“You were a Boy Scout?”
Her tone must have conveyed her disbelief, because he straightened up as if insulted and said, “I was. Garrett and I went all the way to Eagle. If you need to know how to survive in the wilderness with a piece of string and a pocketknife, just call us.”
Nicole looked at him and tried to imagine him as a kid, but couldn’t quite pull it off. His own fault, she thought, since he was far too overpowering as an adult to allow her to think of him as anything but an amazingly tempting man.
“Right. Eagle Scout. I’ll remember.”
He shrugged and took a bite of his burger. When he groaned in appreciation, that flutter inside her leaped into life again.
“Man,” he said with reverence, “nothing beats a barbecued burger.”
“Agreed.”
His eyebrows went up. “We’re agreeing on something? What’s next? Friendship?”
She caught the teasing glint in his eye and fired right back, “Don’t get your hopes up.”
He slapped one hand to the center of his chest. “Shattered. You’re a hard woman.”
“Remember that.”
“It’s tattooed on my brain,” he assured her.
She gave Connor more meat, then some potato salad and half a slice of tomato. The little boy dug right in.
“Lucas said once they get the rubble—” he winced a little, then continued “—cleared out, he’d be in touch with you about your choices for paint and flooring and all of the other stuff.”
“Yeah, he told me in the email he sent with the estimate,” Nicole said. With the conversation back to the kitchen, and with the thought of the cost whirling through her mind, she had to force herself to take a bite of the burger that moments ago had been delicious. Now it tasted like sawdust and threatened to get caught in her throat.
She chewed slowly, thoughtfully, and when she swallowed she said, “I emailed him back and told him to just replace everything as it was.”
“What?” Surprised, he asked, “You want linoleum again? That Formica countertop? Why not bring it up-to-date?” Then he must have realized why, because he nodded and muttered, “Right.”
“Exactly,” she said. “I can’t afford to splurge on an upgrade. The wiring will be up-to-date and that’s what matters. For right now, I’ll just replace what I lost. Although I’m thinking that maybe I’ll have them paint the walls a cool green instead of the pale yellow.”
His mouth flattened into a grim line but he nodded.
If he thought she was happy about not updating the kitchen, he was wrong. Still, “In a few years, when I can, I’ll build my dream kitchen.”
“What’ll it look like?” he asked, forking up some potato salad.
“Oh, it’ll be gorgeous.” Nicole closed her eyes briefly and saw her kitchen as she’d often imagined it. She’d had dreams of her own even before Rafe had redone Katie’s kitchen. But seeing her friend’s old, serviceable room transformed had fed her own dreams.
“I’d have wood floors,” she mused aloud, “pale oak. I love that golden color. It’s so warm.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll keep the green walls to match that warmth with a splash of cool. Cupboards to match the flooring, of course,” she said, seeing the kitchen so clearly in her mind’s eye. “And the counters will be granite, but not that beige color everyone seems to choose or…ew…black.”
He laughed and she looked at him. “What color?”
“Well, I love Katie’s blue pearl, but for me, I’d get a dark cream color with streaks of green and blue running through it.”
“Like green, do you?”
“Is there something wrong with green?”
“No way,” he announced, waving his burger before he took another bite. “Go on, let’s hear the rest.”
“Pale-green walls, a stainless-steel sink, extra deep, with one of those gooseneck faucets like Katie has, of course…”
“Of course.”
She eyed him. Was he laughing or just indulging her? Did it matter? Not to her.
“Stainless-steel appliances, too,” she went on, seeing the huge new fridge she would one day indulge in, “and a six-burner stove—”
“Why so big? It’s just you and Connor.”
She shrugged. “I like to cook. And right now two of my burners don’t work at all, so six sounds like heaven.”
She gave Connor more of his hamburger. “Anyway, that’s all in the distant future,” she said, trying not to sound wistful. Fantasies were nice, but reality had to be faced. “For right now, I’ll just be happy to have my own house back and the kitchen workable.”
“Lucas will get it done. Fast and good.”
“I know he will.”
Pouring more lemonade for both of them, Griffin set the pitcher back down and said, “As for living here, don’t worry about it. You and Connor are welcome. Like I told you, I’ll stay out of your way and you just make yourself at home, okay?”
“I should be the one promising not to bug you. This is your vacation, right?”
“Yeah,” he said with a short laugh. “Turns out, I’m not real good at the whole ‘relaxation’ thing. I was going buggy after the first three days.”
“I don’t know,” she mused wryly, “you seem to enjoy spending time in the hot tub.”
“What’s not to enjoy?” He grinned and gave her a wink.
A quick jolt of heat shot through her, leaving trails of smoldering warmth in its wake.
“Besides,” he said, “my assistant has already threatened to quit if I keep calling in to the office, so I’m forcing myself to stay in the water, away from the phone.”
“You like working, don’t you?”
“Guilty as charged,” he admitted. “Garrett and I built King Security together. Well, after he sold his organics business to Chance.”
She nodded. “King Organics.”
“You got it.”
“More expensive,” she said, “but worth it.”
“Naturally.” Griffin gave her another wink and that fluttery feeling inside deepened. Honestly, the man was practically a walking orgasm. And Lord, it had been a long time since she’d had one of those.
“Anyway,” Griffin was saying, “Garrett and I did nothing but the job for years, building the company. We breathed and slept the work. Then Garrett met Alex and…”