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When she got home from work she saw the old wooden fence had been pulled down and six-foot construction-site fencing was up in its place. Hanging on the temporary entrance gate was a huge chain with an even more massive padlock. Jack was now talking with a man from a permanent fencing company, and a security systems man who had toolbelt on and screwdriver in hand.
She glanced at the house. Yeah, there was a little box with a flashing light near the front door. An alarm system had just been installed. Unbelievable. Had she really thought Jack was laid-back? He seemed to have developed overprotective tendencies overnight.
He strolled over to where she stood glaring at all the upheaval. He still walked as if he hadn’t a care in the world, his lithe muscles giving him a look of ease—but she just knew he could leap faster than a tiger, despite the knee. She was not going to let her bones keep wishing he would.
‘Am I going to need to memorise some twenty-digit pin number and provide a blood sample just to get in the gate?’ She jerked a thumb towards the towering fence.
‘Retina scan actually. You’re going to have to ditch the contacts.’
She turned her glare on him as he laughed.
‘Oh, no!’ He mock-horror screeched. ‘Couldn’t let anyone see what goes on in your head, could you?’
Kelsi pressed her lips firmly together. She was not going to see the funny side.
He walked up the path with her. ‘You want to know what I’ve got planned so far?’
‘Not particularly.’
Jack’s muscles twitched, keen to haul her close and call her on it. No, Kelsi wasn’t going to show a shred of interest in the whole process. He’d never met a woman who wasn’t curious about anything and everything and he already knew Kelsi was more curious than most. And creative. And he’d thought of a way to tease it out of her. One that tickled him.
‘I wanted you to meet Alice,’ he said as he let her go through the front door ahead of him. ‘She’s over to talk through some ideas. She’s an interior designer.’
Kelsi’s features sharpened and Jack swallowed back the smile. Yes, darling, a designer—challenging Kelsi’s role head-on. If she was that into personalising her space, then it was time for her to get interested in the rebuilding project—and take hold of the damn olive branch.
Alice walked from where she’d been frowning through the open doorway of one of the downstairs flats. She was one of those glossy-magazine-type designers: all minimalist, neutral colours and nothing but the best in fittings and coverings—awfully nice. A bit boring, if Jack was honest, but in person at least she exemplified the absolute opposite of Kelsi’s crazy, maximalist, frankly weird, style. She’d hate this yes-woman. Yeah, he watched as they nodded coolly at each other, doing that quick sum-up-in-a-second look that only women could do. Jack had the irresistible urge to tease them both.
‘I was thinking about having a fireman’s pole put in so we can get from the top floor to the bottom super quick. I thought it would be a good temporary fix while the stairs are rebuilt but maybe we might keep it,’ Jack said, gesturing vaguely up to the top floor. ‘You know we’re gutting the interior completely so this would be useful, don’t you think?’
Both women turned to stare at him, mouths ajar.
Alice shut hers and opened it again, as if she were going to speak—but nothing came out.
‘Fireman’s pole?’ Kelsi’s voice was a little high, but her scarlet-tinted eyes sliced through him—and suddenly narrowed. ‘Great, you’ll be able to invite some of your dancing girls over.’
Nice hit. ‘Yeah, and I was thinking of red in the library,’ he said, loving the bloody look.
‘There’s going to be a library?’ Kelsi sounded amazed.
‘Why not? You seem to like books.’ He did, too. He might not keep them once he’d read them, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy or remember them. Whereas it seemed important to her to keep all her things near.
Her eyes widened but she shut her mouth. He heard her teeth snap together.
‘A library would be fantastic,’ Alice gushed, showing both her clear preference for that over the fireman’s pole, and her eagerness to agree on something with him. ‘Very now.’
Jack grinned as Kelsi stiffened—Kelsi who was so damn determined not to agree on anything with him. ‘I thought so, too.’
‘Will you excuse me, please?’ Kelsi mumbled. ‘Nice to meet you, Alice.’
Jack excused himself, too, leaving Alice to continue on her mission of absorbing the ‘bones’ of the house. He followed Kelsi up the stairs, trying not to trip on the eighteenth-century-length skirt she had on—complete with underskirt and overskirt. The assortment of clothes she wore to cover up her body was amazing. At least five layers, maybe eight if he counted the long, lace, fingerless glove things—and he dreamed about peeling every item, oh, so slowly from her.
‘I think she’ll have some great ideas.’ He tried to steer his mind back on course.
‘Oh, I’m sure she will.’ She viciously flicked through the stuff in the flimsy handbag that hung off her wrist, clearly trying to find her keys.
‘Maybe you should show her your place.’
Her handbag and teeth snapped simultaneously. ‘I don’t think so.’
