The fact that she wouldn’t leave his mind just made things worse.
Now it was the next day, and while he should have had a day off, he’d spent the morning going over the blueprints Murphy had sent over while trying to get his head in the game for their new project. Maybe if he spent his time getting to know the estate and the secrets within its walls and foundation, he wouldn’t have so much animosity when it came to the former tenant. The old mansion had good bones, he remembered, but not much more considering the years of neglect. According to Owen, Blake’s family had owned the place for a few generations but hadn’t actually lived there for at least twenty years. They’d bought a newer, more elite place that had been a new build and required less maintenance. And because, apparently, the family hadn’t cared about the history they’d had in their grasp, they’d let the place go to ruin.
Graham ran a hand through his hair and cursed as someone knocked on the front door. Hell, it seemed no matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to completely focus. Before he could open the door, Owen strolled in, keys in hand.
“Just let yourself in, why don’t you,” Graham said dryly. “I thought those keys were for emergencies.” He rolled his shoulders and stood up from his table, his legs annoyingly stiff since he’d been hunched over.
Owen rolled his eyes and handed over an iced coffee with Graham’s name on it. It had to be said, no matter the time of day, if Owen showed up, he came with some form of caffeine in his hand. The man sure knew how to pave the way, though Graham wasn’t sure why his younger brother was here at all.
“You use your key to walk into my place all the time,” Owen said dryly after taking a sip of his own iced latte. Too much sugar for Graham, but Owen seemed wired for it, and if their construction manager needed the extra perk to do all the paperwork so Graham didn’t have to, all the better. “Waiting for someone to actually answer a knock or a doorbell takes too much time.” Owen grinned, and Graham rolled his eyes.
After he’d taken a sip of his own iced coffee—perfection—he narrowed his eyes at his brother. “What do you need? I thought we weren’t going to the jobsite today because we like these things called ‘days off.’ A radical concept, I know.”
Owen pushed past Graham, walked toward the dining room table, and gave his brother a look. “Oh, really? You’re taking it easy over blueprints and order forms? Who the hell are you and what have you done with my brother?”
Graham grunted. “I do paperwork, asshole.”
“Yeah, but you don’t usually double check the paperwork I already did. What the hell, Graham? What’s up with you?”
He sighed and walked back to his chair, pushing a few things out of the way so he could set his cup down without the condensation from the outside of the plastic getting on anything. “Nothing’s wrong with me.”
Owen just stared.
“Seriously.”
“Oh, really? Nothing at all is wrong with you? Then why did I have to hear from Murphy that you were an asshole to Blake again?”
Graham cursed under his breath. “Murph gossips more than an old lady.”
“Murph is a little sore after getting his dick pierced, which you well know since you went through that already. And the fact that I’m talking about my brothers’ dicks tells me you think you’re pretty good at changing the subject.”
“You got yours pierced, too,” Graham grumbled.
“Actually, I got it pierced twice, but whatever.” Owen lifted a lip in a snarl before scratching around the piercing in his brow. His family really liked metal in their bodies, and since they weren’t at the jobsite where things could get hooked and where they weren’t meeting someone in a suit, Owen wore his hoop rather than a clear spacer. “Why were you an asshole?”
“I don’t know, okay? And I’m usually an asshole, so that isn’t anything too new.”
Owen sighed. “You just said you didn’t know, so therefore, you acting this way isn’t as normal as you’re trying to make me believe. You need to stop it, bro. I don’t know what’s wrong with you or why you feel the need to act the way you do around Blake, but it’s not only wrong, it’s also unprofessional as hell.”
“She’s not coming back to the site anyway.”
Owen threw up his hands. “She might, and that’s not the issue. She’s the executor of the estate and works with our brother’s woman. So get off your high horse and get your head out of your ass.”
Graham snorted. “That’s gotta hurt to be on a horse and have a head in your ass.”
Owen closed his eyes, but his lips twitched as a smile threatened. “You’re an idiot.”
“We all are. That’s what makes us family.” Graham sighed. “I’ll try, okay. I don’t know why I act the way I do around her. She needles me, though she barely says a word to me.”
Owen lifted his pierced brow. “Could be you think she’s hot and you’re all school-aged and stupid about it.”