Page 56 of Sapphire Tears

“You did all this yourself?” she asks. “Without any help?”

“Don’t sound so shocked. I used to do a lot of carpentry work around some of the motels my father used to own.”

“The mighty Kolya Uvarov, getting his own two hands dirty? I never thought I’d see the day.”

“You’re seeing it.”

She chuckles, but it fades into a quiet, contemplative look after a moment. I line up a nail and drive it home. Thethwackof it is satisfying in a way few other things in this life ever are.

“What kinds of things did you build?”

“Anything that needed building.”

“Gee, thanks,” she scoffs. “You really paint a vivid picture. As good with your words as you are with your hands, anyone ever tell you that?”

“No.” I sigh and lay my hammer down on my lap. Fixing her with a stern gaze, I start rattling things off. “Busted door frames, nightstands, that kind of thing at first. I got better. Started building from scratch after a while. Anything that would distract me worked.”

She knows exactly what I’m talking about, but she asks anyway. “Distract you from what?”

“From everything going on in the rooms above,” I tell her. “Adrian shut it out with his piano. I preferred to whack things with a hammer.”

“You played the piano, too, didn’t you?” June points out.

“It’s a hard instrument to share. Adrian needed it more than I did.”

She shuffles awkwardly on her feet, her eyes never leaving my face for too long. She seems distracted by the fact that I’m still shirtless. Which is exactly why I stay that way.

Two of us can play that game.

Slowly, she mounts the two steps up to the center of the gazebo and cranes her neck back to admire the smoothly fitted mahogany planks that form the underside of the roof. “These are beautiful.”

I nod. “I’ll have some ivy placed around the structure, so that it can weave in and out of the latticework.”

“That’s a nice idea. It really will be beautiful when it’s done.” She turns on the spot, and the edges of her blanket flutter wide, almost dipping into an open can of paint.

“Careful,” I warn her.

She glances down, her cheeks flushing with color. “Well, that’s what happens when you’re forced to wear a blanket all day.”

“You asked for a punishment,” I remind her. “And you received.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I did not ask for anything. I just didn’t want you taking your anger out on your men. They didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly. That’s the problem.”

She rolls her eyes. “When are you going to give me back my clothes?”

“When you stop trying to run away.”

She groans. “Fine. What if I promise not to run away?”

“You’re assuming I trust your promises.”

She glares at me with those bright hazel eyes of hers, and it takes all my self-control not to smile. “You’re a beast.”

“I won’t argue with that.”

She sticks her tongue out at me. “You know, I’m getting tired of lugging around this freaking blanket everywhere I go.” Sniffling haughtily, she adds, “Guess your staff will just have to get used to seeing me walking around here butt naked.”

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