Page 51 of It's Only Love

Chapter 17

Dean was in the doghouse, big time. But he would still do it again, he knew she loved pranks, so he thought it would be funny, which it definitely was. The look on her face had been priceless and he chuckled to himself again as he ate the smushed food she brought him. She would calm down eventually and forgive him. He grabbed a Coke from the fridge, he started leaving drinks and a snack or two around the house, as he was there for so long each day, he needed his treats.

He could hear her stomping around upstairs and smiled to himself as he sipped the cold drink. He kind of liked it when she was mad, he would have enjoyed trying to coax her out of it with kisses or more, but she put a stop to any of that activity. He wanted to apologize for his behavior that night at the bar when everything went nuts, he hadn’t meant to treat her so badly and push her away again. But it stuck in his craw that she said what had happened was a mistake, well it was the best damn mistake he ever made. One he wanted to make again and again. He went along with it to keep spending time with her. Probably a mistake on his part because all this time together only highlighted how much he wanted her.

He tried to deny it, and even though he loved Taylor and didn’t want to upset her, his blood pounded for Christy, he needed her. Christy would likely leave in a few weeks anyway, his stomach clenching at the thought, so why couldn’t they enjoy the time she had left? He had gone back and forth over it in his mind and decided he would rather have her for a little while than not at all. No one needed to get hurt, they were both adult enough to make their own decisions.

First, he needed to lower her guard, he figured she found him attractive otherwise she wouldn’t have been intimate with him, especially not more than once. But he needed her willing and maybe even a little bit desperate for him. He spent so much time without a shirt on that he might as well have been modeling for a calendar. It was definitely working though, every time she came into a room, he could feel her eyes stroking over him, the intensity of her stare riling him up like nothing else. So many times, he nearly caved and reached for her only for her to move away from him. Granted his little stunt today had probably put him back a few steps, but he couldn’t resist it.

He finished his lunch and tidied up the kitchen, putting away his tools, glaring at the garbage disposal, willing it never ever to break again. He went outside to make a few calls, needing to check in with his employees today. He looked up at the sky, which was fast darkening over, black clouds rolling in, turning the air thick and heavy, practically crackling with electricity.

“Storm’s coming,” he muttered to himself as he held his cell to his ear, waiting for the garage to answer. Took him an hour to get through his calls, he rang around all the garages he had, checking in with everyone, making sure there weren’t any issues. He couldn’t always be around in person in some of the locations, so he usually called every couple of days for an update. He loved being his own boss, he definitely paid his dues over the years and had gotten lucky with his investments, which was paying off more than ever as he was able to spend this time with Christy.

He saw a message come through from Darcy asking to go on another date. He had forgotten all about her, he had zero interest in being with her. He hoped that from his silence she would get the hint, but apparently not, so he replied and let her down gently, telling her he met someone else, which was kind of true.

As he came back into the house, admiring his handiwork on the porch, he saw Christy standing in the living room and his heart stuttered in his chest. She was wearing a white t-shirt and short denim overalls, her hair kept off her face by a red bandana. She looked like a sexy 1950’s pin up, Marilyn eat your heart out, he thought, the nickname he gave her all those years ago definitely more apt now.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, she glanced sideways at him, but didn’t face him.

“Getting ready to paint,” she said firmly, he tried not to smile as he realized she was still in a snit, perfect.

“Great, I’ll help,” he said cheerily.

“No, it’s fine I-” she started, but he interrupted.

“Please, I love painting.”

She sighed, realizing it was pointless to fight him on this. They spent the next hour putting sheets down to protect the wooden floors, taping up any electrical sockets, stirring and distributing the paint. Then they had to pick the music which was pretty easy as they liked the same thing, Dean chose to start with Marvin Gaye. As they worked it started to rain, softly at first, but then it became darker outside, the air heavier and the raindrops fell fatter and faster.

“Looks like we’re in for a big storm,” he said conversationally. She turned to look out the window, and he could see she had an adorable paint smudge on her cheek.

“We’ve needed it, it’s been too hot and humid around here.”

Although she matched his conversational tone, the sparkle in her eyes made him wonder if her words had a different meaning. Before he could push her on it, she turned back to the section she was painting. As the storm continued to build outside, the day turned to night and Marvin Gaye gave way to Aretha Franklin.

Out the corner of his eye, Dean kept seeing Christy wiggle her hips in time to the music when she thought he wasn’t looking. All her wiggling must have made her hot as she unsnapped the fastenings on her overalls and let them fall to her waist. He had to look away as he realized he could see her pink bra under the thin white t-shirt she was wearing, and he was suddenly dying to know if it was the same shade of pink as her lipstick.

Dean heard a rumble of thunder rolling in over the music, and the room flashed as lightning lit up the dark sky. Christy jumped next to him but tried to cover it up by pretending she was just dancing. He noticed her looking out the window every now and then, concern furrowing her brow.

“Everything okay?” he asked. She didn’t speak, just nodded, and went back to painting but she no longer wiggled her hips. The thunder became louder and more frequent, and Christy began humming loudly as if trying to distract herself. When an extremely loud crack of thunder shook the house, she yelped and jumped, sloshing paint onto the drop sheets. He sighed.

“Why didn’t you just say you’re afraid of storms?” he asked.

“Because I’m not,” she answered, too quickly, nibbling nervously on her bottom lip.

“Yeah you are,” he teased, trying to take her mind off it. His experience of storms around here told him this was going to be a long one. She got this haughty look on her face and put her hand on her hip.

“No, I’m not,” she huffed.

“You so are,” he taunted, and she pursed her lips and stomped her foot.

“I am not, Dean!” she cried, and gestured angrily at him with her paintbrush, which sent a spray of paint splashing over his bare torso. He glanced down at his chest and then back to Christy, arching an eyebrow at her, she was smothering a laugh.

“Did you just throw paint on me?” he asked, trying to inject some menace into his voice.

“Well, it was an accident and you wouldn’t list-” she started, but he lunged for her and she squealed when he dabbed his brush on her face and neck. Her feet got tangled in the sheet and she began to fall backwards. He grabbed her around the waist, dropping his paintbrush and twisted them so she fell on top of him, his back taking the brunt of the fall.

In his chivalrous efforts to try and stop her from being injured, he realized he inadvertently gave her the upper hand in their paint war as he was now weapon-less and at her mercy. He saw the look of calculation cross her face as she realized the same thing and began dabbing her paintbrush all over his bare chest, stomach, and sides mercilessly. He grabbed her hands and pinned them to his chest. He looked up at her as she lay above him, panting from her efforts, grinning like a maniac and it struck him hard in his chest. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known, and he didn’t think he could resist her anymore.

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