“I didn’t realize I was dating Little Miss Etiquette.”

“I didn’t realize I was dating Li’l Mr. Clueless. I would think with your dating portfolio you’d know what a woman should wear.”

He should have been offended by the dating portfolio comment, but they both knew it was true. Glen moved the phone away from his face and yawned.

“You should probably go to bed,” she told him.

“You heard that?”

“I did.”

“It is after midnight here.” He had to be in the office by nine.

“Then I’ll say good night.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later in the week with details.” He waited for her to end the call.

“Glen?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t think for a second I don’t realize what you did back there . . . with the questions about Dakota . . . you telling me about your mom. I just don’t want you to think I’m dating you for the perks.”

“I don’t think that.”

“I’m glad we’re clear on that. Now go to bed.”

He laughed. “Yes, dear.”

She ended the call without saying good-bye.

Glen couldn’t be happier.

Noise from a jackhammer tore Mary from her bed. She twisted her head toward her alarm clock and slapped a hand across her eyes. It was seven thirty in the morning. And her neighbors were going to be pissed.

She grabbed her bathrobe from the edge of her bed and ran down her stairs calling the plumber’s name. “Leroy!”

The noise grew louder closer to the source.

“Leroy!”

She saw the shadows of two men beyond the plastic tarp before she unzipped it. The back of the man controlling the jackhammer faced her. There was no way she was going to be able to get his attention without touching him.

Mary reached out and tapped his shoulder.

He didn’t respond.

She used her whole hand the second time and he jumped away. His eyes were wide with shock until he realized she wasn’t a threat.

Mary waved a hand across her neck indicating for the man to cut off the machine.

When the racket stopped, her ears buzzed.

“Did you look at the time?”

Both men stared at her. “My English not good.”

“My Spanish is worse.” She didn’t recognize either man. “Leroy?”

The man standing outside her door responded. “Leroy come later.” He waved his hand in the air.

“Okay.”

The man with the hammer smiled and turned back to the giant noisemaker.

“No, no, no! People are sleeping!”

“No do?”

Both men looked thoroughly confused.

Mary pointed to her wrist. “Time,” she said. Then she placed both palms together and leaned them against the side of her head as if they were a pillow. “People are sleeping. I told Leroy he couldn’t do this until after ten.”

They exchanged glances before talking to each other in Spanish.

The same guy tried again. “We done ten.”

“No. Start at ten.” This wasn’t working. She lifted both hands in the air. “Hold on. I’m calling Leroy.”

Thankfully the man had his cell phone on him and answered immediately. “Leroy! What the heck.”

“Wait, who is this?”

“It’s Mary Kildare. There are two guys with a jackhammer waking up my neighbors.”

“I told you we were taking the slab today.”

“And I told you not to start until after ten.”

“My crew has another job after yours.”

It was too early for this. “Then send them to the other job first and come back here later.”

“They can’t. The other job has a baby in the house.”

She wanted to scream. “My neighbors have babies. Leroy, this is not negotiable. I cannot have these guys making this kind of noise at this time in the morning. I’m in a condo with a shared wall!”

“That will delay us.”

Mary pinched the bridge of her nose to keep from cussing. “How long?”

“I might be able to get the crew back there by Thursday.”

“This is getting ridiculous.”

“If they come on Thursday, I can get over there on Saturday—”

“Saturday does not work for me.” And she didn’t want him around on the weekend she was out of town. She couldn’t stop him if he showed up with a jackhammer then.

“It’s your floor. If the guys can’t make it Thursday, they can be back Monday morning.”

“Monday afternoon!”

“Right, your neighbors.”

Mary handed the phone to one of the guys standing in her doorway and waited while he fired off Spanish and grumbled. When he hung up, she was relatively sure she was being cussed at and smiled at simultaneously.

With all the chaos of the morning, Mary found herself running out the door with coffee in her hand to make her first appointment. Once behind the wheel she twisted the key and heard her car protest. Unlike the night before, it gave up its complaining and turned over. But the muttering the thing was making reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing. And it wasn’t fighting with the plumber.

To make matters worse, her first client of the day didn’t show . . . and didn’t call. She had a two-hour window of time between eleven and one. Mary thought for sure she’d be asking someone in the building to jump her car, but it finally turned over on the third try.