Fixer-Upper: A Summer Romance (Vale Valley Season Three Book Fifteen) Read online

  “Hello?” King called. He absolutely was not entering an alpha’s den when said alpha already sounded pissed off. Not uninvited, and possibly not at all if he could get away with it. “Mr. Leander?”

  “Shit,” the other man said, his voice floating down the hall. “Shitting fuck damn.”

  “Ah, I can come back?” King tried again. Not that he would. But at least he could tell Rosemary he’d tried. “I’ll come back later.”

  “No, wait!” Something crashed and splintered in the near distance, and footsteps rushed toward the front of the house, until a tall, broad man emerged from the shadows. He was blond, skin a golden tan over strong muscles straining under his clothes, and was covered head-to-toe in a coating of dirt and dust that had turned his jeans and t-shirt a uniform gray. In one hand, he grasped a car seat holding a giggling baby. In the other, he held what appeared to be a doorknob, still attached to a large chunk of whatever door it had belonged to. “Sorry, I didn’t want to leave her alone and I don’t want to touch her too much with all this shit on me. Anyway. Hi. Can I help you?”

  King bit the inside of his lip, trying and failing not to be charmed. “I’m King,” he said, but the man only looked at him in confusion. “Rosemary sent me?”

  The man blinked a few times before recognition dawned across his face. “The daughter-in-law’s cousin!” he said, nodding. Then he looked at King, no doubt noting his dark brown skin, nothing at all like the fair-skinned mermaid married to the sheriff.

  “Distant cousin,” King said.

  “Family’s funny like that,” the man said with a shrug, and set the baby carrier on the kitchen counter. He finally noticed the doorknob he held, and tossed it across the room to a pile of torn carpets and splintered molding before closing the distance between them, offering his hand. “I’m Jonah. This is Anya.” Anya batted at the collection of toys hanging from the handle of her carrier and laughed brightly.

  “Nice to meet you both.” King took Jonah’s hand. It was only polite, after all, even if he did have to brace himself for contact with an alpha when it was usually the absolute last thing he wanted. But King still wasn’t prepared for the shock running up his arm the moment they touched, like he’d grabbed an angry jellyfish instead of shaking hands with a man who could easily be the mate King had waited his whole life to meet. Shit.

  Jonah jerked slightly, but only looked mildly interested. “Static electricity,” he said absently as he let go of King’s hand. “Always said I had a magnetic personality.”

  “Yeah,” King said, scrambling for words and not doing a very good job of it. He wasn’t ready to find his mate, certainly not one that wasn’t even one of the merfolk, and he needed to remember that instead of noticing how endearing the dusting of drywall debris in Jonah’s hair was. He shouldn’t be thinking how Jonah was so approachable, his daughter adorable, and how he conveniently had already bought a house on the very street King had just decided he wanted to live on. Gods-damned biology. Get your shit together, King. “Rosemary said you need help, but it looks like you’ve got things in hand.”

  “You could call it that,” Jonah said, laughing and shooting a narrow glance at the doorknob he’d just tossed across the room. “To be honest, I don’t think I’d realized how much work this would really be until I got here this morning. I’m glad you’re looking to pick up some work. I really do need the help.”

  “For all you know, I can’t even paint a straight line,” King said, wondering if it would be too weird if he were to just run back to his car and haul ass out of there.

  “Then I’ll put you on clean up duty,” Jonah said with a shrug. “Do you like kids? I could use someone to help me keep an eye on Anya, too.”

  “Why would you suggest that? Because I’m an omega?” King asked, a little too sharply. If Jonah was a stereotyping alphahole like all the others, it would be the perfect excuse for King to get out of there and never look back. There’s no way Rosemary would think badly of him for standing up for himself. “We’re not all automatically nurturers just because we can have babies, you now.”

  “No, I know,” Jonah said. He blushed, running a hand through his hair. “Shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—I only meant that I’m sure we can find something for you. Although, if you don’t like kids we might have a bit of a problem. Especially considering we’re setting up a daycare here. Plus, let’s be honest. I’m a single dad. Where I go, she goes.”

  King looked at Anya, and felt himself softening. “She is pretty damn cute,” he admitted. “And lucky for you, I am one of those omegas that gets gooey over babies. But that doesn’t mean I’m here to be your babysitter.”

  “You probably get a lot of shit for being an omega, huh?” Jonah said, giving him a bashful smile. “Easily as much as I get for being an unmated alpha who loves kids so much I’m literally asking people to pay me to play with their little ones. How about we agree that your main job is to help me with the remodel. When, and if, you help out with Anya it will always be on your terms. She’s my daughter, and it’s my job to take care of her. You are not the nanny,” he added with a grin. “Deal?”

  Oh, that smile was going to be the end of him, King just knew it. He could feel it in the pleasant curl of warmth low in his belly, and if he knew what was good for him, King would get out of there, pack up his stuff, and get the hell away from Vale Valley and any thoughts about mating. Instead, he smiled back at Jonah and took a step closer. “Deal. Why don’t we start with whatever door you were fighting with when I got here? It sounded like a two-man job.”

  Jonah laughed again, and King had to fight the urge to melt into the strange alpha’s arms. “I was in the back bedroom,” he said, scooping up Anya’s carrier and leading the way back. King followed helplessly. “The door jammed and I had to break it down when I heard you out here.”

  “You broke down a door to get to me?” King said, unable to keep from teasing even though he knew better than to flirt with this man of all the men in Vale Valley. The worst part was he didn’t need to work hard to make his voice sound breathy at the thought of all that alpha strength focused on him. Ugh.

  “Sure. Let’s go with that.” Despite the casual words, King could see a fierce blush creeping up Jonah’s neck. It was adorable. “You sure you want to work in those clothes? They look pretty expensive, and I can almost guarantee whatever you wear while we work will get absolutely trashed.”

  King looked down at his dark blue designer jeans and t-shirt, both tailored to fit his short, slender frame. The outfit had easily cost him $500, not counting the pristine white sneakers on his feet, and it was probably the closest thing he had to work-appropriate gear. He was going to have to find one of those bargain stores to get clothes that would help him fit in more, unless he wanted to invite awkward questions about why he was so casual about ruining clothes that cost more than most people’s monthly food budgets. But instead of mentioning this, he just shrugged.

  “This will do for now,” he said. “They’re old clothes, anyway. Maybe I can start a new fashion trend with distressed second-hand designer jeans.”

  Jonah laughed, the sound tugging on that spot in King’s abdomen again as though he needed another reminder as to how dangerous it was spending time with this man. “Whatever you say,” he said as he set Anya’s carrier down on an upturned bucket and draped a piece of mesh over her.

  “Does that actually help?” King asked, arching an eyebrow. As dirty as this house was, he didn’t think bit of netting would make much of a difference.

  “I don’t know if it does,” Jonah admitted, blushing. “But it doesn’t hurt, and that makes it worth the shot.”

  Fuck. This man was adorable.

  King was so screwed.

  Chapter Three

  Jonah

  Jonah was so screwed.

  He couldn’t stop sneaking glances at King, and couldn’t help the pull toward the gorgeous omega in expensive clothing as his alpha instincts kicked into a higher and higher gears than he’d ever thought possible the longer they spent together. He wanted to stand behind King while he worked, wanted to smell his sweat and taste his skin, and slip his hand down the back of King’s skinny jeans and get a handful of what he was sure would be a perfect ass. Or so Jonah though it would be, if it was even half as amazing as the rest of King.

  Several inches shorter than Jonah, King’s body was compact and all slender strength allowing him to move like he was floating more often than not. His dark-skinned hands moved with confidence, and he didn’t have any problems with tasks that required heavy-lifting despite his deceptively smaller frame. Nor did King seem like the type to sit by like a delicate hothouse flower if the way his ocean-blue eyes had snapped at Jonah in challenge the first and only time Jonah had tried to offer a hand as he had pried up the carpet was anything to go by.

  Jonah kept sternly reminding himself that King was here for work, not fooling around. After all, Jonah had already learned the hard way that fooling around could have life-altering consequences. Beautiful, perfect, everything a guy could wish for consequences, but consequences nonetheless.

  Besides, he needed all the help he could get to get the daycare up and running by the end of the summer. He’d invested everything he had in the venture, and it was his best bet to build a future for Anya, who was the only thing that mattered in his little world these days. That meant King was off limits, and Jonah knew it—but he still couldn’t help the flush of want that rushed up his cheeks every time he realized King was watching him work, too.

  It’s just biology, Jonah told himself as they worked side-by-side, first tearing up ratty, stained carpet and then the rusty tack strips, leaving the subfloor bare but useable. The natural pull between an unmated alpha and an unmated omega working in close pr
oximity, their coincidental sexual compatibility kickstarting Jonah’s genetic drive to claim and protect. But “biology” was a bullshit excuse for people who would rather act like entitled assholes instead of being decent human beings. Jonah couldn’t count the number of times he’d been told he was biologically unsuited to take care of small children, that it was an omega’s job, or a woman’s place. It didn’t matter that he’d gone to college—undergrad and graduate—to follow his passion of working with small children. Or that he’d spent more than ten years since working underpaid jobs in small daycares and preschools, working his way up until he’d been made director of a preschool last year. That had been the proudest day of his life, but he still didn’t regret giving it all up six months later when he’d found out about Anya.

  “Rosemary said you’re opening a daycare?” King asked, the whipcord muscles in his arms straining as they team-carried a length of rolled-up carpet out of the back bedroom to the front of the house.

  “Yep,” Jonah huffed as they lifted their burden up and over the dented edge of the Dumpster. “The room we’re working on will be the office. And my bedroom, until I get a chance to work on the upstairs apartment for a more permanent place to live.” Reflexively, he reached back to touch the baby monitor hooked on the back of his belt, even though he could still hear the soft music he’d put on to keep Anya company while they made the quick trip outside. He didn’t relax until he heard the soft sounds of Anya’s baby babble, though.

  “There’s an apartment upstairs?” King asked as they headed back inside.

  Jonah nodded. “And it’s in even worse shape than the downstairs, if you can believe it,” he said. “I probably should have looked for a place that’d have been less work to get off the ground, but this house just felt right, you know?”

  “It’s perfect here,” King said, glancing out the sliding glass door that led to the back porch overlooking the lake. Jonah needed to buy a screen door sooner rather than later, because there was no way he was giving up that lake breeze for a single summer day. It was the middle of June and already he was itching for a cool breeze and a long swim. “I only hope there’s a place on the market when I have a permanent job, because I’m pretty sure I need to live in this neighborhood.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly shy. “It’s probably just a merfolk instinct, I know, but I’ve spent so long being landlocked, and I have no idea how I managed now that I’m by the water again.”

  “You’re a merman? I thought you seemed like a kindred spirit,” Jonah said. They reached the back room, and he relaxed a little more at the sight of his little girl safe and sound under her tent of netting set up to keep the worst of the debris off her. “My grandmother was a selkie. None of her kids or grandchildren seemed to inherit much of her genes, and I can’t shift at all, but we’ve all sure been water babies. Anya’s not any different than my generation, either. I suppose that’s a good part of why I picked this house in particular.”

  “Well, you’ve got good taste in locations,” King said. “Even if you’ve got a crazy idea of what one man can handle on his own. How did you expect to get this place in shape in time to open by the fall on your own? We’ve just met and I can tell you’re no contractor, my friend.”

  “Okay, true. I’m not the handiest person. But I’m what my dads always called an eternal optimist,” Jonah said, blushing. “That’s got to count for something, right? I figure it makes me that much more charming.”

  King scowled, but his cheeks darkened with a blush before he turned away. “You might be charming, alpha, but you’re not going to be able charm the walls into painting themselves, so we should get back to work.”

  “You think I’m charming, then?” Eyes tracing down the length of King’s back, lingering on the denim-covered curve of his ass, Jonah grinned.

  “Fishing for compliments isn’t cute,” King said, looking over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “Come on, let’s get the painting supplies out. If we can get the first coat up fast enough, I’m thinking we should be able to get a swim in before it gets dark.”

  “A swim?” Jonah echoed stupidly. He wondered if King had been reading his mind a few moments ago. Then again, who could look at that water and not want to be in it?

  “Yeah.” King looked out the window at the water again, yearning clear on his face. “Unless you won’t have a suit. Sorry, I should have asked. I just thought it might be a good way to cool down.”

  “A swim sounds great.” Even if he didn’t have a suit, Jonah would have figured something out. There was no way he was going to pass up the opportunity to see King half naked and slippery.

  What? Just because he damn well knew he couldn’t and shouldn’t make a move on King, didn’t mean Jonah couldn’t admire him from the privacy of his own thoughts. Besides, Jonah was an alpha, and King was a damn attractive omega.

  Damn biology. Jonah forced himself to smile and make eye contact, and absolutely, positively, not think about what King might be hiding under his clothes besides his narrow waist and that pert ass.

  Some of the thoughts Jonah was doing his damndest not to have must have shown on his face, though, if the way King’s cheeks darkened as he looked away was any indication. A little too desperate to get things back on solid ground, Jonah cleared his throat. “I’ll go get the paint,” he said. “It’s in my truck. Do you mind keeping an eye on her for a couple minutes?”

  King had barely managed to nod in agreement before Jonah fled the room. They were working together, not dating, he reminded himself sternly as he took his time heading back outside. Hell, they barely knew each other. He had no business thinking about King like someone he wanted to sleep with. Besides, King seemed far too serious to be the sort of person who’d be interested in casual sex. Truth told, so was Jonah. Especially now that he had Anya to think of and every romantic choice he made from now on was going to have to take her into consideration. Everyone would have to be considered as a potential mate and co-parent, which was more than a little terrifying the more Jonah thought about it.

  And the notion that King, a stranger so desperate for a job he’d taken poorly paid manual labor from a lunatic with a baby and a dream, might be mate material was absolutely ludicrous.

  By the time he’d hefted a 5-gallon bucket of paint in each hand and made his way inside yet again, Jonah had managed to scold his libido back to something approximating good behavior. Getting the daycare together was far more important than getting laid, and since that’s all he’d likely have with a stand-offish transient like King, all Jonah had to do was keep that in mind and he’d be fine going forward.

  Then he stepped in the room to find King leaning over Anya, smiling brightly as he played with her. He had a dimple in the cheek Jonah could see, and was looking at Jonah’s daughter like she was the most perfect baby in the world. Jonah’s heart stuttered and tripped over itself, and it was all he could do to keep from dropping the paint. There was something more than just animal magnetism at work here, and it didn’t matter that Jonah was too scared to put a name to it. He was still drawn to King in a way that no one else had ever quite affected him before, and Jonah needed to stop dancing around it.

  Maybe biology wasn’t such bullshit after all. Only time would tell. Providing Jonah could keep his hands to himself long enough to find out.

  King looked up just then, his Anya-induced grin turning sheepish. “I actually do love kids,” he admitted. “I’m a cliché, I know. But being around them is just so wonderful. Most of the time, that is.”

  Jonah forced himself to stay casual, like those words hadn’t made his stomach do a flip for joy. “I can’t judge you for that. I once had an ex tell me I might as well come with a warning label: Must love kids. It’s always been a deal-breaker for me, I suppose.” And really, it had been a deal-breaker for her in the end, too. But that was a whole lot more information than Jonah was willing to share with someone he just met. “Which, considering what I’m doing with my life, isn’t all that much of a surprise. But you wouldn’t believe how many guys and girls alike have gone running in the other direction when they’ve realized I really am the big family, picket fence, fairy tale ending sort of guy.” He mentally slapped himself. “Not that we’re dating or being even remotely interested in my dreams is a requirement of your employment. Sorry. Let’s just get painting.”