Bound (Forbidden #1)(28)
Author: Melody Anne

When they drove up to a small restaurant, she jumped when her door opened unexpectedly. An attendant in uniform held out a hand to assist her. Then Tyler came around, took her arm again after tipping the attendant, and led her inside.

“I’ve been craving some fresh crab rolls,” he said as he led her to the sushi bar and held out a seat for her before seating himself.

Jewell soon found herself relaxing as they were served, and Tyler began filling her in on old stories from the workplace, from a time when both he and Blake were more hands-on in their business.

“Yeah, I totally thought I was badass. Our electrician was nowhere to be found, and the lights were off, so I thought, how hard could it be to hook two wires together? We needed some light. I was up on the lift and, thinking the power was cut, grabbed the wrong wire. It sent me right down on my ass and scared the hell out of me. I don’t frighten easily, but I walked from the building and went and lay down in the back of my truck for the next hour, thanking anyone up above who was listening that the electric jolt hadn’t just stopped my heart.”

“That is horrible,” Jewell gasped. “Why didn’t you go in to the doctor?”

“Because I didn’t get hurt. Yeah, my heart was beating erratically for a while, but I was fine. You can’t run to the doctor for every little thing.” He shrugged and popped a roll into his mouth.

“When it comes to electricity, I wouldn’t mess around.”

“Ha! Blake has done even worse. He was on the job site and his finger got caught in the door. Blood was pouring out, and all of a sudden he went all white, passed out, and smacked his head. Then, when he came to, he just wrapped his finger in tape and finished the day. It was two days later when the finger wouldn’t stop throbbing that he finally agreed to go to the doctor. Not only was it infected, but he’d broken it in two places and had to have surgery because it had already begun to heal wrong.”

“I don’t think that’s brave, Tyler. I think it’s foolish.”

He laughed again. “I dare you to tell him that.”

“You have an infectious laugh,” she said, and joined him. “And there’s no way I’m telling him.”

“You’re just all talk, aren’t you?” he said with a hint of sarcasm.

It soon became time to go and he led her back out to the car.

“Thank you for a great lunch, Tyler. I’ve enjoyed visiting with you. I really should get back, though.” She’d begun to worry that Blake might be checking on her. She hadn’t brought her cell phone, so he’d be furious if he’d been trying to get ahold of her.

“You are a buzzkill, Jewell, but I suppose I’ll take you back now, so my brother doesn’t think I’m trying to steal his woman.” Tyler said, and threw the car into gear.

She didn’t correct him. Why bother to repeat that she wasn’t really his brother’s woman? Whatever she was, it would be over in a few days.

A speaker in the car started ringing. She looked over to see what Tyler had done, but then she heard Blake’s voice.

“I need you to get over to Bill’s house,” Blake told Tyler. “The stubborn fool sent our crew away, said he wouldn’t take charity.”

“What do you mean? I thought it was all taken care of,” Tyler replied with a frown.

“Yeah. So did I. But when the roofing crew showed up, Bill came out and threatened to have the cops haul them off for trespassing. Tim called me and asked what to do. I told him to head out, that I would come talk to Bill. I got here thirty minutes ago and he said there was no way he would allow me to pay for him to get a new roof.” Blake’s frustrated sigh came through loud and clear over the speakers.

“Damned old man. There’s no way that roof can last another winter. What are we gonna do?” Tyler asked as he turned on the freeway.

Jewell wasn’t very familiar with the area, but it seemed to her they weren’t moving toward Blake’s apartment. Had Tyler forgotten she was in the car? She didn’t want to say something and have Blake hear her, so she just fidgeted in her seat.

“It looks like we’re roofing the place. He won’t let us pay for it, but he sure as hell will let us climb up there and do it ourselves,” Blake said, a smile clearly in his tone.

“Yeah, I can see that. What I can’t see is you up there with your pristine white shirt, holding a hammer,” Tyler joked.

“Whatever. I don’t see you up on any roofs anymore either,” Blake fired back.

“Point taken. Let’s see if we still know how. I’m ten minutes out. See ya in a few.” Tyler pushed a button and the call was disconnected.

Jewell sat there in silence a moment longer just to make sure Blake really was gone before she spoke. “Um, Tyler, I think you took a wrong turn,” she finally said.

“Nope. Change of plans. We have to go roof a house.” He turned off the freeway and headed down a city street.

“I…um…can’t roof a building. Maybe you should just drop me off first,” she said, growing more and more nervous as he continued in the same direction.

“No can do. We’ve already lost over half the day.”

“I can’t go there!” She was more insistent this time.

“Look, Jewell. Bill was my grandfather’s best friend and has always been good to my brothers and me, and he’s also the most stubborn old coot I’ve ever met in my life. He won’t let us pay for anything for him, won’t accept what he deems charity, but his roof needs fixing. The only way we’re going to get it done is by doing it ourselves. And it’s supposed to rain in a few days, so we have to haul ass. You’ll be fine. You can visit with Bill while we work.”

Tyler’s tone seemed so reasonable, but she knew that Blake was going to flip out when he saw her pull up with his brother. He might be so furious that she’d gone to lunch with Tyler that he would call his driver and have her removed from his life right away.

And even though she would lose her job, the more time she spent with Blake, the more she realized that she most likely wouldn’t be able to jump into this sort of thing again with another man. She just wasn’t the sort of person who could keep selling her body. She’d just take her check, bank it, and then find any job at all. She wouldn’t sleep until she’d turned up another opportunity. And really, there was no point in arguing with Tyler any further. The Knight men obviously didn’t take no for an answer.