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Excerpt:

Jackson sighed and rubbed a hand along his jaw as he took another glance at the mess that was the kitchen. Then he turned back to me. “There’s no reason for you to use up every penny you have, and you definitely have enough stubbornness to spare, but maybe hold it back for one little minute while I suggest something…”

I opened my mouth, and he arched an eyebrow, like he was challenging me to make it that one little minute. “Fine. You’ve got one minute.”

“I’m actually finishing up a project, and my crew can handle most of it. I don’t have another big one scheduled for a little over a month, and I was wondering what I was going to do with all my spare time. If you’re open to an arrangement, I could…help you out.”

Taking him up on the offer called to me, despite his obvious hesitance, but I was worried about attached-strings and crossed-lines. Then again, I was also worried about failing and messing up badly enough it ended up costing Dixie and me our life savings, which made me circle back around to wanting to say yes. “I’m not looking for a handout.”

“And I’m sure as hell not offering one. I’d expect to be paid for my time and services, but I’ll give you the family discount. I can promise you that I’ll do it for less than any other contractor in the area, just like I can assure you that you need one. Ivy, this is a huge job. This isn’t like those TV shows where they show you the before image, fail to show you how many people it takes to do the work, and then reveal the final shiny project. This house needs a lot of work.”

My cheeks flushed at the mention of the TV shows that’d instilled me with too much false confidence in my abilities. Add that to their sins of lying and brainwashing. I needed the team of people, and Jackson practically counted as a team himself. “I’ll admit it sounds like a good deal…”

“But?”

“But you and me working together? Wouldn’t your family miss you if I killed you?”

“You’re forgetting something…” He took a few long strides toward me, and I nearly backed up like a frightened little rabbit. Probably because there was a gleam in his eye that did seem almost predatory.

Or maybe those fumes were getting to me again. I lifted my chin, working to find the feisty attitude that usually kept me safe. “What’s that?”

He braced a hand on the wall by the side of my head and leaned in, so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body. “Aunt Velma would avenge me.”

A laugh slipped out, and then I mocked fear. I even grabbed hold of his shirt. “Please, Jackson. Please don’t tell her I said that. I’ll do anything! Even…” I made a big show of gulping. “Work with you.”

“Without killing me?”

I acted like it was the hardest decision I’d ever made and let out a huge exhale. “Jeez, that’s asking a whole lot. I’m going to have to think about it.” I bit my lip. “And let’s say I was thinking about it. What kind of terms are we talking?”

Jackson glanced around, his gaze back to assessing. “I need to take a look at the rest of the house, and then we’ll discuss the nitty gritty details over dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah, you know. Food that’s typically eaten around this time of day. Especially if someone worked a long, physically grueling day only to give in to his sister’s beck and call and come see what kind of mess her best friend had gotten herself into. You’re probably already full from all the guys’ souls you’ve been devouring, but I need to eat actual food.”

I rolled my eyes at the succubus slam and slipped out of the cozy little pocket his body had formed. I needed as much air as I could get, especially if I was going to suppress the temptation to strangle him. “Well, I certainly can’t subsist on the kind of vapid girls you go for—I’d starve.”

“Ooh, that was a pretty good insult before you were one of them, but now it’s a little self-deprecating for my taste. Sorta takes the fun out of my job.”

I clenched my jaw so hard I thought I’d crack a molar. Clearly our temporary truce had expired, our war back on. But he could go ahead and bring it, because it’d take a lot more than a few jabs to make me wave the white flag. “Fine. Let’s order dinner. Your treat since you’re applying for the job.”

“You’re shit at saying thank you, Ivy Clarke.”

Oh, I knew. I also knew us working together had disaster written all over it.

Watching him get hot and sweaty as he did all that manual labor? Fighting off sexual frustration as my ovaries did their best not to implode?

Arguments around every corner, ones we’d have while armed with tools like hammers and crowbars…?

Yep, it was going to be a disaster.

 But I was smart enough to realize that at this point, it was also my only choice if I wanted to fulfill my promise to Dixie and to actually make a profit for my efforts. In a way, not letting Jackson help would be another way of letting my feelings about a guy get in the way of my dreams.

So disaster or not, here I come.

BLP REVEIW ~ Tracy

Nailed It was a really good read. I especially liked Jackson, he was thoughtful, caring, determined and patient…. oh so very patient when it came to the gal he had his heart set on, he was hardworking, loved is family (when they weren’t interfering in his life and trying to set him up with potential girlfriends) and an overall really great guy. 
Ivy, oh Ivy… she was funny, determined, hellishly stubborn and for a good part of the book I wanted to throttle her!! Yeah, she’s watched her mum fall in and out of love and witnessed how that led to her ignoring everyone and everything around her whenever she was involved with a guy, but jeez… she was kinda too much when she was internally reminding herself why something between her and Jackson, in her opinion, could never work. I honestly kept telling her she needed therapy (yeah, talking I was seriously talking to a book character)!! Even with all of that I did kinda like her character.

I loved the banter and snark between this pair, especially as they got into more of a ‘relationship’ and seeing them get to know and understand each other was good. Their chemistry and attraction was evident and didn’t diminish regardless of how much Ivy tried to kibosh things between them. 

There was a cast of supporting characters that I liked, well, except for Ivy’s mum – who I wanted to smack whenever she appeared! I have to admit that I’ve got, but haven’t yet read, 12 Steps To Mr. Right the first book in this series by Cindi Madsen but I’m definitely gonna go back and read Savannah & Linc’s story even though we know how things have worked out for them! 

A solid 4* read for me. 

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon Gift Card