It’s basically ready to move into, once we get done switching the furniture around. And if you don’t mind rearranging stuff. Or if you want to wait until tomorrow—”
“Today’s fine,” Ben said, giving her a smile. She was so cute, her black plaid baker’s pants and grey T-shirt not hiding the sweet curves of her figure. She wasn’t skinny, but she wasn’t fat, either. She wore her beautiful figure in the sweetly self-conscious way of a woman who didn’t realize how pretty she really was.
And she thinks we’re gay.
He hoped he stifled his groan.
If he caught her trying to diet, he’d be tempted to spank her beautiful ass to stop her from losing weight. Another thought he clamped down on. “We can pay first, last, and deposit if you want. Cash.”
He didn’t miss her surprised blink. She was hurting for money, no doubt. “Okay,” she said, a slight squeak in her voice. “That’ll be fifteen hundred. Is that okay?”
He frowned as he quickly did the math in his head. “That’s only a hundred-dollar deposit. That’s not very much.”
“I could drop the last month requirement?”
Bless her heart, she wasn’t used to dealing with tenants. From the looks of the furniture, and her lack of makeup, she appeared to be a down-home girl, not one of the skinny and looks-obsessed women he’d grown to hate dealing with while undercover in Miami.
One of the vacuous kinds of women Allan was notorious for dating.
“We’ll pay twenty-one hundred,” Allan said, surprising Ben. “A month’s worth for the deposit is standard. And we’ll be paying cash every month, if that’s all right with you.”
Ben breathed a silent sigh of relief that his brother had latched on to the same wavelength he had.
She nodded, but looked a little confused, in addition to overwhelmed. “May I ask what you do for a living?”
“He’s a struggling artist,” Ben said, tipping his head toward Allan. “He just quit his job at an insurance firm. I’m working on starting my own Internet consulting firm.” He held out a hand. “I’m Ken. Ken Dougherty. This is my cousin, Charles Stackhouse.” When she slipped her hand into his to shake with him, he immediately lightened up on his grip when he noticed her wince. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He let go and she pulled her hand back. “No, it’s okay,” she said as she gingerly cradled her hands. “I’ve got arthritis and fibromyalgia. My hands almost always hurt. Especially this time of year.”
The older man had climbed the stairs and caught her last statement. “Did you take your medicine, young lady?”
Ben successfully stifled his laugh. From the man’s tone of voice, he definitely considered himself her father.
The woman’s face reddened. “No, not yet, Grover. I took it this morning. I can’t take another one for an hour yet.”
Grover nodded. “Make sure you do.” He pointed at them. “You boys thinking about renting the apartment?”
They both nodded.
“Good. Then I expect you to help me keep an eye on her. She’s stubborn.”
“I’m sorry,” Ben said to the woman. “What was your first name again?”
“LacieBelle. LacieBelle Addams. But you can call me Libbie.”
* * * *
As much as she loved Grover, Libbie wanted to smack him. Okay, so the cousins were gay. Big whoop. They were still handsome, and now she felt like a scolded schoolgirl in front of them.
“Did you say Mandaline sent you?” she asked. “From Many Blessings?”
The men nodded. The dark-haired cousin, Ken, said, “I’m guessing you mean the lady from the coffeeshop?”
“Yeah.” Maybe there’s something to Mandaline’s magic after all. She couldn’t get over how alike they looked, including their beautiful blue eyes.
Charles said, “She seemed really nice.”
“She is. They buy their pastries from me.” She realized they both carried small paper bags bearing the store’s logo.
Ken smiled, turning his stern expression into a
Kristin Billerbeck, Nancy Toback