Gaia stopped and realized even though she could have gone on, she would like to have something cold to drink and put her feet up for a little while.
She snapped her fingers, and two Adirondack chairs appeared with a small table between them. A pitcher of lemonade appeared on the table, then she held out her hands, and two glasses with ice in them appeared. She handed one to Aaron and gracefully sashayed over to one of the chairs.
“Is this okay? Is anyone going to notice a couple of chairs that weren’t here a moment ago?”
“No, but it could be a little less conspicuous. Tell you what, let’s use these.” He tipped over three empty buckets and set the cold drinks on the one in the middle.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine.” Snapping her fingers, she made the patio furniture and lemonade disappear. She plopped her butt down on one of the buckets and replaced the one in the middle with a cooler.
Aaron joined her on the other free bucket and took a peek inside the cooler. “Ah! A nice cold beer. Perfect.” He removed two, popped off the caps, and handed one to her. Raising his bottle, he said, “To hard work.”
Oh, this must be one of those toasts they do.She clinked his bottle with hers and was about to ask why he would dedicate his drink to hard work, but his smile as he admired his half-finished shell of a house said it all.
Then he took a long pull from his beer. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the liquid. The sight fascinated her, and she momentarily forgot everything else.
Then he smacked his lips and said, “Ah.” A moment later, he placed the bottle against his sweaty forehead.
She never would’ve thought hard work was sexy. But this man made it look that way. She took a sip of her own beer and appreciated the earthy taste of the cold drink. She placed the glass bottle against her forehead and was instantly cooled by it. “This is a nice refreshing break.”
“Yes, it is. And look how much we accomplished.” He pointed to the four walls they had already completed, minus a few spots for windows and two larger holes that, when completed, would leave room for doors.
She saw the pride in his tired eyes. They shone with more gratification than fatigue.
“I guess we did pretty well for having to lay one block at a time over and over andoveragain. All. Day. Long.” She let her tongue loll out the side of her mouth and hoped he knew she was teasing.
He set down his drink, rose, and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. He mopped the sweat off his face, then wiped off the back of his neck and tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket. “I need to shower…and so do you.” He winked.
Aaron reached for her hand. She rose, watching him curiously. He pulled her toward him and clasped the back of her head, bringing her in for a gentle but long, meaningful kiss.
She could have stayed like that all day if he didn’t insist on building that damn house block by block. But he did, and she respected him for it. For some reason, she’d thought he might let her deviate from her own rule. But that wasn’t the kind of guy he was. And that was one of the things she liked most about him.
One block at a time, with his own two hands, he would build his house. He would probably just call it necessity, but she called it integrity.
Chapter 15
Aaron could have sworn he heard trickling water and felt droplets of cool spray on his arms. Opening his eyes, he took a step back and stared in shock. A whole new location had appeared around them. One that included a rocky ledge, a grotto, and a waterfall.
“What the…” Aaron began.
“You said you needed a shower.”
He shook his head in amazement. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”
“To what? My listening to your needs?”
“I—I guess. Where are we?”
“Still in Puerto Rico.”
A sly smile quirked up his lips on one side. He leaned over the grotto and asked, “How deep do you think that water is?”
“About fourteen feet deep.”
“Okay. So nothing bad will happen if I just—” Aaron gave her a shove, and she landed in the natural pool with a splash.
When she surfaced, glaring at him and sputtering, he couldn’t help laughing. He knew he was in for it but couldn’t imagine her really hurting him.
“Very funny.” She rose from the water and disappeared.
