Page 25 of The Last Time

Asher

Whowould’vethoughtthathaving Charlotte Bates back in my life would cause such a tidal wave of changes in me?

She’s made my hard armor crack one too many times in a matter of a week. Not only that, but I can’t close my eyes without picturing her smile or her sexy-as-sin body.

Now I’m standing on her front porch with my equipment, and I actually feel something similar to excitement at the idea of seeing her again.

My hand lifts on its own accord to knock on her door before I’m mentally ready.

It swings open quickly. I swallow hard, lift my chin, and boldly look her directly in the eyes. The attraction is as powerful as the first day we met again a week ago, if not stronger.

“Hi.” She smiles at me. “Come on in.”

I follow her into the kitchen just like I did the other day.

“I see you brought your own stuff to work with?” she says as she points to the equipment in my hand.

“This is a slightly more powerful electric sander. Based on your little incident last weekend with yours, I think I should be the one who controls this one.”

With both hands on her hips, she fails at her attempt to disguise her annoyance. It makes me smile.

“We’ll see how you do with that one today,” she cracks back.

It looks like she’s conspiring something in her head, and I don’t have a good feeling about it. She has no idea the power she has over me.

“What do you say we get to work?” I suggest before we get into it with each other.

It’s like we’re constantly trying to piss the other one off. Although, each time we try, there is a sexy undertone to the conversation that feels like foreplay.

If we ever had sex, I think it would be a cross between anger and passion. Damn, it would be something else to feel that tight body of hers all over my hands.

Luckily, she starts walking outside before my brain can settle too long on the image of what sex with her would be like. There’s no doubt in my mind that I will be picturing it tonight when I’m lying alone in my bed. I’ve thought about it every night since the first day I showed up on her doorstep.

When we make it to the front porch, she turns to me.

“Alright, macho man. Tell me what to do.”

I roll my eyes. I know there was no compliment in that comment. “I think I’m gonna send you to the back deck. You think you can work on sanding the banisters back there without getting into trouble? I can use my high-powered machine to cover the rest of the deck floor since it’s a larger area.”

“Yes, I can handle the railings, asshole.”

She starts to walk off in the direction of the back deck.

“What’s up your ass today?” I shout before she disappears around the house.

“You and your ego,” her voice echoes before she’s out of sight.

I chuckle to myself. I’m glad telling her about Lauren hasn’t shied her away from treating me any differently. I feel like most people in town tiptoe around me, afraid I’m going to break any moment. Or maybe they’re just afraid I’m going to snap at them. Either way, her attitude is refreshing to be around.

I scan the front portion of the deck that still needs to be sanded. It’s really only about one-third of the deck floor. She did get pretty far up here, but the back deck is giant. I think about her losing her balance and falling on her stomach when she caught a glimpse of me without my shirt on. It makes me smile just thinking about it. If she only knew what the view of her body does to me.

Once I find the outside outlet and get the sander plugged in, I begin to plug away.

My sander has an attachment that I can place in the center of it to place a rod, so I don’t have to be on my hands and knees. This allows me to move it around like a vacuum and save my back. But it does do a number on your arm muscles and abs. It takes a lot of muscle to keep the thing in place and direct it where you want it to go.

There are some two-by-fours that seem too far gone to salvage by sanding. They’re split with large gouges, making them a safety hazard.

After I sand everything, which takes roughly an hour, I bring new two-by-fours up to the porch and begin to replace the damaged ones.

---