The Fix (Carolina Connections #1) (21 page)

“And
what do you feel passionate about?” I gave her a quick squeeze.

She
reached down and copped a feel of my ass. “Besides your hot ass, you mean? I
don’t know – maybe owning an alpaca farm?”

“Seriously?”

“No,
but it sounds interesting, doesn’t it? I don’t like to shovel shit, though, so
that’s probably out.”

“Probably.
What else?”

“I
don’t know. But I do know I’m only twenty-five and I’ve got time to figure it
out.”

“I
forgot I was dating jailbait.” I pretended to push her away.

“Whatever,
old man.” She smacked my chest.

“So,
there’s something I’ve been thinking about too,” I said.

“What
have you been thinking about?” She snuggled back in my crook again.

“You.”

“What
about me?” I could feel her smile against the skin of my chest.

“Well,
there’s that awful temper of yours. And then there’s your hoarding habit –
don’t get me started on what I unearthed in your hall closet the other day. And
then we have the issue of your cooking – I have to say it’s only slightly
better than my mother’s and I’m worthless in the kitchen too, so we’re kind of
screwed. Oh, and of course there’s your habit of rubbing your cheeks like you’re
trying to summon a genie–”

“Is
this going somewhere?” she asked, raising her head to look at me.

“Yup.
What
I’m trying to say is that I love you.”

Her
cheeks pinked. “You’ve got a strange way of expressing yourself, big guy.”

“I
figured it’s easier to list the things that are so very wrong about you than to
list the ones that are so very right – I can’t really count that high.”

“Well,
if that wasn’t the most romantic thing ever – you big jerk.” She smacked my
chest again and started coming in for a kiss.

“I
guess I forgot to add your violent streak to the list. I’ll make a note.”

“You
do that.” And her lips met mine.

Laney

One
Month Later

“This
was such a great idea, Laney. We should make this a tradition.” Erin linked her
arm in mine as we stood enjoying the sunny afternoon on the back porch – oh,
excuse me, back
deck
.

Nate
and I had compromised and I’d agreed to let him build me a deck instead of the
screened-in porch he wanted. I’d told him he could always finish it off
eventually, but for right now I was sticking to my guns. He’d spent so much
time and money fixing up my house that I had to draw the line somewhere. Of
course, he couldn’t make it just any old wood plank deck – he had to add built-in
seating and a nook for his kick-ass grill he’d finally brought from Austin.

It
was the day after Thanksgiving and I, like any sane person, was avoiding all retail
locations. We’d decided to host an open house of sorts and had invited
practically everyone we knew to drop by throughout the afternoon to hang out
and snack on leftovers which we supplemented with burgers and brats. Maybe Nate
couldn’t cook all that well, but the man could
grill
. He’d explained
that grilling was a skill that came along with having a penis – and something
else about cave men cooking meat over a fire, a topic which his dad had been
strangely enthusiastic about discussing. Not that Erin would allow Riordan to
have any of the grilled meats.

After
a token protest, Riordan had summoned Rocco to the deck. “Come on Rocco. I’m going
to show you how to clean a fish. Then maybe I’ll be allowed to use the grill.” With
the unseasonably warm weather, they’d gone fishing on Thanksgiving morning and
had had a bit of luck. So fish had been added to the menu for the day.

I
looked over at Erin and said, “Actually, it was Nate’s idea, but I agree. It feels
like more of a holiday when you can spread it out over a couple days. But I’m
kind of shocked I got Fiona to come over. I figured she be in retail heaven.”

“I
heard that.” Fiona approached. “I was up at 5:00 this morning, thank you very
much, and I may have even bought a few things for you, my friend – of the sexy
variety, if you know what I mean.” She winked.

“Uh,
yeah, I think we all know what you mean. And thank you for talking about this
in front of my boyfriend’s mother.”

“I
was young once too, so don’t worry about me. And besides,” Erin said and squeezed
my arm, “Rocco could really use a sibling, don’t you think?”

Danger!
Danger! Need immediate rescue from the crazy lady!

As
if reading my thoughts, Nate walked up and stole me away from his mother.
“Leave her alone, Mom. Go bug Bailey about having babies. I think I saw her
flirting with someone inside.”

“Really?”
Erin’s eyes lit up and she couldn’t get inside fast enough.

“Thank
you.” I hugged Nate back. “Who is Bailey flirting with, just out of curiosity?”

“Nobody.
She’s stuffing her face with pie.” He grinned.

I
laughed and looked around the yard where some of our friends and family
mingled. My parents were here, having come back to town to celebrate the
holiday with us. Rocco was over the moon. They were staying in a hotel, an
arrangement that I predicted would never be repeated if Erin had anything to
say about it. Our families had spent Thanksgiving together and were getting
along great. Thankfully both of our families had a high tolerance for crazy.

Some
of the guys and gals from Nate’s work were here too and I recognized a few of
them, specifically Mark with the cock-sure smile and Doug who, for some reason,
was wearing a Hawaiian print shirt for the holiday. I noticed that Mark hadn’t
taken his eyes off of Fiona since she’d walked outside.
Oh my
.

Nate
made his way back to the grill and announced that the food was ready. We’d set
up a couple tables outside as supplemental seating and people gradually made
their way over to fix a plate. It didn’t escape my notice that Rocco wasn’t
among them. I spied his little head through the treehouse window along with
that of Aiden and one other little girl from their daycare. If that view wasn’t
a balm to my soul, I don’t know what would be.

“Hey,
Shortcake.” I heard a male voice behind me. I turned around to see Mark leaning
back on the deck railing next to Fiona, doing the oh-so-casual arms crossed to
show off my big biceps thing –
hey, it’s a thing, trust me
. He was also
giving her that super cocky smile and I almost felt sorry for him. He had no
understanding that the phrase “big things come in small packages” was coined
with Fiona specifically in mind.

“You
talking to me, Meat-head?”

Oooh.
This was going to be fun.

Gavin
came over, draped his arm around my shoulders, and whispered in my ear, “Excellent.
Dinner
and
a show.”

“Hey,
I was just trying to say hi. You don’t need to be insulting,” Mark said to
Fiona.

“I
was just returning the favor. Run along now.” She shooed him away.

Ouch.

“I
was also gonna tell you that the kids’ table is inside, Tinkerbell.”

Not
bad.

“What
a coincidence because I was just going to tell you to go eat a bag of dicks.”

Hmm,
an odd choice, but it hit its mark anyway.

“Are
you always such a bitch to people you just met?” His casual stance was long
gone and they were in a face-off, both with hands on their hips.

“Only
to complete morons.”

“What
is your problem? Jesus, I don’t need this crap.” Mark stalked into the yard and
away from my charming little bestie.

Fiona
remained un-phased and grabbed a plate. “Oooh, are those sausages? I love
sausage. Give me a big one, Nate.”

Gavin
and I both started snickering and Nate shot us a death glare.

***

After
we’d all eaten and most of the crowd had dispersed, I sat on Nate’s lap – he
insisted and I’d learned not to question him on his opinions about my body. I
sighed the sigh of a completely contented Laney.

“I
love this day.”

He
kissed my temple.

“Oh,
hey,” Nate said suddenly. “I forgot to tell you. We rented the last space in
the Old Oak Ridge property.” The project was wrapping up and they’d already
signed rental agreements with a financial planning firm and some tech firm but
there had still been one space left.

I
mentally crossed my fingers and turned my face to his. “Oh yeah, what’s it
going to be?”

He
smiled that smile and I got the dimple. “A doughnut shop.”

“Oh
my God! I love you!”

~THE
END ~

Stay tuned for Fiona and Mark’s story.

Coming soon from Sylvie Stewart

Visit
my website for updates:
www.sylviestewartromance.webs.com

Sylvie Stewart is an author of Romance
and Romantic Comedy and this is the first book in her Carolina Connections
Series. She loves hanging out with her husband and kids in Greensboro, North
Carolina and can’t get enough of the great weather and fun adventures NC offers.
Sylvie enjoys reading, Romance being her favorite genre, of course, but life
wouldn’t be worth living without a lot of laughter, friends, and wine!

Thank you so much for reading my
book – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I’d love to hear
from you, so please drop me a line at
[email protected]
or stop by my website to see the latest news at
www.sylviestewartromance.webs.com
. 

You can find me on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/Sylvie-Stewart-Romance-1063966356975828/

You can find me on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/sylvie_stewart_

Also, don’t forget to
review my
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Amazon
! 
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Thanks! XOXO,

Sylvie

Book
Description

The Fix
 
by Sylvie Stewart – Book 1 in
The Carolina Connections Series

How do you take a chance on love
when every other decision you’ve ever made has been the wrong one?

Laney Monroe’s life looks nothing
like she’d planned. She certainly hadn’t pictured herself as a
twenty-five-year-old single mom with a boring job, a freeloading brother, and an
exhibitionist son who worries more than Shaggy and Scooby Doo put together. When
her brother finally steps up and applies for a job, Laney never imagines it
might lead to an opportunity for her as well – an opportunity at love.

Nate Murphy has always been about
family. When you come from an Irish family, it’s hard not to be. But when a
family emergency brings him home to North Carolina, Nate is faced with some
difficult choices. Can you choose what you want over what your family needs? Then
Laney Monroe walks onto his construction site and Nate decides that she just might
make those choices a hell of a lot easier – or maybe this girl will make life
more complicated than ever.

The Fix
is the first book in
The Carolina Connections Series
from Sylvie
Stewart. It can be read as a standalone with a HEA.

This book contains adult language and
explicit sexual content. Not appropriate for readers under 18.