Who would have known Leo knew how to work with his hands?
“Can I help?” I ask without thinking. He gives me a disbelieving and confused look before slowly shaking his head.
“Uh, no. These are power tools. I already sat by while you got drunk, I’m not handing you an industrial sander.” My heart drops, and disappointment floods. Normally, I can keep up the facade, give everyone the reaction that causes the least amount of upset, but I’m too hungover, and my head is pounding just a bit too much to do that.
“That makes sense. Maybe another time,” I say, trying to keep up my cheery facade but unsure if I succeeded. Thankfully, I have the perfect subject change. My stomach might not be roiling, but my head is killing me, and being out in the near-blinding sun isn’t helping. “Uh, do you have any kind of painkiller? I might have kept everything down, but the little man in my head hammering at my eyes and temples is a near-constant reminder that I was very, very intoxicated last night.”
Finally, it happens.
He smiles.
God, when he does that, he’s too fucking handsome. He’s hot when he’s glowering at me, but smiling wide, entertained by some random bullshit I just said, he’s panty-dropping hot.
“Yeah. I’ll get you some water. You should probably drink a lot of it.”
I nod, then follow him into the house. We step into the kitchen, where open cabinets with no faces fill the space. He grabs an unopened bottle of water from one, handing it to me before moving toward the hall bathroom. There, he opens a cabinet, grabs a bottle, shakes two pills into his hand, and offers them to me. I down the small white pills and chug about half of the drink, then awkwardly follow him out of the small room.
“What’s this room?” I ask, tipping my chin towards an empty room across the way. Blue tape lines the edges, and a tarp covers the floor, a tray with an unopened can of paint, and a roller beside it.
“It’s going to be a guest room. It had three layers of wallpaper I had to take off, then spackle. I’ve got the primer done, now I just need color.”
“What color are you thinking?” I ask, desperate to know anything I can about this project. I would do absolutely anything to have an old house of my own to fix up, but I know even now,Jackie would disapprove and insist on hiring a firm to handle the design and execution. He lifts a shoulder.
“Not sure. I have to go to the hardware store in town tomorrow, see if I can make a choice.”
I nod, then speak without thinking. “A light blue would be nice, I think. Very calming and welcoming.”
He lifts an eyebrow at me, and a nervous blush burns over my cheeks and down my chest.
“Welcoming and calming?”
“That’s what they always say on those home shows,” I explain quickly.
“Home shows? You watch those?”
“They’re what I watch on the road. Easy to watch, no storyline I have to follow, and they don’t require a ton of brain power.” I shrug, suddenly feeling silly and picking at the edge of my shirt. Leo’s shirt, I suppose.
“I wouldn’t pin you for a home decor show kind of girl.”
I lift my head, then tip my chin at him, unable to fight back the smile.
“What would you pin me for?”
“I don’t know. Reality TV? Housewives of some random city?”
I shrug. “Too close to my real life, I suppose. I want to escape.”
“Is that why you were drunk last night?”
“No, no,” I say with a smile, shaking my head. I should keep it to myself, but I can’t in this state, so I finally spill to him. “I’m here because I have writer’s block. Adam told me I needed to get a life to fix it, so I came here,” I explain.
“So you’re not here to escape boredom after I told you that you have to hide away?”
I shake my head. “No, no. I’m actually very okay with being bored. I don’t get the chance very often.”
“So how’s it going?”
“The boredom?”
