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“Thank you for today,” she said softly, though she was still looking out the window. “With your wholesale prices, I didn’t have to spend anywhere near as much as I thought I would.”
He breathed in her sweet shampoo scent, aching to put his hands on her shoulders and pull her against him. “You’re welcome.” He wanted to say so much more, but he was trying to be patient, telling himself to take things one step at a time. First, he’d make her dreams for her cabin come true. Then he’d convince her that he should be part of those dreams too.
Despite his ongoing misgivings about the bumps his mother might be hiding, she was right when it came to taking a risk—he hadn’t pushed Tasha, but he also hadn’t pushed himself. If he didn’t risk his heart now, he would never know if what he and Tasha might have together would be worth everything he had to give. And he’d never know whether he’d discovered the woman and the love he’d always been hoping for.
Not if he didn’t put his heart out there completely, perfect or not.
To do that, he had to spend more time with Tasha, draw her out, and ultimately get her to trust him. Part of him burned to tell her about his mom’s strange words, as if disclosing his confusion and his feelings would help Tasha reveal herself to him. But right now, he sensed she had too many of her own worries for him to do that.
He hadn’t even laid his concerns on the Mavericks. He didn’t have all the facts, and freaking them out over something that might be nothing…no way, he couldn’t do it. Besides, was it even his business to talk about his mother’s stuff behind her back? He didn’t have a really good answer, so for now, it would remain his issue to think through without burdening everyone else.
Moving away from the window, Tasha said, “I should get started on the kitchen plan.”
It gave him a reason to push his dilemma to the background again. “I’ll show you how to use the app.”
“You don’t need t—” She stopped herself. “I mean, thank you. That would be great.”
“Like I said before, you don’t need to thank me for anything. I’m enjoying myself. And don’t forget, there’ll be hell to pay if my mom thinks the five of us haven’t given your cabin everything we’ve got.” It was an exaggeration, but it had worked before to help Tasha get over her hesitancy. He didn’t feel guilty about using it again.
“I keep forgetting about your little white-haired mom shaking her rolling pin at five strapping young men and ordering them to help out the neighbor.”
“Little white-haired mom?” He laughed so hard he nearly cried. “Mom will go into hysterics when she hears that.”
“Oh no,” Tasha said, her cheeks turning pink. “I didn’t mean to offend her or you.”
“My mom is impossible to offend. She’d have to be, after raising the five of us and my sister.” He was still grinning as he said, “But she’s neither little nor old. She’s only fifty-six. And as fit and active as they come. Although, now that you’ve put the picture in my head, I can easily see her running after the five of us with her rolling pin.”
Tasha grinned. “I like her already.”
“She’s going to love you.”
Just like that, the light in Tasha’s eyes died. Her movements robotic, she brought up the building app and said, “I’ve been playing with it a little already.”
He wanted to take her hands in his and ask her what the hell had happened to make her so wary. Somehow, though, he managed to keep his hands to himself and his mouth shut.
Yes, he’d decided to risk his heart. But that didn’t mean he wanted to destroy hers in the process. The fact that she was allowing him to help with her home was a good first step. He’d just have to hope she’d be ready to take the next step and confide in him soon.
Of course, that didn’t stop him from wondering—was it something to do with her family? Was it a man? Or was it an issue with her job? He wondered about the bumps in Tasha’s life just as much as he wondered about those maddening bumps his mother had alluded to.
Unfortunately, he was nowhere close to answers for either problem.
Turning his gaze to the computer screen, he saw that Tasha had digitally created the shell of the house, added walls and the bathroom with all the correct dimensions. “This looks great,” he said. “We can start parsing out the kitchen. You want the sink under the window?”
She nodded. “And upper and base cabinets on this side. Then a tall pantry cupboard against this wall.”
“Let’s bring in the cabinets. We can adjust size—but it’s cheaper if you use standard sizes—and we can move the pieces around.” He clicked and popped in the sink.
“That’s so cool.” She looked at him. “You’ve really done something amazing here.”
Amazing was her smooth skin, her silky hair beneath the ball cap with the phrase that kept giving him wild ideas. He hadn’t realized the exquisite torture it would put him through when he bought it.
She began to select what she wanted, moving the pieces around. “I like these cabinets with the drawers in the base so I don’t have to bend down to see what’s at the back of the shelf. The carousel for the corner will utilize the space better.” She was getting into it now. “And maybe it’s better to put the tall pantry cupboard over here.”
Her features came alive as she played in the app. She didn’t need him; she had it all figured out on her own. But he loved watching her. Loved being with her.
For the next half hour, they moved cabinets and appliances like they were pieces on a chessboard. As the racket above increased, they drifted closer, their arms almost touching. He’d never been more aware of a woman, never more conscious of the curve of her lips when she talked or the music in her voice.
At one point, she reached for a piece of fruit in a bowl on the counter, taking a bite, leaving peach juice on her lips. He had the wildest urge to lick it off. But she did it before he could, the sight of her tongue driving him to the brink.
