Page 47 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘Yes. Advertising.’

‘Do you like it?’

‘Sure. It allows me to be both creative and use my business degree.’

‘And I take it being the boss allows you to take off early on a Friday?’

‘It has its perks. Thought I’d stop in and see if Manny or Torran needed a hand.’

Tessa’s gaze ran up and down his expensive suit which didn’t exactly scream he was here to work.

‘Okay then. I’m headed to the bookstore. And Tor,’ her tone went serious, ‘do not be late or it will be way more than two smoothies you owe the girls.’

‘I’ll be there.’

I went back to work on the wall, cursing under my breath that I’d just made a promise to Tessa about our father that I wasn’t sure I could keep.

‘If you push hard enough, do you think you’ll hit drywall?’ Beck teased.

‘I know what I’m doing,’ I huffed.

He stood inches away. The scent of his spicy aftershave cascaded over me. Slowly, he eased off his dark blue suit jacket.

Are you fucking kidding me? It should be illegal for a guy to look that hot in a suit.

‘What did you say?’

‘Nothing. I didn’t say a thing.’

A smirk appeared like he’d heard every word.

Once he laid his jacket across the tarp covering the floor, he slid the tool out of my hand and went to work. That flicker of shiny skin peeked out from under his starched cuff. I was still curious how he got the scar, but before I could ask he turned his back to me.

His dress pants clung nicely to his butt just like his Levi’s. The tight muscles in his back flexed and moved beneath his tailored blue shirt.

My mouth went dry. I fought the urge to move toward him. Reach out and place a hand across his back so I could feel the sharp planes of his shoulder blades shifting up and down as he worked.

I’d be lying if I’d said my recent dreams weren’t filled with Beck fantasies. It was hard to think of anything else when I’d spent the last few days in the same space that used to be his childhood bedroom.

Every time I let my mind wander, I saw Beck in the shower. Beck in nothing but a towel. Said towel falling to the floor. I cursed at my body, my brain, for getting all hot and bothered for no reason.

We were partners. Nothing more. But obviously, my lady parts weren’t listening.

‘Want to talk about what’s bothering you?’ he asked, the muscles in his arms stretching against the thin cotton fabric.

Hello fantasy number four – Beck busting out of his shirt.

‘No,’ I said, unable to look away from the sweat starting to bead on his upper lip. ‘It can get warm in here. You can roll up your sleeves.’

‘I’m fine,’ he said too quickly. ‘This way I won’t get wallpaper all over my skin like you.’

There was something stiff and tightly coiled about his voice and movements. Like he was ready to burst out of his skin at any moment.

To ease the tension, I placed my hand over his and changed the motion to move in a circle. ‘It works better this way. Provides more nicks so the fabric softener can seep in and loosen the glue.’

Beck followed my motion. His hip bumped mine as we worked our way across the room. Heat scorched through my skin with each small step. My mind was a jumble of emotions. Anger at my father. Sadness over disappointing my sister. Need pushed past both those feelings as I looked at Beck.

I hated the way my heart did a little dance every time he appeared. How the sound of his voice sent warmth through my core. The way his smile forced me to cross my legs, the ache in my lower body almost too much to bear. Even now, I wanted to reach out and brush a hand across his forehead to push back a wayward piece of light brown hair.