“Have you done anything like this?” she asks, tucking the loose hair behind her ear.
“I worked construction with my dad when I was in high school. This should be a piece of cake.”
“Okay,” she says, her voice hesitant. “Will you tell me what I need to do?”
I smile, knowing how hard this would be for her. To admit that I know more than her about something, especiallyherproject.
“Okay, first day on the job, you can refer to me as sir or boss. Up to you.” I smirk, trying to avoid letting my gaze dip down to her chest.
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m calling you that.”
“Do you want my help or not?”
She throws her hands up. “I didn’t even ask for your help.”
I step toward her, and she backs up toward the kitchen island, which desperately needs a coat of paint.
“Jonesy,” she whispers, her back hitting the counter as I grip the marble, caging her in.
“Indulge me, princess? You get the royal title. I just want to be in the realm of your existence. Just this once.” Sir will do it. If she called me that right now, I can’t guarantee I won’t lift her by the back of her legs and place her onto the counter so I can pull down that skin-tight top revealing what I really want. Pointed nipples so hard I could pinch them through the thin fabric right now if I weren’t sure she’d slap the smirk clean off my face for doing so.
“Fine...” She bites the inside of her cheek, her jaw jutting to the side as if it physically pains her to be so agreeable. “Please, can you show me how to attach the plywood to the wall...sir.”
A shit-eating grin breaks out across my face, and I can’t resist brushing the tip of my nose against hers. God, I could kiss her right now. It would annoy her more than thesircomment. More than anything I’ve done in the last fifteen years.
Her brows knit together in confusion as her eyes drop to my lips. This tension that’s been building between us for the last ten days is reachinga point of no return. But I don’t want her to desire sex. I want her to desireme. I want to be the only one who can give her relief, even if someone else is offering it.
So I step back, watching her suck in a deep breath before pushing her shoulders back, her defenses up.
“Happy?” she snarks.
“It’s a start, princess. Imagine what I could make you say after helping you with the flooring.”
“Fuck you,” she hisses, hopping off the counter.
“I keep offering, but you keep turning me down.” I laugh. “Come on. This isn’t going to take long.”
I fold up an old towel, placing it on the unfinished floor, and then slide the first piece of plywood into position, indicating for her to kneel on the towel. The nail gun is loaded and ready for use, too.
“I’m going to hold it in position. We’ll use the spirit level to make sure it’s all good, and then you can use the gun.”
“Okay.” Determination takes over, and she purses her lips together.
Once we’ve done our checks, she lines up the gun, biting her lip as she does.
“Wait,” I say. I remove one hand from the wall and use my thumb to pull her bottom lip from between her teeth. “There’s gonna be a littlerecoil. I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
What the hell is wrong with me?
I’ve never wanted to see her actually hurt, but making your lip bleed because you bite down too hard would be funny. At least it would have been two weeks ago. Now concern settles in my chest. I want her to enjoy this. Because then she might want to do other things around the house and get it fixed up so it’s a good enough home for her. Regardless of what we’ve done to each other in the past, I’d never want her to be miserable. And I think this house is a contributing factor to making her life harder right now.
She nods lightly, her eyes dreamy and dazed. How quickly she goes from biting mad to sex eyes. God, I want to bite her lip for her. Fuck the wall, fuck the plywood, nail me instead. Let’s get this unsettling amount of sexual tension dissipated, and we can move the fuck on with our lives.
“Come on, princess,” I murmur.
“Right.” She shakes her head. Lines up the gun and pulls the trigger. The loud pop widens her green eyes as her eyebrows nearly hit the top of her hairline.
After a few seconds, she turns to me and grins, her face lighting up in a way I haven’t seen in years. I grin back, a warmth spreading through my chest that I helped her feel that way.
