“Yours, I assume?”
He nods, a sheepish smile crossing his face.
“But someone else’s lipstick, I hope?”
Jaeger grabs my hand and pulls me to his chest.“One of the random celebs that came through town.”
I frown, imagining the female vacationers looking for hookups, and spotting Jaeger.No one could pass him up.
He kisses my mouth, my lips stiff and unyielding.“I’m not proud of some of the choices I’ve made in the past, but that’s all behind me now,” he says.
What choices?And what does that mean?This entire date feels serious, like he’s trying to tell me something.
“Come on.I’ll show you my woodshop.”
Jaeger pulls me out a back door, across stone pavers, and into a huge, open indoor space filled with machinery and some type of ductwork sprouting from a table in the center.There’s a comfortable-looking leather couch to the side, and a couple of doors at the back of the building.
He points to the doors.“One of those is a bathroom, the other a drying room with fans.”
In the corner of his shop stands an eight-foot carved winding trellis.“That’s really pretty.”It’s bigger than anything I imagined him working on, and far more beautiful.
“Wedding arbor I’m making for a client’s daughter.”He presses gently on the curve of my lower back and guides me forward.“I’ve done cabinetry and other extras, but my bread and butter is over here.”
Tiered slats built into the lower half of one of the walls are filled with dozens of square and rectangular flat wooden etchings in every size.Next to them, a display shelf with a square black velvet drape hangs from the wall.Jaeger pulls out one of the smaller etchings, about two feet by two feet, and places it on the shelf.
I stare for a long moment without saying anything, because my throat is tight and I’m not sure words will come out.I’ve seen art in museums and from local artisans—there’s a boatload of shops in town.But I’ve never seen anything like the carving in front of me.
At first glance, three deer graze in various poses, as if the artist pulled them from a photograph.Upon closer inspection, the grain of the wood is worked into the design, though the only actual carving is of the deer and not their surroundings.The etching isn’t cheesy or cheap.It’s beautiful.Elegant.Nature carved on nature, and I can’t stop staring.
“Well?What do you think?”
“I—wow.It’s nothing like what I imagined.It’s real art.”That sounds lame, but it’s the truth, I’m sorry to admit.
He chuckles and replaces the piece in its slot.“You thought less?”
“I thought you carved wooden bears and sold them on the side of the road.”
He shakes his head.“Cali, so little faith?”
“Well, how was I supposed to know you did this?”I wave my arms wildly.“I don’t know anyone with this kind of talent.”
He picks me up and kisses my lips.“You think I’m talented?”
My toes are a good two feet off the ground.I’d be stupid to argue with him in such a vulnerable position.I twist my mouth.“You know you’re talented.”
He laughs again and whispers his lips across the sensitive skin at my neck.“I like to hear it coming from you.”
His mouth on my neck sends a shiver down my arms.I look into his eyes.“Your work’s beautiful, Jaeger.”
An hour later, after Jaeger shows me several of his designs, holding my hand and stealing kisses throughout, he drops me off at the cottage with one last hot kiss on the doorstep and the promise of something special tomorrow.
I walk into our outdated, oversized closet of a rental, my head spinning.So this is what the expressionswept off your feetmeans.I am floating, and without Jaeger to keep me grounded, I feel like I could drift away.What happened to my substance?
I’m still hovering in the living room when Tyler walks in a few seconds later.He dumps his duffel loudly in the same place as last time—the center of the pathway.He stares out the front window.“What are you doing with Jaeg?”
I sink onto the couch.“We’re hanging out.”
His mouth parts and his eyes narrow.“What do you mean, hanging out?”
