Mr. H.O.A., Carina Taylor [uplifting book club books .txt] 📗

you. You did the right thing if you thought someone was following you. I simply meant that that security guard is more work than he was worth. The first morning we were here together, I got a thirty-minute lecture on how to safely park a car in the garage and keep out intruders. Thirty minutes of my life I’ll never get back."

Setting my purse down on the kitchen counter, I began searching through the fridge. "Why don’t we have any dessert in here?"

"I thought you just ate at your book club thingy."

"I’m not eating because I’m hungry. I’m eating because I just ran the mad dash from what I thought was an ax murderer chasing me."

Bane reached past me and shut the fridge door. I turned around to let him have a piece of my mind, but he grasped my shoulders and turned me to face the freezer door. He swung it open. "This is where the good stuff is."

He motioned to the four cartons of ice cream lining the top shelf.

I sighed. "You amazing man, you. I think I love you."

Bane's eyes locked onto mine and I laughed shrilly. Why had I said that?

I forced myself to turn back to the freezer. After reading the names, I decided on the one with the ludicrous amounts of chocolate. Instead of dishing a bowl, I grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer, then sat down on the couch and proceeded to eat an unhealthy amount of dairy. If I wasn’t lactose intolerant before, I would be after consuming that much ice cream in one sitting.

"I’m going to bed. I have to go to the office early tomorrow to go over some things with Darla. Are you going to be okay?" Bane asked from where he sat at the bar working on his laptop.

"Yeah, I’m fine now. Thank you. And thanks for sharing your ice cream stash with me." I saluted him with the spoon. He smiled, and with a little wave, disappeared down the hall toward the master suite. He wasn’t half bad at all, and that was a problem.

I wanted him to like me.

I wanted him.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Homeowners Association Rule #50:

No loud outdoor music.

Nola: I can’t believe I’m bothering you at the office, but my car won’t start. I’ll owe you a big fat order of Hawaiian food if you have time to bring me home from work.

I texted her back right away.

Bane: What time are you done? I had a showing fall through, so I’m free for the rest of the day.

Nola: I’m just sitting here at the office counting slug bugs while I wait for the tow truck.

I slipped my phone into my pocket and shut down my laptop. After locking my office, I poked my head into Darla’s office.

"Hey, I’m taking off early today. I need to go pick up a friend."

Darla’s eyes widened behind her thick glasses. "Is it a girl?"

I grinned. "Maybe."

"Is she pretty?"

"Gorgeous."

"Then you have my permission," she replied in an imperial tone.

"Sometimes I think you run this office more than I do."

"And don’t you forget it," she said with a wink.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up in front of the local DHS office. A tow truck was pulling Nola’s minivan onto the back of the truck. Nola stood on the sidewalk watching.

"What did you do to it?" I asked as I climbed out of my car.

"I don’t know. I’m not afraid to admit I have zero mechanical knowledge. It wouldn’t start; end of story."

"Did you try jumping it?"

She turned to glare at me as she folded her arms across her chest. "I said I didn’t have mechanical sense; I didn’t say I was stupid. Of course I tried jumping it. Some nice gentleman stopped to help me. It didn’t work."

"Hmm, well hopefully it will be an easy fix and you won’t have to be without a car for long." I said as I squeezed her shoulder. It was a comforting gesture. It was also the gesture of a man starting to lose his head over a pretty woman. Someone who was dying to touch her, even if it was just her shoulder.

She sighed and reached up to pat my hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for picking me up. You’re a fantastic husband."

"Anything for you, sweetie." I smiled as I walked around and opened the passenger door for her. "Your chariot awaits."

She laughed and climbed in.

I shut the door carefully after her then hurried to the driver’s side. The tow truck was pulling out of the parking lot, the minivan looking rather forlorn on the flatbed.

"I’m going to have to buy a bike. Or roller skates. Maybe a scooter."

"Hey now. I'm sure it's fixable. Let’s not jump to the worst-case scenario here," I suggested.

"Oh, that’s right, that’s your job."

Glancing at her, I scowled as I slowly reached forward to turn the music up. "If you can’t say something nice... then you’ll have to listen to Safety Dance."

She looked at me, a horrified expression frozen on her face. "No. The oldies station. Absolutely not."

I started mouthing the words as I turned up the radio.

"No. Make it stop!"

"We can dance if we want to..."

"Gah! How did I get stuck with you out of all men in the universe?"

"Sheer good luck, I’d say."

I turned to face her for the last chorus, making sure to belt the words out as loudly as possible. Nola was laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her face.

When the song ended, I turned the radio down and backed out of parking space. "Okay, now we can go."

Nola gasped for air. "Why did I not take a video of you singing that?"

"Lack of foresight. It’s the number one cause of problems within a business." I reached into my middle consul and pulled out a pen that I passed to her. "You might want to take notes; I’m full of gems of wisdom like that."

She looked at me and smiled as she took the pen from me. "You’re in an incredibly good mood this