Chapter Seven
Asher
Iscrubbed my hand across my face. Man, it had been a brutal day. Thank God it was over. All I wanted was a cold beer and Natalie. As I rounded the corner and my house came into view, I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot when I saw her car in my driveway. Such a small thing and yet…it felt unbelievable.
I parked and hopped out of the truck, scanning for her in case she’d just got here. Apparently not, since she was nowhere to be seen.
I wandered down the side of the house, knowing she’d be parked on the swing since that was where I’d found her the past couple of days. Rounding the house, my breath caught at the sight of Nat sprawled out on the swing, her face turned up to the sun and a serene half-smile on her face. The sunlight caught her hair, making it look lighter than I knew it was. She looked incredible. How did I get so lucky?
How had it only been a couple of weeks since she’d come back to town? In such a short period, she’d become—everything. How the hell was I supposed to let her go when summer ended?
“Hey,” I called, alerting her to my presence.
Her eyes popped open. And the smile that spread across her face hit me like a punch in the chest. There was no way I could let her go. That meant figuring out long distance, which I’d sworn I’d never do, but circumstances change. Turns out when you meet the right woman, no obstacle feels too big.
“Hi, how was your day?” She hopped up and walked toward me. Natalie stood on her tiptoes. Her mouth warm from the sun, pressed against mine in a kiss that melted the stress of the day.
“Mmm, I could get used to that.”
“Good.” She smiled. “How was your day?”
“Better now.” I told her. Taking her hand, I pulled her onto my lap as I sat on the swing.
She leaned back and looked at my face. Her hand eased through my hair before she cupped the back of my neck. Her fingers dug into tight muscles, and I bit back a groan.
“Want to tell me about it?” she asked.
I exhaled. “Where to begin? My parents are on a tear about Beth, demanding I don’t give her any money.”
Natalie winced. “She mentioned that.”
“Right, how was your day with her?”
“Nope, we aren’t talking about that right now. We’re talking about your shitty day.”
I sighed. “Do we have to?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “Unload on me. You’re so used to being there for everyone else, let me be here for you.”
“Thanks.” I cupped the back of her neck and pulled her toward me for a kiss. The moment I felt her lips against mine I wanted more. I deepened the kiss, but before I had a chance to really enjoy it, she pulled back.
“Nope.” She laughed. “Not what I meant by let me be there for you. Talk, mister.”
“Fine. After I turned off my ringer so I could avoid my family. I went down to supervise a test build.”
“What’s a test build?”
“It’s sort of a trial run of the house before we ship it. We do a test build, make sure everything fits the way we want it to, then take it apart, label it, and get it ready for shipping.”
“Wow, that’s cool. I had no idea you did that.”
“Yeah, a lot easier to fix it in the yard than to try to notch something out in the field. The customer came down and watched, so now they are raring for it to be shipped out.”
Her eyes twinkled as if she were picturing it in her mind. “Oh, they must love seeing that. I bet it’s so exciting for the homeowner to come down and see you guys in action. Get a feel for what their house might really look like.”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. It wasn’t something I was used to. My family found my job boring. Apparently, they’d seen me build enough Lincoln Logs growing up. They didn’t want to hear about it too. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Depending on where the build is happening, I don’t always go out to the house, so it’s my chance to fine-tune anything structural. At this point, we’ve built so many that it’s more of a formality now since we reuse a lot of the same designs. The inside is where it gets all the custom work for most builds.”
“I am in awe of your brain. Being able to understand the load and how to make it all work.” She shook her head. “It’s like a jigsaw puzzle with logs.”
