Page 29 of All My Heart

“I like it.” I kind of loved it. She'd captured my style when I didn't even know what it was. I hadn't realized I was so worried about her suggestions. If she'd wanted to make everything modern or on trend, I wouldn't have liked it.

“Really?” She glanced up at me. Her eyelashes were long, her freckles spread over her nose and cheeks, and her blue eyes drew me in.

I nodded. “Yeah. It's new but still—” I couldn't think of the word.

“Rustic?” At my nod, she continued, “That's what I was going for. Something new and modern but still said rustic cabin.” She turned her attention to her tablet. “For the floor, we could do a ceramic tile that looks like stone.”

She zoomed in on the floor. “Or we could do wood to match the rest of the cabin.”

Right now, it was linoleum, and I couldn't wait to rip it up. “Let's do the stone look. It's different.”

“Then you don't have to worry about it getting wet. A lot of new builds are moving toward the engineered vinyl plank because of that. But we'd want to keep real wood to match.”

“You think we can salvage the floors in the rest of the cabin?” I asked as I moved toward the living room.

“I'll need to look under the rugs, but I think so. If not, we can replace the planks that aren't salvageable, then sand and stain them to match.”

“What were you thinking for in here?” I asked about the living room, eager now to hear her suggestions.

“New furniture. Let me know if you need recommendations. I don't know what your budget is, but I love these large sectionals.” She showed me an option on the tablet. “They're functional, comfortable, and last forever.”

“As long as it's comfortable. That's all I care about.”

Luna stood close to me, her shoulder almost touching my chest. “These are like sitting on a cloud. I recommend this brand to everyone. If you get sick of the fabric, you can just replace it. Pricey though.”

I had money saved up. I'd never bought anything except for the truck. “Your proposal will include prices?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to go through the options first. Then I'll work up an estimate.”

The best thing was that Luna had probably done this a million times before. I wasn't working with someone who was new to the business. Even though her brothers treated her like she was.

“You could do some built-ins for books and knickknacks.” She looked up at me with a sheepish expression. “I mean, you don't look like a knickknack kind of guy, but maybe you have some memorabilia for your time in the service you'd like to hang or display.”

We were all given a flag, but I didn't want to put that up. I didn't want any reminder of what I'd been through. I wasn't sure why that was. “Not really.”

“Oh. Okay.” She turned her attention back to the tablet as if she was worried she'd misspoken.

I cleared my throat, wanting to rid the awkwardness of the moment. “I like to read though. It would be nice to have bookshelves.”

She looked up at me, her lips parting in surprise. “Are you good with wood?”

For whatever reason my blood drained south. I was lost in the fantasy of lifting her in my arms and pressing her against the nearest wall. How easy would it be to peel those leggings off and be inside her?

She winced. “Sorry. I meant are you able to make things with wood? Some people are handy, and others aren't.”

I cleared my throat in an attempt to clean out the dirty thoughts. “I am actually. I'm good with my hands and with wood…all kinds.”

Her cheeks pinked. “Oh.”

I'd flustered her, and it was nice. I wanted to taste her lips. Would they taste like beer, lasagna, or a combination of both?

“Then adding a built-in will be no trouble at all. I thought we could add them on either side of the fireplace.” She gripped the mantle. “This is nice though. I'd recommend keeping it.”

“I added it when I first moved in. I found a downed tree, cut it up, and brought a piece home for the mantle. The old one was one of those white prefab ones.”

“Wow. Yeah, this is a million times better than that and fits perfectly with my design for the cabin.” She ran her hand over the rough wood, and I wondered what it would feel like for her hands to be on me.

A surge of pride ran through me. She was complimenting me on skills I hadn't developed in the military. It was nice to be known for something besides my time in the service.

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