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“Sheetrock,” he growls. “And don’t tempt me.”
I bite back a smile, leaning against the frame as I murmur, “I was only kidding.”
He flexes his jaw and his eyes burn into mine. “I wasn’t.”
I suddenly feel limp, his strong body less than a foot away, and he senses it in the air between us. He takes a large step backwards, trying to clear the fog from his brain. It’s too late for me – my whole kitchen is steamed up with red smoking lust.
He nods his head at me and I’m gratified to see that he’s as begrudging about this departure as I am. Then he jerks his chin over to his own bungalow and we both smile at the ridiculousness of it.
So close, yet so far.
“Goodnight Harper,” he says finally.
I kick off my boots and smile. “Goodnight Mitch.”
Chapter 14
Mitch
“You got any big weekend plans, boss?”
I pull off my gloves and look over at my latest recruit, Jared. He’s been finishing up an en suite re-tile and appliance affixation in the cabin that some of the crew members and I are currently standing in.
My son Tate glances over to me as he ditches his own gloves, vague curiosity momentarily crossing his features.
“Uh…” I clear my throat as we head into the living area space and then I pull open the front door to get some air into the room. Is it just me or is it suddenly hot as hell in here? Hail pellets hit the deck outside the entrance in quick little smacks, and my eyes follow the peaks up the valley until I’m looking up at Harper’s bungalow.
After date number one I decided to implement a kind of strategy, partially so that I could stay somewhat focused on finishing up the huge project that her mom hired me to do, and partially so that I could subtly persuade her to go steady with me instead of jumping straight into the haystack. Not that I don’t want to jump straight into the haystack – I’ve been ready for that since the moment I laid my eyes on her. The reason why we’re waiting is because I’m giving her the chance to end this before it gets serious.
So we’ve been doing the traditional thing. One date a week, every Saturday night for the past three weeks, meaning that we’ve had four official dates, including the one that was at the country bar. I tug at the collar of my shirt when I think about the fact that tomorrow is date number five – the number that I plucked out of thin air in the bar that night when I told her how long we should wait at a minimum before we got closer.
I run a hand down my jaw and I take a deep steadying inhalation.
“Yeah,” I say at last, eyes still zoned in on Harper’s bungalow. “I have some pretty big plans.”
The second that the guys follow my gaze up the valley Harper appears at her door, shutting it quickly behind herself, and then holding an arm over her head as she begins to leg it down the hillside. She’s wearing her statement flip-flops-and-short-shorts combination, but it’s even better this time because my jacket is slung around her body, protecting her from the impaling impact of the hailstones. Warm pride spreads through my chest and I almost smile at the sight of her wearing it.
Jared lets out a low whistle when he takes in what I’m looking at, putting two-and-two together, and my attention is briefly drawn over to him.
He instantly raises his hands in a kind of surrender, as if he’s committed a misdemeanour.
“Sorry, that was inappropriate. My bad, man,” he says quickly.
I shake my head in understanding. Harper’s so beautiful it’s crazy, so I’m not surprised that he’s impressed.
“All’s good,” I tell him, giving him a brief nod when he starts heading for his truck at the edge of our make-shift lot. “Have a good weekend.”
When Harper’s about twenty feet away from us Tate jerks his thumb over his shoulder to the inside of the cabin that we’ve just about completed and he says quietly, “I’m gonna grab my stuff and head out.”
I nod at him before he re-enters the cabin and then I turn and walk the final few paces to close the gap between Harper and myself.
Her jog stumbles to an abrupt stop as she hits into my chest, and I look down at her with my heart going double-time as I wrap my arms around her back. But the second that she looks up at me I can tell that something’s wrong.
The sound of Tate trudging out of the cabin has my head snapping to the side and he pauses briefly, as if he’s seeing something that he shouldn’t. He blinks at me for a moment and I release Harper from one of my arms, torn between not wanting my kid to see me cosying up to a woman that isn’t his mother, and not wanting to let go of Harper when her face has blanched of all colour.
She misreads my movement, thinking back to when I told her that I like things to be private, and she quickly covers for me, making my heart clench painfully in my chest.
“I just, uh,” she begins, taking a step away from me, much to my absolute dismay. “I just thought I’d come and see how the cabins are coming along. Almost all done,” she adds, followed by a quick swallow.
