He drops the boxes on the cement patio outside the back door.“You go hiking.You can’t be that opposed to the outdoors.”
Foiled by my own actions.I grumble and he grins at me.
Jaeger rips open the tent box, an act that would have taken me thirty minutes with the help of a large screwdriver and scissors.His muscles and large paws are a huge turn-on.I follow those clever hands as he sorts and puts together the tent.
“I bought one with a skylight.”He glances up and smiles.“We can look at the trees and stars at night.”
I’m sort of following what he’s saying, nodding in agreement.But mostly I’m thinking about that tent and how see-through it is.It’s definitely not soundproof.We’ll have to be quiet…
This could work.
I grab the mattress box and hand it to Jaeger to open.He tears it apart and I smile happily, admiring the muscles flexing through his jeans as he bends and builds our home with his bare hands.
He glances up and sees me watching.Instead of scolding me for the dirty thoughts that must be evident on my face, his jaw clenches and he works faster.
I love this man.
ChapterThirty
Our tent is the size of a motor home.Then again, Jaeger is too.Unfortunately for my housemates, the patio has been compromised.Our giant tent-home takes up the length of the cement pad.
I’m lying on the mattress, which is surprisingly comfortable and mattress-like, staring at the stars through the skylight.Jaeger crouches his way in and zips the tent closed.I can stand without having to bend, but that does not apply to overgrown men.
He removes his shirt, and my mind goes blank.
I sit up abruptly.“Wait.We have to talk,” I say, but I’m staring at his chest, my gaze trailing to his eight-pack and the waistband of his jeans.I force it up, only to find him smiling knowingly.
I plaster a somber expression on my face.“Don’t think it’s okay for half-naked women to show up at your place, because it’s not.”There,Itold him.
He sits next to me, and I’d like to say the indentation of the air mattress is why I fall into him, but I think it’s all me.Damn.Being a hardass girlfriend is more challenging than it looks.
It’s a good thing Jaeger’s a good guy, but we still need to talk.“Why did Danielle show up?”
He drops onto his back, an arm across his chest.“I had no idea she was interested inthat.She’s bought some commissions from me and introduced me to other clients.We’ve had a working relationship for a couple of years now, and she’s never come on to me.”
I hold up my finger.“I beg to differ.She clung to you like a wet blanket in the Blue lounge.”
“Really?”He shakes his head.“Okay.”
“Seriously?You don’t know that a woman’s coming on to you when she touches you and leans her breasts against your arm?”
“I never thought about it.”
“Does this happen often?”
He shrugs, and I can tell the answer is yes, but he’s being modest.
“Jaeger, what if a guy had his hands on me that way?”
“I’d tear off his arm,” he says without hesitation.
“Okayyy, so it wouldn’t be all right.”
“Hell no.”
I stare, and he glances away.“I get it, Cali.I know what you’re saying.”He sits up.“You understand, though, that I’m not interested in anyone but you?From the moment I saw you in the cocktail lounge at the casino next to Blue, I did everything I could to make you my girlfriend.”
He did?I think back to that night and the days that followed.I suspected he was flirting, but I was still with Eric and trying not to think about my feelings for Jaeger.
