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“No ma’am. Just a job for my brother.”

“Lieutenant Brooks? What does your brother have to do with anything?”

“My brother owns this house,” he shrugged. “The poor guy called me nine times this morning after he heard about the emergency call. He was worried these old stairs would tangle someone up, so he had me rush out to fix them.”

My eyes went down to the steps where he was banging. Three steps led up to the old porch and the only thing wrong with them was a few nails that had workedtheirway up out of the wood. It was far from being an emergency job. Not to mention, I was capable of swinging a hammer if it bothered me too much.

“Also,” he added, stepping a little closer making me look back up into his eyes. “You probably forgot, but we are on a first name basis now.”

“Easton,” I smiled, not even pretending to forget his name. “I appreciate you being here. But all the major issues with the house were fixed before I moved in. I’m extremely thankful your brother sent you here, but anything else the house needs, I can probably do myself. It seems silly for you to be here for such mundane tasks.”

“Psh,” he laughed. “No task is too mundane.” His tone was mocking, but full of good nature, and I couldn’t help but smile in return. “How about you and I swap numbers, and if you need anything, I’m your guy.”

Before I could agree, he handed me his phone to add my contact information to a page he had already set up. It wasn’t a bad idea to have his number if he really was the one I needed to call, so I added my details and then texted myself from his phone.

“There,” I smiled as I handed him his phone back. “Now we are all set.”

“All set,” he repeated.

“Anything else?” There must have been something because he was staring at me with a goofy smile on his face and a gleam in his eye.

“Nope,” he blinked, then shook his head. As he walked off the steps of the porch and toward his truck, he gave me a small, backward wave and added, “All done here.”

Chapter Six

EASTON

Inside my head,that went a lot smoother than it actually ended up being. But through my eagerness to see her again, I hadn’t been able to see how flawed the plan really was. It was a miracle she hadn’t called the police, or slammed the door in my face.

Nevertheless, I had her phone number, and she had mine. It was a gateway I could use to keep in touch with her, get to know her better, and maybe ease my curiosity enough to move on and back to whoever I was before I saw her.

Since I had already embarrassed myself once for the day, I had decided to wait for another day to text or call her. But by the time I got home, she had already sent me our first text message and I couldn’t help the cocky smirk that formed on my face as I got out of my truck. It seemed as though even in the awkwardness of my visit, she couldn’t resist whatever it was that happened when our eyes locked.

In an attempt to not seem too desperate, I made sure I was inside the house before I opened the text. She would neither know that I waited an extra seventeen seconds, nor would sheknow that I took another twelve seconds to grab a beer from the fridge. But I knew, and I needed to feel like I had a little control.

Once I settled onto my couch, I pulled my phone back out and unlocked it, ready to see how much she wanted to see me again.

Jesse

Who’s your brother?

My brother? What did he have to do with this?

Ohyeah.

Easton

The one that owns your house?

Jesse

Do you have more than one?

Easton

How do you not know who owns your house?

Jesse

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