Reed was a manly man, a good ol’ boy, rough and rugged yet gentle and tender. The kind of man who’d climb a tall tree to save a kitty for a child, or stops to change a tire for an elderly couple stranded on the side of the road. The more time she spent with him, the more she began to think he was the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on. Being near him sparked a responsiveness, open and accepting, of her emotions. She wanted to explore her reactions to this man. He made her anxious, but it wasn’t because she didn’t trust him. It was the new feeling of a soulful connection that rattled her brain…and her heart.
The bedroom had no furniture, simply a bed and an old nightstand. However, the room had been repainted a creamy white, the baseboard stained a rich dark coffee color. The bathroom was gorgeous with rustic modern elements. He’d designed a huge walk-in shower tiled in neutral colored stone and floating shelves hung beneath his and her sinks made from natural polished rock.
Admiring his work, she rambled on breathlessly, attempting to make coherent sentences, telling him how impressed she was with the craftsmanship of his work.
“I want to show you something. Close your eyes.”
Without hesitation, she did as he asked. The soft flesh of his palms rested on her cheeks when he covered her eyes leading her toward the master closet. The warmth of his breath near her neck sent a pleasant tickle dancing across her skin. A small smile tipped the corner of her mouth as she realized exactly how comfortable she felt in his hands. Navigating her way through the darkness, JC leaned back, searching for support and guidance and found it against his bare chiseled chest. A quiet hiss escaped her lips. Sweet Jesus!
He removed his hands from her eyes, exposing a closet built exactly how she described it. They both laughed, but awkward silence soon hovered between them.
Breaking the silence, JC sauntered back into his room. “You need furniture, Reed. You’re not doing your new room any justice leaving it like this, all naked and boring.”
“It’s naked because I don’t know how to decorate at all. I’m a guy. I’d be perfectly happy with a couch and a big flat screen TV.” Reed stared at her, longing concealed in his eyes as he stumbled through his words. “And the only reason it’s boring is because I’m alone. I haven’t dated in a long time.” He grasped her fingers again, fumbling with them in his big strong hands as he strolled out of his room back into the living room.
Confusion clung to her emotions. Humiliated by his reluctance to ask her out on a date and terrified by her own panic that he might, tears pricked her eyes.
She swallowed the fear tightening around her throat. “I haven’t dated for a little while either,” she said vaguely. There was no way she was going to talk about her last dating experience. Noticing the sledgehammer sitting on the floor, she bent over and tried to pick it up, but the heavy hammer barely budged. “Do you have a smaller sledgehammer?” she grunted.
Reed huffed out a half laugh. His masculine mouth lifted at one end into a wry grin. “You want to help me tear this wall down?”
JC nodded hotly. “How many walls can I pummel?”
“Three. I’ve got a smaller sledgehammer in the garage.” Reed headed for it.
JC opened the backdoor, stepping outside into the cool night air. She moseyed past the patio and backyard, gazing out over the ocean from the edge of the cliff. “Wow,” she whispered.
“It’s a great view, isn’t it?”
JC startled, not realizing Reed stood right beside her in the darkness. “I’ll say. Your place has a better view than Tom’s house. You can see around both sides of the point. I bet the sunrise is beautiful.”
His tall lean muscular frame silhouetted against the moonlight, but a swaggering grin shone through the night shadows. “The sunrise is beautiful. I watch it every morning lying in bed.”
Her lip twitched. “Give me that hammer.”
Reed drew out several large X marks the spot and let her have at it. JC beat the hell out of the wall, releasing a month’s worth of pent up anger and pain, and current unidentified mysterious frustrations she had never felt before in her life. She didn’t understand why she felt so scared, nervous or confused, but one thing was for sure: the more Reed Rider stood right in front of her, yet still out of her reach, all sweaty in those damned worn out Levi’s, the more she craved him.
By the time they finished, old insulation and drywall dust covered them from head to toe.
“I think you enjoyed that a little too much!” Reed swept his hands over his arms, brushing off the grime.
“I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Any time you need demo, please call me. That felt great.” It was after 2:30am and she didn’t want to go home. “Hey, Reed? I’m not really tired. Do you feel like coming over to go swimming with me?”