Then he made breakfast and perfectly brewed coffee, made sure I ate as much as I wanted, and then loaded us up in his truck. He'd been working on the door since we got here and I made myself as helpful as possible. The physical work was a good distraction because without it, I'd be drooling over the man every time he moved.
The continual influx of people coming and going throughout the day has helped. Gloria showed up first, bags of fabric in her SUV, which she insisted I go through with her. Choosing whatI liked best, so she could reupholster what had been damaged. Then there was David and his two young boys, working on the gouged floorboards, which I hadn't even noticed until they pointed them out. Mabel and her husband, Irvin, delivered lunch and fresh drinks, and I'd lost count of the people after that.
It was proof that what Oren had told me the night before was true. This was a place where everyone looked out for each other. Without any expectation of repayment, just the knowledge that their neighbors would do the same for them if it was ever needed.
Gloria had said it best when I worried out loud that I wouldn't be able to pay her up front for her time and effort.
"Get that out of your mind right now. Nobody survives on this mountain alone. Even big burly hunks like that lumberjack out there need someone."
And that big burly hunk of a lumberjack was making me feels things I wasn't prepared for. Not even a little bit.
Especially when I turned around to find him watching me, his arm braced over his head on the jamb, looking strong, capable, and very, very hot.
My knees feel watery at the intense look on his face and I wonder what he's thinking.
Because what I was thinking was beyond filthy. Very dirty. And yet, oh so good.
"Ready to go home?" The way his voice lingers over that last word with caressing emphasis makes my heart flutter.
I look around the living room of the cabin. There's more to do than I expected, yet I'm more hopeful than I was when we got here this morning. It's a lot of work, but it doesn't feel insurmountable any more. The determination I'd felt before shifts into something new. Belief. I believe this can be done. That I can do this.
Maybe not alone. Maybe I'll need some help.
But I can do this.
"Sure," I say, giving one last look around. "Let's go home."
13
OREN
Home. I hadn't expected to feel so much when I asked her to come home with me again, but it was undoubtedly there. Feelings I thought would never happen again.
But Ayla had worked her way into my own heart so quickly I hadn't had a chance to defend against it. And maybe that was why it had worked.
I'd promised myself no one would ever have a chance to break my heart again. But here I was, cleaning up after cooking dinner for this woman a second night in a row and it felt so good it was almost frightening. Damn, I never wanted her to leave.
"Mind if I ask you a question?" Ayla's voice pulls me from my thoughts, and right back to her.
I quirk a brow. "That's a question."
"You just made a joke. That's amazing." She's teasing and I feel the glow start in my gut. Like any time I make her smile or laugh, or even get a hint that I'm part of her happiness, they could probably see the halo of heat I'm putting off from space.
"What was wrong with the door today?" She lays her hand on my arm and the canned response I had planned dies in mythroat. We're sitting on the couch again, the same one where we woke up together this morning, and I'd never felt so rested as I did after blinking my eyes open to find her pressed against my side. "What happened with the front door, Oren? You worked on it all day and it looked fine to me when we finished up."
I sigh, and run my hand through my hair and opt for honesty. "Nothing's wrong with it. It's fine. A perfect fit. Latched exactly the way it's supposed to."
She examines me, eyes searching my face. "Then why am I here tonight instead of staying in my cabin?"
"Because I want you here." My admission is gruff, but no less true. And it feels like all the iron I'd lined my chest with, armoring my heart to avoid the pain of loss once more have fallen away. I'm exposed, and it's not lost on me that Ayla could take me down for good with a dismissal. Oh, she'd be nice about it, I'm sure. But it would still hurt.
"You want me here?" Her question is soft, and when I nod, unable to form words, she leans in close to me. "Oh good. Because this is where I wanted to be."
Happiness sparks to life inside me, overwhelming me with the power of it.
"Really?" I grunt out the statement and am rewarded with her wide, bright smile as she nods. I reach for her and she lets me pull her close, draping her legs over my lap and cuddling close to my chest. Her lips are so close, so pretty, and I want nothing more to kiss the hell out of this woman.
"I hope you're going to kiss me because if that's not a kissing kind of look, then I don't know anything at all."