Perfection Page 9

"These are so good," Jared practically moaned, drawing her attention.

She looked over to find Jared standing next to the counter with an adorable baby boy cradled in his arm as he stood protectively in front of a large plate of brownies as he devoured one.

"Haley, this is Zoe. She was thinking of taking the job until the dumb bastard you married scared the hell out of her," Brad announced, chuckling.

Haley pushed her glasses up her nose as she glared up at her husband. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Jason demanded in an innocent tone as he pressed a hand to his chest.

She glared up at Jason for another minute before turning an expectant look on Brad who was only too happy to tell her.

"He wrote you up again," Brad said cheerfully.

"Betraying bastard," Jason mumbled, throwing a glare at Brad that only seemed to make his grin widen.

She sighed heavily. "The things I put up with," Haley said, walking over to Zoe.

"Put up with? You adore me, my little grasshopper, and we both know it."

"Hello, my name is Haley and that little guy is Cole," she said, smiling as she gestured to the baby who was now trying to wrestle a brownie away from Jared. "I would apologize for my husband, but then that's all I'd be doing all day and I really just don't have the time."

Zoe bit back a smile.

"Hey!"

"Zoe, are you interested in the job?" Jared asked around a mouthful of brownie.

Was she? Despite all the craziness and the frightening revelation that all Bradford's were psycho about their food, at least the males were, she was interested in the job. Whether that was out of desperation or amusement she wasn't sure.

Chapter 6

"Let's call it a night, gentlemen!" Carl called out through a bullhorn.

Trevor shot one last bolt into the metal frame before he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. He looked at his watch and nearly groaned. It figured that the first time they got out on time in weeks and he had a ton of shit to do. He started to make a mental list of all the shit he had to do as he grabbed his tools and headed for the ladder. There was no food in his house, he still had a shit load of laundry to do, and the sink was overflowing with dishes. Looked like he was putting off his haircut for another night, he thought with disgust as he shoved the hair out of his face.

Maybe he should call his aunt and grovel so that.........

A huge shit eating grin suddenly tipped his lips when he remembered the deal he'd made with his little tenant this morning. Oh this was f**king perfect, he thought. He had no doubt that she'd take the job he offered her even if his uncle hired her this morning. There was no way he could have missed the excited expression on her face when he pointed out that it would give her extra money, but just in case.....

He quickly handed over the tools he'd used to one of the supervisors and waited to be signed out. A few minutes later he headed for his truck as he took his phone out. Just when he thought voice mail was about to pick up Zoe answered, sounding out of breath.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Zoe. It's me," Trevor said, unlocking his door and tossing his tool belt inside the truck.

"Me who?" Zoe asked, sounding confused.

That caught him off guard. He couldn't remember having a woman not know it was him when he called. Granted that was probably because they all waited by the phone for his call and expected him, he reassured himself. He was memorable damn it!

"It's Trevor," he bit out.

"Oh," she mumbled, sounding even more confused. "How did you get this number?"

"It was on your rental application," he said, pausing by his door when he spotted his cousin walking towards him. "I just wanted to find out how things with my uncle went today." And of course he wanted to know if she'd done all his grunt work so he could get a haircut, hit the bar and maybe get laid for the first time in a long time, but she didn't need to know all the little details.

"Hey, Trevor!" Hank, an obnoxious ass**le his uncle hired a few years ago, yelled from across the yard as he waved Trevor over. Like most days he simply ignored the jerk. If Trevor was an ass**le, and he'd admit that he was, then that prick was the biggest douche bag on earth.

At least once a week he had to put up with the jerk trying, hell, more like begging him to go hang out with him and pick up women. It was never going to happen. The man looked and acted like a sleazebag and went for anything with a pair of tits and thought that made him king shit and he wanted Trevor along for the ride so that he could get his hands on the type of women that Trevor normally dated, f**king hot and nearly perfect.

"I got the job!" she said excitedly, grabbing his attention. "I start tomorrow!"

"That's great," he said, wondering if she used fabric softener in his laundry or if she even did it. Did the woman forget about him and his needs now that she had a job? Kind of inconsiderate of her, he thought, arching a brow when his clearly pissed off cousin walked around his truck and climbed into the passenger side without a word.

"Is there something you needed? I'm kind of in the middle of putting your groceries away before the ice cream melts," she said absently, he could hear the sounds of plastic bags rustling in the background.

She got him ice cream? He f**king loved ice cream.

"What flavor?" he asked, licking his lips in anticipation of the sweet treat.

"I don't remember right now. I bought you several half gallons because I wasn't sure what you liked, but I really have to get off the phone so I can put the stuff away. The checkout line was really long and then I got held up in traffic so-"

"No, that's fine. I just wanted to see if you got the job," he lied. He could have just as easily asked his uncle if he'd really wanted to know. As far as he was concerned his guilt was washed away when he hired her this morning. Anything else was just a plus.

"Oh, that was nice of you. Thank you," she said, sounding truly surprised, which kind of pissed him off since he was f**king nice. Didn't he just find her two jobs out of the goodness of his heart? "I really have to go now. Bye," she said, hanging up before he could respond. Damn infuriating tenant, he thought as he turned his scowl on his cousin.

"What the hell do you want?"

"What the hell does it look like?" Jason snapped. "I need a ride home."

"So? Go find your wife and have her drive your ass home. I have plans," he said, getting in and starting the truck. He threw his cousin an expectant look that clearly told the other man to get his ass out.

Jason simply crossed his arms over his wide chest and leaned back. "She already left for the day."

"Call her and tell her to come pick your ass up," Trevor said, giving the door a pointed look.

"She's sleeping," Jason said as if that should mean something to him. It didn't. Sure he liked Haley and if his cousin hadn't managed to trick her into marrying him he would have made an exception for her height and taken a go at her, but that didn't mean he gave a rat's ass that she'd have to cut her nap short and come get her pain in the ass husband.

"So? Wake her up and have her come get you. She should be awake when watching the baby anyway," he pointed out.

Jason snorted. "Wow, you really are an ass**le."

Trevor simply nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"She was falling asleep at her desk so Dad called up Jill and Mary. They came and got her and one of them drove her and the car home and Dad decided to take Cole home for the night to give her a break," Jason said, sounding exhausted.

"Why didn't they have you bring her home?"

"They wanted to give her a break from all my fussing," he said, pouting.

Knowing there really wasn't much choice in the matter, Trevor threw the car into drive and headed towards the center of town. He still couldn't believe the lovesick bastard sitting next to him was the same man who'd f**ked their Cousin Eric's fiancé at the rehearsal dinner to win a bet. Granted, he'd started that bet, but that didn't change the fact that his cousin had changed and not for the better as far as he was concerned.