by Ann, Natalie
Alec was trying not to fume. Eric was new, just filling in over the summer and now a few hours between the classes he was taking at a local college. He actually reminded Alec of himself, working on summer breaks and trying to learn everything he could, but Steve knew better. “Was he covering for Eric?” Alec really wanted to know; he needed to know if someone was just careless or really made an honest mistake.
“No, he wasn’t. I thought so too, but Steve said that he sent Eric out to the truck to put some tools away, and that he went up to shut the windows himself. He just missed that room in a rush to leave.” Fred stopped and looked serious for a minute, knowing Alec was weighing his options. “Steve never makes mistakes and you know that. His wife is due any day now, and he’s had a lot on his mind.”
Alec had totally forgotten about that, and he realized that he needed to cut Steve some slack. Accidents happened and he knew that. Besides, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “Okay. I’ll go talk to him.”
“That would be good. He knows how you get, but I assured him you would understand. Now Eric, he was a nervous wreck.”
Laughing, Alec said, “Maybe that is a good thing. It’s a good reminder to check everything before you leave at night.”
Fred laughed and slapped him on the back.
An hour later, Alec made his way to one of the other houses. He’d just gotten done talking to Steve, who had been distracted even as Alec was talking to him. He could see that, but he understood and told him to keep him posted on his first child’s birth. As busy as they were, he realized family came first. Steve seemed to appreciate it and assured Alec it wouldn’t happen again.
He could hear the radio playing now, the sounds of power tools competing with the hard rock. It was all music to his ears.
With all the noises going on around him, no one heard him walk down the hall, but he heard their voices.
“Don’t you find it funny how Alec knew about the open window in the middle of the night?” Kyle, one of the new guys, said, talking to some other members of his crew, members that had been on the crew for years now.
“Does it really matter?” someone replied.
Kyle laughed. “I guess not, except either that Brynn is watching everything we do, or Alec is tapping that hot piece of ass. My guess is the latter.”
Alec stayed where he was, rage rushing through him, but he wasn’t ready to make his presence known. He was curious to see who else thought that, or had an issue with his relationship with Brynn. “You better watch what you say,” someone else said, and Alec was happy to hear that part.
“Why? I mean, let’s be serious. Why else would a woman want to work on a construction site, unless she was looking for someone to screw? I’m biding my time. I bet she makes her way through a few of us.”
That was it. Alec turned the corner and stood there, watching Kyle laughing, his back to Alec. Other members of his crew saw the look on Alec’s face and stopped what they were doing.
Kyle finally became aware of something off and turned around, the smile wiped from his face.
“You can pack your shit up and get off the property. You’re done.”
“What?” Kyle asked, outraged. “What did I do?”
Alec took a glaring step forward, fighting everything he had within himself to not rush forward and throw Kyle to the ground in a full-blown tackle. “I warned you. I warned everyone,” he said, looking around at the rest of the crew, “to watch your mouth, your language and your attitude toward Brynn. It’s not just her. It’s toward every woman on this crew. We treat everyone with respect.”
“Seriously. You’re going to fire me for saying she’s a nice piece of ass? That’s a compliment,” Kyle said back, his face turning red. He actually thought he didn’t do anything wrong, but it was all wrong in Alec’s mind and he was fast losing his patience and what little control he had over his actions right now.
“One warning. That was what everyone had!” he shouted, then stopped and looked around at the other members of the crew, enraged, and they knew it. He also knew they’d never seen him like this before and he couldn’t care less. “Does anyone else have the same opinion?” There were several heads shaking at once. “Good. Kyle, grab your shit and let’s go.”
Alec watched as Kyle picked up his tools, slamming things around with more force than necessary. Alec wanted to grab him by the throat and slam him into the wall, and that was the least he wanted to do. His fists were itching to meet with Kyle’s face, only he couldn’t do that, not without a lawsuit.
Even the threat of that almost didn’t stop him. He figured it might be worth it. Hell, Ryan would back him, he’d be fine. But he knew better, so he held his anger in as much as he could and escorted Kyle off the property, then watched him speed away.
“What the hell was that?” Fred asked, walking over from the house next door where he witnessed Kyle swearing loudly, calling Alec every name in the book.
“Someone decided not to heed my warning about Brynn.” With that, Alec walked away and stormed to Brynn’s house. He needed to cool off, and seeing any of his men right now looking the other way trying to avoid him wouldn’t help.
Low Key
“I hear we’re down one crew member,” Phil said.
Alec turned his head fast to see Phil standing in the doorway. He walked in and shut the door. Alec had gone to Brynn’s hoping to cool off, but it didn’t help. He found himself seeing parts of her all over the place, only causing him to stalk around. Not able to take much more, he slammed out of the house and drove back to the office. “How did you find out?”
“News travels fast. What happened?” Phil asked sympathetically. Phil knew Alec hated firing anyone, but he’d done it before and would again. Especially someone that threatened the reputation they both worked so hard to earn. They didn’t care how good of a worker the person was if he threatened everything they worked hard for. But losing Kyle was going to hurt and slow them down. Kyle was good at what he did. Too bad he was a prick.
Alec relayed what happened to Phil and watched his face turn red. They were raised better than to have that attitude toward women. “I would have slammed my fist in his face.”
Laughing, Alec couldn’t imagine that. Phil was always so mild-tempered. “You? You never get mad.”
Phil smirked. “I’ve been known to a time or two. Especially if it concerns the women in our lives.”
Nodding, Alec agreed. “So anyway, now we are down one. I could try to find a replacement, but with the winter coming, maybe it’s a good thing. We are down some summer help anyway, and we didn’t plan on being as busy over the winter.”
“Are you kidding me?” Phil said. “I know you’ve gone out on some of the calls we’ve had with Brynn. Maybe you haven’t seen the timeline of it all, but I have. No one is going to be out of work this winter now that most of the kids have gone back to college. And you might have to hire one or two crew just to replace those that did leave.”
“I hate interviewing,” Alec groaned. “I wonder if I can push that off to Brynn.”
“I don’t see why not. Or you can put some time in on the crew yourself.”
Snorting, Alec replied, “I put plenty of time in. How about you come out from behind your desk and put some time in?”
“That’s not happening. I do my share on your flips,” Phil said, smiling. Alec knew he could count on Phil if he really needed him. But Phil was right: they had both worked so hard for so long, it was time they were allowed to have a personal life. And Phil deserved it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Sophia ended up pregnant soon, either. It seemed like everyone they knew was having a baby within a year of getting married.
Thoughts of marriage and babies started to filter through his mind. He always knew he would end up there, just like his brothers and sister, he just didn’t know when. Now that he was actually looking forward to it and wanting it more than before, the thought of spending even more time at work held no appeal.
“Are you go
ing to tell Brynn what happened?” Phil asked, breaking through his thoughts.
“Would you if it were Sophia?”
“Good question. I’m not sure. But then again, like I said, news travels fast, so it might be better coming from you.”
“I don’t know how she will react, though.”
“Honestly, Alec, you know this can’t be the first time she’s heard it. It’s not the first time we’ve heard, just not to this extent. Or your reaction to it.”
Frowning, Alec narrowed his eyes and asked, “Do you think I overreacted?”
“Hell no.”
“Good, because if you said yes I would get up from behind this desk and slam my fist in your face.”
Phil threw his head back and laughed. “I think we’ve outgrown the fist-throwing days.” Phil raised his hand and made a point to rub his finger over his eyebrow. “I think I got the better of you the last time.”
Alec grabbed a stress ball off his desk and threw it at Phil. “We were kids, and you said it was an accident. You swore to Mom you didn’t mean to do it.” Scowling his eyes at his twin, he ran his hand over the scar above his eyebrow. “Did you lie to Mom?”
“You will never know.”
“Don’t let her know. She might give you a matching scar if she thought you played her.”
***
At the end of the day, Brynn let herself into her house. The crew was still working in the development, and several trucks were across the street working on the house that received the storm damage last night.
She hadn’t seen Alec’s truck and wasn’t sure where he was. Not that he told her everywhere he was going. She didn’t tell him either.
When she got home, there were a few men milling in the garage getting drinks out of the refrigerator. They had stopped talking when they saw her, so she asked them what was going on.
Not one to take no for an answer, she more or less tricked them into telling her, playing along and pretending like she knew, until they spilled everything that happened. She could see they were embarrassed and she was positive they didn’t tell her everything that had been said.
Matter of fact, she wasn’t told anything more than Kyle had said some offensive things about her, and that Alec fired him on the spot.
It never seemed to end. She was trying not to get angry, but it was hard not to. She appreciated that Alec stood up for her, and that he did what he said he would do if anyone ever said a bad word about her or another woman on the crew. She just wished it never happened to begin with, or that it didn’t concern her.
She was walking out of the bathroom, towel drying her hair twenty minutes later when she heard someone downstairs in the kitchen. She knew she locked the door from the house to the garage. She always did when the garage door was open. She’d learned her lesson there.
Figuring it was Alec, she walked downstairs dressed in loose shorts and a cotton shirt. She’d planned on grilling a steak for dinner and then going to the basement to work on some framing. The plans were finalized and the wood had been delivered a few days ago. Alec had even brought a bunch of it down to the basement for her so that she didn’t have to carry it herself.
Turning the corner, she saw Fred in the kitchen with his back to her. She was going to ask him how he got in the house, but then Alec came out of the pantry and handed Fred a bag of chips. She didn’t want to intrude and decided to stay back.
“Are you okay?” Fred asked.
“Yeah,” Alec said, reaching into the open bag of chips that Fred was eating out of.
“You don’t look it. I haven’t seen you that angry before. Ever. Not like that.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been that angry before.” He looked at Fred and said, “I didn’t overreact.”
“Not at all. No one thinks you did, but I think it might not have come to that if you weren’t so quiet about your relationship with Brynn.”
“Why should it matter to the crew?” Alec asked. “It’s my personal life. It has nothing to do with their jobs.”
“You know better than that,” Fred chided him. “You and Phil have prided yourselves on getting to know your crew and treating them like family.” Fred held his hand up when Alec tried to talk. “Granted you are allowed to have a personal life, but Brynn works here too. The guys see her daily, and they like her. Those that don’t know you as well as the rest of us were looking down on her for sleeping with you.”
Alec slammed the fridge he had just opened up after grabbing a beer. “It’s not a fling. It’s nothing like that.”
“I know that,” Fred said. “But they don’t. I just think that trying to keep it low key made matters worse. Trust me; no one is going to think its low key anymore.”
“What a mess.”
“It’s not a mess, Alec. You are all worked up for nothing. Talk to the crew tomorrow. You should anyway. They need to hear it all from you and you need to make everyone know the truth. They need to know you are serious and what was actually said, and then you need to tell them why you did it. They need to understand things are serious with you and Brynn.”
“It’s kind of hard to tell that to the crew when I haven’t said it to her.”
“Why haven’t you?” Fred asked, looking like he was enjoying Alec’s unease. Brynn stood back against the wall and held her breath. She was wrong to not make her presence known, she knew that, but there was no way she was leaving right now. Not without hearing how Alec answered.
“I don’t know.”
“Bull,” Fred said, laughing “Are you afraid she doesn’t feel the same way?”
Alec had taken a few steps away and Brynn couldn’t see him now. She didn’t think he answered, but something caused Fred to laugh again.
She took that opportunity to run back up the stairs and let them finish their conversation in peace.
Good With It
A week later, Brynn placed a plate of grilled chicken in front of Alec. He had come in the door, showered, changed and had just sat down at the table when she came in from the deck. “So I’ll have new neighbors in a week, I hear.”
“You will. Somewhat. Ready to not be so alone out here by yourself?” he asked.
“I’m not too lonely. You’re here half the time anyway,” she said, smiling.
“You love having me here,” he said, his grin wide, but she saw him holding his breath just the same.
“Actually I do. It’s nice to have someone do all the heavy lifting for me,” she said, joking with him.
He laughed. “Come on, admit it. You love me.”
She stilled, then walked forward toward him. He was looking unsure of himself after he said those words. Almost like he wished he didn’t say them but couldn’t take them back. Her heart started to pound, fast and furious. Did she love him? Was she ready to take a step like this? She wasn’t sure but didn’t want to say something and hurt him either, because honestly, she felt she might be getting there. She leaned in close to him, touched her lips to his and smiled, then whispered, “Maybe.”
He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap and held her close. Nothing else was said, but she saw the happiness in his eyes. She would be damned if she said yes, not if he couldn’t tell her first, not if he wanted her to say it before he did. As much of a coward as she said she wasn’t going to be, this was one thing she was holding back on for now, even if she positively thought she was in love with him.
Last week after Kyle was fired, Brynn was surprised that Alec actually did tell her what happened, and pretty much what had been said. At least she thought it was everything. His face was red when he relayed it all, hers not much better. He’d told her he was going to talk to the men the next day about the incident and clear the air.
She suggested they do it here at the house, and that she be present too. She didn’t think he would agree to it, but he did, and she was glad of it. It was a huge step in her eyes. She felt like she belonged in that moment, part of the team, that someone stood up for her and then wanted her there t
o hear what was being said to everyone.
At first she was embarrassed to hear him repeat what Kyle had said, then almost apprehensive when Alec said that it was no one’s business about his relationships outside of work. But since Brynn was an employee he wanted it to come from them together.
In the end, no one really seemed surprised. Some even opened up to her more than they had before. She hoped it wasn’t because of her relationship with Alec that they were nicer to her, but was afraid it might be.
After that day, Alec didn’t worry about when he came and went from her house. Actually, he was spending more time here than at his flip. Which was a good thing, because she was ready to put it on the market and he was a slob.
She climbed off his lap, seated herself across from him, and started to eat. “I organized your closet for you today. I hope that was okay.” Alec had given her a key to his flip so she could walk through potential buyers and realtors.
“Sorry,” he said, grinning ruefully. “I tried to pick up, but I’m always in a rush.”
“The house was neat enough and I appreciate that. I know you aren’t the neatest of people.”
He choked on that statement, but she felt they were close enough to say it. “Don’t tell my mother that; she will never let me live it down. I can clean and I do, but I’m always hurrying.”
She smirked. “It’s fine. The house looked good, but your clothes were all hanging off the hangers.”
“I’ll pay more attention. I don’t want you to feel like you need to pick up after me.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” She paused to eat some more and then started to tell him about her day. “I put the first APH Real Estate sign up today.”
“How did it feel?”
It felt awesome and she tried to mask her giddiness. She was thrilled that Sean loved her idea about printing signs to place outside of each home they were going to sell. Since she was a licensed realtor, they no longer had to go through another firm and could advertise their business this way too. “Well, before I had a chance to walk away from the sign, a neighbor came running over to me and wanted to know where my office was located. I think she feared I was from out of town and wasn’t going to care about who the house was sold to.”