Chapter 6
Morgan
When I went to bed last night, I could still feel her lips on my fingers and envision her tongue sweeping the crumbs from her face. How was I going to live with this woman?
She didn't feel like a sister, and she certainly didn't act like one. Aspen was always irritating me, giving me a hard time, teasing, and generally being a pain in my butt. But this woman was something else entirely.
My heart tended to squeeze whenever I saw her, and my skin was overheated from that brief touch. I wanted to chase her bite of my cookie with a kiss. I wanted to see if she tasted as good as her sweets.
I'd have to work longer hours and avoid her somehow, or I was going to do something I'd regret. Tomorrow, I'd talk to Cooper about my schedule.
I couldn't stay at my house, not with her here. The worst-case scenarios piled up in my head. I'd run into her in nothing but a towel, hair wet, and skin damp from a shower. She'd work out in my gym in nothing but a sports bra and shorts that revealed her ass cheeks.
I felt hot all over.
Was she taunting me on purpose? Did she want me to want her?
No, that couldn't be it. Why would she be trying to seduce me? She was nothing like the women I'd met over the years in bars. She didn't have a hidden agenda. She just wanted her bakery to be successful. She wanted to prove herself to her brother and her parents.
I was the one who insisted she move in with me. She was against the idea from the start.
She'd never come onto me before. Not once. Even when I was at their house, growing up, I never saw her looking at me in any kind of way that indicated she had a crush on me. She usually ignored us, her focus on whatever concoction she was making in the kitchen.
I wasn't getting any kind of vibes that she was interested in me either.
She probably thought of me as a brother. An annoying guy that hung around her brother. Not a man she could see herself with. That meant that I was the problem in this situation. This attraction was one-sided, and I needed to ignore it.
Then there was the not-so-small issue of promising her brother I'd take care of his sister, not take advantage of her. She had lost her home and her business. She was in a vulnerable state.
Once her shop was open again, she could move back to her apartment, and I could ignore this ridiculous attraction. It had to be the proximity that was the other problem. She felt like she could eat cookies out of my hand, not realizing that it made my blood heat.
I'd have to stay away from the house and out of the kitchen while she was baking. This was pure self-preservation. I had to uphold my vow to her brother, not break it.
The only way I could do that was to bury myself in work and get her bakery running as quickly as possible.
I'd gotten up early, showered, and went into work, determined to do something that didn't involve spending time with Reina.
Cooper came in around eight and did a double take when he saw me in my rarely used office. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought we could go over the schedule."
He leaned against the door jam. "I thought we were waiting on the fire investigation before you could start on Sweet Dreams Bakery."
"Yeah, but we need to talk about how we're going to shift the schedule when that happens. I thought I'd work longer hours now, to get ahead on the current project. You think the crew is up for more hours?"
"One of the guys just had a baby, so he might not want to, but most of them like working overtime. But are you sure that's what you want to do?"
I rolled my shoulders back. I couldn't be at home, but I also couldn't tell him that.
He raised a brow. "Does this have something to do with your new house guest?"
My eyes widened. "What? No."
"All of a sudden you want to work more hours. Are you avoiding her for some reason?"
"We're under contract on all these projects. I want to make sure we're not breaking any of them. Can we just go over the timeline?"
He sighed at my curt tone. "Of course. Give me a few minutes to make coffee, then come into my office. I'll have the schedule pulled up on my computer."
"Good." My jaw felt tight, and I tried to unclench my teeth. I needed to chill out if I didn't want people to think something was going on between Reina and me.
When I walked into Cooper's office, he handed me a mug of coffee. "Drink this."
"I didn't have time to make coffee this morning," I said by way of thanks.
Cooper sat at his desk, rolling his chair forward.
His desk was covered with excess papers.
He claimed he knew where everything was, but it looked disorganized to me.
Then again, I didn't like to work with paper.
I preferred hands-on activities. That's why I was almost never in my office and spent most of my time on site.
He gestured at the chair across from him. "Sit."
I sank into the stiff chair, wondering why we'd bought such uncomfortable seating.
"I rarely have guests. I don't want to hear any complaints about the chairs or the coffee."
"I'm just here for the schedule. Then I'll be on-site for the rest of the day."
He turned the screen so I could see the schedule. "If you work a few more hours a day, you could get your portion of the work for this project done before you start on the bakery. If you could squeeze in some of the electrical work on other jobs in between the bakery, we should be okay."
I worked in tandem with the rest of the construction crew, juggling my work with the other tasks that needed to be completed. Hudson performed the same act with plumbing. But the good thing was, there was wiggle room for me while I worked on the bakery.
It made sense to put more hours in now so that I could clear my schedule for Reina’s place.
Cooper leaned back in the chair, scrutinizing me. "What's with the concern about the schedule? I could have done this for you without you having to come in."
"I just needed to—" I caught myself before I said get out of the house. "Figure it out so I can reassure Reina that the bakery is my top priority."
"I assume you'll want to be the project manager for that one. I know you don't normally manage the entire renovation, but it might be helpful for this one, since you suspect the issue was the electrical."
"I can take lead on it." I wanted to make sure that the work was done correctly. "She's going to want to upgrade the kitchen while we're in there."
"She knows that she covers the difference between the amount the insurance is willing to pay and the upgrade?" Cooper asked.
"I explained that to her."
He leaned back in his chair. "You're living with your client. Is that going to be a problem?"
"She's Tom's younger sister. I'm just doing her a favor. She wants to get back into her place as soon as possible. It's more convenient for her to live near the bakery for those early morning wake-up calls to bake."
"I didn't realize you were close to Tom's sister."
I looked away. "I'm not actually."
"Then why offer her a place to live?"
"I promised Tom I'd take care of her. I'm fairly sure that extends to offering her a room when her apartment burns down. Besides, I have the space." I shrugged to show him that it wasn't a big deal, but inside, I was reeling.
His gaze narrowed on me. "We've had a rash of contractors hooking up with their clients lately. Am I going to have the same problem on this project?"
"She's like a little sister to me." I shook my head, even as a voice inside said that wasn't true. She was more like a fantasy I had when I was a teenager, wanting to hook up with a girl in my childhood bedroom.
He raised a brow. "Is that so?"
I shifted on the stiff cushion. "Is there anything else? I should get to work."
"It sounds like Tom wouldn't want you touching his sister," he said cryptically.
I reeled back as if he'd hit me. "Of course not. Why would you even say that?"
He ticked the names off his fingers. "I don't know. Maverick and Belle. Hudson and Angela. Ford and Natasha."
I bit off a curse. "I'm not my brothers. I can control myself."
He raised a brow. "So you admit there's an attraction."
I slapped my thighs and stood. "If there's nothing else—"
He considered me for a few seconds. "I don't have to tell you that Reina is probably feeling all kinds of things right now, a sense of loss, fear over the future of her business. She doesn't need any other complications."
"I know what's at stake." This job. My friendship with Tom.
"Be careful with her."
"I don't intend to do anything with her. I gave her a room and found her a commercial kitchen. She's working on her catering business, and I'm busy with work."
He gave me a pointed look. "See that it stays that way."
I started to walk out, then paused in the doorway. "You know one day, you're going to be the one with a conflict of interest. A client you can't resist."
Then I turned to catch his expression. It was a mix of guilt and shame. Oh shit, had I walked into something there? "Unless you have something you want to tell me now?"
He waved me off. "Of course not. I'm not getting involved with a client. I can go to a bar if I want to pick up a woman."
"That's getting old, isn't it?" Most of my brothers had stopped hanging out at bars to meet women. Now, we just went to hang out together. Drink a few beers and talk about work.
He rocked back in the chair. "Aren't you feeling the pressure to settle down now that all your brothers have?"
"Not at all." I had no desire to settle down anytime soon. I was busy with work. And didn't have time for a relationship. My body was telling me it had time for a fling with a roommate though. Good thing I was leading with my brain and not my dick.
I went to my current jobsite, focusing on work and everything that needed to be completed before I could tackle the bakery renovation. I worked until it was dark out, sending my crew home earlier.
I wanted to stay away from my house until Reina was in bed. Of course, she was used to early hours, so that might not be too late.
I pulled into my driveway at nine and went inside. The light was on in the kitchen, and there was a note about muffins on the counter. I quickly heated up leftovers and ate standing up. When I went upstairs, the door to Reina's room was shut, and there was no light under the door.
I hoped she was working in the town hall's kitchen and busy with orders. When I got into bed, I realized that she didn't have a car to drive into town. I wondered if there was an extra work truck available.
I grabbed my phone to text Cooper.
Morgan: Is there a spare truck I can use?
Cooper: Is this for your new roommate?
Morgan: Are you going to answer me?
Cooper: Are you?
I ran my hand through my hair, wondering why we'd let Cooper run the place. He was nosey.
Morgan: You know, I can just come into the office and get the keys.
Cooper: I'll drop it off at your house tomorrow. I hope you know what you're doing.
Morgan: It's a favor for my friend's sister.
Cooper: Sure it is.
I couldn't wait for Cooper to get into a situation with a woman that was hard to navigate. He'd enjoyed the rest of the Sterlings fall for women the last year, and it was his turn. Or it should be.
Because wanting a woman you couldn't have was torture. Especially when she didn't want you back.
I'd text Reina in the morning about the truck.
Cooper would leave the truck in the driveway and the key in the cab.
He'd been my friend for a long time, but I didn't know a lot about his family.
He was private. I just knew that he'd liked spending time at my house, and my parents had quickly accepted him at dinners and overnights.
He'd never revealed what was going on in his life. He preferred hanging around our house. Now, he was in my business, and maybe it was time to find out what was going on with my friend. Why was he so closed off? Why hadn't he ever shared anything about his family with us?
I'd respected his wishes for a long time, but if he was going to give me shit about Reina, then his personal life was fair game.
I just remembered how my mom had warned us against pushing him for more information about his home life. She wanted him to feel safe at our house. I hadn't understood what she'd meant when I was a kid. But I listened to her because she was so emphatic about it.
But now? Cooper was an adult, and I wanted to know what was going on with him. It would also distract me from ruminating on the situation with Reina.
I felt like a jerk for avoiding Reina, but I'd vowed to protect her, not take advantage of her in a vulnerable state. She had a roof over her head, and I'd secured a vehicle for her. Other than that, I needed to keep my distance from her so I didn't do something I'd regret.
Tom didn't need to be worried about me screwing around with his sister while he was deployed. When he came home on leave, I wanted to be able to say his sister was safe, and I'd made sure of it.
The only way to accomplish that was to keep my distance. I couldn't be attracted to someone I didn't spend any time with.