Read Online Fixer-Upper by Meg Harding - Free Book Online

think?
    “Sleeping Beauty awakens,” said a drawling voice from overhead.
    Jake jerked in surprise, head colliding with the trunk of the tree he was lying under. “Ugh,” he moaned, clutching his head. “I’m so sorry,” he said a minute later, once he’d composed himself somewhat.
    Dakota towered over him, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. “No apologies necessary. We had a bet going to see how long before you collapsed. Won fifty dollars. I should be thanking you.”
    “You were betting on me?” demanded Jake incredulously.
    “The bags under your eyes keep growing. You’re like the Energizer Bunny, but you had to stop sometime. All in fun, no worries.” He proffered his hand. “Come on. We’re all gonna go out for drinks, why don’t you come along?”
    “I can’t go out like this,” argued Jake, accepting the hand offered despite that. He was pulled to his feet in one smooth yank. “I smell, and my clothes are filthy.” He resisted the urge to touch his face and feel for the bags he knew were there. He’d been working hard and sleeping little. There was just so much to be done.
    “You can stop off and change first. You wouldn’t be the only one doing that.” Dakota looked down. “Can I have my hand back, or do you need it?”
    Jake looked down and yep, that was his hand, holding Dakota’s. Why hadn’t he let go? He did so then, dropping it quickly, tucking the offending appendage into his front pocket. “Sorry,” he muttered.
    “Stop apologizing for everything,” admonished Dakota, pressing his large palm to the center of Jake’s back—an action he had been doing more and more since Jake’s confrontation with Kevin—and steadily pushing him out of the trees and into his yard. “You do know you’re paying us. You don’t have to work. You don’t have to apologize for not working. You can take a day if you need it.”
    Jake didn’t want to take a day. If he took a day then that would be one less day he’d get to see Dakota. It would be a day spent alone, with nothing to occupy him but the sinking sensation of time passing. He’d maybe grown a bit attached to Dakota, developed a bit more than a crush.
    It wasn’t his fault.
    The man was engaging and intelligent and very attractive. He smiled at Jake, his face crinkling with it. He talked to him with real interest, and he paid attention to what was said. He made sure Jake drank and ate when he’d rather skip it to keep working.
    He’d bewitched Jake, and Jake liked it. He didn’t want it to stop. He was so close to happy. He looked forward to waking up and coming to the house, and not just because it was a distraction from boredom. He didn’t want this to end.
    “I don’t need a day,” he said. “I don’t want one.” The week and a half following his concussion had been more than enough time off.
    Dakota let it go, and for that Jake was more than a little relieved. Then he thought about what Dakota had said. “I’m not the Energizer Bunny,” he said, affronted. “You should give me half of that money.”
    Dakota’s eyebrows shot up. “I should give you half of my winnings?”
    “You wouldn’t have won without me,” pointed out Jake. “Think of it as punishment for betting on me.”
    “I’m not giving you my winnings,” laughed Dakota. “Nice try, though.” He reached out a hand and plucked a twig from Jake’s hair, tossing it aside. “I’ll text you the address, yeah? Meet there in an hour.” He opened the door to his truck and climbed in, not even waiting for Jake’s response.
    Jake watched him pull away and then got in his car and headed home to make himself look good in an impossibly short amount of time. His shower might just have set record-breaking speeds.
    Matt leaned on the doorjamb of his bedroom, watching Jake debate which shirt he should wear. “What’s the occasion?” he asked.
    “The guys invited me out to a bar.”
    “The ‘guys’ or one guy in particular?”
    Jake sent him