by Bella Andre
“My place is a cabin,” she countered. “Yours is a lakefront mansion.”
“It didn’t start out that way. But I want my family to visit, so I need to make room for all of them.”
“You must have a pretty big family.” Up until now, she’d only thought of him as one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet. A big family that he loved was a whole other—far too sweet—addition to his appeal.
His smile brought the sunshine right in through the window. “One sister, Mom, Dad. Four foster brothers and all the family they bring with them.”
“You sound like you adore them.”
His shrug was carefree and boyish. “The Mavericks aren’t a bad bunch.”
“The Mavericks?”
“That’s what we called ourselves back in high school. Me and my foster brothers.”
“I like it.” She’d adored her friends too. But her family had moved so often that it was hard to keep in touch with everyone, and now it had become impossible to call any of them, because she could never return to her old life.
He nudged her arm with his elbow. “What about you? What about your family? How do they feel about you living all the way out here in”—he gestured to the holes in her floor and ceiling—“this?”
Her stomach took another nose dive, the way it did every time he asked one of his far too on-point questions. “I haven’t seen them for a while,” she said flatly. Drew and her father were lost to her.
“I’m sorry.” His gaze was kind, as though he truly felt her pain.
No matter how desperate she was for company, no matter how nice he seemed, talking about her family was a devastating reminder that she couldn’t trust her own instincts.
Standing abruptly, she said, “I should get back to work.”
He was forced to stand too, backing away as though he was reluctant to go. Although maybe that was just her projecting onto him, given that she hated the thought of his leaving. Not just because she didn’t want to be alone again—but because being with Daniel made her feel completely alive and energized. More than she’d ever felt in her life.
“Don’t fall off any more roofs,” he said. “You need someone here with you next time you head up there, and be sure to secure yourself too. I can help, if you’d like.”
“Thanks, but I finished tacking down the tarps just before I slipped.” She felt like an ungrateful wretch when he was being so nice, but if she didn’t let him go now, she was afraid she’d drag him back inside, ply him with coffee, and force him to talk to her for hours and hours. Instead, she’d have to make do with his videos. And, honestly, even those would be a sweet treat she didn’t deserve. Especially after meeting him…and liking him so much.
As the door closed behind him, she sank to the floor, leaning back against the wall of a house that felt emptier and quieter and colder than ever before. Because for a few minutes, when Daniel was there with her, it had felt like a real home.
* * *
Daniel was his mother’s son through and through—he couldn’t stop trying to aid lost souls. Through his company and with hammer in hand, he’d helped many single parents and youths-on-the-edge work through their issues and move toward a better future.
Tasha was clearly a lost soul. Why else would such a beautiful, obviously capable woman run away from her career to hide in the wilds of Tahoe in a run-down shack? What had caused the pain in her eyes that had materialized more than once during their conversation?
Barely an hour ago, Daniel had been wishing for a perfect woman. What he’d found instead was a prickly yet adorably talkative new neighbor.
One whose mysteries he couldn’t help but want to unravel, even if getting involved with a woman who obviously had big problems was the very last thing he should do.
Chapter Five
Tasha opted for indoor work the next day. She was afraid Daniel would come back if he saw her outside and got worried that she might climb up on her roof again. An even more likely possibility was that she’d go running down if she caught a glimpse of him. Her self-control was barely hanging by a thread after tossing and turning all night on her freezing-cold air bed.
Any way she tried to turn Daniel over in her head, she couldn’t make him into a bad guy. Everything about him screamed helpful and kind and generous.
Not to mention the fact that his bed, she was certain, would be cozy warm.
Especially with him in it.
“You cannot think about his bed,” she chastised herself in a loud voice. “Or him working shirtless and getting all sweaty and—”
She groaned. She was so bad at this. Bad at ignoring her need to talk to another person. And also bad at ignoring other needs she’d sworn had died forever the day she’d learned what a fraud Eric was. Fortunately, thinking about her ex worked like a charm to erase the super-sexy visions dancing in her head.
Determined to make good headway, she got to work replacing the rotten boards in the bedroom. For the first fifteen minutes, everything went swimmingly. All she needed to do was keep herself from thinking about Daniel and how sweet and helpful he’d been yesterday and how much she’d wanted to—
The drill bit snapped in two.
“I’m cursed.” All she’d done was think about Daniel and the bit had broken. It was karmic punishment, she was sure.
She grabbed her toolbox and rooted around for another bit, but she was clean out. Which meant a trip to the hardware store in town, thirty minutes away.
Or, the devil inside her head suggested wickedly, she could ask Daniel if he had a bit to spare.
She groaned, dropping her head in her hands.
“Everything going okay?”
She whipped around, almost tripping. The very man who was distracting her beyond reason stood in her roughly framed doorway. Arms crossed over his chest, he wore a lumberman’s flannel shirt rolled up to the elbows and faded jeans that hugged every muscle.
Before she could reply—she was too busy drooling for her brain to work properly—he noticed the broken drill bit.
“I’ve got some extra bits if you need one.”
“I do, actually.”
“Great. I came to see if you wanted to share some breakfast with me.” He grinned, and for the life of her, she couldn’t help grinning right back. “Fresh-baked doughnuts.”
In other circumstances, she would have forced herself to say no. But she really did need that drill bit. And with all the conflicting thoughts and emotions roiling around inside her after he’d left her yesterday, she hadn’t been able to face food either last night or this morning.
Still, she reminded herself as they walked the short distance down the mountain to his house, she needed to make it absolutely clear—to herself even more than to him—that she wouldn’t stay any longer than it took to grab the drill bit and stuff a doughnut in her mouth.
But as she walked into his house, all of her resolutions disappeared. “Wow. This is amazing.”
She wanted to stay forever.
The massive room stretched from the front door to wall-to-wall windows overlooking a huge deck and stone fire pit, with a view of sparkling water and snow-drenched mountains. The great room had a twelve-foot pitched ceiling with open beams that loomed above her and a magnificent stone fireplace dominating an angled wall built specifically for it. The interior rooms were divided by log walls, and through an archway cut in the logs, she could see the space for a dining room and kitchen.
Right now, it contained only a small fridge, plus a microwave and coffee machine on a cart big enough for a cutting board and a cabinet underneath. But she could see what his home would become—and it was breathtaking.
As breathtaking as its owner.
He showed her the guest bedrooms, plus a game room large enough for a pool table, then the master suite with a sitting area in front of the huge windows and another fireplace, which had a flue but no stonework yet.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw the bed—the very bed she’d daydreamed abou
t. Only, her daydreams had nothing on this masterpiece. It was a ginormous sleigh bed, its wood polished and gleaming in the light falling through the ceiling-high windows.
“What do you think?”
He had to be asking her if she liked the house, but when he was standing this close and smelling so good, it was nearly impossible to think about anything other than pulling back the wine-dark counterpane covering the thick mattress and dragging him down with her into the middle of all that softness.
“It’s great,” she said. The world’s biggest understatement.
With that, she hurried down the hall, away from the warm deliciousness of the way he made her feel. Away from the temptation to make another huge mistake.
Because she could, with him. The last thing anyone needed was to get involved with a train wreck like her—especially a man as high-profile as Daniel.
“It’s all so big,” she added as she made a wrong turn and ended up in the game room.
“I didn’t intend to make the house this large when I started out,” he said as he led her back to the stairs.
She took them on shaky legs. No man had ever made her feel like this, not even Eric, with whom she’d foolishly thought she was in love.
“But I needed to add an extra bedroom for my parents,” he continued, “then one for my sister. And all the Mavericks. And now I need more rooms because my friends have all made their own additions to the family with wives and girlfriends and kids and mothers-in-law.”
His smile, full of joy and love and pride, spoke of how much he cared. As much as she had once cared for her family. As much as she still did, even though she knew better.
The sadness hit so fast, her heart felt like it was tearing in two—one half for Drew, one half for her father. If things had been normal, she would have asked Daniel more about Noah and Matt and Jeremy and all the other Maverick family he’d mentioned while they toured the house. But nothing was normal anymore.
Nothing would ever be normal again.
Furiously working to blink back tears she didn’t dare let Daniel see—if she cried in front of him, he’d ask questions, and then she’d have to flat-out lie to him while fighting the urge to spill her guts—she pointed at the fireplace. “You could roast an elephant in there.” Thank God her voice didn’t wobble. “I love the way the river rock climbs all the way up the wall. Did you do all this yourself?” She held up her hands, turning in a circle to indicate the entire amazing house.
“My friends helped me put the roof and log frame in place, but everything was cut to order, so all we had to do was lay it out. The rest has pretty much been a one-man job that I work on when I need to get away from the office. I’m actually keeping everyone out except the guys until it’s done.” He said it like he was a kid building a fort out in the backyard who wouldn’t let his parents see till it was all done—rather than a billionaire who was building the world’s most beautiful waterfront mansion.
“But you’re letting me see it?”
“You have a good eye, Tasha.” He smiled at her again. “And I’m really glad we’re neighbors.”
The flattery she felt at his compliment dried up in an instant. If he knew what she’d been party to—the scams her family had pulled on unsuspecting people all over the country—he wouldn’t be glad that she was in the next house over. On the contrary, he’d probably pull strings to get her kicked out of the county.
Her heart thumping hard inside her chest, she said, “Thanks for showing me around, but I should probably just grab the drill bit and leave you to your work.”
“What about doughnuts and coffee?”
Her stomach growled at the offer of sugar and caffeine, giving her away, but she needed to remain firm. Resolute. She hadn’t come to the mountains to snare a sexy billionaire—she’d come to figure out how she could have made so many mistakes in both her personal and professional lives, and ensure she never made them again.
Besides, she could only imagine the way her father would try to take advantage of Daniel and his generous nature if he ever found out his daughter knew the billionaire.
The thought made her tremble with dread. “I really should get back to work. The holes in my floor aren’t going to close themselves.”
“If you need help, I can take a break,” he offered. “There’s no time limit on getting this place done since I’m not actually living here.”
She made herself back away. It was easier this time, with her gut burning a crater at the images of her father taking advantage of Daniel. “I’m fine, really. Perfectly comfortable. I’ve got everything I need.”
“Except a roof that doesn’t leak and an insulated subfloor and a decent meal.” Damn him for pointing out so many incontrovertible facts. “Why don’t you come for dinner tonight? I do a mean barbecue.”
She wanted to leap on him and shout, Yes, yes, yes! Instead, she said, “I can’t tonight,” even though they both knew she’d be shivering over her camp stove while picking at canned beans and soggy hot dogs.
He stared at her for a long moment. She held her breath. Would he insist, or would he let her run away to her ruin of a house?
Finally, he turned to fish through a huge rolling tool chest with multiple drawers containing screws, nuts, bolts, and nails. He came up with a bit that matched her broken one. “Here you go.”
Disappointment speared her that he’d let her off the hook so easily. Despite the fact that this was exactly what she needed him to be—just a friendly neighbor with an extra drill bit.
And nothing more.
* * *
Daniel stood in his open doorway watching Tasha trudge back up the hill, his drill bit shoved deep in her overalls pocket. He itched to run after her, help her—even just to feed her something more edible than beans and hot dogs. She was fiercely independent, which made her captivatingly different from the women he dated. At the same time, she harbored too many secrets, obviously shutting herself down whenever she thought she might be revealing too much.
Daniel’s idea of a perfect relationship was total openness, no questions necessary, complete trust—all the reasons his parents had such a great marriage.
And yet…he’d never felt so drawn to a woman. He wanted to know everything about Tasha, to plumb her depths. She was talented, intelligent, and industrious. Only someone completely special could have accomplished the things she had all on her own. Unconsciously attractive, she seemed unaware of her own loveliness. And he had to admit he was a sucker for a woman who knew her way around a tool chest and a hammer.
The guys would laugh him off the planet with that one, even though they would understand.
Daniel watched until she disappeared around the corner of her ramshackle cabin at the precise moment that his phone rang. He smiled when his mom’s name appeared on the screen.
“Hey, pretty lady.” He strolled through the house to the back deck, flopping down in a chair with his phone at his ear.
“Hi, honey. Tell me how you’re getting along on the cabin. Your father and I are dying to see your rustic retreat.”
He laughed, thinking of what Tasha had said. “Actually, it’s turning out to be a bit more than just a vacation cabin. But I’m still hoping to finish it by the end of the summer.” And thinking about Tasha made him realize how much he’d look forward to coming up here, oh, just about every weekend. “In fact, I see spending a lot of time here in my future.”
“Oh, you do?” He could picture his mom’s raised brow. “And, pray tell, is there a special reason for that?”
He’d never been coy with his mother. So even though he hadn’t quite made up his mind about his feelings for Tasha, he said, “I met a woman. She bought the cabin up the hill.” He crossed his booted feet and propped them on the railing, settling back.
“Ah, a new mountain neighbor. Smart and funny?”
“Gorgeous and talented too.” He told his mom all the things Tasha had done around her place. “And she loves my DIY videos.”
His mot
her laughed. “Goodness, you need to snap this paragon right up. She sounds perfect for you.”
He sobered. “That’s the problem.”
“That she’s a paragon?”
He closed his eyes, letting the sun warm him while he pictured Tasha’s smile—it would flash so brightly one moment, and then be gone the next. “Something just isn’t adding up. Why is she up here all alone trying to fix a cabin that should clearly be scrapped and rebuilt from the foundation up? Why did she leave a good job as a graphic designer to retrofit a dive?” He shrugged as if his mother could see him. “She doesn’t even have a cell phone, as far as I can tell.”
“Your father and I lived perfectly well without a cell phone for most of our lives,” his mother pointed out.
“It’s not about the cell phone,” he said. “I just get the feeling there’s more to her story. That there might be a whole bunch of messy stuff surrounding her and her life.”
“You know, honey, I’ve never heard you talk about a woman this much, messy or not.” His mother seemed hopeful that he would soon meet his match the way the other Mavericks had. “Maybe you should give it a little more time and pursue getting to know her better. You might find the mess isn’t as bad as you think.”
“In my experience, it’s usually a helluva lot worse. And you know that I’ve always steered clear of messy relationships.”
“I do know that, honey. But sometimes, waiting for perfection can be just a way of avoiding mistakes. If you never make a mistake, you never take the risk of finding exactly what you’re looking for. In fact,” she said in a slightly softer voice, “messes are usually a part of even the very best relationships.”
“Not for you and Dad,” he countered. “You’re the all-time-perfect love story.”
He waited for her to agree with him, but when she remained silent, he continued. “I like Tasha. And I won’t deny that I’m drawn to her. But I’m also not willing to settle for less than the perfect love that you and Dad have always shared with each other.”
Again, his mother remained conspicuously silent. Until finally she said, “Every relationship has its bumps, even if no one but the couple ever knows about them. And sometimes…”