by Jill Sanders
Marcus ordered her a very large, very delicious piece of key lime pie after he found out that she’d already eaten. She had to admit, it was the best time she’d had in a long while.
*******
It was killing Marcus to watch her. He’d seen both Roman and Cole eyeing Shelly as she nibbled—a little too seductively—on that pie. He was just thankful they were sitting in a large booth, or he would have been tempted to go over there and knock his brother’s heads together for staring at her so.
Then again, he too found it hard to concentrate on the conversation.
He wanted to taste those lips of hers again but had to settle for reaching under the table and holding her hand instead. He half-heartedly listened to his family talk about good old times and chuckled at some of the stories. He joined in the story telling, making sure to add some of his siblings’ most embarrassing moments into the mix. But his mind kept wandering back to getting Shelly alone.
Finally, Cole stood up and excused himself and his latest catch, claiming their flight left early and they had to get some rest. Marcus knew that his brother had more than sleep on his mind.
Shortly after, Cassey and Luke disappeared as well, but he knew that his sister wouldn’t call it quits for the night, either.
He squeezed Shelly’s hand and whispered close to her ear, “What do you say to a walk on the beach?”
She smiled and nodded and he felt his heart skip just thinking about being alone with her again.
They excused themselves and he took her hand as they stepped outside. The evening air was a little chilly, but at least the wind that had caused havoc earlier that day at a job site had died down. He smiled when he saw that she’d worn a light jacket.
“You’re learning.” He nodded.
She smiled. “It was downright cold earlier today.”
“Yeah, we get a handful of days like that during the winter. Still, I’d take them over five feet of snow any day.”
She laughed. “I don’t know, there’s something nice about a fresh layer of powder.” She moved closer to him and rested her arm through his as they walked. “Being stuck in the house, watching it fall at night.” She sighed. They stopped to remove their shoes at the bottom of the boardwalk steps and walked out onto the still-warm sand. “Then again, I don’t think any amount of snow could be better than warm, soft sand on your feet.”
He chuckled. “Living on the best beach on the Gulf does have its perks. Are you ready for the work to start next week?”
“Boy, am I!” She laughed. “I went over some changes with your brother over the phone. Did he mention them?” She glanced at him. Since the sun had gone down almost two hours earlier, the beach was fairly dark. But he could still see her face clearly enough from the lights on the boardwalk.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “He mentioned you wanted a bigger area in the back.”
She nodded and looked embarrassed. “I wanted some room to work on my own designs.”
“Designs? As in clothing?” He stopped and looked at her.
She nodded. “I took a few classes.” She laughed. “Actually, more than a few. Most of them my parents didn’t know about. If they knew…” She sighed and looked off towards the water.
“I bet you’re great at it.” He took her hand in his and started walking again.
She smiled again. “Roman emailed me the changes and I really liked them.”
He nodded. “What did you think of my family?”
She laughed again. “They’re wonderful. I can’t believe how funny you all are together.”
“Yeah, growing up we never really had any dull moments.” He smiled and tugged on her hand until she stopped. “They liked you.” He brushed a long strand of her hair away from her face. Since it was soft and smelled so good, he kept his fingers tangled in the light tresses.
“How can you tell?” she asked softly.
“I have my ways.” He stepped closer to her and felt her warmth next to him. “I’m in complete agreement with them.”
“Oh?” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, which pushed her chest up against his nicely. He nodded, feeling his mouth go dry.
The kiss was soft and sweet, which left him shaking even more.
“I like you as well.” He heard a “but” before she even said it. “But”—she pushed back just a little—“I’m not sure if I’m ready to explore anything more than this. At the moment.” She looked down at their joined hands.
He released the breath he’d been holding and smiled down at her. “This… is good.” When her eyes moved up to his, he saw confusion.
“I mean…”
He chuckled, stopping her. “I know what you meant.” He pulled her close again. “I don’t mind taking this slow.”
Almost an hour later, after he’d walked her back to her place, he strolled into his apartment to find Cole getting yelled at by his girl. He stopped in the doorway, wishing he’d heard the fight before he’d opened the door. Backing out was no longer an option. His brother silently pleaded with him not to leave from across the room.
It was just past one o’clock when he finally got to settle down for the night, which sucked because he had to be on a job before sunrise the next morning. Not to mention that he was supposed to drop his brother off at the airport as well. And now that it was clear that his brother was going to Africa alone, he wasn’t looking forward to the mood Cole was going to be in during the short drive either.
Chapter Eight
Marcus usually loved his work, but he just couldn’t concentrate on it for the next few days. He kept thinking about Shelly’s project and itched to get his hands on her apartment. The store was going to be a challenge for him as well, but there was just something about turning a big open space into a place she would live in and enjoy.
He’d called Susan Robinson—the best Realtor around—and asked her to keep an eye out for a place for him. She was an old high school flame, but now she had a house full of kids and a lawyer husband.
Susan had quickly printed him out a list of places that matched his requirements.
He didn’t tell his brother about the listings. He went through the list on his own, one house at a time.
He found a few that he put on his “maybe” list, but so far, nothing had jumped out at him.
When the weekend came along, he knocked out every house on the list. He thought he’d found the one. He tried like crazy to stay away from Shelly since he knew she wanted to take their relationship slowly. He really didn’t mind. He thought of women like he thought of a really good remodeling project—when a project was worth working on, it didn’t matter to him how long it took to complete. What he enjoyed was building it up, working on each little project, and finally getting the rewards at the end.
He’d had a few relationships that had been worth the effort over the years. None of them had lasted long, but all of them had been worth the wait. He knew Shelly would be worth it and actually enjoyed taking his time with her.
From the hints he’d gotten from her, she wasn’t too keen on her family. He knew what it was like to have an unstable family life. Hell, he’d lived it for years with his real mother.
He couldn’t imagine what life would have been like without the Graytons. Not everyone was lucky enough to have as much love as they’d gotten in that old house.
It was early Sunday morning and he had a list of open houses Susan wanted him to go to. Even though he’d driven by most of the homes on her list already, he’d yet to see the inside of a few of them and she thought it would make a difference.
For some reason, he found himself heading down to Shelly’s place beforehand. He stood at the bottom of her steps for ten minutes, trying to figure out what he was doing there.
When he felt a light tap on his shoulder, he spun around to see her standing there, laughing at him.
“Well, were you just going to stand here all day, frowning at your feet?” She smiled up at him.
“Hmmm?” He shook his
head a few times. “What?”
She laughed again. “You’ve been standing here for a while. I noticed you when I came out of the Lunch Box,” She motioned down the walkway to where the diner sat. “I thought maybe you were going to go up, but you just kept looking at your feet.”
He frowned. Had he been? Why hadn’t he gone up the stairs yet? He knew the reason, but didn’t want to tell her. His cheeks must have turned a little red, because her smile faltered.
“Is something wrong?”
When he shook his head no, she continued to look at him.
“I…” He blinked a few times. “I’m heading out to look at some places. You know, to remodel. I was wondering…” He dropped off, feeling like a fool.
“Oh, you’re going to buy a home and rebuild it?” The look on her face helped ease his mind a little. He had worried she would find it dull and boring, which would have put him off a little in their relationship.
He felt like a fool for not telling her the house was for him, not to fix up and make a profit from.
“I’d love to go with you, if you’re asking.” She smiled again and he almost forgot to breathe. The sunlight was catching the highlights in her hair, making it glow. He wanted to reach out and touch the softness, but stuck his hands in his pocket instead. Best not to go too fast.
“Great. Good.” He cleared his throat and started to turn around.
“Have you had breakfast?” she asked as she caught up with him.
He nodded. “I just had some of the best cinnamon rolls.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I try to only have Lunch Box’s cinnamon rolls once a year.” He smiled. “They’re the best, but if I didn’t pace myself, I’d eat them every day and end up fat and slow.”
She reached over and took his hand, almost causing his steps to falter.
“I know what you mean.” She sighed. “I’m already dreaming of another, and I just finished eating two of them.” She laughed holding onto her stomach. A few extra pounds on her wouldn’t be such a bad thing, he thought. It wasn’t as if she was skinny skinny, but he’d gotten his hands around her and knew that she could handle a little more.
He liked women in all shapes and sizes, as long as they were soft and made him laugh. He smiled at her as he opened his car door for her.
When he got in beside her, she turned to him. “So, where are we off to first?”
He handed her a list of homes. “Pick one. The highlighted ones have open houses today.”
“Oh.” She sounded excited. “I’ve always wanted to go to an open house.” She looked over the list. “There’s one just a few blocks from here; let’s start with that one.”
He knew the place she was talking about. “Yeah, this is one of the ones on my second list,” he said as he pulled out of his parking spot.
“Second list?” She clicked her seat belt into place.
“I drove by all of them this week. The ones with an X next to them are off the list. One’s with a check are on my second list, meaning I’d like to see the inside before I narrow the field down.”
She glanced at the list again.
“You have twelve homes on your second list.” She smiled over at him.
“Wow, that many?” He shook his head. “I thought I’d narrowed it down more.”
“Well, nine of them have open houses today,” she said after looking at his list again. “Maybe I can help you narrow them down further.”
He nodded. “I’d appreciate the help.”
She set the list down between them. “So, what are you looking for?”
He thought about it. At one point, he’d known exactly what he wanted in a house. But so much had changed in the years since he’d initially built the list in his mind. “It has to have at least four bedrooms and three baths.”
“Beach front, bay front, or don’t you care?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t care, as long as it has a good-sized yard. I don’t like places that sit right on top of one another.” He frowned. “Most of those places I already crossed off the list.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Garage?”
He nodded. “I have a lot of tools and need the storage. I think I handled that in the first round, too.” He thought about what else he’d want in a place. “I prefer a fixer-upper. Something I could put my own touches into. Course, I don’t want to have to demolish the place and start from scratch.”
She nodded again as they stopped in front of the first house.
“Oh, this is lovely.” She undid her seat belt and leaned forward. “It’s right off the main road, though. During tourist season, you might hear a lot of traffic.”
He hadn’t thought about that and mentally started to scratch it off the list.
“But let’s go inside. Maybe the inside will charm you further.” She smiled over at him and he realized he didn’t care if he wasted time on a house he wasn’t going to buy, since she was there.
The place was a bust. He knew it the second he walked in and saw that it had been recently renovated. He was happy when Shelly quickly walked through the place.
As they drove away, she put an X by the listing. “I can’t believe they wanted that much for that place.” She frowned. “Are any of these listings in your price range?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I had a friend print these up for me. They’re all at least four bedrooms, three bath, with a garage and in my price range. That place would have maxed out my budget and now I know why.” He shook his head. “Some people should never do home projects themselves.”
She laughed. “I’m so happy you said that. Did you see what color they painted the walls?” She gasped and leaned back. “I’m going to be seeing that color of green all day now.”
He chuckled and nodded. “Where’s the next one?”
She rattled off an address on Sugar Sand Lane and he turned the truck in that direction. This was one of the places he really liked. It was on a side road that was a dead end, so the chances of having a lot of traffic were slim. There wasn’t any direct beach access, but the place was on a small hill so it overlooked the water just the same.
When they parked in front, she leaned forward and sighed.
“It’s gorgeous.”
He nodded. “My thoughts as well. Hopefully the inside isn’t too bad. If I remember correctly, the price was a little low.” He frowned and looked at the listing. “Yeah, real low for this area.”
“Well, let’s go find out why.” She smiled and jumped down from his truck..
When they walked into the place, Marcus knew he’d found what he’d been looking for. The place needed a lot of work. Its structure was good, but everything from the flooring to the gaudy ceiling fans needed to be replaced.
“Hmmm,” she said as they walked into the master bathroom. “Maybe you could yank everything out and put in a nice Jacuzzi tub, shower combo over there.”
He smiled. “My thoughts exactly.”
As they went room to room, she voiced her opinions and he found it very exciting that they matched with his own thoughts.
When they walked out onto the back deck, they both sighed. “This makes the place worth all the work.” She leaned on the post and sighed again. “I mean, can you imagine sitting out here every evening and having a cold beer, watching the sun set?”
He must have been quiet too long because she glanced over at him and frowned. “What?” she asked, turning towards him.
He shook his head. “It’s like you’re reading my mind.” He smiled.
“Well, now we know why the price is low. There’s a lot to do, but I think it could be great.”
He nodded again.
“The question is, is it too much for you?”
He stepped closer to her. “You keep asking me that. Nothing is too much for me.” He dipped his head and kissed her lightly. “Thanks for coming with me.”
She pulled back a little. “Don’t you want to look at the other houses?”
He shook his head no. “I know when
I’ve spotted something I want.” He smiled at her. “Even if it means waiting and working a little harder for it.”
He watched realization cross her eyes, then her cheeks flooded with heat. When she smiled a little, he knew he’d been right about her. She was going to be worth the wait.
*******
Shelly sat in the truck in silence. She couldn’t get over how sure he was. Not only about the property, but about her.
She really did enjoy spending time with him. But she didn’t like rushing into relationships. Especially since she’d known him for such a short time. But he’d made it very clear that he was willing to wait, to work on the relationship.
She shook her head and looked out the window. Relationship. That was a word she usually cringed at. Relationships hadn’t necessarily worked out for her in the past.
She really did like looking at the homes with him. It was hard not to dream about someday buying her own home. But when it came to having her own family, that’s where she usually stopped dreaming.
Ever since she was a little girl, she’d always known she didn’t want children. Not that she didn’t like them, but she didn’t want to chance becoming a parent like she’d had growing up. Or for that matter, any that she had known in her childhood.
Even her nanna had told her that she’d been a terrible mother to her own child. Shelly’s mother had been an only child and her nanna had told her that was because she’d realized shortly after her daughter had been born that she wasn’t cut out to be a mother.
“Well, since we have the rest of the day off, how would you like to swing by my folks’ place? I’m supposed to drop some stuff off to my old man.” He nodded to a large box that sat in the bed of his truck. “I’ve been driving that thing around for almost a week now.”
“Do they live far?” she asked.
“The other side of the bay. It’s about a twenty minute drive.”
She nodded. “I’ve got nothing better to do until your crew arrives on Tuesday.” She smiled thinking that a drive would be nice. She hadn’t really had a chance to see much of the area yet. She’d been planning to go exploring this weekend, but had gotten caught up in planning out her business.