1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Jake

S weaty and covered in grime from the day's work, I pulled open the door to Hayes Restoration and Renovation headquarters, cool air rushing out to greet me. I'd recently joined the team at Hayes, a well-known construction company in the area that was under the leadership of Levi Hayes. Levi had hired me as his newest foreperson, and I had spent the day working on a nearby job site when I'd gotten a text from Levi that he wanted to talk to me about some things. I nodded to the receptionist as I entered and headed straight back to Levi's office. The door was open and he was looking intently at something on the computer monitor in front of him, fingers tapping away at the keyboard.

"Boss? You wanted to see me?"

Levi tore his gaze away from the screen and focused on me, waving me in. "Hey. Yeah, come on in and have a seat, why don't you? Shut the door, if you want."

"I'm not about to get fired, am I?" I asked with a grin.

Levi shook his head and chuckled. "Nothing like that. I just had a few things I wanted to talk to you about."

"Got it." I elected to leave the door open and took a seat across from his desk.

"Give me just a sec to finish this up," Levi said, turning back to his computer. He went back to typing, brow furrowed as his focus intensified.

When Levi finished, he turned back to me with a warm smile. "Sorry about that. How did it go with Jared and Mathias last week? They put an offer in, right?"

I nodded, wondering why he was asking me this. He had been friends with Jared for years, playing on a kickball team with him, and I was certain he'd heard about the pending sale already. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to getting started on the house as soon as the sale closes and they're ready."

"Speaking of that…" Levi inhaled and exhaled slowly before pointing at his computer monitor. "Here's the thing. We've been approached by a TV producer. He works for a network that wants to come to Port Grandlin and restore an old home. They're calling the show Heartland Overhaul . They tell me if the first one goes well, it has series potential, not that they're making any promises."

"What does this have to do with me?" I had a sinking feeling I already knew though.

"They asked me if Hayes would be the construction crew on site. The other option is to bring in their own crew, but this would come with some benefits we wouldn't otherwise get."

I raised one eyebrow. "Benefits?"

Levi smiled tightly. "They're paying for both materials and labor. It would be guaranteed work, at least for a little while, and the production company promised a hefty bonus check to anyone who works on the show. And of course, there's the matter of the publicity it would bring to the company, which means it'll bring in more restoration work for us—both for the show, if they decide to continue it, and outside of that."

I was hardly interested in publicity. I preferred to lie low—do my job, go home, and spend my downtime doing things like having a beer with my buddies at the garage. "Yeah, I don't know, boss. It doesn't really sound like my thing. I'm happy behind the scenes. I like what I'm doing. Being asked to perform for a reality show doesn't sound like my style. Maybe you could ask someone else to run the TV show projects?"

"You really want that? It means you won't get to work on that house."

I grunted. "No."

Levi nodded. "I get it. I really do. Just… think about it, okay? I'm not going to force you to do anything, but I know Jared wants you working on the house, and the production team wants Jared's house for the show. Having you on the show would make it work for everyone. If you really decide you can't stand the idea of being on the show, I can put someone else on the job."

I clenched my jaw and scowled. "I'll think about it." I didn't want the work going to anyone else—I'd gotten excited at the prospect of fixing that house up for Jared and Matthias—but I also didn't want to be on any damned reality show. "Anything else?"

Levi smiled and shook his head. "That's all. Thanks for thinking about it. See you tomorrow."

I grunted and stood. "Sure thing, boss."

I climbed into my pickup and headed home, my mind turning over Levi's suggestion. I had next to zero interest in being on a reality show, but he had made some good points—the show would bring the company more work, which would only benefit all of us, and the mention of the bonus didn't hurt either.

Once I pulled my truck into the garage, I headed inside of my little rancher. I'd bought it when I'd moved to town and it had definitely started out as a run-down little place, to say the least. I'd lived there about six months, and I had spent my time at home working on the things that needed fixing. I'd already repaired the plumbing and replaced the flooring in the living room and the bathroom. My next home renovation project was going to be the kitchen, but I wasn't in any hurry. Takeout dinners worked just fine for the time being. My fridge was full of takeout, quick toaster meals, and beer, and that was just the way I liked it.

Soon enough, I was stepping into the shower and washing the day from my skin, scrubbing off the dirt, dust, and sweat. The hot water pounded my shoulders and I took a few deep breaths. When I'd worked on the plumbing, I'd also made sure to adjust the water pressure from a trickle to a steady cascade, and for that, I was grateful. It made cleaning up after a long, strenuous day on a job site that much better.

When I was finally clean, I got out of the shower and dried off, heading to my bedroom for clean clothes. I picked a white T-shirt and relaxed blue jeans, my standard uniform outside of work, slipped on my sneakers, and headed to the kitchen. Before I left again, I grabbed a six-pack from the fridge.

Most days after work, I joined my friends at Bumpers and Grinders, the garage my long-time best friend Axton owned, or we met at a brewery in town, or I sat around at home, playing guitar and passing the time. That day, I headed to the brewery we frequented. By the time I'd arrived, Axton was two drinks in, parked near the pool tables, while our other buddies, Slade and Knox, shot pool. Other than our group, it was mostly empty, which was a welcome change. Port Grandlin loved its breweries and there were many nights that we met up and had to cram into a corner and wait for a pool table to open up.

As I entered, the guys all looked up and called out their greetings. In response, I nodded and waved. "Hey guys."

I made my way to the bar and grabbed a beer before heading to sit next to Axton.

"How was work?"

"Fine." I sighed, sipping my perfectly poured drink. "They want to make my next job into a reality TV show."

"Wait, what?" Slade's cue slipped as he took the shot and he missed the ball he was aiming for. He grimaced at the pool table before he gave me a look of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

I took a sip of beer and shrugged. "Apparently some TV bigwig wants to do a show about restoring old homes. They've picked Port Grandlin, and they want that old house I was working on last week to start with." I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. "Guess I won't get to restore it after all."

"Why the hell not?" Knox narrowed his eyes at me before refocusing on the pool table. He took a clean shot and sank a solid ball in a side pocket, which caused Slade to mutter a swear.

"I don't want to be on TV. Can you imagine?"

Axton chuckled and shook his head. "Your surly ass? On TV?" He snorted. "Hardly. What would they do with your perma-scowl?"

I flipped him off and took a long pull from my beer. "So I guess that's it for me. I really liked that fucking house, too." I wasn't sure why I felt so drawn to the house that wasn't even mine. It needed a ton of work—in some places it needed strip-to-the-studs work—but it was beautiful and I felt like the restoration efforts were calling to me. My hands itched to get inside and start demolishing things.

Knox took another shot and missed. "I think you should go for it."

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you too," I muttered.

Slade tapped his cue on the concrete floor twice. "He's right. You should do it."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you two even talking about? Me? On reality TV?"

Axton lifted his glass and nodded at me. "Who gives a fuck about the reality TV part? You want this job, right?"

"Sure, but—"

"No. But nothing. You want the job, you were offered the job, you take the job." Axton nodded at me. "Right?"

He made it sound so simple. "I'll think about it," I conceded finally. "But no promises."