‘You laughed at me trying to get that wood in my car while my protective clothing disintegrated around me!’
The smile returned. ‘Fair enough. But you had just knocked me on my arse in front of everyone so you’ve got to let me have that one.’
It had never occurred to me that Jesse had been embarrassed as well as cross.
‘So come on, then. Tell me.’
Jesse laid the lid back in place. ‘See that groove that runs around the outside of the lid?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s how you get in.’
‘What? How?’
‘Screwdriver, usually. You stick it in there, maybe a couple of other places until it prises up easily.’
‘A screwdriver.’
‘Yes.’
I looked at the tin. ‘Right. So that’s buggered, then?’
‘Pretty much, yeah. Although I’m sure we can find something to decant it in, like you said. Good idea to try and save it in case you need to do some more treatment.’
I suddenly felt like a massive idiot. ‘I’ll do it later,’ I said. ‘So.’ I raised my eyes to the ceiling. ‘Is it as bad as we feared up there?’
‘I’m afraid the tree through the roof wasn’t a hallucination, as much as we’d both hoped it might be. There’s damage to the furniture and other items in the main bedroom from the rain. Obviously, your bed’s a goner. But, from what I can see, the other rooms look undamaged. Obviously, I can’t really comment on the structural side. That’s above my pay grade.’ He shifted his weight. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t being nosy. I just needed to check to see what we’re dealing with.’
There was that ‘we’ again.
‘Of course. I didn’t think for a moment you were snooping! Honestly, I know it probably doesn’t feel like it, but I’m incredibly grateful for what you and Julie have already done for me. I don’t know what I would have done without you both.’
He shrugged off the compliment. ‘Like I said, we’d have done the same for anyone.’ He began to turn away and I reached out and caught his arm. He stopped, looking down first at my hand then letting his gaze travel to my face.
‘I’m certain that’s true but, in this case, you helped – are helping – me and for that I’m very grateful even if I’m not always very good at showing it. For that failing, I apologise.’
Jesse was silent for a few moments, our eyes fixed on each other. I felt my chest heave under the scrutiny of his gaze.
‘There’s nothing to apologise for. Do you want to come up and take a proper look?’ He stepped away and I felt the loss of his warmth and… something else… The only word I could form in my mind was ‘security’. When he was close, I felt safe. As if nothing could touch me. But now I was alone again. Which was ridiculous, because it’d been a hell of a long time since I’d trusted, or even wanted, a man to provide any sort of security in my life.
It was why I’d always kept my bank account separate from Adrian’s and kept my flat. And he hadn’t seemed to mind. Perhaps that should have been a bigger clue, but I liked my independence so had just assumed the situation suited us both for the right reasons. Besides, Jesse Woods was nothing to me, apart from a helpful and, yes, admittedly pretty damn hot neighbour. And I was nothing to him. The feeling, the thought, was confusing and ridiculous. I shoved it into the dusty corner of my mind where I’d pushed all the things I didn’t want to think about, mentally shut the door on it and dragged a bookcase in front of it for good measure.
‘Coming?’ he asked, one foot on the bottom stair.
‘Yes.’
His features softened for a moment, as if he was mistaking my hesitation for nerves.
I dragged up a smile. ‘Thanks.’
He turned and led the way up to the first floor.
‘Holy shit.’
I went to an exclusive and very expensive private school to enable me to come out with such erudite statements. As you can see, my father got his money’s worth. Then again, in all the scenarios and education we were given, never once had there been a situation even remotely like the one I was currently taking in.
‘Yep. That pretty much sums it up,’ Jesse agreed with my succinct appraisal. ‘But it could have been worse.’
