Page 65 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“Sure you have. All the time.”

He was right, and it had always been after a night of endless lovemaking with him. There were times, especially whenever he returned from one of his business trips, that they couldn’t get enough of each other.

“I picked up breakfast for us earlier, but didn’t want to wake you.”

“Where did you go?”

“The Witherspoon Café. I brought back a bag of their blueberry muffins and I got coffee going. Join me in the kitchen for breakfast...or maybe I should say lunch. Then after we eat, you can get dressed and help me outside.”

“Help you outside?”

“Yes.”

“With what?”

“The rocking chairs. With your help, I’ll have them ready to paint this week.”

“Oh, okay.” She watched him cross the room to the bed and lean down to kiss her. But it wasn’t a light kiss, it was one filled with all the desire she’d come to expect from Jaye. In no time at all, she was moaning and was about to suggest he take off his clothes and rejoin her in bed when he released her mouth and said, “Don’t tempt me, Velvet, or we won’t go outside to finish those rocking chairs.”

“I won’t tempt you if you don’t tempt me,” she countered.

He flashed her a dimpled smile. “I’ll do my best.”

“THANKS AGAIN FOR BREAKFAST.”

Jaye turned at the sound of Velvet’s voice. She was wearing a pair of jeans and one of his old T-shirts. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he thought she looked cute and sexy.

“Glad you enjoyed it.”

She smiled and gave him a dreamy-eyed look. “I appreciate the company and breakfast. You can’t go wrong with blueberry muffins from the Witherspoon Café.” And, as if it were the most natural thing for her to do, she leaned in and brushed a kiss across his lips. “And I happen to like the company just as much.”

Deciding that wasn’t enough, he pulled her into his arms and gave her his definition of an appreciation kiss. When he released her mouth, she said, “Remember, we aren’t supposed to tempt each other.”

He chuckled. “I’ll remember—or I’ll try to.”

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans and asked again, “So what do you need me to do?”

“I’ve finished that one chair,” he said. “All it needs is sanding. I figured you can sand it for me while I finish up the second chair.”

“I don’t know how to sand anything.”

Handing her a pair of safety glasses and work gloves, he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.”

He got some sandpaper for her. After demonstrating how to start sanding in the direction of the woodgrain, he left her alone. While he worked on the other chair, on occasion he would glance over at her and see what a good job she was doing. He also couldn’t help noticing just how good she looked doing it.

They didn’t engage in conversation because of the noise from his saw. But more than once, he caught her watching him, like he was a puzzle she was trying to figure out. He wanted to tell her that he really wasn’t that complicated, and that he was a man deeply in love with a woman whom he wanted a new start with.

They stopped to have dinner, feasting on the leftovers Kaegan and Bryce had sent them home with, including bottles of beer. Everything tasted just as good as it had last night.

“I think it’s wonderful how Reid has lured so many people back to Catalina Cove with that low-interest loan program,” Velvet said, after taking a sip of beer. “It was really an ingenuous idea.”

Jaye agreed. “I think so, too. I guess it’s his way of looking out for the cove’s future.”

After dinner, they went outside and continued working amiably together. He had finished the second chair and she’d begun sanding it. “When will you paint them?”

He shifted his eyes to her and smiled. “When do you want to paint them? I’d like to have this project finished this week.”

She nodded. “That will work since I’ll be leaving the cove next weekend to return to Phoenix.”

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