Page 17 of Christmas Wishes

I grunted. Bad habit.

“Sorry. I don’t speak caveman,” he said while opening the fridge door.

“Cow only. Can buy oat.”

“Thanks. Milk. Coffee.” He pounded his fist against his chest and grunted, but it sounded nothing like mine. It was kind of cute.Not cute. Annoying.

My lips twitched against my will.

Keaton’s nostrils flared as he poured the milk. I appreciated how easy he was to read. His face scrunched a little as he read the milk carton, then he wiggled as he put the milk back in the fridge. His body was in constant motion.

When I realized I was watching him instead of reading the paper, I cleared my throat and refocused on the page. Studying Keaton too closely would lead to trouble.

Once Keaton finished doctoring his coffee, he leaned his hip against the counter. “Can I move furniture around?”

I snapped my head up. “Move what furniture?”

“He speaks a complete sentence! The light in my room won’t work for the videos I need to make.”

Heat flushed my body as I imagined Keaton making sexy videos with all his olive-toned flesh on display. My first thought was whether he had an OnlyFans, immediately followed by wondering where my wallet was. I shook it off. “Videos?”

“Beauty videos.” He paused for a moment and studied me. He must not have minded what he saw on my face because he continued, “I need more natural light to make sure things look okay. If I could move the small table in the bedroom suite, that would be great.”

That was fine because it wasn’t Nico’s space. I still wasn’t ready to change the home. It was fine how he had it. “Sure. I’ll do it before I leave.”

Keaton waved me off. “I can do it. I might be small, but I’m strong.” He winked and flexed his skinny arms under his ridiculous Snow Bunny sweatshirt. But the silly move had me shifting and clenching, nonetheless.

I looked away when I caught a flicker of surprise, then interest in Keaton’s eyes. Maybe that was my imagination or desire talking? There was no way he could sense that I preferred to bottom. Most guys couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact that sometimes, larger people wanted to feel smaller and controlled instead of always exhibiting power and strength.

Goosebumps erupted where his stare met my skin.

“Time for work.” I jumped from my chair, haphazardly folded the newspaper, set my coffee mug inside the dishwasher, and high-tailed it out of there.

I closed the door to the garage behind me, cutting off Keaton’s, “Have a good day.”

As I drove to my first job of the day, I couldn’t shake off the image of Keaton in makeup. I didn’t have a reference point of what that would look like, but the idea really worked for me. I’d never had a particular interest in men wearing makeup, but I appreciated guys who did what they wanted despite what others might think.

He’d mentioned creating beauty videos. Did that mean he had a social media account for them? I parked outside my client’s house five minutes early and was tempted to search, but that was a step too far. I wasn’t interested enough for that.Keep telling yourself that, bud.

By the time I got home tonight, I needed Keaton to be off my mind. Being under the same roof as the guy had already eaten into my precious little sleep last night.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a local number not in my contacts.

“Riggs here.” I listened to a woman offer me three kinds of Christmas cookies if I could swing by today and check out a weird flickering that had started after her husband attempted to work on the wiring.

I was so tired of know-it-all dickheads who thought they could “figure it out” and caused more problems while they were at it. What was so hard to respect the skills, knowledge, and training it took to do blue-collar jobs? I forced a deep breath before my brain traveled too far down that path and onto asshole dads who had no respect for their kids’ work. In some ways, it was safer to think of Keaton than that.

As I accepted the job, I realized that being busy was actually the perfect solution. Keaton would be occupied making his videos while I worked and stayed out of the house. We’d barely see each other. I could get through the week, then through Christmas in two weeks, and figure my shit out from there.

Chapter10

Keaton

I draggedthe table from inside the bedroom to the landing, but there still wasn’t enough light. The north-facing window with tall trees casting shadows over my face wouldn’t cut it. It was better than it had been, but still not enough. Before I unpacked all my makeup, I would try to figure something else out. I’d planned to take a few test videos outside Riggs’s place since it wasn’t snowing, but I’d shelved that for later.

Riggs letting me move furniture was a surprise. He struck me as the kind of guy who liked his shit where he wanted it. I bet his garage was organized within an inch of its life. That level of order made me want to run in and mess it up—mess him up—a little. Figure out what it took to make him lose the control he clearly held so tightly.

Focus, Keaton. You’ve got a dare to complete.

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