Page 40 of Seducing the Sheriff
“You’re welcome.”
He unzipped his sleeping bag. It was large and spread over the mattress. I eased onto it. Then Greg tugged the comforter over me. He flicked the light off and joined me under the comforter, spooning around me, his hand splayed over my chest. I felt, rather than heard, his sigh between my shoulder blades.
“This is nice,” he murmured. “Thanks for today.”
I enfolded his hand in mine, wanting to kiss him, but not quite brave enough. Instead, I returned his words. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Eleven
Greg
After Cash left in the morning, I lay in bed for a while, wallowing in the joy of the goodbye kiss. It had been quick—morning breath and all that—but the tender way he’d brushed back my hair when he did so, his fingertips tracing across my skin with a reverent touch, had been everything.
I plucked my phone off yet another storage tub masquerading as furniture and checked the time. Seven-thirty. I groaned as I scrubbed my face with both hands. I could daydream about dick sucking and next-times later. This old girl wasn’t going to renovate herself.
I pushed up off the air mattress and padded to the bathroom for a quick rinse. While I dried off, I mused that in a weird way, I was looking forward to working in the closet today, even a bit excited. Something about discovering a lead to the mystery made me want to get in there, almost as if I could vibe out what might’ve happened.
A half hour later, I was dressed and sipping on a bland cup of instant coffee while I went over my list of supplies. I’d measure everything out again before I left, but now that I’d been to the history museum and seen a bit of what the old place looked like on the outside from the one photo, I had new ideas.
I knew a fair amount about architectural styles after years of working on old places. After the unexpected events of my first week in Charming, I decided to go in a different direction. I would remove the entire closet and surrounding cabinetry that had been built in at some point and restore the original staircase to its former glory.
It was no small project and would definitely add to the length of my estimated timeline of completion. But if this was my forever home, shouldn’t I give it all I had, no matter how long it took?
I tossed the rest of my coffee into the sink, then checked my phone. An idea was brewing, and I figured there was plenty of room in my day to add another stop. As long as I was headed to town for supplies and a decent cup of coffee, maybe I could start acquainting myself with what raising sheep might entail. After all, I’d be the one building their shed, so it couldn’t hurt to start planning now.
I decided to give Jim a call, hoping he was around. “Hello, this is Jim.”
“Hi, Jim. It’s Greg from yesterday.”
Jim chuckled. “Hello, Greg-From-Yesterday. Did you want to stop by again to go through the files? I’ll be there this afternoon.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip. It was so tempting, but for whatever reason, I didn’t want to do it without Cash by my side. You know the reason. “That would be great, but I’m waiting until Cash is free to come with me.”
“Oh, I see.”
I caught the amused tone in his voice. “You know, since we’ve been looking into it together. It wouldn’t be fair.”
What the hell was I babbling on about?
Jim chuckled again. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. That’s between you boys.”
I almost asked what he meant but decided to keep my big mouth shut instead. I cleared my throat. “Actually, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me Dex’s number? I thought I might be able to hook up with him today.” I slapped my forehead and almost sent the phone flying out of my hand. “What I mean is, if you had a chance to mention me to him at dinner.”
“Of course. He said he’d love to help. I don’t know much about what Dex has going on over there, but he comes from a ranching family and has been working that acreage his whole life. I’m sure he’d be a great resource. Even if he can’t help you directly, I'm sure he’d know who could.”
Jim provided me with his number, and while it might still be early for me, it was probably midday based on a rancher’s timeline. If Dex was going to be around, I might as well take advantage of stopping by since I was headed to town.
The phone call didn’t last very long because he was in the middle of something. I tried to assure him I could come by another day, but Dex insisted. Something about wanting to meet me anyway after Jim told everyone all about me over dinner the night before.
Now I’d done it. This was turning into a social thing.
I groaned in frustration at myself, tossing my phone into the truck’s console, then shoving the key into the ignition. What had I expected would happen? The engine roared to life. Why did being around Cash make me want to be a part of something more? What that ‘more’ was, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of yet. But for the first time since beginning my journey as the lonely handyman of the Southwest, I wanted to know what it would feel like to truly belong somewhere.
As I got on the road, I took the turn toward Bobcat Stump. Dex had given me directions for a back road that would circle around to his ranch. Then after our visit, I could go straight into town. I smirked to myself. Yup. There was that word again.
Visit.
“Welp,” I muttered to myself. “Time to start being a real boy.” I snorted.
