Chapter 4
TAJI SLOANE
Before the sun rose, I was awake and sitting up in bed. Since it wouldn’t be normal to wander the house like some kind of lost soul, I remained there, trying to read my book and failing.
Though I was still tired, I tried falling asleep but failed at that too.
Shit.
I can’t do anything right.
Sighing dramatically, I shoved the book back into the drawer beside my bed, flopped to my back and stared up at the ceiling.
My brain wandered to many different places, all of them a swirling vortex that was beginning to make me dizzy.
The one prominent thought was wondering if Trucker was in fact sleeping or if he was awake and restless as I was.
Rolling to the side, I stared at the clock and frowned.
Time was moving entirely too slow for my liking.
It was just after four in the morning—I’d been up two hours.
Time crawled when I needed it to move faster.
Snail’s pace.
Eventually, it felt like the right time to get out of bed and dressed.
Still, I forced myself to sit there a little longer—counting the breaths, not wanting to seem overly eager.
The truth was, seeing Tucker again excited me.
On my way down the stairs, heavy footsteps caught my attention.
I turned to see Trucker was exiting his room.
“You’re up.” I greeted him. “Morning.”
A smiled tugged at the right side of his lips.
It didn’t matter that we’d just met—he was a gorgeous man with full lips, a flat nose that fit his perfectly carved cheekbones and cool dark skin that made my mouth water.
He tilted his head.
I gripped the railing beside me.
“What? I’m sorry. Say that again.”
He eased to the side and folded his arms behind his back.
“Um—I was saying it looked nice outside from my window.” Trucker replied. “Maybe it was because I didn’t wake up to a blaring alarm—the world looks different.”
“Ah—yeah. Things move a little different around here.”
“I like it.” Trucker nodded. “But maybe just for a little while. The city can get overwhelming at times, but I don’t know if I could do the quiet all the time.”
“The city is kind of like a habit?”
He pointed at me while nodded.
“Precisely,” he said.
“Um—” My cheeks heated.
It had been a while since I felt so shy around a boy, a man—oh my god was he a man!
But as I stood there, that one start thought in my mind like a leaf floating over an ocean, I felt it.
“Mm?” He asked, his brown eyes burning a hole through me.
My chin dipped.
Trucker stepped forward to use the tip of this right index finger to tenderly lift my chin. It took a while for my gaze to lock with his again. I gave myself permission to leave my stare to linger up his tall frame.
I allowed myself time to look at his body, from the perfection of those thick thighs, to the waist of his pants held up by a leather belt, over what I assumed were the perfect abs—those beautiful eyes.
“And you can say no if you don’t want to—”
“Taji?”
“Would you like to go for a walk?” I asked.
Flustered.
“We could use the good weather for a tour.”
Trucker smiled—a soft smile that told me I didn’t need to be embarrassed.
He nodded.
I went for a morning walk with Trucker.
Inside my head the rational was to show him around the land—show him paths he could run as Valentina had told me he usually took a morning run—no matter the weather.
That would explain those toned legs, that very nice ass.
What I wouldn’t give to watch him run—he probably did it in slow motion.
The sun floated behind him making him look as if he was crowned by a halo.
I bed—
But deep down, I merely wanted to spend time with him, to further flesh out what kind of a man he was. The moment he’d shaken my hand, I felt a kind of safety that stunned me.
Maybe that was the kind of man he was.
I couldn’t remember the last time a man made me feel that way—especially a man I knew nothing about.
Well, nothing really concrete.
Nothing that a woman would learn about on a date, sitting across from him, staring into those brown eyes.
Well, nothing aside from what was in the dossier Valentina “Zoom” Forsythe had emailed to me. They were things pertinent to my decision of allowing him to stay in my home.
He was one of her very best friends. He’d taken care of her after being disowned by her parents—always had her back, never asked for more than she was willing to give him, always cheering for her the loudest.
No criminal record.
Single.
Educated.
Middle class.
Doesn’t smoke.
Eats meat.
Lifer firefighter.
And no one had to tell me he was gorgeous!
But all of that was useless—except the fact he was single.
I smiled at the thought of him not having a woman in his life.
Inhaling a lung full of air, I cleared my throat and allowed my eyes to float over the view from the tail end of my property.
It was water as far as the eyes could see—and when the sun was fully up, the rippling waves looked like something out of a fantasy novel.
Almost perfect.
Too perfect.
“All this is yours?” Trucker asked, setting his hands on his hips to look around.
“Yes.” I replied breathily.
I was seriously out of shape.
The walk had taken it out of me. Keeping up would never usually be a problem. Only Trucker’s legs were longer than mine—and the man could move.
“It’s beautiful,” Trucker said in the voice of a teenager being impressed for the first time.
“It was owned by my grandfather.” I explained. “He bought the place when he met my grandmother. She wanted to be away from the city—she wanted a slower pace.”
“I can vibe with that feeling.” Trucker nodded.
“She liked her peace.” I chuckled. “So, Yeah. It’s mine now. Most of it anyway—then his neighbours retired and was going to sell their land to a developer.”
“Oh. That wouldn’t have been good for any of this.”
“Yeah—my grandparents bought the neighbour’s place and merged it into one.” I managed a sad smile. “She died before closing but my grandfather knew her dreams. After he passed, he left it to me, to be held in trust until I was twenty-five.”
“How old were you when he—passed?”
“Ten.”
“He didn’t leave it to your father?”
“No.” I sat and leaned my back against an oak tree that as older than I could remember.
“And even though my father could have taken care of things until I grew of age, my grandfather appointed an advocate who could overturn my father if any decisions were made that wasn’t in my best interest the land’s. And there were many.”
“I’m sorry.”
His voice held a hint of anger—almost as if he wanted to protect me from my father’s dishonestly.
“It’s okay.” I shrugged, trying to lighten the moment. “My father wasn’t a nice man, and Pop knew that. Dad never wanted to stay here—the moment he could, he left. But Pop knew my father would sell this place the moment he got his hands on it. Either that or lose it gambling. .”
Trucker nodded but didn’t speak again.
He stood with his chest puffed toward the sky, his hands akimbo and his eyes closed.
“I’m glad you didn’t sell it.” He finally spoke. “They probably would have turned it into a resort or something—killed off the wildlife and ruin the air. Have strangers driving their fancy cars all over the place.”
“I know.” I sighed, mimicking his position. “I used to love playing hide and go seek with Pop here. It has all the best places to hide. I always dreamed of my kids doing the same thing.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“It was a blast. I think I love this place because here, I’m a superhero.”
Trucker laughed.
“Understandable.” He nodded.
Once I finished the tour, I led him back to the house.
The moment we stepped through the door, he borrowed my charger on the kitchen counter then hurried off for a shower.
I chewed on my bottom lip, watching him walk away.
His back was straight but even in his clothes I could still tell hugs from him would be amazing.
Those wide shoulders, that strong back that tapered down into a perfect waist.
For a moment, I hung my head, closed my eyes and tried remembering how to breathe.
I listened to the sound of water running in his bathroom and cleared my throat.
It wasn’t particularly loud and if I didn’t have a brain full of Trucker, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. But as I sliced up some watermelon to add to the fruit platter I’d made for lunch, I couldn’t help wondering about how he would look covered in clear water or suds.
Did a man have the right to be that sexy with his clothes on?
Why was that even a thing?
I shook my head.
The plan was to show him around after breakfast, but even I could tell the drive into Albright had taken it out of him. Pretending I had some work to finish before I could go, I gave him some time to breathe and to take a little bit of a nap.
After lunch, we’d go tour the town, where he’d be working and a few other places he might be interested in.
When Trucker entered the room, he was fully dressed and looked completely refreshed.
Without asking, he helped me carry the last bowls to the table. I couldn’t help almost fainting at how good he smelled.
“Taji?”
“Hmm?”
“You okay?” He asked.
Catching myself, I exhaled and nodded.
“I’m good. Just a little tired, I suppose.” I answered. “Didn’t get much sleep last night because I have this book—”
“We can do the tour tomorrow.”
“Nope.” I lifted my chin and smiled at him. “Tomorrow is your rest day before you have to dive in. We’re doing it today. It’s not like we’ll be doing anything strenuous. The tour will be from the car.”
He smirked at me.
“Come eat.” I told him.
“Yes, Ma’am”
Blushing, I shook my head and fell into one of the chairs.
As we ate, Trucker and I talked about his life—more like, about his work.
Apparently, being a firefighter was all he was good at.
I definitely didn’t think that was true.
Though I wanted to clean up after lunch, he sent me off to get ready while he washed up.
As he started in on the dishes, I stood at the doorway and secretly watched him move around the space as if he was born to it.