Rachel reached in her pack and pulled out little cards. “These are handmade, but I thought we could order some that talk about their names and offer encouragement,” she said, handing them to Gunner.
He spent time reading them. Rachel was surprised that the silence didn’t bother her. It was a comfortable silence that Rachel basked in. She loved her children, but sometimes, she needed the soothing quiet to have time to think. Maybe now that they were in a house and weren’t on top of each other, she’d have more time where someone wasn’t talking.
“I’m like you, I’m torn. I like both of them. Table that for a minute. Any more?” he asked.
She pulled out her deep purple one. “Purple is a symbol of royalty and being loyal. I was trying to think of a royal name. I thought of Queen or Queenie. I considered great queens like Wilhelmina or the classics like Catherine, Cleopatra, etc.”
“Oh wow, the softness of this yarn is very soothing,” Gunner said.
Rachel had been doing so well keeping business first in her mind, but Gunner’s fingers sliding over the cat’s fur had her mind going to his fingers sliding over her skin. Were his fingers a little rough from working in the kitchen, and how would that feel against her skin?
Whew! Was it getting hot in here?
She didn’t understand what was happening. She didn’t know Gunner. Sure, he’d helped last night, but anyone could show a nice side for a while—or sometimes years. Was it because it had been so long since she’d felt desire? Was she just latching onto the first male who treated her with respect and listened to her? Did she crave safety so much that she was desiring him because he would protect her and the kids?
She needed to not be so close to him, or she might forget her vow to make sure it was safe here before letting people in. If she let them in, then she’d have to face what had happened before they left. New friends wouldn’t be fine with her keepingsecrets. And she wasn’t in a place to start a relationship.
She stood up and walked over to the bookcases.
“I was thinking here besides books, we could have mini bookshelves that they could buy. Next to the mini books of their favorite authors, we could have cute little things to go on the shelves too. What do you think about that?” Rachel asked.
Did he realize she’d stood up to get away from him because being close enough to smell his aftershave was giving her way too many ideas?
Gunner stood up and walked over by her.
Friggin’ fudgesicles. She’d heard one of the kids say it yesterday. It definitely fit her mood right now. She swallowed because her mouth was dry and her heart was pounding. She felt out of control. If she let herself feel, would she break into a million little pieces?
This was a new start for both her and the kids. Her hormones needed to calm down. She needed to know she could trust Gunner or any of the other men before she dropped her panties. Wasshe really free to drop her panties for anyone? Her stomach soured at the thought of her situation.
How was she going to survive working with him every day?
Gunner stood beside Rachel, staring at the bookcase because if he didn’t, he’d be grabbing her by those cute-as-fuck jean overalls and kissing her, tasting her smiling lips that were so distracting.
He hoped he’d made the correct replies to her little crocheted cats. He thought they were cute, and he was positive they’d be popular. But staring at her sweet, smiling face while she described her thought processes had him wondering if she’d smile when he had her under him or over him. At this point, he didn’t care; he just wanted her. His instant attraction was deepening as he got to know more about the woman who had knocked him on his ass.
It was making it hell on his self-control to go slow and give her time. Right now, if he could kick his own ass, he would because he wanted to say to hell with giving her time and taste her lips.
Banging on the front door saved him from having to decide if he was going to kiss her.
“Just a second,” he said, walking to the front door and unlocking it. Phoebe, Blake, Deborah, and Benji stood outside.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“I’m babysitting today. Blake and Phoebe saw you were in the shop and said they needed to talk with you about something,” Deborah said.
“Well, come in. I think you all met Rachel yesterday. Let’s sit down, and we can talk about whatever you wanted to talk with us about,” Gunner said.
He pulled a couple extra chairs over so they could all sit together, waiting until the women sat before he did.
“We have a proposition for you,” Blake said softly.
Gunner only hoped it was a legal one, because with these kids, he’d learned anything was possible. Their subscription service for swear words was genius.
“I think Rachel and I would like to hear it,” Gunner said.
Blake nudged Phoebe.
“We want to be entrepreneurs cuz the only job girls usually get when they’re young is babysitting. And we don’t want to deal with babies. No offense, Deborah,” Phoebe said.
