15. Tanner
15
TANNER
S he looks cute when she sulks. Her lips purse and she gets these little lines around her mouth that make me want to kiss them away. When her eyes squint, they get this fire in them that is sexy as fuck. I shake my head, trying to dislodge the thoughts.
Leaving her to shower, I make my way down the stairs. I can’t look at her anymore because I am so pissed off at this entire situation. I rub my chest, because for the first time in a very long time, my heart feels like it is about to lurch out. Either that or I am having a fucking heart attack. I need to move, to expel energy.
The stress and worry about her hurting herself, along with the realization that my plan to own this property is not progressing like it should, has completely pushed me to the edge. But not as much as the new feeling swirling in my stomach, the one that feels like I am about to take flight just thinking about the fact that she is staying. Staying.
I spend the next twenty minutes outside, pulling out those stupid stakes, and getting her goat Garry and the cow into the barn, as it is almost dusk, and locking up the shed. Then I bring in all the boxes and pile them up against the wall in the dining room where I spot some others. By the looks of things, she has single-handedly supported the entire US economy with her spending.
Walking back outside, I collect her basket of eggs, and as I do, I pick up her cell. It lights up with missed calls, many from a contact named Josh , and I balk. Is that her fiancé? That thought sits heavy in my gut because it is in direct conflict with the image I have of the slither of her black lace underwear that my eyes snagged on to earlier.
As I get back inside, I place everything on the kitchen counter and look at the time, surprised to see it is already late. The sun is lowering, and I have missed the entire afternoon at the distillery—yet another thing that frustrates me. Lacy will be fuming since I told her I would only be gone for five minutes.
“Tanner!” I hear her yelp out for me. She sounds like she’s in pain, and I run, panicked, up the stairs, moving at the speed of light. I’m not even thinking until I push open the bathroom door and see her gripping on to the vanity for dear life, her body half on the floor. In just a towel . I swear to God, she’s teasing me on purpose.
“Shit. What happened?” I jump into action, swallowing harshly as I try and get my shit together. I help her up so she can stand on her good leg.
“I was turning off the taps. One got a little jammed, and I slipped as I tried to tighten it,” she says quietly, almost resigned. I look at the taps, noticing one still dripping slightly, and I lean in to tighten it off, the act taking some strength that I know she wouldn’t have in her right now.
“You might need a plumber to look at that. Here,” I say, passing her a different robe I find hanging on the back of the door. It is thicker and longer than the other one, and I give her my back as she puts it on. Once she is clothed, I walk over to her and gather her under her arms, lifting her off the floor. She smells amazing. Fresh, floral, and it dawns on me that she is completely naked under this robe.
“I can walk,” she mumbles, the anger we both had having dissipated. Her hands wrap around my shoulders, the fight all but left her.
“I know,” I tell her, not wanting her to think she can’t handle anything, because she can. Shit, just moving here on her own is enough to show me she is fiercely independent and capable. I put her back into her room on her feet near the bed. She sucks in a breath as her hands slowly run down my neck from where she was holding me, and we stand facing each other, and she looks up at me like she is trying to figure me out.
The air around us is thick. I try to ignore the feel of her soft body and the way her wet hair falls in waves down her back, making her look like a Sports Illustrated model who is walking out of the ocean.
“Thank you. I think I’ve got it now,” she says, her voice low and breathy, and I immediately step away, nodding.
“I’ll be downstairs,” I confirm before walking out of her bedroom, closing the door behind me, and taking a big breath.
I head straight to the kitchen, seeing her laptop, files, and rough sketches on the counter. I pick one up. It is a sketch design of a kitchen, and it looks amazing. She has the whole room opened up in an open-plan style, her eye for detail and her spatial awareness not something that can be easily replicated. There is another sketch of an outdoor love seat. Looks like she has plans to place it on the porch. The design is a little different than what you would normally see. More of an oval with soft edges, and I stare at it, appreciating her design skills. I know just by looking at it that it will blend in well with the outdoor area and also complement the house.
My cell vibrates in my pocket again, calling me back to reality.
It’s Connor.
“Hey,” I say quietly as I walk around the old kitchen, thinking I will start something for dinner since she will find it difficult to do it herself tonight. She is exhausted.
“Where are you?” he asks, sounding concerned.
“The neighbor’s house,” I murmur, not really concentrating on his question as I have tunnel vision to get food for Victoria. I look inside the cupboards, pulling out some dried pasta that I can cook up quickly for her.
“The neighbor? Lacy has been trying to call you all day. No one knew where you were…” His concern changes to relief, but I can hear his curiosity.
“She hurt herself,” I say, boiling the water and diving back into the cupboard for some sauce that I can use. I spot some ready made in a jar, and deciding not to poke around in her cupboard further, I pull that out, a basic pasta meal now in the works.
“Is she okay?” Connor asks .
“She hurt her foot and can’t really walk. I’m just locking up the animals.”
“Yeah, yeah, just doing the neighborly thing, I am sure,” Connor teases, and I sigh.
“Son. I need to ask a favor.” The heaviness I thought I would feel in my shoulders at changing business strategy doesn’t present like expected.
“What’s up?”
“Tell Sawyer to rip up the adverse possession.” I know that is the right thing to do. She has plans here, plans to make this house and home and to maybe even stay here. I rub my eyes, the feeling of not going after the thing I want nipping at me. But the image of her sexy-as-sin body wrapped in that towel imprints on the back of my eyelids, so it is all I see whenever I close my eyes, reminding me that there is now something else I am interested in.
“Are you sure? I mean, we have planned on having that land for months now.” He is pushing me to look at all angles. It is the smart, sensible thing to do. But I know what is right, and I need to leave Marie’s place alone and go with expanding my business on another parcel of land.
“I’m sure. Make the call,” I confirm.
“Fine. Our plan B is just as good anyway. I’ll call Sawyer now. I’m coming home tomorrow. I managed to get everything sorted this afternoon while you were playing nurse,” Connor says, and I smile as I stir the pasta.
“See you then.” We end the call just as I hear her.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t you.” I look up, seeing her in her sweats, her hair piled high on her head, her face makeup-free and gorgeous. She’s like all my dreams rolled into one.
Breathe, Tanner. Just breathe. Fuck, I can’t remember the last time I cooked for a woman. As a teenager, I never cooked for Connor's mom. I was too shell-shocked that we were pregnant, and we were still kids ourselves, our own parents managing those type of chores. When Connor arrived, she ran out of town so quickly, there was no time to play domesticated family together. I have dated, sure, but I go out for dinners, never cooking for anyone.
“You’ve got to eat,” I say, wondering if I sound as bad as I think I do.
“Thank you. Kitchen has seen better days, hasn’t it?” she says, hobbling a little easier now as she pulls a stool at the counter to sit and watch me.
“I saw your design. It's pretty good,” I tell her, and she smiles, and if that doesn’t make me want to tell her jokes every damn minute I'm with her, I don’t know what will. We have been too busy arguing, and I never really saw her smile up close. Not at me, anyway. Her whole face lights up.
“Thanks. I love interiors and designing new spaces.”
I can see the passion in her eyes with just that simple comment. It is then that I realize I haven’t really asked her anything about herself.
“So did you work in design back in the city?”
She snorts. “No, I sold advertising space for magazines. But I have always wanted to do a project like this.” She looks around the house before picking up her drawing of the kitchen design.
“Do you have a kitchen manufacturer yet?” I ask as I stir the sauce and find the bowls.
“No. I’ve been trying to find a builder that will take on my design and build it for me, but I haven’t had any luck.”
Guilt. That must be the only reason the words fall from my lips.
“I have a guy. I will ask if he is available,” I say, knowing that Griffin’s team can do it. He is excellent at this kind of thing.
“Really?” she asks, her smile one that looks as if I just gave her the world.
“I’ll call him tomorrow.” I nod in confirmation. Her eyes narrow on me as her smile fades.
“It’s still a no on selling you my land, just so you know,” she says, watching me skeptically.
“Just eat your pasta.” Sliding a bowl of pasta over to her across the kitchen counter, we both start to dig in, happy to have come to our truce.