Devin reached for the door. The muscles in his arm flared. I could tell he was in shape, but I’d had no idea to what degree—until he took his shirt off. The stark white wifebeater he wore clung to his flat stomach and broad chest like a coat of white paint. I tried not to stare, but I found his tattoos intriguing. His bare arms were covered with various pieces of colorful work. I darted my eyes from one to the other. As the door swung open, I knew one thing for absolute certain.
I was in over my head.
Two men, both built like lumberjacks, stood just outside the doorway. Dressed fractionally better than what I expected, they were wearing matching outfits of jeans, boots, and khaki-colored, long-sleeved shirts. A newer model Ford pickup truck was parked in the driveway behind them.
The bigger of the two men—a massive man with hands the size of Christmas hams—stepped toward Devin. His mouth twisted into a smirk. “What’s shaking, Bone?”
Devin shook his hand as if he hadn’t seen him for years. They embraced in a hug, each slapping the other on the back.
“Just trying to get this house sold,” Devin said. “How’s things on the other side of the alley?”
“Things are good, brother. Things are good,” the man replied. “Damned good to see you.”
“Good to be seen.” Devin gestured to me. “This is Teddi. Teddi, this is—”
“Frank,” the man said, gesturing to an oval-shaped patch that was sewn to the chest of his shirt. He stepped around Devin. His dark, shoulder-length hair dangled in front of his eyes, and his face was covered in a few days of stubble. He offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
His hand engulfed mine completely. I felt small and incapable. I glanced at Devin. He gave a smile of reassurance.
I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Frank.”
Frank released my hand and gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “That’s Shane.”
Shane wasn’t as tall as Frank, but he was big by any means of comparison. With his mouth curled into a permanent grin and his hair cut short, he was much less intimidating than his business partner.
I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Devin clapped his hands together. “Sorry, fellas, but Teddi and I have a meeting we need to get to in about thirty minutes. We’re going to need to make this quick.”
Five minutes prior, I was barely capable of carrying on a meaningful conversation. Devin’s declaration of our “meeting” caused me to slip right back into my mush-minded state. As my mind reeled to come up with the possibilities of what might happen between us, the men began to discuss the flooring.
“Meeting at five thirty?” Frank asked. “Other’n our dumb asses, who meets this late in the day?”
Devin gave him a nod of reassurance. “The real estate market never sleeps, does it, Teddi?”
I was in the midst of deciding if having sex with Devin was a good idea, a great idea, or a bad idea. I was nowhere near a concrete conclusion.
I shook my head to free it of the clutter. “Huh?”
Devin glared. “The real estate market never sleeps. Does it, Teddi?”
“Umm. No,” I replied “Never.”
Devin gestured to the baseboard at his feet. “This was tile at one time, and someone put this engineered wood in its place. They removed the tile when they did. This flooring is a quarter of an inch thinner than the original tile. I’m wondering if you could lay an LVT over it that looks like stone. Something to brighten it up in here.”
Frank gazed at the length of the entrance and then peered into the great room. “Place looks like a dungeon.”
“That’s why you’re here, brother.”
Shane wandered down the hallway and ventured into the living area.
Frank put his hands on his hips and surveyed everything within eyeshot from floor to ceiling. “What’s the square footage?”
“Almost twelve thousand,” Devin replied.
“Including the guesthouse,” I added.
“Used LVT on a new construction in Miami last week,” Frank said. “Looked like tumbled travertine tile. When the job was almost done, the owner came in. She looked around and started screaming, ‘What the hell have you done?’ She thought we’d put real travertine in. Said she couldn’t afford it.”
In the middle of trying to figure out what one of Devin’s tattoos was, I shifted my attention to Frank. “What was the installed cost?”
“We used a high-end product on that one,” Frank said. “It wasn’t cheap.”
I’d had a feeling Devin was mistaken with his figures. I prepared myself for a letdown.
“What’s not cheap?” I asked.
“Ten bucks a foot,” Frank responded.
Ten dollars a square foot sounded reasonable to me. “That sounds like a pretty good—”
“Go to hell,” Devin snarled. “I’m not giving you ten bucks a foot.”
Frank shot Devin a glare. “Settle down, Bone. That’s what it cost her. Your girl will only have to pay about six fifty.”
Your girl?
I wondered what Devin had told him about me. Maybe calling me Devin’s girl was some kind of biker lingo. Either way, I liked hearing it.
“Five fifty sounds better,” Devin said.
Frank’s eyes thinned. “Price needs to be higher than five fifty. There’s installation labor, and the tile cost four twenty-five. I tell you what, though. It looks as good as forty-five-dollar tile. Can’t tell the difference.”
Devin shrugged. “Five fifty sounds about right, then.”
“I’m six fifty. You’re five fifty,” Frank said. “I’ll talk to Shane and see if he’s willing to meet somewhere in the middle.”
Devin looked him up and down. “Didn’t realize you needed permission to make a deal.”
Clearly taking exception to the remark, Frank folded his arms over his massive chest. “I don’t.”
“I’ll offer you six dollars a foot for the installed square footage,” Devin said. “Loose-fit, not glued. If we put a floating floor in, the new owner can change it later if they want to. Accept it, or I’ll get someone local to do it.”
“Got to drive from Miami every day,” Frank complained. “Two hours each way, with traffic.”
“You going to wear a skirt when you do this job?” Devin asked, his voice laced with sarcasm. “You’re whining like a bitch.”
“God damn, Bone. At six dollars, I’m barely breaking even.”
“No, you’re not,” Devin argued. “You’re taking the first step at building a long-lasting relationship. You can’t put a price on that.”
“With who?” Frank asked. “Your girl, here? Miss Teddi? She gonna call me to do work when you’re long gone?”
“I’ll be here until my supervised release is over,” Devin replied. “That’s eighteen months, at least. Maybe two years. Do it for six bucks a foot or kick rocks.”
Frank looked up and down the hallway and then met Devin’s gaze. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll do it for six bucks.”
Devin looked at me. “I’m guessing we’re at about eight thousand square feet after we eliminate closets, bathrooms, and the guesthouse. That’s just an educated guess. If it’s right, we’re talking forty-eight thousand. Is that a problem?”