A Touch of Heaven

by Samantha Chase

Interesting.

  That was covered by her pants the other day and now all Sawyer could think about was what else was Regan Amerson hiding? His mind raced with the possibilities of what else he might find the longer he stuck around and got to know her and the thoughts bordered on pure fantasy.

  Chasing them from his mind wasn’t easy but somehow Sawyer managed to get through dinner without embarrassing himself and before he knew it, Caroline was looking at him expectantly.

  “I am so excited to see what you came up with,” she said with a big smile. “Max says it’s some of your best work!”

  Sawyer glared at his father in an effort to convey to him to tone it down but Max was obviously engrossed in Caroline’s every word. Shaking his head with disbelief he looked at Caroline and said, “Well, if you’re ready I can grab my computer and we’ll tour the house and do a walk-through of what I have planned and you’ll be able to see on the screen how it’s all going to look.”

  “Oh, just like on the TV! I love it!”

  Regan rolled her eyes and it was at that moment that Sawyer looked over at her. “Open mind,” he reminded her as he rose and walked out of the room to get his stuff. Unable to even help herself, Regan watched him leave the room. It didn’t matter that she didn’t want to like him, the man was one perfect specimen and she couldn’t help but appreciate that fact.

  Sawyer strode back into the room and held up his full-sized tablet. “I was able to program all of your rooms in here and we’ll walk around the house and I’ll explain to you what I plan to do and then you’ll see what the finished product will look like on here.” When both Caroline and Regan nodded, he continued. “As you know, the main premise of the show is that we do minimal demolition; that means that we do our best to work with what you already have and either refresh it or replace it if need be. My plan for your home, Caroline, is to refresh most of what you have. You have some minor issues with some cabinetry that I believe can be replaced and there are a couple of windows that I’d like to do the same with, but other than that, we’re in good shape.”

  “So you won’t be knocking anything down?” Regan asked.

  Sawyer shook his head. “I don’t plan on it. All of the rooms are already good sized and I don’t see a reason to change that.”

  “What about if I wanted something changed?” Caroline asked.

  “Such as?”

  “Well, the fourth bedroom really is too small for anything; we always used it as an office but I was wondering if we could maybe convert it to make the master bathroom larger and maybe do one of those big walk-in closets?”

  Both Max and Sawyer nodded in agreement. “It’s not normally recommended to eliminate a bedroom because you tend to lose value on the home but nowadays it seems like everyone is looking for a master suite that really blows you away.”

  “Wait a minute,” Regan interrupted. “Why are we even discussing this?” When three pairs of eyes looked at her like she was crazy, Regan pointed at her mother. “Why are you adding something of that magnitude to this job? I mean, we agreed to a basic makeover and now you’re knocking down walls and making bathrooms bigger…why bother?”

  “Well…” Caroline began but Sawyer interrupted her.

  “Well, if I can add my two cents…while I agree that it is adding to the basic plan, doing a deluxe master suite will add value to the house and therefore, when you sell, you’ll be able to list it for a higher price.”

  Regan wanted to smack him. Everything he said made sense but he just didn’t seem to get the fact that she didn’t care about list pricing or making this house wonderful for somebody else. She wanted someone to love it as it was; she wanted to be able to walk away when the sale was final and have her final memories of the house be of what it was like to grow up there. If everything changed it would somehow ruin that for her.

  “We can come back to this,” Sawyer said gently. “Let’s walk around and I’ll explain the rest of the plans I’ve come up with.”

  ****

  An hour later Caroline was putting on a pot of coffee and Regan was sulking. How was it possible? How was it that Sawyer had seen into her head and designed the house the way that she had always envisioned it to be? Not now, of course, but over the years when selling the house wasn’t even a thought in her mind, Regan had always dreamed about how she would remodel the house someday and now, dammit, Sawyer Bennett was doing it.

  And doing it to her every specification.

  Dammit.

  She looked up and caught him watching her and she knew, she just knew, that he was aware that she liked what he had presented.

  Dammit.

  They continued to stare at one another while Caroline and Max talked endlessly about the plans and how wonderful it was all going to be. Regan wished her mother wouldn’t gush quite so much; for all she knew the work could come out terrible and they’d realize that they’d made a terrible mistake.

  And she could sprout wings and fly home.

  “So when does all of this work begin?” Regan said tiredly. There was no use arguing; this was going to happen and no matter how much she kicked and screamed and pouted it wasn’t going to change anything. Her childhood home was no longer going to be hers and so instead of being so blatantly opposed to it, she’d keep it to herself and hope that the whole thing would be quick and painless.

  Caroline sat down next to her daughter and squeezed her hand and smiled. She mouthed ‘thank you’ and then looked expectantly at the Bennetts to hear what their timeline was.

  “We have the basic plans down and we’ve got a team of contractors in place and basically if we don’t have any issues with permits we’ll be able to start the work on Monday,” Max replied.

  “Monday?” Regan croaked. “That’s…that’s soon.”

  Sawyer nodded sympathetically at her. He knew that Regan was struggling with this and he wasn’t completely heartless. The network was gunning for the family drama angle but Sawyer hoped to distract them with what he had planned for the house so that Regan would not have to deal with more than she already was. “The total renovation time should be about four weeks.”

  He held his breath while waiting to see if Regan had any reaction to that news. Not wanting him here was obvious; not wanting him here for four weeks was sure to make things worse. Sawyer knew that he had to come up with a way for her to be a little less annoyed by him and a whole lot more drawn to him. Unfortunately, his mere presence here in her mother’s home represented everything that she didn’t want and that was going to be a major obstacle for him to overcome.

  Good thing he never walked away from a challenge.

  Chapter Four

  The dreaded Monday arrived faster than Regan would have thought possible. For the most part she had stayed out of the negotiations but because her name was on the deed to the house, she was required to meet with the producers and to sign the required paperwork.

  Devin Matthews was like a dog with a bone where the conflict between Caroline and Regan was concerned. No matter how Sawyer had tried to distract him with new design ideas, Devin kept going back to the mother/daughter angle. When Regan threatened to refuse to sign the paperwork, he had backed down but Sawyer knew he was going to have to step in to make sure that his show didn’t turn into a soap opera.

  Sawyer and the crew arrived at seven a.m. on Monday morning and Caroline greeted them all in her best work clothes with a great big smile and what seemed like an endless supply of coffee and donuts. Introductions were made and soon Sawyer was laying out the plan for all that he wanted to accomplish on the first day. Regan was there under protest but it had been explained to her that there were going to be times when she was going to be needed for the segment and the first day of renovations was a key segment.

  The scowl on her face told Sawyer how much she was against being there.

  Once everyone had their tasks assigned and cameras were set up, Sawyer’s introduction was filmed. He introduced Caroline and Regan and what the plan was for their
home. “Cut!” Devin yelled.

  “What’s the problem?” Sawyer asked.

  “We discussed this; I want you to introduce the project but I want you to refer to the fact that mother and daughter are not in agreement on this job.”

  With a low growl of frustration, Sawyer stepped away from the Amersons and pulled Devin aside. “Look, I told you that I am not interested in turning this into a damn family drama. If you want to play up that angle, you can find a way to do that during the editing with the voice overs. I’m not doing it.”

  Devin glared at him. “I don’t see what the big deal is, Sawyer. It’s not like I’m asking anyone to play make-believe here; the daughter is clearly ticked off about this.” He glanced over at Regan and smirked. “She’s sexy as hell but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s going to be the villain here.”

  Sawyer could not even begin to understand where the protective instinct came from where Regan was concerned but before he knew it he had Devin by the collar. “There are no villains here, Dev. If you try and turn this into some kind of freak show, I’ll walk.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Watch me,” Sawyer snarled and released him. The two men stared one another down and Sawyer realized that they had the attention of most of the crew. “Either we stick to the formula or this is done.” A tense moment followed before Devin finally said, “Fine.” Sawyer wasn’t foolish enough to think that this was the end of it but at least for now they could start filming and get started with the renovation.

  He led Regan and Caroline into the kitchen where they were going to begin. “Okay, ladies,” he began, “most of the cabinets in here are in great shape. We’re going to take down the doors and paint them and install new hardware and then we’re going to bring in new appliances. This center island, however, does have some issues so we’re going to take it out.” They were each handed a large mallet and safety goggles. “Since this is your home,” he said with a big grin, “it’s only fitting that you get to take the first swing to get this demo going. So when I count to three, I want each of you to take a turn at knocking this island down and then we’ll bring the crew in to take over. Ready? One…two…three!”

  Caroline took the first swing and knocked off a big chunk of countertop; Regan went next and managed to take down a corner of the cabinet itself. They each took a few more swings until the island was gone. Sawyer congratulated them both and then invited the crew in to take over before ending the segment.

  “Great job, ladies!” he said to them both. “We’re off to a good start and with the island out of the way, we’ll have more room to work in here.” He started to tell them what was going to happen next when Regan turned and handed her mallet and goggles to one of the crew and whispered an apology before fleeing the room. Caroline started to go after her but Sawyer stopped her. “Let me,” he said softly and went out after her.

  It didn’t take long to locate Regan in the far corner of the yard. The landscaping was full of beautiful flowers and mature trees and his heart nearly broke when he found her back there crying with her arms wrapped around her middle. Walking up quietly behind her, he gently put his hands on her shoulders before turning her into his embrace. “What’s going on?” he whispered.

  It took a moment for Regan to compose herself. When she pulled back and looked up at Sawyer’s face she saw genuine concern there and that just angered her all the more. “You don’t get it, do you? To you, that was just a kick start to a demo, but to me, that was years of homework and heart to heart conversations. That was the place where I would sit and talk on the phone before my father allowed me to have a phone in my room. We prepared meals there; I learned how to cook there and with a couple of swings of a hammer, it’s gone!” She pulled free of his embrace. “So I hope that you’re satisfied; I hope this earns you ratings but believe me when I say that I will never support this idea nor will I watch your show again. If this is what it takes for you to get your ratings then I want no part of it.”

  Regan turned to walk away but Sawyer reached out and pulled her back. “Believe it or not, this is not how I get ratings. Do you think that I want to do this job knowing how much this is hurting you?”

  “You don’t know anything about me,” she hissed. “I’m nobody to you; this is just a job and you’re just jumping through the network’s hoops and doing what you’re told.”

  Now he was pissed. “Now just a minute,” he snapped. “You’re right; I don’t know you but I was hoping to change that. If you had any idea of what I’ve had to go through over this project you’d be seriously surprised. They wanted to turn this into a family drama between you and your mother and I’m doing my best to not let that happen! Now I’ve been patient with you and I’ve tried to be accommodating but I’m not going to stand here and be insulted on top of everything else, dammit!”

  Unable to resist, Sawyer reached up and cupped her face in both of his hands. “I’m sorry that this is all so upsetting for you. I’m sorry that you have to sell your home but I am not sorry that I’m here or that I’ve met you.” He looked deeply into her eyes and saw the exact moment of surprise when she caught his meaning. “I’m not the bad guy here, Regan,” he said softly. “If you could look beyond all of this and take a little time to get to know me, I think you’ll see that for yourself.”

  Then, because he had nothing else to lose, he lowered his head and brushed his lips with hers. His first instinct was to take and devour, so long it seemed had he been thinking about this moment, but once he felt her soft lips under his and heard her quick intake of breath, he decided on slow and seductive. He sipped from her, giving her time to either accept or to push him away. When Regan leaned into him and lifted her arms to loop them around his neck, Sawyer was lost. No longer was he the one in control; Regan nipped at his bottom lip and tentatively touched her tongue to his. Sawyer’s hand glided up into her glorious mane of hair as he anchored Regan to him. Over and over his mouth slanted over hers until he almost couldn’t breathe.

  With a growl of frustration he finally lifted his mouth from hers and rested his forehead against hers. Sawyer tried to think of something to say, anything that wouldn’t break the spell and ruin the moment. Just when he was about to ask if she was okay, Regan’s hand snaked up into his hair and pulled his mouth back to hers for another searing kiss. It was madness; complete and utter madness as they continued to pull one another closer until all Sawyer could think about was pulling her behind one of the large oak trees and having her right then and there.

  This time it was Regan who pulled back. Her breathing was ragged as she slowly pulled her arms from around him and took a shaky step back. “Wow,” she whispered. “What was that?”

  Sawyer chuckled. “If you have to ask then maybe I should try it again.” He took a step toward her but Regan held a hand out to stop him.

  “No, no…I know what that was it’s just that…I wasn’t expecting it.” Regan had never had such an instant and spontaneous attraction to a man before and certainly had never experienced such an out of control need for one like she seemingly had with Sawyer. “I don’t know what came over me,” she said shyly. “I’m upset over the house, of course, and…”

  Sawyer didn’t let her finish. “This wasn’t about the house, dammit! I kissed you because I wanted to; because I’m attracted to you. And if you’re honest with yourself you’ll admit that you kissed me back because you’re just as attracted to me.”

  Regan crossed her arms across her chest and stared at him in disbelief. “Geez, conceited much?”

  “That had nothing to do with conceit, Regan, and you know it. We’re both adults and I don’t see anything wrong in admitting that there’s an attraction here. I want to get to know you better, to spend time with you.” He waited to see if she would say anything, but she didn’t. “This isn’t about the show.” Carefully he reached out and took one of her hands in his. “We won’t even talk about the house or the show, I just would like the opportunity to spend
some time with you.”

  Regan eyed him warily. She couldn’t deny the attraction; on that he was one hundred percent spot on. But she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to separate Sawyer Bennett the man from Sawyer Bennett the man who was ripping apart her home. Which is exactly what she told him.

  “Will you at least give me a chance?” he asked solemnly.

  “Today is probably not the best day to be asking me this,” she admitted. “This is all too much for me today, Sawyer. I can’t change what just happened between us and I’m not sure that I’d want to but I can’t think beyond this. I need a little time.”

  Sawyer gently tugged her closer and was relieved when she didn’t pull back when he kissed her again. “I can spare a little time,” he said when he reluctantly pulled away and smiled at her. “Just not a whole lot of it.”

  Regan returned his smile and luckily didn’t catch the fact that the camera had been rolling off in the distance.

  ****

  A week later Regan was furious. Her mother was out of control with the house and hadn’t spent more than a handful of hours at the spa. “This wasn’t supposed to be a hands-on project,” she reminded Caroline during one of her rare stops at work. “The show is about the work that the crew does, not the homeowner. Why are you spending so much time there?”

  “I’m fascinated by the whole process! It’s amazing how much they get done in a day and Max has let me have a little bit of a say in choosing some of the finishes and I think I’m going to head to High Point with him tomorrow to look at some options for the master bathroom.”

  “Sawyer had all of that designed,” she patiently reminded her mother. “You signed off on all of his designs. There is no reason to go to High Point or anywhere else for that matter because it’s all a done deal. You jumping in and changing things is just going to drag this job out. Now in case you’ve forgotten, we have a business to run here; you have customers who you have pawned off on other people all week. Can you please reel it in a bit and give us a hand?”