One Week with her Rival:Eden Manor, Book One(8)

Peter and Kelly both smiled in relief, but Vanessa felt a nervous churning of her gut.

She might have to disappoint them. They were so sweet and serious and  determined to do a good job with this place, and it was obviously really  important for them to show good progress to their impressive investor  when he arrived. Vanessa would really hate to let them down.
         

     



 
"Morning, everyone," came a familiar voice from behind her.

She turned quickly to see Joe, looking handsome and masculine and  friendly and laidback, as if he didn't have a worry in the world.

"Good morning," Peter said. "There's coffee in the kitchen."

"I'll be heading right there." Joe was eyeing the dismantled stairs. "That doesn't look good."

Before anyone else could reply, Vanessa said, "It's all fine. We have it under control."

"I'm sure you do." Joe met her eyes, and she didn't know what his expression meant.

"It looks like the exterior is almost done," Kelly said, her voice more positive now than it had been.

"It is. My guys just need to finish the trim. It will be done by noon today."

Of course, it would. Joe and his army of workers wouldn't have any  trouble making the deadline. And they wouldn't run into any unforeseen  problems. He wouldn't have to disappoint this nice, young couple the way  Vanessa would.

"I can't believe how good it looks." Peter slipped an arm around Kelly's  waist and pulled her toward him. It looked like they were sharing  something secret, intimate, that Vanessa and Joe had no part of. "It's  like we've brought the old place back to life."

Vanessa tried to make casual conversation with the others for a few  minutes, until she was finally able to slip away into the dining room.  She needed to work on the fireplace anyway, and she wanted to get away  from Joe for a few minutes.

"Hey," his voice came from behind her, less than a minute after she entered the room. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." She smiled at him, but it felt fake even to her. "Why would you assume something is wrong?"

He was smiling just a little and shaking his head. He stepped forward,  easing her back against the wall. "How many times do we have to have  this conversation? I know you, remember? I know when something is wrong.  You're all upset about disappointing Peter and Kelly by not having the  work done when they want it."

She frowned at him, fighting a warm sense of being known so well, so  intimately, by this man. "If you already knew, why did you ask?"

"Because I wanted you to tell me."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, it does. I want you to open up to me, be honest with me. That makes perfect sense."

His face was very close to hers, and she was fighting a familiar swell  of emotion, excitement, like everything in her life was pointed toward a  moment that was almost here. She took a shaky breath.

"It's not your fault that the steps were bad," he murmured.

"I know that."

"Then why do you feel responsible?"

"Because I'm the one who is supposed to do this job."

"They were the ones who bought the house. The original condition of the steps is on them, not on you."

"I know." She swallowed hard, her hands fisting in his shirt. She didn't  know why she wanted to touch him so much, but she did. Her whole body  was trembling with it-the urge far deeper than just physical.

"But you still feel bad."

"They're disappointed. I don't like to have to disappoint people."

Joe almost smiled. "You don't seem to have a problem disappointing me."

"When have I disappointed you?"

"You disappoint me all the time-every time you almost give into your  feelings but then remember you're not supposed to like me and pull  away." His voice was hoarse, so incredibly appealing.

She sucked in a sharp breath, but it was from a growing need rather than indignation. "What feelings are you talking about?"

"You know what feelings." He stroked her cheek with his knuckles in that  way that made her want to whimper. "You're crazy about me."

She was panting now. Audibly. It was rather embarrassing, but she couldn't stop. "That's obnoxious and presumptuous."

"I'm obnoxious and presumptuous," he said with a little smile. "We can both agree about that. It doesn't mean I'm not right."

"It...doesn't...mean..." She had no idea what she was saying. She  couldn't look away from his heated, intense dark eyes. She thought she  might completely melt, and then he leaned forward enough to kiss her.

She responded. She couldn't help it. She pressed her body against his  and moved her lips with his. The rush of pleasure and feeling  overwhelmed her so much she kind of collapsed on his chest when he  pulled his mouth away from hers.         

     



 

"See," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. "Crazy about me."

"It's just a kiss. It doesn't mean anything."

"We both know that's not true. You don't go around kissing guys who mean nothing to you."

That was undeniably true. She wouldn't be kissing Joe now-she wouldn't  have kissed him at all-unless her feelings were far deeper than she  wanted them to be.

"You don't have to feel guilty, Vanessa," he whispered, his lips right  at her ear. "This doesn't take anything away from what you had with  Carl. I'd never want to change that or take it away from you."

She'd rarely heard him say anything so earnest, so completely without a  lilt of ironic amusement. The words did something shattering to her  heart. She started to shake again, more intensely than before.

He wrapped his arms around her. "I want to give you even more."

She was almost crying as she clung to him, her head and heart about to  explode with feelings too deep and strong to fully process. She couldn't  say anything. Not a single word.

He held her tightly until she stopped shaking, and then pressed a few  soft kisses on and around her mouth. "You're a great contractor," he  said. "You've got nothing to feel bad about. You're doing a great job  here."

The words could have sounded condescending, but they didn't. She needed  to hear them, needed the affirmation that she wasn't barely holding onto  the edges of Carl's business the way she often felt.

"I can lend you a couple of guys today and tomorrow, to work on the  stairs, if you need them," he added as he finally released his arms.

She stepped back, straightening up and trying to make her mind work clearly again. "I'm fine."

He was looking at her closely, as if he were trying to read what was  going on in her head. "Okay. You just need to ask. We're not rivals, you  know."

"Yes, we are." The words weren't sharp or argumentative. They were  almost resigned, since she suddenly wished they could be something else,  not always be in competition the way they were.

"Well, we don't have to be. We can work together. Think how much nicer  it would be." His smile had turned into his relaxed, teasing one. It  wasn't as earth-shattering as the intimate one from before, but it was  like an old friend.

"Yeah. Right." She was smiling in response, though, and she was starting  to imagine what it would be like-to have someone to lean on, to share  responsibility with.

She could do this on her own. She'd proved that over the last three years.

But maybe she didn't really want to.

"I need to get to work," she said, clearing her throat and rubbing at her face briefly.

"Yeah. Me too." He reached out to gently brush her hair back from her face. "We'll talk later."

The words sounded like a promise, and she almost hoped they were.

***

Vanessa spent the rest of the day on a high, her mind filled with  thoughts of Joe. No matter how much she tried to be reasonable about  expectations, she couldn't stop wondering what he would do next, what  she would do, what they would do together.

For the first time, she actually admitted to herself that she wanted to be with him-as far more than just rivals.

It was a strange and thrilling and terrifying recognition, and at the  moment it was too much for her to fully wrap her mind around.

She saw Joe occasionally during the day. They didn't have time for real  interaction, but he would give her a significant look or put his hand on  her back for a moment, in a touch that felt like it branded her.

Something was definitely happening between them, and Vanessa didn't even want to resist.

So she was in a really good mood after five, when two of Joe's guys  helped her load one of the stained glass windows into the back of her  car, so she could drive it over to Silas's workshop. Joe's guys needed  to work on the framing and needed to get the window down anyway, and  Vanessa figured the precious glass was safer at Silas's than leaning up  against a wall in a work zone.

She could hear from the sounds as she got out of her car that Silas was working on his forge.

He had an old-fashioned forge on which he did most of his iron work. It  was a very cool-and very intimidating-piece of equipment.