Page 54 of The Last Time

“How’severythinggoing?”Iask my flooring guy, Bret, who is currently sanding everything down at Charlotte’s house.

“Not bad, man. This house is big with a lot of hardwood, but I’m making progress.”

“Need a hand with anything?” I ask.

There’s a stretch of silence. “Uh, no boss. I’m good.”

I stumble over my words. Of course, he’s good. He knows what he’s doing, and I’ve never needed to offer him a hand with his work before. I’m just itching to see Charlotte and want to find any excuse I can.

I cough. “Okay. Umm…just let me know if there’s anything I can do. I’ll talk to you later.”

I click off the phone and kick the gravel beneath my feet.

Idiot.

Ever since my night with Charlotte, it’s all I can think about. She’s all I can think about. I open my pictures on my phone and pull up the paint-smeared wall I took after we had sex.

I smile at it for what feels like the hundredth time.

“Fuck it,” I say to myself, then open the door to my truck and hop in.

As I drive to Charlotte’s place, I try to think of a good excuse to give Bret other than I’m falling hard for the owner of this place and need an excuse to see her.

Before I can think of anything, I’m pulling into her driveway. This is not like me. I am not the type to be clingy or desperate to see someone—I never was. And yet, here I am, walking up the stairs of the freshly stained porch, which looks out of place against the peeling paint on the house’s exterior walls.

One thing at a time.

Before I can knock on the door, it flies open, and Bret is standing there with a stunned look on his face.

“Boss,” he says with a questioning tone. “Everything alright?”

“Uhhh, yeah. I…uhhh…just wanted to see if I should maybe put another guy on the job with you and Harry so you can get it knocked out faster. You said it was a lot of flooring on the phone.”

He scratches the back of his head as I walk past him into the foyer.

“Umm…no, I think I’m okay. We should be done with the sanding by Monday next week. Then I can move to the staining, which doesn’t take nearly as long. Between me and Lance, we will have it done in a day.”

I nod my head as I walk along. Of course, he already has Lance on the project with him. I knew that.

“Sounds good. You can get back to work. I have some other projects around here that I need to plan out with the owner.”

“No problem. Catch you later.”

He puts his headphones back on and walks out the door. Probably needs more sanding paper or something or maybe some privacy to bust a gut over my obviously desperate acts as a lovesick man.

I walk into the kitchen, but Charlotte’s usual work setup is not at the table. Instead, she is sitting on a nice-looking outdoor couch with cushions. Her laptop is on her lap, and she is working with headphones on.

When I open the door and am greeted with a huge smile on her face, it feels like my heart skips a beat.

She pulls off her headphones. “Hey, you. What’re you doing here?”

I shrug my shoulders, slightly embarrassed. “Just needed to make my rounds and check on the guys to make sure everything was going smoothly,” I lie. “Thought I’d stop in and say hi.”

“I’m glad you did.” She stands up and walks over to me. “Did you already check on the guys? I think everything is going fine in there. It’s a bit loud with the sander, so I figured I’d work outside for the day.”

“Umm, yeah, I already talked to Bret. They should be done on Tuesday. I could make them work the weekend if you want it done sooner.”

“What? No, they don’t need to work the weekend. There’s no rush.”

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