Page 54 of A Lonely Road
While I sashayed back toward the front door, he muttered, “Okay, just gotta talk myself down from this hard-on. If I don’t get blood flowing back toward my head, I’ll probably end up drilling through my own hand.”
“We can’t have that. I quite like a number of things that require the use of your hands, so an injury would definitely interrupt my future plans,” I teased over my shoulder.
When he finally walked into the kitchen, I handed him a cold bottle of Coke. Jake flashed a smile of thanks and we sipped in silence for a few minutes before he planted a hard kiss on my lips and got to work. As with the car repairs, I stood by to hand him tools, hold the flashlight when needed, and generally keep him company.
“Renovating is a lot more fun with you around. Not even an unhinged stalker can dampen your spirit and, shit, I really love that about you,” he said when we had successfully installed the new door and locks.
I flushed scarlet at the casual way he said it, but he just opened and closed the door a few times before peeking out the peephole.
“You definitely can’t see my driveway.”
“Considering I haven’t slept here much, I guess I can just look out the window from your front hall if I want to spy on you out in the driveway,” I replied.
While he put his tools away, I slid a new key onto each of our keychains. It wasn’t really meant to be a statement, but when I handed his keys back, he gave a slow smile, unfettered and sweet in a way that made my heart trip a little faster.
“I didn’t think it was lonely when I was working on this place by myself, but now . . .” He trailed off, watching me for a moment. “I sure like having you around, Nora.”
“I sure like being around, Jake,” I replied.
The simplicity of the statements seemed to underscore the depth of our feelings rather than gloss over them.
“Now that your door is fixed, will you be staying here again?” he asked. His tone was light, but I caught the look in his eye that said he was hoping for a particular answer—and I knew exactly what it was.
I leaned my hip against the porch railing and studied him. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re really trying to say?”
Jake grinned a little. “I can always trust you to cut right to the chase. I’d like it if you’d keep staying over at my place.”
“Because . . . you want to keep an eye on me? Because you’d feel safer knowing I’m protected by your security system? Because you like snuggling with me every night?” I arched a brow ever so slightly inchallenge.
“Because, Nora Cassidy,” he said softly, placing his hands on my waist, “I fell a little bit in love withyouthat very same day.”
The words coasted over my skin, warm as the summer sun. Emotion clogged my throat and I had to take a moment to bask in the way he made me feel—treasured, protected, impossibly happy—so I could respond without letting tears of pure joy mar this moment.
“Is that so?” I breathed, echoing his earlier response.
His blue eyes glowed with pleasure and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward to kiss him. With his fingers digging into my hips, he tugged my body against his, surrounding me with every beautiful thing that made up the man I was falling in love with.
“Now, let’s get these cameras installed so I can take you home and claim my reward for getting my chores done,” he growled against my lips.
Once the cameras were up, we sat on the loveseat with our heads together as we connected an app on my phone to the feed. There on my screen was a clear view of the landing at the top of the stairs. To test it out, Jake jogged over and went outside, causing an alert to chirp. The tiny black and white image of him waved up at the camera and offered a goofy smile.
The other camera was focused on a side door leading into the garage, even though there was no access from there to the apartment. Jake didn’t want to risk anyone lying in wait for me to venture out, either.
He had just joined me back on the loveseat, where I was still admiring the system, when my phone rang, startling us both into a chorus of expletives.
“Oh, crap. It’s my dad,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest to slow my pounding heart. Clearly, my father had some kind of sixth sense for knowing the worst possible moment to call.
“Go ahead and talk to him. I’ll go take the rug inside and be back in a few minutes.” Jake kissed the side of my head and left me alone.
I waited through one more ring before I answered the call. “Hey, Dad,” I said, hoping my voice sounded steady as I rose and walked over to the window to watch Jake heft the area rug over one shoulder.
Like Jake, my father was a perceptive man, and I was fairly certain I was still not very good at concealing my emotions from either one of them.
“Hey, Bear,” he said brightly. I rolled my eyes at the nickname, grateful he couldn’t see me. “I had no service for a while so I just got your email. You make it to Spruce Hill okay? An old buddy of mine is the police chief there, did I tell you that?”
“Yes, I’m here,” I said, “and no, as a matter of fact, you didn’t. You could have mentioned it when you sent me the apartment ad, Father Dearest.”
“Didn’t I? I could have sworn I told you about Roberts. That’s why I even thought of Spruce Hill when you were looking for somewhere near the water. Maybe you’ll run into him around town.”
