About Renovations 1-3
by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox
161 pages / 46300 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-282-8
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When Toby Archer’s marriage falls apart, he takes up flipping houses to fill some of the void left in his life. The first time that contractor Ven Parrish works for him, Toby notices the fact that Ven is gorgeous, but what really catches Toby’s attention is Ven’s work ethic. Toby isn’t going to pass up the chance to hire Ven again; it’s just good business sense.
The more time they spend together, the harder it is to deny their attraction to each other. Toby is a lawyer with an upper class lifestyle, and Ven is a working man from a family still scraping by. What they have in common, especially a commitment to family, does more to keep them apart than bring them together.
Still, Toby and Ven have sense enough to know when something is worth the work, and neither is afraid to get hot and dirty to get the job done. Can the finished product be a happy ending for everyone?
Renovations 1-3 was originally published as the first Renovations Chaser Series and includes the following three stories:
Renovations 1: Flipping Out
Renovations 2: Playing House
Renovations 3: Moving Day
Day 1
Not for the first time, Tobias Archer was glad to be a lawyer. Real estate
wasn’t his specialty, but he was learning quickly. He’d just closed on his
fourth house, a quaint little Colonial in desperate need of some TLC. Toby
had thirty days and thirty thousand dollars to make that happen.
He’d gotten stuck in court for most of his last project, and he’d had to
entrust the schedule and the money to his contractor, Ven Parrish. Luckily,
the man had turned out to be up for the challenge, and the project had come
off without a hitch. They’d gone seventy days from closing to closing, and
Toby had made a thirty thousand dollar profit.
He was putting that profit into this new project. This round, he had the
time to actually be involved in the work. Since things had gone so well last
time, he’d hired Ven to be his contractor again, and they’d arranged to meet
after the closing to do a walk-through of the new house.
The whole drive over, Toby was tapping on the steering wheel, his impatience
getting the better of him. He’d been living in a hotel for the past month
since his last project sold and he was ready to finally have a place to
live; not that the hotel wouldn’t have been more comfortable. He’d be
sleeping on an airbed and living out of suitcases until the house was ready
for staging. Then he’d be out again when it sold, heading back to another
hotel room.
When he pulled into the driveway, Ven’s pickup was already there. Toby got
out of the car and walked up to cross his arms on the open driver’s side
window. Ven had a travel mug of coffee in one hand and was tapping at the
keyboard of a laptop with the other. The smell coming from the mug made
Toby’s mouth water and his stomach growl, reminding him that he’d skipped
breakfast and lunchtime was flying by.
“Hey, thanks for coming out to meet me,” Toby said, over the sounds of indie
rock coming from the truck radio.
“No problem.” The laptop snapped shut and Ven reached out to turn off the
radio. “I had a walk around already. Let’s go have a look inside.”
“Great.” Toby backed off so Ven could get out of the truck. He dug around in
his suit pocket until he came up with the keys, and then shook them in the
air. “I went through this morning before closing. The place has a lot of
potential.”