Jeep to a mechanic?” Chloe asked, looking lost in thought.

“That would probably cost you three times as much,” he said, watching as she slowly nodded.

“You should just say yes,” Katie said as she climbed back onto the couch with a fresh cup of chocolate milk.

“What if I got a job and paid you instead?” Chloe asked as her gaze shifted to Katie.

“We could do that…” Cole said, purposely letting his words trail off.

“But getting a job’s going to be a problem,” Chloe muttered absently as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, seeming to think it over while Cole sat there, congratulating himself on coming up with the perfect solution to their problem.

She was a pain in his ass.

She was always so damn stubborn and so goddamn determined to do this all on her own. She never let him help her, refused to even consider asking for help, and now…

He had her exactly where he wanted her.

Chloe knew it judging by the way that her eyes narrowed on him as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth while she debated her options, which, if he was correct, weren’t that many. She could either take him up on his offer or continue struggling to hold it together and that just wasn’t going to work for him.

Not anymore.

She would probably hate him, but he was good with that, Cole decided as he helped himself to a handful of popcorn while he waited for her to finish debating her next move. When she grumbled incoherently to herself a moment later, he had to force himself to bite back a smile, knowing that it would only piss off the adorable teenage girl glaring at him.

So, instead, Cole helped himself to another handful of popcorn, and after deciding to give her another moment when he realized that her gaze was now flickering between him and the fire poker leaning against the wall, he got up and headed back to the kitchen. After helping himself to a bag of chocolate chip cookies that she’d hidden behind the box of oatmeal, Cole made his way to the fridge and-

“What’s the plan?”

-couldn’t help but smile as he grabbed a Coke.

“I’m glad you asked,” Cole murmured, taking his time opening the Coke and took a sip while he considered her for a moment. When her right eye twitched along with that delicate muscle in her jaw, he decided that he’d dragged this out long enough.

“I’ll cover the parts and do the repairs with a twenty percent markup to cover my time in exchange for one hour of your time for every ten dollars doing whatever I want,” Cole said, watching as her gaze turned calculating.

“Ten percent markup, twenty dollars an hour, and I get veto power on every disturbing request that brings you one step closer to being buried alive in that shallow grave that Katie’s been working on all summer,” Chloe said as she folded her arms over her chest and went for an intimidating glare that was just too goddamn adorable for words.

Absently nodding, Cole took a sip of Coke as he made a show of thinking that over. “Twenty percent markup, twenty dollars an hour, and you can have two vetoes, and now you can also make me a sandwich to make up for hurting my feelings,” he countered, watching as she narrowed her beautiful blue eyes on him.

“Hurting your feelings?” Chloe repeated back slowly as she continued glaring at him.

“For the shallow grave comment,” Cole said with a sad shake of his head and a long-suffering sigh. “It was hurtful.”

Chloe opened her mouth, most likely to explain in minute detail how she was going to drag his body out back, only to end up closing her eyes in defeat and slowly exhale when Katie yelled, “Deal!” from the other room.

“I knew that I should have locked her in a closet for this meeting,” Chloe said, reaching up to rub her temples with her fingertips.

“You really should have.”