Page 6 of Steamy Nights

She stopped talking and stared at him. "What?"

"Why are you here. Alone. Working on these little bungalows on your own?"

Her fingers tucked her hair behind her ears and she swallowed. "I'm divorced. I came here to get completely away from a man who beat me down verbally throughout our marriage. He told me I couldn't do anything on my own. He told me I'd never make it without him. So, I'm here to prove him wrong. I've always known I could do this. Own a business. Manage rentals. Live on my own."

She ended her sentence with a nod and a swallow as if to punctuate her determination.

He smiled at her. "You'll do a terrific job."

"What makes you think so?"

He chuckled. "Determination. The way you take care of Chiefy shows me you have your heart in the right place. I don't think you can go wrong with all that."

He smiled at her, his eyes stared into hers. Her lips parted slightly and her tongue jutted out and swiped along her bottom lip. She pursed her lips together and inhaled a deep breath. "Thank you."

"Does that make you nervous?"

She chuckled. "I umm..." She sucked in a deep breath. "I'm not used to a man complimenting me. I'm not sure what I should do."

He leaned forward so their eyes were level. He smiled and softly replied. "Say thank you."

Her cheeks turned an adorable pink. "Thank you."

"There. That's all settled." He glanced down at Chiefy who had decided their conversation was boring and laid down on her side. He laughed. "I think we've bored her."

Grace laughed and it was adorable. She had the cutest little dimples. And, that smile of hers was like the sun shining high in the sky. His heartbeat thumped in his chest.

"She's tired from all the diving and garbage cleanup." She held up the garbage bag. "She dives in and comes up with random stuff."

He laughed as he looked at Chiefy's tail. It thumped a few times as if she knew they were talking about her.

Moving his gaze to Grace he sucked in a deep breath. "I think we're a lot alike, Grace. We've both been through a lot in our life. We're both trying to move on from that. We're both new in town."

Grace's lips turned up in a soft smile. "I guess we are."

"Well, I better go clean up. Thanks again for helping me today. I do appreciate it. I'll be at the garage working on that bike for a couple of weeks. Please feel free to stop by if you see me while you're out walking."

"Thank you. We'll stop in and say hi. Chiefy would love that."

Sid grinned. "I'd love it too."

Her cheeks turned a rosy pink, her eyes locked on his and they stared at each other. Chiefy whined, and Grace nodded once, then addressed her pup. "Let's go girl."

She clipped Chiefy's leash onto her collar and as they began walking toward the road, Grace looked back once. The beguiling smile on her face was the memory he'd have with him all night. Likely many nights. And there was nothing wrong with that.

6

Grace stepped into her bathroom to begin work for today. She'd finished one of the smaller walls last night, after returning from her walk with Chiefy. She hummed the entire time, which surprised her when she thought on it now.

Beach life agreed with her. The weather was warm here. The water lapping outside as she drank her coffee in the morning, was like a balm. And, she met a new friend. Sid was handsome. And there was something about him that called to her. He seemed lonely, and there were so many times she felt lonely too.

Blowing out a breath, she decided to change her train of thought so she didn't get depressed. Look at what she was doing here. The tile was coming out beautifully and she couldn't wait to see the finished room. The only way to do that was to get at it.

She opened the new box of tile and removed the lid from the thin set bucket. She swathed a section of the wall with thin set and placed the first section of tile. She continued on in a methodical manner until she had the entire wall finished. Chiefy whined and she glanced at her watch. Two hours. She'd be painting next and remembered she needed some paintable caulk.

Washing her hands in the kitchen sink, she placed her over-the-body bag on, then grabbed Chiefy's leash by the door. "Come on girl. We have to go to William's Hardware store for caulk."

Chiefy didn't care of course, but Grace spoke to her a lot as if she did. Just before stepping outside, Grace looked at Chiefy, "Hang on, girl." She ran back to her bedroom, looked at her hair in the mirror and wiped some dust off her face. Her clothes had some dust on them from her work, but she'd brush that off outside. She picked her lip gloss off the dresser and applied it to her lips. One more glance and she went back to Chiefy, who'd begun pacing back and forth in front of the door.

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