She turns and winces. “Sorry. I got sprayed by skunks this morning. If you need the aisle, I can go somewhere else until you’re done.”
I’m frozen in place, struck literally dumb by her beauty. She’s not conventionally beautiful. She’s got a small scar on her top lip that makes it twist in a weird way, and freckles dot her delicate nose haphazardly. But she’s absolutely perfect. Her eyes are bright with energy, even as she winces in embarrassment.
And I have the most bizarre urge to wrap her in my arms and hug her until she’s laughing.
I just know she’s got an amazing laugh.
I shake my head, trying to get my shit together. I don’t believe in love at first sight. I don’t believe in that two souls recognizingeach other crap, but this is one hundred percent lust at first sight.
“Is that a no?” she asks, staring at me like she’s not at all sure what to make of me.
“No,” I say. “I mean, yes. You don’t have to leave the aisle.”
She narrows her eyes, studying me. “You look really familiar…” Her smile dawns slow. “I passed you the other day when you were leaving the Weston Farm.”
I don’t remember her, and I hate myself for it. How could I forget that face? Maybe the sun was behind her when we passed each other? “I’m sure you did. I’m over there all the time.” I look over at the paper in her hands, a schematic of some sort. “What’re you building?”
Her shoulders slump, and she lets out a sigh. “Probably nothing. I can’t even put a screw in the wall without breaking something. If I can get the supplies, I’m hoping I can convince my brother to build it for me, but I’m not even sure what supplies I need.”
I point to the paper in her hand. “Are those the plans?”
She nods and offers me the paper. As I take it, I get another whiff of skunk so strong I gag. Just a little gag, but she notices.
“I’m sorry.” She takes a step back. “I should have stayed home, but I have the afternoon off, and my cat is going stir crazy. He needs this cat gym.”
I look over the plans. They are really cool, but incredibly complex. “You’ve never built anything before? Has your brother?”
She blinks. “I’m not really sure. But he fixed a door on my parents’ kitchen cabinets last week.”
I bite back a laugh as I study the plans again. “I could build this for you in a weekend.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “That’s really kind, but I don’t know you and—”
I pull a business card from my wallet. “I’m a finish carpenter. You can look up my reviews online.”
She relaxes, but only a bit. “I can’t afford to hire you for this.” She shifts uneasily. “Maybe I should just buy a bunch of pre-made cat trees.”
I can’t tell this woman that I’ll build her cat gym for free just to spend more time with her and convince her to go out with me. She’d run screaming, and I wouldn’t blame her. Pretending to study the plans, I rack my brain for a believable reason to do this for free.
“You know,” I say thoughtfully. “I could really use something like this for my portfolio.” I don’t need anything for my portfolio. I definitely don’t need something as niche as this cat gym.
“Really?” she asks, her eyes narrowed like she doesn’t believe me. “You have a lot of customers looking for someone to build them an indoor cat gymnasium?”
I really don’t. “I have a lot of customers who have pets. This would be something really cool to show them. A way to upsell them on some more work.” The more I talk about it, the more I think this might actually be a good idea.
“That would be amazing,” she says. “But I have to pay you something. I have to at least buy all the supplies.”
I’m willing to bet she has no idea how expensive that’s going to be. “A lot of this can be done with scrap wood. Let me see what I have, and we can talk about you paying for supplies when and if I need them.”
Her smile is tight. “You’re doing an awful lot for a stranger. You either have an ulterior motive or you…” She shakes her head. “What’s your ulterior motive?”
“Go out with me,” I say.
That startles her. Her eyes widen, and she drops her crossed arms. “What?”
“Go out with me. Just one date, and I’ll consider us even.”
“One date in exchange for you spending an entire weekend building my cat gym? There has to be more.” Her cheeks pink and I’m certain her mind just went to sex. That’s exactly where my mind went.
