Rafael stomped his feet. Solid. Floors no longer creaked. Stairs were now sturdy.
“What do you think? Will this do for your mama?” Stone’s chiseled, almost hard features could scare anyone with a pointed look in their direction. Until he opened his mouth and it became obvious that he was a giant man with a giant heart.
“Do you think she’ll love it as much as we do?” Trey asked.
“Dude, you guys killed it. She’s going to love every inch,” Rafael said. They’d gone high-end with the cabinets and countertops in all the apartments. To give it a beachy feel, Trey had chosen white cabinets and light granite countertops, but dark floors. Light green paint on the walls looked anywhere between beige and white, depending on the time of day.
Two years ago, when he moved to Cliffside Bay for the job with the Mullens, Rafael figured his chances of finding anything to buy unlikely. Real estate in the sleepy seaside community rarely came on the market. The few available properties were way out of his price range. He’d given up his dream of owning his own home and moved into the damp and cold apartment on the top floor of the old Victorian.
When Old Man Cooper, as he was known in the community, had announced he’d like to sell the building, Rafael had gone to him with an offer. To his surprise, Cooper had a soft spot for veterans. With twenty percent down, he’d taken a loan for the rest, and the building was his. After inspection.
During inspection, they found as many problems as the Victorian was years old—rotting floorboards, plumbing problems, and electrical issues. The building was deemed unsafe for tenants without a major rebuild. Everything would have to be gutted and replaced. Knowing that additional financial debt was inevitable, and he’d have to live frugally, he’d gone forward with the deal. The debt didn’t matter. Now he had a place for Mama and Ria. Finally, he would get them out of the old neighborhood.
Stone took his baseball cap off and ran his fingers through his thick brown hair, then put it back on again. “We want the other third-floor apartment.”
“You two?” Rafael asked. “Sure.” The apartments on the second and third floors were two bedrooms. One of the second-story places was slotted for Lavonne. Rafael had the top-floor apartment with the ocean view, but the other one was still available. “That just leaves one empty on the second floor.”
“We decided we could afford it if we rented it together,” Trey said.
“I can’t live in that RV for another winter,” Stone said.
“And neither of us can afford a house right now,” Trey said.
“Plus, we need a place to entertain the ladies,” Stone said.
“What ladies?” Trey laughed. “It’s not like college. That was like shooting fish in a barrel.” He took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses with a cloth from his pocket. Although often in slacks and a jacket when he met with his fancy clients, Trey was dressed casually today in trendy jeans, a perfectly cut button-down shirt the same color as his eyes, and tan loafers Rafael wouldn’t be caught wearing, dead or alive.
“Rafael and I didn’t go to college. We were too busy defending our country,” Stone said as he tossed a bottle cap at him.
“Sorry,” Trey mumbled.
“I’m just messing with you,” Stone said. “My ego is plenty big enough without having gone to college.”
“Huge,” Rafael said.
“But let’s face it. We’re on some serious loser streaks when it comes to women,” Stone said.
“It’s because we’re broke,” Trey said.
“True,” Rafael said.
“Girls like dudes with money,” Stone said. “If you’re ugly, then you better be rich.”
“Which means you’re screwed,” Trey said.
Stone put everything he made back into his business and lived in an RV on his brother Kyle’s property. Despite his sophisticated, arty vibe, which women seemed to love, Trey didn’t stand a chance. An interior designer who had lost most of his money to his ex-wife and lived in the basement of an old lady’s house wasn’t exactly marriage material.
And what about him? He had a scar from a bullet in his shoulder and a scar on his soul from the moment in Iraq that he could never take back. No amount of wishing could make either of them disappear.
“I forgot to tell you. Lisa Perry asked about you the other day,” Stone said to Rafael.
“What? When?” Rafael asked.
“I was over at Maggie’s, installing a new shelf in the baby’s room, and Lisa happened by,” Stone said. “She was like, ‘Hey, how’s Rafael? I haven’t seen him around all summer.’” His voice went up in a terrible attempt at imitating beautiful, sweet Lisa Perry.
“You’re lying to me,” Rafael said.
“Swear on my life,” Stone said.
“Lisa’s the blonde one, right?” Trey asked as he put his glasses back on.
“The blonde one?” Rafael asked. “That’s how you describe her? She’s like an angel inhabiting the earth. Seriously, she’s the most beautiful woman ever born, not to mention sweet and kind.” He’d been walking past the church in town when she’d come out with Maggie and Jackson. At the sight of her, he’d stumbled on the sidewalk like a total dork. “Have you seen that show she’s in? Indigo Road?”
“Yeah, Violet made me watch it with her,” Stone said. “I did not cry at that one part, no matter who tells you differently.”
“How come you haven’t asked her out?” Trey asked. “I mean, given that she’s the most beautiful woman in the world and everything?”
“Lisa Perry doesn’t go for a guy like me,” Rafael said. “She belongs with a guy like Mullen.”
Stone tipped his hat. “True enough. Or rich guys like my brother and the rest of his friends.”
“What do they call themselves again?” Trey asked.
“The Dogs.” Stone rolled his eyes. “My brother thought of it. Which is embarrassing.”
“The Dogs. Rich, good-looking, successful. Gorgeous, smart wives,” Trey said with a mournful sigh. “Those guys have it made. We’re more like the mangy wolves of Cliffside Bay.”
Rafael laughed. “The Mangy Wolves. Perfect.”
“Wolves can be sexy,” Stone said. “We’re bad boys, right?”
“Rafael yes,” Trey said. “You? Not unless teddy bears are bad.”
“I’ll have you know I used to beat the crap out of anyone who even nodded sideways at my brother or Autumn,” Stone said. “And I was a marine, if you haven’t forgotten.”
“Other than your thick neck, it’s hard to imagine.” Trey gave him a good-natured shove.
“God’s honest truth, though,” Stone said. “I wish I could get somewhere with that sassy Pepper, but she hates my guts. I have no idea what I did.”
“You probably put your big foot in your mouth,” Trey said.
“In an attempt to be funny,” Rafael added.
“You two are going to make me cry.” Stone stuck his lip out and pretended to wipe his eyes.
“We may be total losers when it comes to women, and we’re dead broke—and you two are ugly—but we did good when it comes to this building.” Rafael turned to look around the apartment once more, admiring the gleaming chrome appliances. “Joking aside, I can’t thank you enough for making this place world-class.”
Stone grinned and hopped down from the counter. “Come on, we’ve got a surprise for you up in your apartment.”
“I don’t like surprises.” Rafael grimaced. Knowing Trey, he’d taken it upon himself to install some antique bathtub he’d had shipped from Italy.
“You’ll like this one,” Stone said as he grabbed the cooler of beer.
“I wish I had a little money left over to decorate,” Rafael said as he followed the guys out of the apartment. “My old crappy furniture is going to look even older and crappier now.”
“Yeah, but this is yours, man,” Stone said.
“No one can take that away from you,” Trey said. “Unless you get married and your wife takes everything you own.”
“Dude, we’ve got to get you laid,” Stone said. “Your bitterness is starting to stink up the place.”
They walked up the wide stairway that led to the third floor. When they arrived at Rafael’s new apartment, Trey opened the door and stood aside. “Go on in.”
Rafael gasped and froze in the entryway. “What the hell?” The main room was fully decorated. “It’s incredible.” Black and gray furniture with splashes of cobalt blue in pillows and lamps gave it a masculine feel but not overly so. “But how? I mean, all this stuff must have cost so much money. I don’t get it.”
“Kara Mullen,” Trey said. “She called me last month and said she wanted to pay for the entire apartment to be decorated.”
“But how did you know what I liked?” Rafael asked.
“I had to take some guesses from the photos you’d pinned on your Pinterest board,” Trey said.
Rafael went hot. “You know I have a Pinterest board?”
“It took a little digging, but I found it, Latinlover83,” Trey said with a laugh.
“Latinlover83? No way.” Stone doubled over with laughter.
“Okay now, calm down,” Rafael said. “I was collecting photos for when I could afford to decorate.”
“How’d I do?” Trey asked. “It was rough doing it without input.”
“You did great, man. Seriously.” The dark gray accent wall and white trim had been in one of the photos on his board. Abstract prints in soothing blues and greens that reminded Rafael of the landscape of Cliffside Bay hung on the walls. His medals were now in a glass display case on a bookshelf behind the couch.
Rafael walked over to the black stone gas fireplace. A framed photograph of his mama and him as well as an arrangement of seashells decorated the mantel.
“Your mom sent the photo,” Trey said. “She said you might like it for your mantel, so I got it framed.”
Rafael ran his finger over the bumpy pattern etched in the wooden frame. Mama smiled back at him, her narrow shoulders thrown back like she was the queen of everything. She was the queen. To him, anyway. He set the photo back on the mantel and turned to his friends.
“Check out the view,” Stone said.
“That’s the only part I expected,” Rafael said.
Trey pointed to the off-white waffle shades that hung from the windows. “I chose something simple. When these are down, you’ll still get some light, but they’ll keep out the harsh afternoon sun.”
In a daze, Rafael ambled over to the bay windows that faced out to the sea. They’d had to comply with height restrictions, but the view from this floor skirted above town and looked out to the long stretch of public beach at the end of Main Street. Today, umbrellas in every color populated the beach from one end to the other. Kids played in the sand; surfers rode waves; a long line of tourists waited in front of a food truck parked in the dirt lot above the beach. He sighed with pleasure.
“Come see the kitchen,” Trey said.
He followed his friend. The cabinets and granite were the same as the other apartments, but Trey had added a teal sea-glass backsplash. Vases and bowls in the same soft color adorned a shelf in the corner. “I’m going to have to learn to cook.”
He placed both hands on the distressed wood of the dark-chocolate-colored rectangular table. Like an upscale picnic table, long benches took the place of chairs. Three large pendant lights in the same sea-glass shade hung over the table.
“In case you ever have people over for dinner,” Trey said. “Kara’s idea.”
“We can have dinner parties like grown-ups,” Stone said.
“The three of us sitting around this table is just sad,” Rafael said with a laugh.
They went to the bedroom next. Trey had chosen soothing blues and distressed mahogany furniture. There was a partial view of the ocean from the west-facing wall. The other window looked out to the houses that crawled up the hillside. Directly below, tourists dressed in shorts and tanks strolled by with ice cream cones in their hands.
“This is really mine?” Rafael asked as he turned to look at his friends.
“It’s yours, man.” Stone raised one of his monster arms, biceps bulging, and tipped his beer bottle toward Rafael. “Hell of a lot better than our cots in the military, huh?”
Rafael raised his bottle. “Thanks for this. It’s more than I expected. More than I deserve.”
“Come on, let’s get another beer and enjoy your living room,” Trey said.
When they all had new beverages, Stone set his beer on the coffee table and plopped onto the couch with his arms folded over his massive chest. “I have something I want to run by you guys. Have a seat.”
Rafael and Trey sat in the armchairs across from Stone. “What’s up?” Trey asked. “You look serious.”
“What do you guys think about going into business together?” Stone asked.
“How do you mean?” Rafael asked.
“Do what we did with this one. Buy a building or house, clean it up, and either rent it out or flip it,” Stone said.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Rafael said. “For you two. You’re the ones with the talent. Plus, every dime I had I put into this place.”
“We could take out loans. Veteran loans,” Stone said. “My brother said he’d lend me some money if we wanted to get started. And he’s here if we need advice.”
Kyle was a commercial real estate developer. If anyone could help, it would be him.
“As far as what your part would be, you’re the most anal, organized, money-tracking bastard I’ve ever met,” Stone said to Rafael. “You could run the business and find us places to buy and flip.”
“My best friend from college is a landscape architect.” Trey’s eyes lit up as the idea seemed to take hold of him. “Nico might be interested in joining us. He’s working for a jerk down in San Diego right now. He’s coming up in a few weeks. We could talk to him about it then.”
“A fourth partner would be good. Less risk,” Stone said.
“Less reward, but I get what you’re saying,” Rafael said. “I’d have to keep my day job, though. At least until we started making a profit.”
“Would we need an architect?” Trey asked.
“We can hire that out if we need one,” Stone said.
“I’ll think about it,” Rafael said. He reached into his pocket for the envelope Kara had given him. Now that he saw what she’d done, he felt even less like cashing it. However, if he used it more like a loan for the business, he could possibly pay them back.
“Like seriously think or like blowing me off because you don’t want to hurt my feelings?” Stone asked.
“The first one,” Rafael said.
“We could be Wolf Construction,” Trey said.
“Wolf Enterprises. That sounds fancier,” Stone said.
“It has a nice ring to it,” Rafael said.
Stone raised his beer. “To the future.”
“To the future,” Rafael and Trey repeated.
A knock on the door drew their attention away from their toast. Who could that be?
“You expecting someone?” Stone asked as he crossed the room in three long strides and opened the door.
Lisa Perry and Pepper Griffin stood in the doorway.
Rafael’s stomach did a somersault as he rose to his feet. Even dressed in cutoff jeans and a tank top that hugged her slender waist, Lisa was otherworldly beautiful with her alabaster skin, white-blond hair, and ice-blue eyes.
“Um, yeah, come on in,” Rafael said, finally.
“Hello, boys.” Pepper Griffin was petite and skinny with white skin and black hair cut to chin level. He wouldn’t describe her as classically pretty, more striking, with dark eyes that seemed to take up too much of her face.
“What’re you girls up to?” Stone took his hat off and held it in front of him like a kid, obviously flustered in the presence of Pepper. The poor sap had it bad.
“We were at the bookstore and saw Stone’s truck.” Lisa crossed o
ver and gave him a quick hug. They were on hugging terms? When had that happened? Stone lived on his brother’s property, which was next door to Jackson and Maggie’s place. Maybe they’d spent time together over the summer. He knew Lisa had been staying there for a few weeks at least.
“Come in. Have a seat,” Rafael said.
Lisa sat on the couch, but Pepper moved about the room, seeming to inspect every square foot. Stone watched her as he leaned against the mantel and drank his beer.
“We’re sorry to come by uninvited,” Lisa said. “This apartment is gorgeous.”
“Kara Mullen surprised me and hired Trey to decorate it,” Rafael said.
Lisa’s dainty hands clasped together. “Really? That’s so sweet.”
“Supersweet,” Pepper said. “Trey, it looks amazing.”
“Appreciate it,” Trey said.
“The Mullens must love you,” Lisa said to Rafael.
“They’re mega rich,” Pepper said. “This is nothing to them. That’s how rich people exploit the working man. They do something like this and their employee stays with them forever, even if you pay them like crap.”
“Pepper, how gauche.” Lisa shot Rafael a sheepish smile. “I can’t take her anywhere.”
“They’re very good to me,” Rafael said. Pepper was like her name. A little bit went a long way. “Trey decorated the entire apartment without any input from me. He totally nailed it.”
“He had Rafael’s Pinterest board for a reference point,” Stone said.
Note to self: Kill Stone in his sleep.
“I love Pinterest.” Lisa smiled at him, and his heart grew. “I’ll follow you.” The whole world fell away for a moment as they stared at each other.
“Maybe you two can exchange recipes,” Stone said.
“Or I could just cook something for you,” Lisa said to Rafael. “I have a lot of favorite recipes.”
Cook something for you.
Lisa turned her attention to Trey. “Someday I’m going to have a house and I want you to decorate it. You did such a good job with Maggie’s home.” A hint of wistfulness touched her voice. “I’m in love with every room.”
Missed: Rafael and Lisa (Cliffside Bay Book 6) Page 2