Page 11 of The Billionaire Benefactor

Blake seemed to sense his need for a little break. “Matt, you want to give us a hand with the sod? This should be muddy, but fun. Then you can help Roman again if he still hasn’t finished his little job.”

“You’re just worried I’m going to finish first,” Roman said.

“Maybe,” Blake said. “But it’s only fair if you get Matt’s help for a while, we get him too.”

Matt beamed at how they were fighting over him. He handed the drill back to Roman and followed Blake and Tony to the truck where they started unloading the sod. The next time Roman looked, the yard was looking a lot fuller and lush. The change was almost instantaneous, even though they left a little space between each piece of sod. Roman thought it looked weird, but Blake swore that it would fill in better in a few weeks than if they lined up the edges all together.

“Water?”

A soft voice startled Roman and he looked up to find Jenny standing nearby, holding out a bottle of water. She had a soft smile that drew Roman’s eyes to her lips. He forced his gaze back up to her eyes.

“Thank you.”

Roman wiped his hand on his shorts before taking the water bottle. Blake, Tony, and Matt already had bottles in hand as they stood by the remaining pile of sod. Blake caught Roman looking and nodded to him, waving his hand. Roman realized he was urging him to make an apology.

Jenny still stood near him, sipping her own bottle of water. Roman touched her hand and she dropped the bottle.

“Oh, sorry,” he said. He picked it up and handed it back.

“It’s okay. I’m kind of a mess of nerves today,” she said.

“What are you nervous about?”

Jenny looked at him, surprised. “Really? Um, okay. Well, for starters, three famous football players showed up at my falling-apart house to help fix things. Then I acted like a jerk—”

“I’m the jerk,” Roman said.

“No,” Jenny said, looking down and twisting the water bottle in her hands.

Slower this time, Roman reached out and touched her arm. She flinched a little but then leaned into his touch. “Really, it was me. I shouldn’t have come in here pointing out things. I’m sorry if it felt like I was…attacking you.”

Jenny met his eyes as he finished. They were a unique color, he realized. Not just blue. They had flecks of other colors in there: brown and gray and even a little green. Blue hazel? They were beautiful. Again Roman felt a stirring of attraction. He pulled his hand away.

“I shouldn’t have reacted that way,” Jenny said. “Today or yesterday. You’ve been nothing but helpful. I’m just…”

She looked away again, off through the open part of the fence that hadn’t been fixed yet. Roman studied her while waiting. He resisted the urge to touch her cheek or brush the hair back from her face. Something about her was drawing him in, despite reminding himself repeatedly that she was off-limits.

“Hey,” he said. “Please don’t be sorry. You don’t need to be. Not even a little.”

“I don’t really…accept help very well,” she said. She met his gaze full-on now, her eyes determined. He saw a strength there that only made her more beautiful. “Even if I need it. I did need help. I do. So thank you for this. I couldn’t have done any of it without you.”

Roman felt his heart squeeze. He knew something about pride and could see how much these words cost her to say out loud. His father often said that true humility took strength. Roman swallowed back a sudden lump in his throat, feeling the ache of oncoming tears. He definitely couldn’t cry right now.

He took a swallow of water, before answering, giving the emotion time to pass. “We’re glad to help,” he said lamely.

“Well, maybe you should stop taking a break and get back to work then.”

She smirked, and he laughed. The heaviness had lifted, even if just a little bit. Getting past that wall she had put up made Roman feel like he’d done something right, finally. Beyond just the help with the house. It made him want to keep the conversation going.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ugh. You can’t call me ma’am. If I’m older than you, it’s barely.”

He grinned. “Okay, Jenny. That better?”

“Yes sir.”

Giving him another smile and a jaunty salute, she walked away. Roman found himself grinning in response. The change in her face was remarkable when she smiled. It was like everything lit up from within, that understated, natural beauty becoming something far more powerful. But their joking felt dangerously close to flirting and had his pulse picking up. When she walked away, he was still thinking of the blue hazel of her eyes and how they lit up with her smile.

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