by Holly Jaymes
“What’s with the wallpaper Samantha asked about?” I asked. “She’s not going to be changing our plans as we go, is she?”
That was always a source of contention during renovations. Despite our constant reminders about the budget, homeowners were always wanting to make changes and upgrades that cost more money than was allocated.
“She’s got a book she’s put together on what she’d like. I’ve let Darryl know,” Megan said, referring to one of our regular designers. “But there’s stuff in there that we’re not doing.”
I leaned forward, not liking this. “How much is going to need to be ordered?”
Megan shrugged. “She okayed the major stuff. I don’t know about the paper. We still don’t have a local decorator to help Darryl when he arrives.”
“I might know someone.” I thought of Diana, who’d I dated on and off in high school. She majored in art history, and she had her own antique shop and home decorating service. Just what I needed, to be surrounded by exes.
Fortunately, I knew I wouldn’t be distracted by Diana. Samantha, on the other hand, that was a whole different story. I was mad at her, so why did I want to kiss the ever-loving breath from her? To watch her work today filled me with pride and lust. She looked smokin’ hot in her jeans and tank top. Her arms were toned and strong, although I didn’t doubt she was sore after all the work she put in today. Oh, what I’d do to massage those muscles. Fuck! Stop thinking that, Gabe!
“Samantha did good today.” Steve echoed my thoughts. “She’s really into it. I think she’s going to enjoy the sledgehammer when we take down the kitchen.”
“She’s living there. Has she made plans for being without a kitchen?” I asked.
“I’ll check.” Steve made a note on his yellow pad, which was odd because that was a task Megan would normally do.
Megan smirked. “I think Steve has a little crush on Ms. Taylor.”
His cheeks tinged with pink. I saw red.
He gave a sheepish grin. “She’s a beautiful woman. And sexy. Jesus did you see her—”
“Do not hit on Sam.” Did my tone sound as menacing to them as it did to me?
Megan’s eyes widened in surprise, suggesting it did.
Steve’s hands went up in surrender. “I got the feeling you didn’t like her.”
Megan laughed. “You’re an idiot, Steve.”
Steve turned to her, his face contorted into confusion. “Why? Because I think she’s a beautiful woman?”
“To think Gabe doesn’t like her.”
“I don’t.” I ground out the words.
Megan’s head see-sawed side to side. “You don’t want to, but you do.” She leaned forward. “You’ve got history with her.”
Jesus. I didn’t need my staff knowing my business. “Can we get to the work at hand?”
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know the deets, but I bet anything they were once a thing. Am I right?” Megan asked me.
I gritted my teeth. “What matters is that we do this rehab on time.” I turned to Steve. “Without seducing the homeowner.” And then I looked at Megan. “Or antagonizing the builder.”
She sat back with her arms up in surrender, but the smirk on her face suggested she felt like she’d made her point.
“Now,” I continued, “anything come up today that might cause us a problem?”
“The electrician is suggesting a rewire, not just switching the fuse box for circuit.”
“The home was already rewired, wasn’t it?” I asked. “There are three-pronged outlets.” Most old homes had the old two-prong outlets. The fact that this one had the ones that were grounded suggested the electrical wiring had been updated except the fuse box.
Steve shook his head. “Some but not all. I’m not sure it was professionally done. There are a couple of double taps. With new appliances going in, I think he’s right in needing a total rewire.”
“What are we looking at? Fifteen thousand?”
Steve nodded his head. “Between fifteen and seventeen.”
I sat back and ran my fingers through my hair. “What will we need to cut from the budget?”
“Probably her baroque paper,” Megan said.
I knew she was joking, sort of.
“We had about that for furnishings and décor,” Steve said.
“And that’s based on finding bargains,” Megan added. “The house is big.”
I let out a breath. “We don’t need to furnish it all. She’s one person in a huge house. If we can do the rooms she’ll use the most, I think we’ll be okay. What do we need for the finished shots for the show? Living room, kitchen, bedroom, bath.”
“Library too.”
“Maybe Samantha has some extra money,” Megan said.
I shook my head. “She’s a teacher and already allocated what she could.” I looked at my team. “It’s not like we haven’t been here before.”
“Yeah, but it’s only the first day,” Megan said. “What other expenses are going to pop up?”
“Don’t jinx it.” Steve put his hands over his ears.
“You’re a nerd.” Megan lightly punched Steve.
“Anything else?” I was ready to take a break, have a beer and try to put Samantha out of my head for a night.
“We haven’t gotten a good look at the fireplaces,” Steve said.
I nodded. “I’m thinking Victorian cast iron inserts. But the chimney guy will need to let us know if the structure is sound and clean.”
Steven wrote down another note. “There are six fireplaces in that house. That’s gonna be over ten grand for inserts. I don’t remember allocating that.”
He was right. “We need to check for permits on that as well.”
“I’ll do that.” Megan made a note on her paper.
“I’ll talk to Samantha about prioritizing. Maybe we just do a couple of fireplaces.”
“Or one,” Steve murmured.
“Anything else?” I ignored his comment. It would be a shame to not restore the home to its previous glory, including fireplaces. If it was my home, I’d go for broke and fix everything top to bottom, every nook and cranny and all systems that made the house work. To do that would take double the budget we had. Triple if we really did it my way.
The two shook their heads.
“Good. Get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
They stood and exited my office while I turned to the paperwork on my desk. I left a message for Diana about decorating the house and then tried to figure out the fireplace situation. Deciding I needed another look at them, I headed over to Samantha’s home.
Before knocking on the door, I took a breath to shore up my resolve to not touch her. She broke my heart, I reminded myself. I knocked and then took a step back to wait.
Several minutes later, the door opened and my throat went dry. She stood in a pretty floral robe with her hair in a messy knot on her head. The image screamed for me to loosen the knot and run my fingers through her hair. To pull the loosely tied belt of her robe and run my hands over her soft skin. I was fucking doomed.
I cleared my throat. “I wanted another look at one of the fireplaces.”
“Yeah, sure.” She opened the door and stepped back. She was barefoot with pretty pink toenails.
“You should wear shoes or slippers. Rehabbing can leave nails and other shit on the floor.”
She looked down at her feet. “Yes, of course.” She motioned me to the living room and then headed upstairs. Good. I wouldn’t have to be distracted by her. Was that jasmine I smelled? Had she just taken a shower or bath? The image of Samantha wet and soapy finished the slow rise of my dick to full tilt. Christ, I should just go home.
Taking a deep breath and doing mental math to distract myself and cool off my dick, I headed to the living room.
I was prying off an ornate cover from the fireplace opening when I heard her enter the room. She knelt down next to me and her sweet scent wafted over me. I glanced at
her. She was now in jeans and a t-shirt. I was both relieved and disappointed that the robe was gone.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked.
I shook my head and turned back to the fireplace. “No. Just want a closer look at what we’re dealing with.” I got the cover off and was pleased to see that there hadn’t been any plaster or tile behind it. Of course, there was still a multitude of other potential problems, such as it probably wasn’t lined, there was likely debris, there could be cracks in the chimney. Chances were huge that it was a fire hazard. And there were six of them.
“How badly do you want to burn wood in these?” I asked, ducking inside and looking up to see the flue.
“I want the house as it was when it was built.”
Just what I was afraid of. I backed out, sitting on my knees next to her.
“Will that be a problem?” she asked.
“Everything is fixable…if you have the money.” I finally turned my head to look at her. I hadn’t realized how close she was to me. I could see the silver flecks in her brilliant blue eyes. The light dusting of freckles on her nose. Her pretty, soft pink lips that were currently forming an O, that made me think of all the times I made her come when I made love to her back when we were happy.
Her breath hitched, making me think she felt the zap of awareness too. I was surprised that she didn’t pull away. The longer I stared at her, the stronger the pull to taste her grew, until I was leaning toward her with every intention of kissing her. Bells sounded in my brain warning me to stop, but my body ignored them.
I lifted my gaze from her lips to her eyes, wondering if she was going to let me taste her. Her lids lowered to half-mast and hell if she wasn’t leaning toward me. This was wrong. This would be bad. She hurt me. But holy hell, I had to taste her.
I was so close to her lips now I could feel the warmth of her breath against my face. The slight minty scent that suggested she’d brushed her teeth. Had she been anticipating this?
Just as my lips were about to close the gap, my phone rang, jerking us both back to reality.
I swallowed hard, as did Samantha. I jumped up and pulled the phone from my pocket. I looked at the caller ID. Diana.
“I’ve got to take this. It’s about the house.”
Samantha stood, looking as dazed as I felt. “Yes, of course.”
“I’ll just head home.”
She nodded.
“I’ll see myself out.” I turned and headed out the door, tapping the answer button on my phone. I wasn’t sure what Diana was saying because my brain was a mass of wire firing and tripping in confusion. I shouldn’t kiss Samantha. I can’t kiss Samantha. But God, how badly I wanted to kiss Samantha.
I couldn’t get out the door fast enough and yet, I didn’t want to leave. Somehow I made it to the porch, answering the phone.
“Gabe.” I inhaled a deep breath, trying to fill my lungs with air not scented with Samantha.
“Hey Gabe, it’s Diana.”
I wasn’t in the mood for talking to Diana, but in truth, I wasn’t in the mood for talking to anyone. I just wanted to kiss Samantha. And after I kissed her, I’d probably want more. Ugh! “What’s up?”
“I got your call about decorating a house that you have a tight budget for.”
“That’s right.” I ran my fingers through my hair as I worked to switch gears in my brain.
“Listen, I’m in the area, can I stop by and look at the house and we can chat?”
I wasn’t going back in that house tonight no matter what. “Come by my place.” I gave her the address. “We can set another time to view the house. The owner is living in it.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
I made it to my porch, feeling only slightly steadier. It helped to have something else to focus on besides kissing Samantha.
True to her word, Diana showed up ten minutes later. I gave her a hug as it had been a while since I’d seen her, but there was no pull to hold her. No yearning to kiss her. Diana and I may have dated in high school, but any attraction that had once been there was now completely gone. If only that was the case with Samantha.
Book 1: Chapter 5 Samantha—Wine as a Remedy
Samantha
I stood like an idiot in my living room for who knew how long. I think Gabe was about to kiss me. And I was about to let him. I wasn’t just going to let him, I wanted him to. I longed for it until my chest hurt. What the hell? Kissing him was all sorts of wrong. Why did he still have a pull on me?
I supposed we were saved by the bell when his phone rang. As nice as kissing him might have been, it wouldn’t have changed anything. He’d still be the man who’d made and broke promises. I needed to keep reminding myself that as my hormones didn’t seem to care.
I heard a car door close out front and went to see who was visiting. Looking out the window, I saw a woman heading up Gabe’s front walk. As she got closer to the house, I saw it was Diana, his old flame from high school.
Figures, I scoffed. But then I remembered she owned an antique shop and did home décor. Had he hired her for my house? It seemed possible and yet, it was a little late in the evening to be working.
Why do I even care? Deciding I didn’t care what Gabe and Diana were doing, I made my way through the house, locking the doors and securing the windows. But I couldn’t get Gabe and his near-kiss out of my head. Or how it was quite possible he was giving my kiss to Diana, which made him the louse I knew he was.
Not wanting to drive myself nuts over it, I called my friend Angela and invited her over for wine.
“Oh my God, Sam, this house is amazing,” Angela said when she arrived fifteen minutes later. I’d bought it several months ago, but since it needed so much work, I hadn’t had anyone over yet.
“It needs work.”
“But the potential is all there.” Her eyes roamed over every little detail and facet of the home, making me pleased that she noticed just how much the home had to offer. “It’s big. You planning to fill it? Have some hunky ex in mind?”
I’d told her that Gabe’s show was doing the work, and while she knew what he’d done to me, she was a romantic at heart, believing in second chances and true love. But that was only in the fairytales I read to my students. I knew that reality was different. I knew that Gabe wasn’t the sort of man a woman could trust. After all, just a few minutes after nearly kissing me, he was holed up in his home with his ex-girlfriend.
“No. How come you weren’t surprised that Gabe’s show was here?” I handed her a glass of wine and then we headed to the back sunporch to enjoy the evening air. It was warm and humid still, yet comfortable with the ceiling fan blowing.
I sat in a chaise chair, stretching my legs out. The bath had soothed me, but I could still feel my muscles protesting the work I’d made them do that day.
“He’s from this area and I figured he’d want to be back for a time since his dad died.” Angela sat in the loveseat, curling her long legs under her.
“His dad died?” I hadn’t heard that. For a moment, I felt bad for being so cold to him. Gabe had broken my heart, but I knew how much his family meant to him.
“A few months back. It was unexpected. All his brothers are still around, but Gabe was close to his family so I guess he wanted to come home.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “He didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head. “Gabe and I don’t talk much.”
“Oh. Old hurts getting in the way?”
“I guess. I don’t know why he always seems like the injured party though. Mostly he bosses me around.”
“I imagine it’s weird having him here, even though it’s got to be nice scenery.” She waggled her brows. “I watch his show. He’s really…strong.”
I laughed. “That’s his one and only attribute.”
“To think it all started by his posting YouTube videos.” Her eyes brightened. “We should watch some. The old ones.”
I snorted.
“We could ma
ke fun of him. He was scrawny back then.” She was a friend after my own heart.
“That sounds like more fun than I should admit.”
“Come on. It’s just us. We can let our inner adolescent mean girls out.”
“Okay.” I went inside and found my laptop, and brought it out to the porch. I cued up Gabe’s YouTube channel looking for the oldest ones.
“Look how long his hair was then,” Angela said. “Is that a manbun?”
I laughed. “Yes. I think one of his brothers cut it off in the middle of the night.” I tried to remember the story Gabe had told me about his long hair.
“Those guys were always pranking each other.”
“What are they up to?” I asked.
Angela looked at me. “You two really don’t talk, do you?”
We almost kissed, I nearly said, but kept it to myself. “Just about house stuff.”
“But you live here. Surely you’ve kept up?”
I shook my head. “I’ve made it my business to stay out of Gabe and his family’s business.” It was a testament to how hurt I was when we ended. I wanted to rid my life of him. If only I could have deleted the memories too. The worst ones weren’t about discovering he was cheating. The worst ones were of the happy times because they represented the dream I’d once had that he’d taken away. Each time I remembered a good moment, I was reminded of all that I’d lost.
Had things been different, he and I might have owned this house and been renovating it together as a family. We’d be filling the bedrooms with children. My heart squeezed in my chest that he’d stolen that dream from me.
Angela shrugged as if it made sense that I wouldn’t want to keep tabs on him or his family. It did to me. Why would I want to know what the man who hurt me was up to? Or his family?
“Will is out of the F.B.I and has his own security firm. Nate has invented some medicine. I think his children and grandchildren will live nicely on the money from that patent. And Mitch sold his tech firm for a bajillion dollars and is living up in the Blue Ridge somewhere. Maybe you should go after one of them? They’re all rich and as good looking as Gabe.”
They were all good looking, but I didn’t agree that they were as much so as Gabe. That thought annoyed me because I didn’t want to think Gabe was the best-looking Sloane with the sexiest body and most delicious-looking lips.