Chapter 16
TJ
AVERT MY EYES
Seven Months Earlier
I practically jump out of the water, turning toward the sound of the splash.
What the hell was that?
I look around and see the water rippling out from the swimming hole just underneath the giant boulder along the river bank. I stare at the spot, but there’s no sign of what caused it.
I start to turn back, to focus on casting my line into the river, when I hear another splash. I watch as wet streaks of hair emerge from the spot about twenty feet away. Even though she’s facing away from me, I immediately recognize Grace, Tanner and Clay’s little sister, in the neck deep water.
“Are you OK?” I call out, prompting her to spin around.
She lets out a long, whoosh of air, shaking her head sending beads of water in every direction around her. “Wow. It’s cold.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Yeah, the river’s fed from melting snow. What are you doing out here?”
She rolls her neck and shrugs. “I wanted to take up cold plunges after my workouts to help with inflammation. They’re supposed to release dopamine and endorphins. I thought this would be the perfect spot to start. It’s beautiful here.”
“It’s one of my favorite spots.” I nod, looking around us as my heart settles down from the sudden surprise of her arrival. I’m glad she appreciates the beauty of this treelined spot on the river.
She smiles back. “How about you? What are you doing out here?”
I quirk a brow at her and raise my fishing pole at my side. “I thought it was pretty obvious.”
She paddles in the water, laughing in amusement. “No one fishes because they want to catch fish. You’re out here for something else.”
Her green eyes match the evergreen trees along the river and I feel like they can see right through me. All my barriers crumble under her gaze and I blurt out what I’ve been thinking about all morning.
“I got a call from my old manager. He wants me back for a reunion tour.”
She tilts her head expectantly, silently telling me she’s waiting for more, so I continue. “I thought I’d come down here and think about it.”
She still doesn’t say anything, but swims over from the deeper part to where I’m standing in the waist deep water. I’d almost find it unnerving, but it just feels so natural to open up to her about something I haven’t told anyone else yet.
She stays neck deep, kneeling in the shallow water. She looks up at me, studying me, the only sound is the water rippling around us and a gentle breeze through the treetops.
“Say less and just say yes,” she says before grinning. “Or say no and tell them to fuck off. Either way, don’t get hung up on it the way you are now.”
A laugh bursts from my chest, prompting her to giggle and I can’t look away from her smile and how her cheeks are perfectly covered in freckles. “I like that. Say less and say yes. But ‘fuck off’ sounds pretty good too.”
She smiles and crooks her neck, running her fingers through her hair to wring out the cold water as she starts to stand. My eyes track the movement. My heart stops in my chest when I see her emerge from the water and I see her perfect, full breasts.
Fucking hell. She’s out here topless.
“Oh, shit. Sorry.” I avert my eyes, but not before I see her nipples pierced with little black barbells, hard from the icy cold water.
“Relax. They’re just tits, TJ.”
Present Day
“Thanks again for getting out on short notice,” I tell the electrician, shaking his hand.
“Anything for Tommy Jacob. Pleasure doing business with you, sir.”
Sir. I know he’s being polite, but that makes me feel old.
I can’t complain though. I called their twenty-four hour line first thing this morning.
It took every ounce of self control to not call last night when Grace said she wished that she could find a high power outlet she could use to charge her van’s back up batteries.
She could use a normal one, but I want her to have the best and a normal one charges so much slower anyway.
That was right before she fell asleep in my arms last night on the couch. Nothing happened. We stayed up late and had another glass of wine and kept watching videos, but when I woke up with her snuggled up against me this morning with her leg thrown over mine, the reality of what I want sunk in.
I’m head over heels for the Chapmans’ little sister, who’s fifteen years younger than me. And as much as I don’t want to acknowledge it, I’m her boss too.
So I snuck out of there as fast as I could this morning, even if every fiber of my being wanted to hold her tighter and watch her wake up.
That’s how I ended up here, sneaking in an electrician while she’s out skiing with Josie this morning.
She barely took me up on parking in my driveway so that I would know she was safe.
I’m actually glad Josie was there because she helped sell it.
That’s why I know there’s no way she would have let me do this if I had told her ahead of time.
Still, the electrician was happy to show up right after Grace left to ski for the day, especially after he realized who I was when I gave him the address and my contact info. I guess there are still some perks worth having from being famous.
Normally, I’d call Tanner and have him find an electrician for me.
He might be out of town on his honeymoon, but he would have one on speed dial and here in minutes because he’s a fantastic, reliable property manager.
He does a great job of handling repairs and maintenance around the house, even if he’s busier now with his blacksmithing business making knives.
But he’s also Grace’s brother and I know he would have been wondering why I was installing a camper van power outlet right outside my guesthouse.
He might know that she’s back in town and now working for me, but I don’t think he knows she was camping in the gym’s parking lot.
And I sure as shit don’t want to get on his bad side if he finds out she’s staying in my driveway now.
As far as he knows, she’s been staying at one of the local campgrounds but I know she wasn’t going to overpay for that.
I know I’d do it again though.
And that heater? Damnit. If she didn’t take her van to the mountain this morning, I’d have found an RV repair man to make a house call and fix it, no matter how much she objected.
I know myself. I know I wasn’t going to be able to sleep thinking about her being in her van like that at night.
Who am I kidding? Every thought of her seems to keep me from getting to sleep recently.
Even if she’s been staying in my driveway for almost a week now, I still want to make sure she’s as safe as can be.