Freckled face. Warm palm. Adorable, kissable Brad.
“Morning,” I grunted, pulling my knees up and covering my face with both hands. Attempting to wake myself up, I rubbed vigorously. “What time is it?”
“It’s 6:30 a.m.,” he laughed. “Wow, avoiding me must have been exhausting. Caught up with you now, though, hasn’t it?” I fanned my fingers over my face so I could blink at him through the gaps. He laughed louder. Cheeky bugger. “Come on, Gazelle. The sun’s up, and we’ve got lots of painting to do.”
I recalled agreeing to help paint the house. Last night. No thanks to Granny.
“You’ve done a fine job of fixing up the place. Still need a lick of paint in places, though. You could use some help with that, couldn’t you, Bradlee?”
Granny had turned ‘the look’ on me. That look that mothers have perfected through the ages. The one that said, ‘you better be reading me loud and clear’. There was no way I could say no to that look. And, I guess I trusted her guidance. I didn’t listen to her when she told me not to move in with Flick. That was something I’d always regret.
“What did you call me?”
“Gazelle. I think it’s how you run. Fast, long, lean, and graceful.”
Huh.
I swung my legs over the side and stood up, completely forgetting that I was wearing next to nothing. Brad held his ground, unabashedly staring. I resisted the urge to shield myself with my arms. “Um. A little privacy please?”
His eyes wandered back up to my face, tracing each of my features in the way he often did. His gaze was like a feather tracing over my skin, stroking me … pulling me towards him.
“Sure,” he said lazily, turning to leave. The connection between us stretched uncomfortably, urging me to follow. I had to push all the air from my lungs, and shake my arms to release some of the tension before I exploded. I had a feeling when we lit this thing up, we were going to do just that. I had danger coming at me from all sides, but if I had to choose between fear or love … love won every time.
Whoa. Is that what this is?
After I had a quick wash and got dressed, I sought out the delicious smell coming from the back deck. The spread of food looked incredible. My nose was correct. Bacon and pancakes, with maple syrup and strawberries. On a Monday morning. Lucky I had the day off.
He’d pushed the table into the corner to make way for a drop sheet covering the wooden deck. Three different paint tins and various painting paraphernalia made a home on the sheet. How long had he been awake? Tish wiggled her fingers at me in greeting.
Brad watched my reaction carefully. “We’ll need some sustenance today if we’re going to get the job done. It can be pretty exhausting.” His gaze dropped to my shorts and faded ACDC T-shirt. “You didn’t have to change on my account, but this outfit works just as well.”
The tension snapped back full force. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, and loaded up a plate. “Looks good. Smells yum.”
“Mm hmm,” he almost groaned. I could feel him looking at me again, but wasn’t brave enough to return the favour.
“What are we painting today?”
“The hallway and the dining room. We’ll do the bedrooms another day. And then we’ll be finished.”
“Oh, okay. That’s not so bad.”
“You see? I wasn’t asking for a kidney,” Tish piped in.
“Yeah, I know,” I conceded, nodding.
“Hmm? What do you know?” About to devour a pancake, Brad waited for my explanation.
Oh shit. I said that out loud. He’d made me relax and forget.
“Um … That it’s exhausting. Renovating a house.” I stuffed a pancake in my mouth, and chewed like my life depended on it.
“You’ve renovated a house before?”
Tish slapped a hand across her mouth to hold in a giggle. Not that he’d hear her. I made a show of chewing some more and swallowing before answering. “I’ve helped at my granny’s old house. Before she sold it.” Sort of. Okay, no. That was a lie. I ordered new carpet for her, and I finger painted the wall once when I was a kid, but that was it.
I hated having to lie, and make up stories all the time. It was a big part of why I didn’t let anyone in. It was too draining. Lying to Brad made me want to regurgitate pancakes and strawberries over the side of the railing. Reminding me that I couldn’t let my guard down all the way with him, no matter how I wanted to. I grabbed another strawberry, and ripped off its leaves.
In such a short space of time, he had become so important to me. I didn’t want to let that feeling go. It was too hard to find. I was willing to take a chance with him because I’d rather have him for a little while, than not at all. I’d just have to keep that part of me locked down tightly.
The tug of war inside me agitated my gut. Pushing my plate away, I leaned back, holding my stomach.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just full.”
“You’ve had one pancake and one strawberry.” His eyebrows went up.
He’s counting my food intake?
Tish moved to his side, putting her hand on his shoulder as she leaned down to nab a strawberry. What is she doing? The strawberry tumbled off the top of the pile to the edge of the plate. Brad picked up the stray red fruit, and shivered in reaction to
