Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley

Author:Cathy Yardley [Yardley, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781662517099
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2024-07-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

This was a bad idea. It’d been a bad idea when he asked her out, but now it was a really bad idea. It was way more expensive than he’d thought, for one thing. Not that he couldn’t afford it. Again, that was the blessing of living with his family and combining his income, the farm-stand proceeds, and his father’s wages to cover costs—what little was left on the mortgage and their relatively simple bills. But still. The ambiance was good, he’d give it that, but the food had better be outstanding for those kinds of prices.

Who the hell can afford this on the island?

That was the thing, though. It wasn’t for the local islanders, at least not the ones here now. It was for the tourists and the soon-to-come gentrifiers.

Hudson gritted his teeth. He was in his best pair of jeans and a pair of midnight blue suede sneakers, and a navy button-up shirt that Kimber insisted he wear. Both Kimber and his parents had given him the thumbs-up.

As much as he liked Willa, he didn’t want to change, for her or anyone. But he did want to show that he could fit into her fancy food world, if he needed to. He wanted to show her that he listened. He wanted to show her, in her language, just how special she was.

Now, he was on this very tentative date with the skittish Willa, who looked . . .

Unimpressed?

Fuck.

But it only got worse.

“Hey. Handyman Hudson, right?” Patrick, the asshole from the Victorian, said, walking up to the hostess’s stand with a broad grin before turning to Willa. “Good to see you, man! Sorry I couldn’t go with you on the bid, but you know how it goes.”

Hudson grimaced and shook his hand, avoiding the guy’s attempt at a bro hug by simply making the shake harder. Patrick winced a little and let go, but his smile didn’t waver. “Who’s this?” Patrick asked, staring at Willa.

Why are you here? Why do you care who she is? What, did the guy work here or something?

“This is Willa,” Hudson said, wanting to add my date but not sure how she’d react to that. He didn’t want her to think he had expectations. Or, you know, that he was pissing a circle around her.

“Willa,” Patrick repeated, looking back and forth between the two of them, like they were an equation that didn’t make sense. Then he narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on her. “Don’t you live across the street from me? You seem familiar. I live in the Victorian off Maple Lane.”

“Yes,” she agreed. Her voice was demure, her smile polite and friendly. “I’m your neighbor.”

Patrick’s smile widened a little. “Been on the island long?”

Seriously, dude? Right in front of me? Hudson’s jaw clenched.

“Just a few weeks.” The smile stayed, though her brown eyes warmed. “It’s nice. I like it here.”

“We were just going to have dinner . . . ,” Hudson said, hoping the guy would finally get the message.

Patrick’s smile seemed both amused and, when he looked at Willa, predatory.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.