Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ithought I'd feel guilty about the whole maid thing.
Maybe I should.
But honestly? Watching Tolliver carrying stacks of books around my bedroom might be one of my new favorite things. He glanced over, caught me staring, and grinned. Okay, it was definitely one of my favorites.
"How am I doing?" he said.
I cleared my throat and gave a curt nod. "You're handling the books with the gentle care they deserve."
Tolliver hummed while shelving a fantasy series of hardbacks.
"Oh, those should go on the first or second shelf."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, fantasy and urban fantasy go on the top shelves. Three and four are contemporary romance and rom coms. The bottom is for historical—though I'm still debating whether they should be placed higher considering how much I re-read them."
"Got it. I was thinking historical because of the crown on the cover," Tolliver said. He held up a different book, one with a guy wearing a hockey jersey on the cover, and a real smile bloomed across his lips. "What about this one?"
"Shelf three," I said, fighting down a blush.
"Hockey romance, huh?"
"It's a thing."
"Read many of those?"
"A few," I replied, leaving out the fact that I'd started paying a bit more attention to them recently. I didn't want him to think it was because of him. Even if it was. "But I like all sports romance—which is kind of funny considering I don't love sports."
"Huh," Tolliver said, flipping through, skimming a few pages.
He leaned a shoulder against the wall.
"Hey." I snapped my fingers, and he looked up. "No reading breaks. You've still got books to shelve, Tollie."
He winced. "Can you not? Only my sister calls me that."
I bit my lip then said, "Okay, but only if you keep doing your job and don't tease me about my reading tastes."
"You wouldn't care if I did," he said on a laugh.
"You're right. Still."
Tolliver got back to work, and for several minutes, I watched him through my lashes, pretending to read.
It was a different book than the one we were on together.
Because of our arrangement, I'd become one of those people who read multiple books at once.
I was actually very into the dragon fantasy I was currently reading.
However, I kept getting distracted by Tolliver.
The way his arms flexed when he gripped the stack of hardbacks in his hands.
How he slid each book into place just so.
How his t-shirt rode up, exposing a tantalizing glimpse of his toned stomach, like it did now as he reached up.
"Freya."
"Mmm?"
"Did you need something—or are you just checking me out?"
Tolliver's eyes were shining as I looked up.
Caught.
I was so caught.
"I'm supervising," I said, speaking past the embarrassment.
"Oh yeah?"
I shrugged. "Those are my books. I have to look out for them."
"Right." Tolliver gave a quiet laugh then said, "Well, I'll be done here in a second, so you can stop worrying for their welfare."
I shook my head. "Oh, it'll take longer than that."
"Nah, you've got a ton of books," he said. "But after I put these up, it's all done."
"The first round."
"Huh?"
"Well, I've been wanting to rearrange my books for forever," I said.
"I just never had the time. But with this summer suddenly completely free, I thought, why not?
It's just I'm not sure how I'll like it best. By genre was one of my top ways.
But I also wanted to try color-coded. If you're up for it. "
Tolliver nodded. "No problem."
"I was thinking I'd go rainbow."
"Sounds bright."
"Let me get a picture of this"—I snapped a few photos on my phone—"then we can start all over."
I nearly laughed as his eyes widened.
It took about 20 minutes to colorize my shelves, and Tolliver had a little sweat on his brow by the end.
"So?" he asked with a smile. "What do you think?"
"It's pretty. But..."
"But?"
"Honestly, I think I liked it better the first way." I buried my head in my hands. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Tolliver said.
"No, I know this is a lot. That's why I never tried it myself," I said, gesturing to my books. "They look beautiful like that. They really do. But...my series are all mixed up—"
"Kent."
"—and my historical romances, YA, and romantasy are all together—"
"Freya."
"—and yeah, the colors look awesome, but the heights are different, and..."
I trailed off as Tolliver placed a finger against my lips.
"It's fine," he said.
I frowned, not believing him.
"I want you to have what you want."
Those words replayed in my mind as his hand moved to cup my jaw, thumb softly caressing my cheekbone.
What I want...
What I wanted right then was for him to lean down and kiss me breathless.
As I unconsciously licked my lips, Tolliver's eyes caught the movement and flared.
"Kent?" he said roughly.
"Stone?" I breathed back.
"If you don't stop staring at me like that, I'm going to kiss you."
I swallowed then... "Promise?"
Tolliver leaned forward, and I couldn't believe I'd just said that.
Couldn't believe he was closing the distance.
He was only inches away when we heard footsteps in the hall.
We broke apart, putting some much-needed distance between the two of us, and only seconds later, my dad stepped into the room.
"Just checking on the progress," he said, wearing a tight smile before it relaxed into something genuine.
I got the sneaking suspicion that he was checking up on me and Tolliver, but I couldn't be sure. Also, I was grateful. I'd almost kissed Tolliver again, and I wanted that far more than I should.
"I'm glad," I said, and Tolliver shot me a quick look.
"The shelves look good," Dad said.
"Yeah, but I think I'm going with option one."
He lifted a brow. "What option was this?"
"Two," Tolliver said, rolling his shoulders, with a small smile. "She wasn't sure what she wanted."
While I searched Tolliver's face for a deeper meaning to those words, Dad gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of books to move, Freya."
"Hey," I said defensively, "I don't have as many as Lottie."
"I wasn't judging, just commenting."
"Sounded kind of judge-y."
He lifted his hands and looked to Tolliver. "Glad it's you, not me. Good luck."
"Thanks," Tolliver said.
"Love you, daughter."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah, love you too," as he left. Once we were alone again, Tolliver met my gaze.
"So, do you know what you want?" he asked.
I nodded with certainty.
I knew what I wanted for my bookshelves.
But my love life?
That was a whole other story.
* * *
The next day, Tolliver showed up wearing a fitted black t-shirt, dark wash jeans, and a white apron with lace trim that perfectly matched the little white lace choker around his neck. When I opened the door, I nearly died with laughter.
"And you said they don't make these in my size," he said.
"You...you..."
I couldn't catch my breath.
Tolliver arched a brow, crossed his arms, making the duster in his hand flutter, and I lost it again, laughing until tears ran down my cheeks.
"It's okay, Kent. I know I look good."
"You're gorgeous," I managed to choke out.
Tolliver shrugged then sent me a smile. "So, what are we checking off the list today?"
"A favor for my cousin," I said once I finally got myself under control.
He nodded.
"I hope you like animals."
"I love animals."
With a sigh, I said, "Of course, you do. Let's go, Stone."
The animal shelter was always short on help.
That was one of the reasons my cousin, Viola, asked me to go there as often as I could.
Not that it was a hardship. I loved what they did here, how they tried to find homes for animals who just had a hard go of it, that they cared for them until their forever home was found.
As we were walking to the door, Tolliver said, "You volunteer here?"
"Yeah," I said, "but my cousin, Viola, considers it her second home. The dogs and cats are her friends. But since she's in college, she can't get out here multiple times a week like she used to. Hence, my promise to come."
"That's cool of you."
I shrugged.
"Do you have a preference for cats or dogs?" he asked.
"Dogs. One hundred percent. But I love cats too."
Tolliver held the door open for me and chuckled when I blushed.
"Thanks," I said quietly.
"No problem," he said, following me in and looking around. "If Eli knew where we are, he'd be begging me to bring one home."
I lifted a brow.
"He loves dogs."
"I knew I liked that kid," I said with a smile.
"Oh, he's a fan of yours too," Tolliver said.
"Yeah?"
"All my siblings are. But not more than me."
We were standing there grinning like idiots when Paris, the woman who ran the shelter, walked in from the back and clapped her hands.
"Freya," she said happily, "you're back!"
"Yep, hi Paris," I said.
"And you brought a friend." Her eyes moved over Tolliver, back to me, and she waggled her brows. "He looks strong and muscly."
My jaw dropped, but Tolliver just laughed.
"I am," he said, reaching over to shake her hand. "Muscles courtesy of hockey."
"Ah."
"I'm Tolliver. Freya's..."
When he trailed off and looked at me to fill in the blank, I had nothing. Did I call him my friend? My page turner? The guy I kissed once (and desperately wanted seconds)?
"I'm her maid for the week," he finished.
"I was wondering about the apron. I'm Paris. Nice to meet you." After they shook, she stepped back and said, "Sorry, if that came out weird before. I'm unloading a new shipment of heavy food bags from the truck and thought maybe—"
"I'll help," I said, but Tolliver put a hand on my shoulder.
"Your wrist is still healing," he said.
He was right. "But..."
"You help the animals. I'll do the heavy lifting and be back soon."
Paris spoke up then. "It's time for them to be fed. I was going to do that next, change out the water, play with each of them a little. It would be a big help."
I nodded. "Okay, I can do that."
"Thank you both so much."