Page 14 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
For some reason, seeing him before he was all done up only made him more handsome to me. It made me want to reach out and run my fingers through his hair.
He was the perfect size for me to lift him in my arms and carry around… carry him to bed and throw him on it, then cover him with my body, and—
I cut those thoughts off. This was not the time, and the last thing I needed was for him to see my body react to those thoughts—and it would if I didn’t cut it out right this second.
Shaking myself out of it, I grabbed Goliath’s harness and pulled him back so he wasn’t tackling Miles to the ground. “I’m so sorry. I swear he usually has better manners than this.” Sometimes.
Miles laughed again, turning a bright smile my way. “I don’t mind. I love animals, and he’s a sweetie pie.”
Damn but he had a beautiful smile. That made me grin back. “He is. He thinks he’s the size of a lapdog, though, so beware or you’ll wind up with a hundred and twenty pounds of dog on your lap.”
He laughed again, petting Goliath as he stared at me for a long moment. Eventually, he asked, “Um, do you ever do side jobs?”
My brow furrowed at the abrupt change in topics. “What do you mean?”
“Like… if I offered you a job on Saturday, would you maybe be able to come?”
“This Saturday? As in tomorrow?”
He nodded. “The house really is a mansion, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to do the whole thing by myself. I’d pay you, obviously. Good money. It would just be for the day.”
I stared at him for a long time, contemplating things. Did I want to work on my Saturday off? Hell no. But did I want to spend the day with Miles? Um… hell yes. But working with him wasn’t the same as hanging out, so was it worth it?
Hmm… good question, brain.
“No pressure,” he said, looking uncomfortable. He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Don’t worry about it, Winter. I—”
“I’ll do it.”
He blinked at me. “You… will?”
With a small smile, I nodded. “Yeah, I will. It’ll be fun hanging out with you while we take care of gnomes.”
His face did something funny at the mention of gnomes, but it was gone before I could ask, and the handsome man held his hand out for a shake.
Of course he had his gloves on, so I didn’t get to touch his skin, but even getting a handshake felt… special. Miles wasn’t one to reach out to touch people—something I’d noticed in high school. In fact, he avoided touch like it burned him.
It made me think that maybe it did. Maybe he had a touch aversion.
I frowned, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, but he was the one who offered the handshake, so I supposed I should let him lead. So I reached for his hand and gave him a good shake with a grin.
He smiled back as he let go, saying, “I can pick you up in the morning. Is eight o’clock okay?”
There goes my sleeping in. Sigh.“Yep, that sounds great.”
“Awesome. Thank you, Winter. You’re a lifesaver.”
I smiled at that, gave him an awkward wave, then pulled Goliath along so we could finish our run. “See ya tomorrow, Miles.”
“See you, Winter.”
I was sweaty from my run, but just like every other time he’d said my name, I shivered.Mm. Maybe one day I’d get to hear the way my name sounded when he was in the throes—
I cut that thought off before my run could get really, really uncomfortable.
Chapter Five
Winter
