Free The Fix (Carolina Connections #1) by Sylvie Stewart Page B

for
dessert!”
    ***
    Thankfully,
the rest of the evening went smoothly. Fiona was very chatty, Laney tolerated
my presence, and Rocco even spoke a handful of words to me. Laney and I
exchanged a few more heated looks, hers possibly fueled more by annoyance than
lust, but I’d take what I could get at this point. I had yet to get Laney alone
again, though, so when it was time to leave I was thrilled that Fiona led Rocco
down the back hall and Laney was left to walk me to the door.
    “So,
thanks for dinner,” I said.
    “Thank
Fiona. She invited you.” Laney tried to glare at me but instead I got a
reluctant smile. Damn, she was pretty. Tonight she had her hair up in a messy
ponytail and she was wearing a black t-shirt and cut-off jeans, neither of
which could hide her curves. I was dying to kiss her, but I figured she’d
probably slap me at this point.
    As
we approached the door I remembered the damn door knob. “Laney, you can’t go to
sleep with your door like this,” I told her.
    She
waved me off. “I know. It keeps falling off but I can fix it. At least
temporarily – until Gavin gets to it.” She opened the door and I had no choice
but to step out onto the porch.
    “No
offense to your brother, Laney, but he doesn’t know shit about fixing things
from what I’ve seen so far.”
    That
earned me a bigger smile. “We’ll figure it out.”
    “You
know, I did notice a couple things in your kitchen that could use some
attention too, and I’ve been told I’m pretty handy…”
    “Handy
or handsy?”
    “Funny.”
    “I
thought so.”
    “I’ve
got some free time this weekend. I’d be happy to come over tomorrow and fix a
few things. Truthfully, I’ve been spending so much time on the phone and
driving from place to place that I haven’t actually held a tool in weeks – it’s
killing me.”
    Oddly,
she seemed to be holding back a laugh at first and ducked her chin to her
chest. But then she raised her head back up, schooling her expression and starting
to shake her head.
    “That
would be awesome!” Fiona’s head popped in from out of nowhere. “She’ll see you
tomorrow morning.” The door closed in my face.
    “I’ll
be here at nine. I’ll bring coffee!” I yelled through the door before turning
around and stepping off the porch.
    “She
doesn’t drink coffee!” came the voice through the door.
    I
smiled. I’d have to get creative then.

 
     
     
    Chapter Eight
    Boom!
     
    Laney
    “Oh
my God, when I turned around and saw that man I swear I ovulated on the spot. Boom! Instant fertility. They should give that guy out as a prescription – fertility
clinics nationwide would fold overnight.” Fiona looked at me dreamily and then
switched to her mad face (which was ineffective on its best day). “Lucy, you
got some ‘splainin’ to do – you did not accurately describe just how edible
that guy was!” Her expression changed again as the wheels turned. “And did you
see the way he was eye-fucking you across the table?” She fanned herself.
    I
put my hand over her mouth and looked over her shoulder. “Little ears, Fee!”
    She
peeled my hand off her face. “He’s in the bathroom. I told him to brush his
teeth so I could come back and eavesdrop.”
    “You
know he’s not brushing his teeth, right? He’ll be back out here in three
minutes wearing only his underwear and asking what he was supposed to be doing
in there,” I told her. “And Nate was not eye-fucking me! I can’t believe you
invited him over here tomorrow!” I whisper-yelled.
    “Maybe
I should open my own matchmaking business – it’s coming back in style, you
know. It could be ‘Matched by Fiona’.” She motioned an imaginary sign in the
air in front of her. “Kind of like Nate’s company, ‘Built by Murphy’. It could
be kind of a family thing.” She gave a giggle.
    “Fair
warning – I may kill you. In the meantime, do I owe you a portion of my dowry
now or will later be fine?”
    “Later
works for