Page 12 of All Because of You

Still, they’d made more progress in one hour than Madison had made earlier today on her own. So whatever her feelings for Evan Walsh, she needed him to stay if she had any hope of clearing this storage room in a timely manner.

“Where do you want this?” His muscles strained beneath his gray T-shirt as he held a box against his chest.

Moonlight trickled in through the singular window, doing a better job of lighting the place than the exposed bulb and old-school chain hanging from the ceiling.

Madison blinked and prayed that he hadn’t caught her staring. “What’s in it?” Before he could answer, she approached and peeked inside the flaps. “Looks like new hammers.”

That lazy grin Madison remembered well returned. “That’s what I was going to say.”

“You can put them over in that stack.” Madison pointed to one of the corners. She flipped to the second page of the clipboard in her hand. “Says here we are low on hammers on the floor, so we should put some out. Can you set about ten aside?”

Evan set down the box. “Not a problem.” He dug in and added several hammers to the pile of items to take to the front of the store.

This time, she didn’t hide her stare. The Evan Walsh she’d known hadn’t been helpful a day in his life. Like the time they’d been part of the same six-person chemistry group sophomore year—he hadn’t done a lick of work.

This eager-to-assist man in front of her . . . well, Madison didn’t know what to do with him.

He paused, quirking a brow. “What? Do I have spaghetti on my face?”

Yeah, not only was he helping, but he’d arrived tonight with dinner for both of them too. Who was this guy?

“Sorry, I was just thinking about something.” Madison put the clipboard down on a box and worked open the flaps of another. “Let’s keep going with these.”

“You got it.” Evan finished the job she’d given him and joined her. A whiff of citrus met her nose. How did the man smell so good after moving boxes for an hour? They’d cracked a window, but the weight of heavy, stale air still hung throughout the room.

She peeked up at him and found him studying her.

“When are you aiming to reopen?”

Madison squatted and pulled a few colorful fishing floats and sinkers from within, some in packaging, some loose. “I’m not sure, exactly. Once I get all the inventory and paperwork organized, I’d like to spruce the place up. Paint it, rearrange a few things, the basics. I’m thinking if I work hard enough, maybe I could have it ready in a few weeks.”

“That sounds doable.” He helped her sort the fishing tackle by type. “Mondays are out—that’s the weekly town council meeting—and I promised my buddy Ben I’d help him do some renovating at his inn this weekend, but I can be here most other nights to help out.”

Rocking back on her heels, Madison shook her head. “Wow.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” An incredulous chuckle fell through her lips. “I just can’t get over how much you’ve changed since high school.”

He paused, a quizzical look on his face. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not exactly the same guy who tried to cheat off me in our ninth-grade English class.”

Through the dim light, she watched his cheeks lose a bit of their color. “We knew each other back then?”

OK, seriously? Madison pursed her lips. “Of course we did.” Grabbing the half-full box, she overturned it, allowing a plethora of vibrant colored tackle to spill between them. She refused to look at him as she snatched the yellow plastic worms and fake red fish with hooks attached to the bottom.

“Sorry.” Evan’s softly spoken word sent a wave of remorse through her. “I have a terrible memory.” His hands started to move across the heap in front of them, methodically pulling out green bait and dropping them into a separate pile.

She found it difficult to focus her attention on anything except him.

Blowing hair out of her face, Madison wiped away a bit of perspiration along the top line of her hair. “It’s fine.”

“Madison.” He touched her forearm, and she stilled at the contact.

Her heart galloped as she watched his fingers sitting atop her skin. Madison couldn’t help it. She met his gaze again. The connection nearly took her breath away. “What?”

“I’m pretty good at reading people, but I think even someone who wasn’t could probably see that you’re upset with me. And given our conversation, I’m guessing it has something to do with the jerk I was in high school.”

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