Page 30 of Unspoken Love

Since he was spending a lot of time working on the house, he’d given her the manager position and put her in charge of scheduling the rest of the crew in his absence.

The soft rumble of a car pulling up had Nate glancing out the front window just in time to see Faye climbing out of her car dressed in leggings, work boots, and a T-shirt that had clearly seen its fair share of washes. Her hair was pulled back in a high bun, and she carried a couple of coffee cups and a bakery box.

He opened the front door before she could knock. “You’re early.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, walking past him when he motioned for her to enter. “I was too excited to get started today. Besides, I’m used to waking up early, remember?”

“Right,” he said, taking a coffee cup she held out for him. “If you’re that pumped to work, I just may let you paint every room in the house.”

She grinned. “That’s the idea. But first, sugar and coffee.” She motioned to the pastries.

They sat on the folding chairs and ate while going over the day’s game plan.

When they were all filled up on sugar, he showed her how to use the paint sprayer.

When he was sure that she had the basics down, he stood back and watched her start on the far wall of the living room.

“Got it?”

She nodded, biting her lower lip in concentration. “Slow and steady strokes. Keep the same distance. Don’t hover too long.” She repeated his instructions.

“Perfect,” he said after she made a few swipes.

“I could definitely get used to this,” she said, smoothing the light mist of paint across the first wall. “It’s really fun.”

“Fun isn’t the word I would use,” Nate admitted as he stood behind her, arms crossed over his chest, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

She glanced over her shoulder. “So you’ll let me paint the whole house?”

He shrugged with a smirk. “If you want, it’s all yours. Everything is taped off and ready for you to go at it. You know which colors go in which rooms. Let me know when you need the painter refilled or the color switched out.”

She nodded and waved her free hand without even looking back at him.

Once she was moving confidently, he slipped out through the back door. Since she was busy inside, he figured he could spend the time she was saving him to demo the back deck.

An hour later, he was dripping in sweat, covered in dust, and had a few new splinters. She opened the back door and caught his attention.

“Ready for a refill?” he asked, using a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding slowly as her eyes ran up and down his bare chest.

He was too sweaty and hot to do anything more than flex slightly, which had her laughing and him smiling.

God, he loved the sound of it. The way her entire body shook as she laughed was intoxicating.

While he poured more paint from the heavy five-gallon tub into the sprayer for her, she walked over to the cooler and pulled out a couple of sodas. She handed him one when he was done.

He sat down and ran the cold can across his forehead.

“I guess it’s official, summer is in full swing.” He sighed after he took the first sip.

When she didn’t respond, he glanced over at her. She was frowning at him, watching his every move. “What?” He instantly worried that something was wrong. God, did he have dirt on his face?

“You look like a commercial.”

He blinked a few times. “What?”

She smiled slowly. “You know, the one with the hot construction workers, with the office full of women watching them out the windows.”