12. Chapter Twelve

"Die, duck, die."

I'd gotten off track. The rubber ducks were still living in my house because the downstairs bathroom had called my name. Now that it had been demolished, I was back at the ducks.

This was why it took me years to finish a house. Undoubtedly, a squirrel or broken tile would distract me again.

The doorbell rang as I was preparing to launch a full-scale attack on the duck that had been giving me the side-eye for a solid week. I tossed down my scraper and wiped my hands on my athletic shorts on my way to let Daisy in.

Swinging the door open, I found my helper standing there, her hands crammed in the pockets of an oversized black hoodie.

"Hello, Cupcake."

"Cupcake?" she repeated drolly. "I can handle Daisy-daze, but Cupcake?"

"I know for a fact I've called you that multiple times and you haven't complained. Now that we're exclusive, you're trying to change me?"

She stomped her little booted foot. "You can't nickname me after my job. It would be like if I called you…I don't know, Spreadsheet. That would be weird."

Reaching out, I grabbed the front of her hoodie and tugged her into my house. She stumbled over the door jamb and caught herself on my chest. Taking her by the shoulders, I steadied her until she shook me off.

"You can't start complaining before you've even left my front porch."

"Is that the rule?"

"It is in this house. There's no complaining inside either." I smiled down at her, pleased she'd shown up. Once she'd left my office yesterday, I had begun to doubt she'd go along with my plan after she put some thought into it, but here she was.

Without warning, she jabbed me in the sternum with her cute little finger. "Landry told me what you did."

"What did I do?"

She poked me again. "That card you gave her had a voucher for a weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast. That was…"

"Kind? Thoughtful? Generous?"

She growled through gritted teeth. "Yes, Miles. All those things. Why did you do that?"

"She didn't like it?"

I was rewarded with an epic eye roll. "Of course she liked it. It was kind, thoughtful, and generous. She and Tom really needed an excuse to take time with each other." One more poke. "My whole family loves you, by the way."

"Cool. I didn't do it to buy their love, you know."

"Then why did you? That's an over-the-top present for someone you hadn't even met at that point."

Something ugly crawled across my brain. An age-old neediness reared its ugly head. Had I given Landry that gift to get her to like me? It wouldn't have been the first time.

"If she doesn't want it, tell her to toss it or give it away." I pinched the bridge of my nose and turned away. "It's fine. I get it."

Crossing the room, I picked up my scraper and pointed out the supplies to Daisy without looking at her. "There's another scraper for you. You can work on that side of the room."

Her footsteps were careful yet audible on the old, creaking boards. She stopped next to me, her hands on her hips.

"Hey, Miles?"

I cast her a glance. "Hey, Daisy."

"Remember me telling you about the shitty way my family has been treated?"

"Of course."

She situated herself between me and the wall, putting us as face-to-face as our height difference allowed.

"That's what we're used to—what I'm used to. When someone does something nice for no discernable reason, it makes me suspicious." Her toe tapped mine. "You didn't deserve that. Sorry for being a dick. Landry and Tom love your gift. I happen to know she already has a thank you note in the mail on the way to you. You did a good job."

"I go overboard."

"I can't accept nice things, even when they're not given to me. We're quite a pair." She kicked my shoe again. "I bet you're rethinking the whole fake dating thing, huh?"

"Not for a second." I held up the scraper between us. "You're not getting out of your job."

Grabbing the scraper from me, she spun to face the wall and gasped. "What the hell is this? There are ducks on your wall."

"I know, and you're going to help me kill them all." I had to stop myself from smacking her ass. She deserved it, but I didn't think she'd take too kindly to me doing it. "Get to work, Cupcake."

Glancing at me over her shoulder, she saluted me with the scraper. "Ay, ay, Spreadsheet."

Daisy turned on music while we worked on my walls. We sang to Tracy Chapman and Sheryl Crow, then I taunted her about her taste in music, so she turned on Liz Phair to drown me out. For a while, it was like a nineties Lilith Fair in my living room.

Then we got hungry. I ordered subs for us, and when they arrived, we kicked back on the deck. I picked the music—my "chill vibe" playlist—and lowered it so we could talk and hear the night sounds while we ate.

I nodded at her bottle of water. "Sorry I don't have anything stronger to offer."

She raised it to her lips. "No worries. I wouldn't have turned down a pink lemonade, but that's as strong as I drink."

"Pink lemonade? That's specific."

"I know what I like."

"You don't drink alcohol? At all?"

"No." She wiped her mouth with her napkin and slid her gaze my way. "This is between us."

"Anything you say is between us. You don't have to ask."

"My dad is an alcoholic. He hasn't had a drop to drink in almost twenty years, but I can still remember him stumbling around our family room when I was little." She turned her water bottle in a half circle on her knee. "Once he got sober, we never had alcohol in the house. I tried it a few times in college, but I hate being hungover, and being drunk isn't really my thing either."

Something thick coated my throat. I had to clear it a couple times before I could respond.

"I don't drink either."

She looked up from her water, her eyes darting back and forth between mine. "You're sober?"

I nodded once. "Nine months ago."

Her lips parted, and out of nowhere, she reached over and slapped my leg. "What the hell were you doing working at High Bar?"

"Nick needed a favor."

She tried to slap me again, but I caught her hand and squeezed it. That earned me a scowl, little lines pulling her mouth down.

"That was so dumb, Miles."

"Yeah. Not my finest moment or best thinking."

Wiggling her hand free, she picked up her water bottle and crumpled it in her tight grip. "Nick would have still been your friend if you'd turned him down."

I shrugged. "I wasn't thinking whether he would be or not when I said yes."

She looked me directly in the eye. "You go overboard, right?"

"Yeah." I shoved my fingers through my hair. I liked Nick, but he wasn't someone I'd lay down my life for. Yet, when he'd asked, I'd only considered how he would've felt if I'd said no, not what saying yes could have cost me.

"If I see you at High Bar again, I'll have Duke bodily remove you."

"Got it, Cupcake. No more risking my sobriety. Thanks for caring."

Nodding once, she rolled her lips over her teeth. After a moment or two, she reached over again, but I didn't get a slap this time. Grabbing my hand, she gave it a firm squeeze.

"Congratulations on nine months. What an accomplishment."

I almost downplayed it, but her intense expression stopped me. There wasn't an ounce of sarcasm in her congratulations, and when I let it settle, it felt pretty damn great to have my nine months acknowledged. Not many people in my life knew about it. I was glad Daisy was now one of them.

"Thanks, Daisy-daze. Cool of you to say so."

"I'm sending my dad your way if I see you being stupid," she threatened, and it warmed lonely parts of my heart.

If we didn't change the topic, I was going to do something more embarrassing than admitting the depths of my failures as a human to the woman I was supposed to be guiding.

"Got it." I nodded toward the food in her lap. "Eat your sandwich."

She put down her water and took a big bite of her turkey sub. It was fascinating how much she could fit in her mouth.

"Did you just unhinge your jaw?" I asked, making her sputter and choke. I quickly held out her water, but she waved me off while pounding on her chest, getting ahold of herself.

"Miles," she gasped.

"You opened it so wide."

She covered her eyes and laughed. "Can't I eat in peace?"

"Go ahead. I'm not going to risk you choking again."

Peeking at me from between her fingers, her mouth curved in a small smile. "I take big bites."

I chuckled. "I noticed. Sorry for shaming you, it was just shocking. I'm glad you're comfortable enough around me to go to town on your sub that way."

"Since this is a fake relationship, I figured I didn't have to impress you. Besides, I don't have the mental energy to be anything other than myself right now."

"Why would you want to be?"

"I just mean, if you and I were really dating, we'd be in the honeymoon phase where I'd only want you to see my attractive qualities."

My forehead crinkled from how high I raised my brows. "You think being able to unhinge your jaw isn't an attractive quality?"

A laugh burst out of her, taking me off guard. I hadn't known Daisy Dunham capable of such effusive laughter. All the weight she carried rolled off her shoulders as they shook with her giggles.

I mentally added a new goal to my objective with Daisy: make her laugh like that as many times as I could before the end of our agreement.