Kiss And Dwell (30 page)

“
Probably pretty expensive,
”
Roussel
continued.
“
Bet it
’
ll take you a while to
replace the remainder of the roof after you repair those holes. You really think
we want a patchwork roof on the list of historical places?
”
He grinned, thinking
he had Gage.

He didn
’
t.

“
That was what caught my attention when I saw them on the show,
”
Gage explained
.

“
And it
’
s exactly what the TV crew saw as the main appeal of the tiles. They
look uncannily like the real thing, cost much less and install more easily
.

Shoot, we can install them with a nail gun.
”

Roussel
, looking defeated, climbed in his car. But Gage wasn
’
t done yet.

“
Oh, and if you
’
re worried about their lifespan, don
’
t be. They have a
fifty-year warranty, but the manufacturer predicts a one-hundred-year life
expectancy. Isn
’
t that great? With these tiles keeping us warm and dry, the
Vicknair
place should be here another century.
”

Mumbling a stream of choice words,
Roussel
slammed his door, then honked his
horn to move the
Vicknair
cousins out of his way so he could circle around
.

There was no way he could back up, due to the big, bold pink truck blocking his
path.

After he left, and after
Jenee
, Monique and Nan had squealed their approval of
Gage
’
s Oscar-worthy performance, Tristan held up a hand to stop the commotion.

“
Okay,
”
he said.
“
Where did you find the sexy roofers, and where did you get the
money to pay for all of these tiles? Because even if they are cheaper than the
real deal, they had to be paid for somehow. What
’
d you do, Gage?
”

Gage smiled wryly.
“
Aw, hell, I didn
’
t need to pay off that medical school loan
yet anyway.
”

Nan
’
s mouth dropped open.
“
We can
’
t let you do that, Gage,
”
she said, shaking
her head so hard her black hair swayed like a cape around her shoulders.
“
We
can
’
t.
”

“
Hey, I
’
m a doctor now, remember? Sure, I
’
ve only been pulling a paycheck for
six months, but pretty soon, I
’
ll be rolling in dough. Might as well use the bit
I
’
ve put away to help the family.
”

“
Gage,
”
Monique said,
“
Are you sure?
”

“
Definitely. And the roofers were hired to renovate the
Ochsner
emergency room
last year. I thought about them after I saw the television show and ordered the
tiles. Luckily, they were available for hire, and I was able to get the tile
shipment expedited from Canada. I figure if we all work together all day and up
until that storm hits tonight, we might, as Larry the Cable Guy says,
Git
-R-Done.
”

Nan
’
s eyes glistened as she rushed forward and hugged him, then kissed his
cheek.
“
Thank you, Gage.
”

“
Don
’
t thank me until that last tile is nailed. And trust me, we
’
re going to be
mighty sore in the morning. You may not be thanking me then.
”

“
I thought you were on call this weekend,
”
Monique said.

“
Tonight I am, but I
’
ll be okay. This is important.
”
Gage turned toward the
three women nailing boards across the roof for foot support.
“
Are you ready to
show us what to do?
”
he called.

The blonde beamed at Gage, and Monique had the distinct impression that he
’
d
already shown her what he could do, at least once.

“
Bring the rest of those bundles over by the house,
”
she yelled,
“
then get a
nail gun and head on up. We
’
ll have you putting these babies on in no time.
”

“
Gotcha,
”
Gage yelled back. Then he looked at
Jenee
, who looked rather jittery
.

“
Still afraid of heights,
cuz
?
”

“
I can do it,
”
she said, but her grin looked more like a grimace and her eyes
bordered on tears.

“
I know you can,
”
he said,
“
but we
’
re going to need someone to haul things to
us, too. Hammers, nail guns, cutting tools. And if you could fix some lunch for
us when it gets time and keep a cooler of water or lemonade at the ready, that
’
d
be a big help.
”

“
He
’
s right.
”
Tristan tossed an arm around his sister.
“
That
’
d help us plenty
.

Also we don
’
t want you tossing your breakfast where we
’
ve gotta work.
”

She gave him a grateful grin and nodded.
“
If that
’
s okay with all of you, and
you still think everything will be done before the storm, then that
’
d be much
better for me.
”

“
It
’
s done then,
”
Gage declared.

“
I
’
ll go get started on that lemonade,
”
she said, and headed toward the house.

“
Now,
”
Gage said.
“
We
’
ve got seven people total to roof this thing in a day
.

According to This Old House, we should be able to finish the job with a little
time to spare. You guys up to the challenge?
”

“
Actually, I think we may have eight people,
”
Nan said.

“
I wasn
’
t counting
Jenee
when I—
”
Gage started, but stopped when Nan shook her
head.

“
I
’
m not talking about
Jenee
.
”
Nan pointed toward the roof, where a nail gun
seemed to be working at breakneck speed installing the new tiles on its on
accord. Big square pieces of synthetic slate moved through the air then lined up
perfectly against the preceding tile before being nailed into place, magically,
by that gun.

All eyes turned to Monique for verification of who they believed was currently
working on their roof, but Monique didn
’
t see any of them. She was too focused
on the muscled male, his hands moving steadily, biceps flexing and relaxing as
he placed one tile in place, then another, then another, edging across the roof
in quick progression.

The blond roofer, who happened to be nearest to the working ghost, stopped
nailing the wooden brace and squeaked. Monique thought of it as a squeak,
because it certainly wasn
’
t loud enough to be considered a scream.

“
It
’
s okay!
”
Gage called up.
“
You
’
re going to have to trust me on this, Carol,
but it
’
s nothing at all to be worried about. Just a ghost who wants to help.
”

“
Carol?
”
Tristan questioned. I thought you said their names were Deidre,
Dominique and
Dani
.
”

“
Nope. It
’
s Carol, Adele and
Dani
,
”
Gage said, grinning.
“
I just thought a
company name of Triple D Roofing would get
Roussel
’
s
attention.
”

While Tristan laughed, Carol
’
s mouth formed a round O. Ditto for the other two,
who had also taken notice of the floating nail gun with obvious trepidation.

“
I promise there
’
s no reason to worry,
”
Gage reassured them.
“
He
’
s a friend of
Monique
’
s.
”

They still looked rather shocked, but after seeing that the invisible person was
as intent on completing the task as they were, they all went back to work.

Only in Louisiana.

A friend of Monique
’
s. Monique heard the words, but didn
’
t say a word. Instead,
she found the ladder nearest the sexy male—the sexy ghost—who
’
d spent every
night this week making her every wish come true.

Now, if she handled things right, she would do the same for him, by helping him
learn to love…someone else.

Ryan situated
a large bundle of tiles beside him on the roof, which wasn
’
t
nearly as steep as it appeared from the ground—a good thing for Nan and Monique,
who he assumed had never ventured into this particular arena of construction
before—then proceeded to nail the next row of synthetic slate into place.

The large squares went down effortlessly, cut and nailed easily, and generated a
nice, true line. If he
’
d known about them when he was living, he
’
d have used
them on the house in Dothan. Ryan had inherited the home when he was in college
and barely twenty. It was a massive house for a guy barely out of his teens, but
then again, his parents hadn
’
t planned on him inheriting it so soon, because
they hadn
’
t planned on dying so soon. But they had, and he did. Ryan would bet
they hadn
’
t planned on him joining the land of the non-living at the age of
twenty-eight, either.

But he had.

Due to the nail gun
’
s steady pelting against the tiles, Ryan didn
’
t hear Monique
climb onto the roof, but she was there. He knew it as well as he knew his name
.

With each of their nightly sessions, their bond grew even stronger. She
’
d become
a part of him, and if he crossed over on Sunday, he
’
d have to let that part go
.

Then again, if he didn
’
t, eventually, Monique would leave this side, and he
’
d be
left behind. A no-win situation if he
’
d ever known one, and Ryan honestly didn
’
t
know what to do.

He sensed her every movement, knew her every emotion, felt her every triumph,
her every hurt. Right now, she was pained, because she was about to ask him to
do something that she knew damn well he didn
’
t want to do. He stopped nailing.

“
I
’
m not leaving,
”
he said without turning around.

“
I want—need—to talk to you, Ryan,
”
she said, her voice very soft, extremely
sexy. His entire body responded immediately to that sweet voice, some parts more
than others, and he swallowed the memory of Monique giving over to
earth-shattering climaxes…for him.

“
What do you want to talk about?
”
he asked as he reached for the next tile and
waited for her answer. As if he didn
’
t know exactly what she was going to ask
.

She wanted him to go to Celeste. And more than that, she wanted him to fall in
love with Celeste—by Sunday.

For anyone else, he
’
d have a patent response for the bizarre request. Go to
hell. But this was Monique, and this was something she thought she wanted. Fine
.

If this was what she wanted, he
’
d give it to her. He was, after all, a spirit
who aimed to please. The problem was, the only woman he wanted to please was
Monique. Irritated, he fired the gun into another tile and secured it, then he
turned around.