Page 60 of Nailing Studs

“Pop the champagne, Taylor!” I called into the kitchen where Taylor was fumbling with the large bottle of sparkling wine I’d picked up for this very occasion. The Fix-It Guys work was now complete. Tabitha’s house had been fully renovated, and tomorrow, Logan would list it for sale. My heart ached, but I was determined to put on a happy face and celebrate what my guys had achieved.

I couldn’t believe how different this place looked compared to when they’d first started work. Compared to what it had looked like four months ago, when I had first moved in, it felt like a new house entirely. The biggest difference was all the light that streamed in from every corner, the way it lit up every inch of this place. The boys had repainted it from top to bottom as well, giving the place an almost ethereal feeling with soft dove greys and whites and yellows. These guys knew what they were doing. In more ways than one.

They weren’t called the Fix-It Guys for nothing.

“There, got it!” Taylor called through from the kitchen, and I headed through to help him out with pouring the glasses for us. He put the bottle down and slipped an arm around my waist, pulling me in good and close for a moment.

“Mmm.” He nuzzled my neck. “Sure I can’t get you to myself just for tonight?”

“Maybe another day,” I suggested, but I didn’t have the heart to peel him off of me. I didn’t want to. Because once the house sold, I knew everything would be different. They’d said they still wanted to be with me, but they had their roots here in Fosterman. Even if we tried to keep things going, with me working in the Bay Area, Taylor and Dom here, and Logan traveling for work…it wouldn’t be the same.

It could never work.

I hadn’t told them that, but it had been my private fear.

One that was now threatening to suffocate me.

Tears pricked the back of my eyelids but I blinked, hard, warding off the building emotions. I would not show the guys how scared I was.

“Hey, you two!” Dominic called as he sauntered into the kitchen. “I wanted a drink, not to watch you make out.”

“Jealous?” Taylor tightened his grip on me.

“Obviously,” Dominic replied with a smile. He poured the sparkling wine for us and distributed the glasses, handing the last one to Logan as he made his way into the room.

“I can’t believe it’s all finished.” I sighed, looking around the place once more, authentic pleasure at the renovations brushing away my earlier worry. “It’s just…it only feels like yesterday that you guys first came here.”

“Yeah, well, not so much when you’re the one doing all the work on this place,” Logan jibed.

“Hey there, you’ve helped us on a few jobs here and there. Don’t get cocky,” Taylor admonished.

Logan just grinned, then took a sip of his champagne and made a face. “Kayla, let me choose the champagne next time.”

Taylor lifted his glass. “To finishing Tabitha’s house.”

“To finishing Tabitha’s house,” we all said, and clinked our drinks together.

I enjoyed the feeling of his arm still around me. This week had been crazy-busy, and I hadn’t had time to be with them in any intimate way. I had all this pent-up sexual energy that needed unleashing. For years, I’d always thought I didn’t have that high of a sex drive because the boyfriends I’d been with had never held my attention that long. But I’d learned so much about myself these last few months. I now understood that I’d simply been waiting for the right guys to come along and fix that. My Fix-It Guys indeed. Turned out that all this time I’d needed three of them to fulfill me.

I’m just that high maintenance, I thought to myself with an inward grin.

“To restoring Tabitha’s dream home and making…” But I couldn’t finish. I choked up. I wanted to say my guys had made my dreams come true. They’d given me my life back, but now I couldn’t imagine selling this home. All of Tabitha’s memories were here, all her energy and now mine. And all of ours now, too. I wasn’t just about to lose Tabitha all over again, I was about to lose my heart. “I’m sorry,” I squeaked.

Taylor swept me up in his arms, and next thing I knew, we were all ensconced in a big, group hug. “Don’t. It’s okay, Kayla.”

“Enough of this bullshit. We need to tell her,” Logan said.

I shifted, and they all backed away. “Tell me what?”

Taylor took my hands. “We want you to keep the house. We want to move in with you. Between all of us, we can easily pay the property taxes and the energy bill and the cost of maintaining the place. You don’t have to move away. You can quit your job and find something you really love. You’ve got that gigantic oven now—you could have your own home bakery, like how you dreamed of. Make special order stuff like wedding cakes and shit. I’ll bet the diner would buy your pies and cakes on a daily basis. Screw driving all the way to the East Bay. Stay here. With us.”

My head was spinning. They’d already told me they wanted to stay together after I sold the house. I just hadn’t seen how that could happen. But they’d found a way to make it happen. To not have to sell the house at all.

They were handing me my dreams on a silver platter. These men were my angels.

“You remember the drill, don’t you, Kayla,” Logan teased. “You just need to say yes if you want it, too. If you want us.” Then he added, winking, “I never submitted the paperwork to list the house for sale, just so you know.”

They’d tortured me by holding this in until now, so even though I wanted to, I didn’t say yes right away. After all, I had to keep my studs on their toes.

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