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I chuckle at her ignorance. “Have you done no exploring yet?”
She scowls again. “I mean, I’ve looked around the property, yeah. What else is there?”
I crook a finger at her and take her to the edge of the rug. Keeping my eyes on her, I lift the edge of the rug and feel another bout of satisfaction as she gasps.
“Is that blood?” she whispers. “Holy shit, that’s a lot of it.”
I drop the rug back down and stand fully upright. When I started, Derek had me pull the rug out of storage to cover it up. He said he didn’t want to stare at the reminder.
We’re mere inches from each other, enough so that I can feel her body heat. My cock twitches again, but I press on so that she doesn’t know just how much she’s affecting me. It’s been a long-ass time since I’ve had a woman beneath me.
“The FBI came to investigate once the blood was found, not long after his stepbrother reported him missing. They broke in through the window” – I point to the broken window covered by a plastic trash bag – “just to get inside since the brothers didn’t have a key at the time. Found the blood, and not long after, they declared him dead instead of missing. Too much blood.”
She raises her wide gaze to mine. “Are you telling me I live in a house where someone died?”
I smirk down at her. “Still want to live here, sweetheart?”
Her thoughts practically run through her flittingexpressions, but eventually, she settles on determination. She squares her shoulders. “Yes. I’ve been around death before. This is nothing new to me.”
My smile fades, and I head around the couch, pick up the hammer, and approach a wall. As I pluck a nail from the surface, I say, “Suit yourself.”
“I really should have smashed the hammer against your family jewels,” she growls at my back.
“Then you’d have to nurse me back to health.” I look at her over my shoulder. “Ex-cons don’t get great health insurance.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, and I turn back to the wall for the next nail. “What were you in for anyway?”
“Does it matter?” I grunt.
“Shoplifting?” I don’t answer. “Joy riding?” Again, I don’t answer. “Murder?”
I toss the nails onto the floor, grab the hem of my shirt, and lift it over my head. I drop my shirt to the floor and listen with a grin on my face as she falls silent. “Nothing to say now?”
“Why did you take off your shirt?”
“I find that, if you start to get undressed in front of a woman, they stop talking.”
I can practically feel her anger directed at my back, and my grin only widens when she spits, “I hope you don’t expect me to takemyshirt off.”
I look back at her, catch her staring at my body, and say, “Sweetheart, if anyone is taking your shirt off, it’ll be me. And since you don’t want to be fucked by a ‘murderer’, I suggest you start peeling off the wallpaper.” Not that I’d deny her if she asked. Hell yeah, I’d definitely fuck her. If she didn’t know that before, she sure as hell does now, judging by her momentarily gaping mouth.
Snapping her mouth shut, her nostrils flare. “Don’t you need some sort of solution for that?”
Shrugging, I turn back around to hide my smile. “Don’t got any. Better get started. It’s going to take a while.”
I laugh as she growls, “Asshole.”
Chapter 5
Tegan Adams
“We can’t controlsomeone else’s actions,” Dr. Lynn said.
I rinsemy hair out as his advice filters through my head. It’s the second day that Cole and I have worked together, but unlike the first day, this day was quiet. I pulled down wallpaper one tiny piece at a time, and he worked on the fireplace. The silence killed me, but I knew if I talked, if I brought up any kind of conversation, it’d end in some sort of banter. So, I worked in silence, and he left in silence.
“All we can do is control our own,” he added.
I turn in the shower and scrub the extra conditioner off my face that had flowed down with the water. I honestly don’t know how I feel about the handyman. Not once has he given away what landed him in jail. Do I deserve to know? I don’t know. I mean, he is in my house. Well, Derek’s house, but I like to think of it as my housetoo. I am paying rent for it, after all. So, yes, I should get to know. He could be a danger to me.
