Page 71 of Hearts on the Mend

Nolan only winks at me from his bedroom doorway. The big, grumpy flirt.

Chapter 23

Nolan

Cassie is like staring into the sun. Her brightness lingers, even when you close your eyes.

But right now, as I’m trying to line up the level to hang a shelf, she’s a menace.

“Hang it up already.” She blows out a frustrated breath, and her bangs fan out above her eyes.

It’s been a week since the nor’easter. The storm stretched on for three days, dumping about three feet of snow on Merritt Point. It took a while to dig out. Felt like it took longer for Ruby to wrestle into all her gear to head outside. I cleared a path and made a sledding hill. They both talked me into taking the sled for a spin. Can’t remember the last time I did that.

And since then, Cassie and I have been doing what we do best—dancing around the fact that we might both be a little in over our heads at this point. We steal away for kisses while Ruby’s home, and I snuck up to her room to spend the night in her bed two nights ago. And yesterday, while Ruby was at school, I fucked her on the kitchen table.

I’m consumed by her. All of the damn time. And I can’t stop, because it seems even if I close my eyes, she’s there.

“Nothing in this house is level,” I grumble, perched on the ladder.

She balances the giant picture frame on her knee, waiting for me to place the nail. “You won’t be level if you don’t hurry up.”

I chuckle, grinning down at her. “I like you grumpy.”

She sticks out her tongue before setting down the frame. “We have so much to do, and I won’t be around to help tomorrow.”

“I’ve managed to do a lot by myself.”

“I know… I just want this…” She gestures with her hands. God, she’s wearing these brown corduroy overalls today, and she looks so fucking beautiful my chest aches. “It needs to be over. I need everything wrapped up so we can list it come April.”

I stuff the head of the nail between my lips, marking off the wall.

Right. That.

Since that night in my bed, Cassie loves to remind me I’m leaving. Never directly. It’s more that she’s in a rush to sell so she can find a place to land. I wish she’d open her eyes. She’s already found one. We’re literally building it. She’s making friends, enjoys her co-workers at the hospital, and Ruby is doing great at school.

It’s like she’s not giving herself the option. I’m leaving, so she can’t have this.

She storms off as I lean over, measuring again with the level. The ceiling trim is two inches shorter on this end of the room. When Cassie returns, she stands behind me, then pulls a nail out of my tool belt, and bashes the nailhead into the wall with a…

A hairbrush?

“What are you doing?”

She hangs the picture over the nail, then stands back, closing one eye. “There. All set. What else do we need to do?”

I jump down from the ladder and stalk toward her, irritation fading to lust. I pinch her chin between my fingers and drag her mouth to mine. “Me?” I joke.

She playfully shoves me away. “We don’t have time for you to become flirtatious, Nolan.”

“First of all—become? I have all the time in the world.”

“It’s going to be March soon, and you have no idea how quickly it’ll go by. And then before we know, it’ll be April, and you’ll be…”

“It’s only the start of February. Besides, I have to be medically cleared first by my team in Boston.”

She lifts her chin, closing herself off to me. It’s remarkable how quickly she can do it. It’s like a shade falls over her eyes, and the usual kindness there switches cold.

“Listen, we can’t keep doing this for the next six weeks. I don’t like it.”