He entered their private suite, pausing in the cool, dim quiet of the living room. A muffled thump came from the direction of the study. The workmen should’ve already been finished for the day, at work on creating an adjoining doorway between the study and one of the neighboring suites so Tristan could have his own bedroom, bathroom, and game room.
“Shit,” and other stifled expletives, came from the room, and he headed in that direction, frowning. He recognized that voice.
The sight that met his eyes when he entered his dark-paneled study brought a smile to his face.
Bits of broken drywall were scattered on the floor between his antique desk and the expansive fireplace, and more dust and particles were wafting down from the ceiling, where a pair of shapely denim-clad legs and an adorable, bouncy bubble butt were currently churning in the air, through a hole in the ceiling, as Bunny tried to lift herself out of the hole she’d made.
“Well, well, well. What have we here?”
The legs suddenly went motionless, suspended twenty feet over his head.
“Well, shit,” she muttered from the floor above.
“We were at fifteen by my count, love. Are you all right?”
“I’d be doing peachy, Sir, if I could just get my big ass up through this hole.”
“Shall I stay down here and catch you?” That might be more expedient, but he was afraid of her getting hurt.
“No. I have a good hold on the beams up here. I just need a little help. We ought to talk about decking this portion of the attic, Sir.” She huffed and tried to lift her lower half through the hole again and then cursed some more under her breath when more drywall gave way.
“Can you hang on for a minute?”
“No problem, only…”
“What, fiammetta? Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt. Would you just promise not to tell anyone, especially Mr. Grogan, that I busted a hole in your ceiling? That’s bad for business.”
“Your secret is safe with me, if we can also talk about your continued propensity for endangering yourself?”
“We can talk all you want, Beastly. But could you help me out?”
“Be there in a moment, love. And now you’re at seventeen.”
“Whatever!” she growled, legs churning with renewed determination.
But she was still stuck a minute later when he entered the warm attic and found her, red-faced and down to her armpits in drywall. She did, indeed, have a good grasp on the nearest floor beams but not enough to give her the leverage she needed to get back through the hole. Thankful he was wearing sneakers, he walked on the beam edges until he reached her.
“I shudder to think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gone to our suite looking for you,” he said as he took position over her and lifted her back through the hole. She joined him, so they were both balanced split-legged on the floor beams.
“Thank you,” she said as she wiped her hands on her thighs and then hugged him. “I’ve never done that before.” Up close, she seemed a little pale. “I’m glad you came when you did. I had a good grip, but I couldn’t have held on forever.”
“The ladies are all waiting for you downstairs. You okay?” he asked, studying her carefully, ready to catch her if she lost her balance.
She smiled up at him in the dimness of the attic. “I’m good. Just needed to catch my breath. I guess I better not keep them waiting. Wait. Seventeen? I only count sixteen.”
“Insulting your ass or any other delectable part of your body will get you a pop, too.”
“Sh—oooot. I forgot about that.”
He watched with amusement as she clambered across the beams, proving she did know what she was doing, while he had to take it a little bit slower.
She gathered up her tools and her tool pouch. “I guess I’ll see you downstairs in a couple of hours, handsome.”
He gave her butt a nice little dusting to get her count caught up and then kissed her. “I can’t wait.”
* * * *
Bunny was relatively certain she’d never knocked anyone speechless before in her life. “Well, this is a good sign…I think?”
Violet, Jessica, Cassie, Charity, and Grace—hell—all of the wonderful new friends she’d made in Divine, thanks to Violet and Joseph, were gaping at her as she came out of the bedroom. They’d helped with hair, makeup, lingerie, and all the other frou-frou touches, and then Violet had shooed them into the sitting room of the suite to wait while she had helped Bunny into the dress.
Charity and Grace had done her hair for her in a huge mass of waves that floated around her shoulders like a cloud. At her last trip to the salon, she’d made the switch to a more natural shade of russet. The overall look was beautiful. The bright red had been a therapeutic change, but she was into a new chapter in her life and wanted her hair to reflect that progression.