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At least I can do what I came here to do.
“Why don’t you show me this alarm system you bought?” I suggest.
She nods and gets up to go get it.
“You know you shouldn’t be the one installing it, right?” I ask as she brings me the system. “The company who sold it to you should install it.”
“Ah, but it was cheap because self-installation was required.”
I study the system in my hands. It’s a piece of junk. “How much did you pay for it?”
“They usually retail for three hundred dollars, but they sold it to me for a hundred.”
“Lainey, you were scammed.” I look up at her. “Did you look up the reviews online before you bought it?”
“It was an on-the-spot deal. They came around knocking a few days after the police inquired about a break-in across the road. I guess with the timing and all, I jumped at the chance to buy the thing.”
“They probably knew you would.”
She thinks about it for a moment and then looks crestfallen. “I’m an idiot. Of course they timed it like that for a reason. I totally got scammed, didn’t I?”
“You’re not an idiot. The timing was... convenient, though, yeah.”
For all I know, the break-in could have something to do with the security company that ripped Lainey off. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened.
“At least it works,” she tells me. “They showed me how the sensors work when they were here.”
Before I can tell her not to, she switches the thing on and runs her hand over the sensor. The worst kind of screeching fills my ears.
Quickly shutting the thing off, I shake my head. “Well, at least you’ll deafen any intruder.”
She full on beams at me, pleased I’ve complimented her new security system. “So, can you install it? I’ll look into getting something better, but I really don’t like feeling unsafe.”
The pleading in her eyes isn’t something I can say no to. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The thing is a bitch and a half to put up, unsurprisingly. It’s a piece of cheap and rubbishy plastic, and what should take a minute takes twenty.
“I need another beer,” I tell her once I’m done.
She goes to the fridge, pulls one out and twists the top off before handing it over. We sit back down at the table and I pick up the card deck sitting on the other side of the table.
Shuffling the deck, I look at Lainey sitting across from me. “I didn’t pick you for a card player.”
“Solitaire helps me get over blocks when I’m writing.”
“Ever play anything else?”
“Not really. Dad’s never had any interest in card games. Neither has Cass.”
“I’ll teach you one, then.”
I haven’t played cards in years, but I remember the game I played with my uncle the few times he visited.
Lainey nods enthusiastically. “Okay.”
She smiles, tucking the lock of hair that has broken free of her ponytail back behind her ear. It’s something I’ve seen her do a hundred times before, yet I slow my shuffling as I look at her. Really look at her. Lainey is gorgeous. Not in the bowl-you-over and stun-you-stupid sort of way Amber is, but in the way that creeps up on you, then smacks you over the head, forcing you to take notice. Or maybe I’ve just been oblivious. Even Seb pointed out her attractiveness when he saw her sitting with the cast of Green’s Law.
“I think I have some potato chips in the cupboard if you want something to nibble on,” she offers.
“If you put them out, I’ll eat them.”
She beams at me, and my heart beats just a bit faster in my chest. She’s just so happy. Something as simple as sharing food and playing cards with me seems to please her. I can’t remember the last time things felt this effortless with a woman. It must be because we’re friends. Since I’ve never had a female friend, I couldn’t say for sure. What I do know is that I’m starting to like having Lainey in my life, a lot, and if I want to keep her friendship, I can’t think about how gorgeous she is or sleep with her. I don’t do complicated hook-ups or relationships. Not anymore. Having sex with her would ruin everything.
Turning my attention back to the deck of cards in my hands, I keep shuffling. As Lainey gets up to search through her cupboards, she chats to me about her work and the latest book she’s writing. I put my thoughts of Lainey’s attractiveness on ice and try to relax, focusing on what she’s saying, enjoying our easy conversation.
If someone had told me four months ago that I’d be hanging out with a woman and teaching her to play cards instead of trying to get her into bed, I’d have laughed in their face. Yet here I am, joking and drinking with Lainey, and teaching her the rules to the game my uncle taught me long ago. It’s not the Friday night I planned, but it’s the best one I’ve had in a long time.
I wonder what that says.
Actually, I don’t think I want to know.
