Chapter 4
Nash shoved the pry bar between the wall and plywood board and used his weight to pull down and rip the panel off. He hadn’t had a look behind these boards yet and he hoped he’d find the fireplace in decent enough condition to get it working.
The last thing he wanted was to refurbish it before he was ready to do this back section of the house. He needed this area to remain livable for the duration of the renovations. Or at least until he got the private part of the house ready to live in.
“How’s it look?”
Glancing over his shoulder he frowned. “I’ve barely got one board off.”
“So? Aren’t you a master builder?”
“Master builder?”
“Yeah, you know, an expert.”
“Ah, sure. But last time I checked that didn’t come with a cape and x-ray vision.” He pulled the loosened piece off the wall completely to reveal solid stone. “Still think I should know already?”
“Oh.” Laura tossed the quilt off her lap and placed her mug on the table as she stood up.
“Put the hoodie on.” She scowled at him and he could see the argument forming in her eyes. “Not up for debate, Laura. I’m not having you white as a ghost with blue lips again.”
She froze, her head tipped to the side, eyes narrowed.
He could tell she wanted to protest. He’d never been all that good at reading her but right now she was as transparent as glass.
Whether her defenses were down due to being half frozen or being trapped in close proximity, Nash didn’t care.
All he cared about was making sure she didn’t scare him like she had earlier.
He drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Please put it on.”
Her gaze softened a second before she gave him a slight nod. Snatched the hoodie of the couch where he’d dropped it earlier, she slipped it over her head. Her hair was still damp, but without a blow dryer she’d done what she could with a towel. Another reason she should put on the extra layer.
The hoodie buried her, the hem resting at her knees, the sleeves so long a third of them were flopping around past her hands. She held her arms out and laughed. “God lord. I could fit four of me in this thing.”
An exaggeration for sure but it got the point across.
The sweat pants and thermal had been big on her but his hoodie swamped her.
And she wasn’t small. At five seven, with a runners build, he wouldn’t call her skinny or even slim, she was solid, had muscles and curves and not an hour ago he’d gotten to see all of them.
The memory had his mouth going dry, his heart racing and his groin throbbing. He cleared his throat. Licked his lips and swallowed. “It’ll keep you warm.” Spinning around he stuck the pry bar in the next board with more force than necessary.
Distraction. He needed to distract himself from thoughts of Laura without her clothes on.
“Can I help?”
Studying her for a moment he determined she was steady on her and nodded. “Sure. Can you pile the boards up over by the back door so they’re out of the way after I pull them off.”
“Okay.”
He might have agreed but he watched her closely as she moved the first board. If carrying the extra weight made her unsteady he’d park her ass back on the couch. Satisfied she was all right, if a little slow, he got stuck into the next board.
He’d started at the top of the boards and reached chest height before the firebox came into view.
Leaning in to study the stone work he saw someone had removed a timber mantle before boarding the wall up but from what he could see the mantle had been a later edition and not original to the house.
The stones looked in good condition in spite of the coating of black soot along the bottom edges.
“Hey, that looks all right.” Laura leaned around him to peer into the dark gap. “I can’t see inside.”
He rolled his eyes. “Step back and I’ll get another board off.”
“Sorry. I’m excited to see what’s in there.”
“Let’s hope it’s not a body,” he muttered.
“A body? Really?” Her voice held a note of glee. “Have you ever uncovered one?”
“What the hell?” Nash stared at Laura as the next board ripped away on one side. “Seriously?”
She shrugged. “I’m a cop. I’m always thinking about stuff like that.”
“Like what? Hiding bodies in walls?”
“Well, yeah. You’ve got the perfect job for body disposal. Inside walls, in concrete foundations, chopped up with a saw—”
“Jesus. I don’t know whether to be shocked you think I’m a killer or intrigue with the way your mind works.”
She grinned. “You’re not scared? I could kill you and—” Her eyes popped wide before her head whipped around. “Where’s my belt? My gun?”
“Don’t panic. They’re in the bedroom. On the dresser.”
“Motherfucker. I can’t believe I left my weapon unattended.”
He grabbed her elbow when she took a step toward the bedroom. “Relax. It’s safe. And it’s not like I can steal it.”
“You might.”
“And do what with it?” He looked at the window. “And where the hell would I go to do it?”
Frowning, she slipped from his hold and walked over to the window next to the back door. “We’re stuck.”
“Yep.”
“For days according to everyone I’ve spoken to.”
“Seems so. Last report I heard we’re looking at forty-eight hours of this before it slows down and possibly another day or two of lighter snowfall after that.
” He’d been through his share of snow storms, both here and when he lived in New York City, and he thought they were probably snowed in for a week at the least. “You can use the phone whenever you want.”
“Huh?” She looked at him over her shoulder.
“The satellite phone. If you want to call someone, feel free.”
He didn’t know her well enough to know if she’d be a good or bad forced roommate.
Nash could handle the isolation easily enough.
Especially when he could keep busy. Uncovering the fireplace would be a day or two worth of work.
What he’d do after that he wasn’t sure. The thing he wanted to do most wasn’t on the table.
Indicating the kitchen, he said, “Make yourself at home. If you like to cook or bake feel free to use whatever you can find.”
“Actually, I’m not much of a cook. Carly got all the domestic goddess genes. I’m more interested in fixing up the fireplace.”
“Then get over here and help me pull the rest of these boards off.” Nash had caught the brief flash of uncertainty in Laura’s eyes when she confessed her lack of domesticity.
He didn’t know what she could be unsure of.
He’d take a woman who knew her way around a hammer over one who didn’t want to get her hands dirty any day.
“Once we get it opened up I can get a look up the chimney to see if it’s clear. ”
“Is that another one over there?”
Nash turned to see her pointing to the section of wall he’d spent last week closing in. “No, that’s the archway to the rest of the house. I closed it in on both sides and packed it with insulation so I wouldn’t lose the heat from in here.”
“So how do you get into the rest of the house?”
“Through the front door or the French doors that open onto the deck on the lake side of the house. Although the deck is in need of repair so until I make that safe I’ll be going through the front,” he explained as he yanked the next piece of plywood off the old fireplace.
“Do you have a plan for this place?” Laura grabbed the board and move it over to stack on the others.
“Yes and no. I’ve got a vague idea.”
He pried the next three boards off before she pushed him for more.
“And? What’s the plan?”
There were only two boards left so he concentrated on those before answering. Once they were off and neatly stacked on the pile Laura had made, he said, “The vague plan is to turn the place into a private residence and an inn.”
“That’s what it was before.”
“Yeah, but it was combined. I want the private and public areas to be completely separate.”
“Is that possible? They’d share the land.”
“There are ways to landscape that would give privacy and until I’ve gotten a better feel for the building itself I won’t know for sure how to split it but I’m pretty sure I can have a six bedroom inn and a five bedroom home without too much trouble.”
“Really?” Excitement sparked in her eyes. “Do you have anything drawn up?”
“No. Not yet. It’s all in here.” He tapped his temple.
“Will you sell when it’s done?” She stood beside him in front of the newly revealed fireplace. “Holy shit. It’s fucking huge!”
Yeah, it was. Shoulder height firebox and if he spanned his arms out wide his fingertips would barely touch the sides. “Christ. This thing would heat the whole bottom level.”
“Probably why that’s an archway and not a door,” Laura said, indication the wall he’d blocked in.
“Definitely. And now that I think about it, the fireplace in the big room on the other side of that wall is just as large as this one.” Yeah, they’d definitely heat the entire ground floor and probably most of the one above.
“This place is three stories, right?”
“Yes. Plus an attic, so four really.”
“Wow. The whole place is fucking huge.”
Nash nodded. “It’s why I think I can split it in two without losing space in either section.”
“And the plan is to renovate the whole thing by when?”
“I don’t have an end date in mind. I’ll do a lot of it around working for Alex.” Except now that he’d started he kind of wanted to dive right in. Push everything else aside and financially he didn’t need to work if he didn’t want to.
“Okay, first you need to draw up some plans. They don’t need to be exact or anything professional but something so you can visualize each level. And you’ll need lists of what you want. What’s a must have, a like to have, and an if the sky’s the limit have.”
He crossed his arms and stood back when she stepped up on the hearth and got right into the firebox, hunching over she tipped her head and looked up the chimney. When she put out a hand he grabbed her arm. “Don’t touch it. You’ll get covered in soot.”
Looking at him she said, “We need to clean these stones. They’re gorgeous. I think they’re local.”
“Makes sense. Alex said a lot of these older homes were built with locally sourced timber and stone.”
“I want to help.”
He frowned. “You did. Are.”
“No. I mean, the whole thing.” She waved a hand around. “I want to help you fix up the whole house.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m good with my hands. Ask Alex. I’ve helped him on job sites before.”
If she’d helped out why hadn’t he seen her? “Which ones. I’ve never worked with you.”
“Carly’s place, Bake & Brew. We did a lot of the labor on that one because Carly wanted to have the whole family involved in building her business.”
Ah, that was before he’d arrived in Winter Lake. He’d stayed in New York a few extra years after Alex had moved his architecture and building firm from the city to Winter Lake. “You haven’t worked on any of the jobs I’ve been involved with since I moved here.”
“Yeah, well…” She gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ve been avoiding you.”
He arched an eyebrow. “No. Really? I thought you went out of your way to spend time with me.”
“After that skinny dipping incident I thought it best to keep out of each others way.”
Nash stepped closer to her, put his hands on her waist and lifted her out of the fireplace. “And that would be because?”
She pulled in a deep breath and stood straight once he’d put her on her feet. “You know why.”
“No. I don’t. I’ve made myself clear when it comes to spending time with you, Laura.”
“Yes. You have. But I’m not interested in scratching someone’s itch.”
He laughed. “Good God woman. It’s not an itch, it’s an ache, and I can guarantee you the pain is going to take a lifetime to ease.”
Her mouth dropped open. Snapped shut. Opened again.
“I’m not after a quick fuck. I can get that anywhere.” He moved into her and lowered his head until he could brush his nose against hers. “I don’t know what you want but I’m not interested in one night or even a few. I want all your nights.”
“But—”
“Laura. I’ve been half in love with you since the minute I set eyes on you in that sexy as hell uniform. I almost swallowed my tongue and shot a nail through my hand when you climbed out of your cruise that first time.”
“Oh.” Her breath rushed over his lips.
“Laura?”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me no.” He brushed his lips on hers lightly. “Or I’m going to kiss the ever loving hell out of you.”