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I grab my mini toiletries bag and wash up, then go in search of my reluctant host.
The sound of rhythmic sanding tells me he’s outside. The mouth-watering scent of coffee draws me to the kitchen first, though. I fill a giant mug with hot, black coffee, then push the back door open.
He’s up a ladder, prepping the top of a window frame. Painting supplies are laid out neatly on the deck near him.
“Morning,” I murmur, not wanting to startle him.
He grunts in acknowledgement and waves his sanding block at me.
“Do you always start work this early on vacation?”
“Did I tell you that this was a week of vacation?”
“Isn’t it? You’re a SEAL, which means you’re here on leave, right?”
He stops sanding. “You’ve got me there.”
“And I’m guessing you’re from San Diego, which is a pretty long drive to come all the way here for a few days of sanding and painting and construction. Which means youlikedoing all this hard work on your vacation.”
One corner of his mouth quirks up. “Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it. What do you like to do on vacation?”
“I haven’t had one. Not really, not as a grown-up.” I hate the sad note that slides into my voice.Poor little rich girl.I blow out my cheeks. “It’s complicated. I’m having an adventure now, though!”
“You sure are.” He finishes what he’s doing, then comes down the ladder, grabs his own coffee cup off a ledge, and gestures to the deck chairs. “Wanna tell me how you deduced that I’m stationed in San Diego?”
“No.”
“You’re a Navy brat.”
Fuck. “Yeah.”
“Interesting.”
“No.”
His eyes glint dangerously. “Oh, Goldilocks. Everything about you is interesting.”
“We aren’t talking about me. We’re talking about why you drove all the way here from California for a few days of sanding and painting.”
“I came all the way here for a few days of peace and quiet. And then I found a little criminal snooping around my peace and quiet—”
“You didn’t find me doing anything. I knocked on your door looking for my water bottle, which you stole from where I had left it!”
He laughs. “Right here, on my deck? I stole it?”
“I left it behind by mistake.”
“And I found it on purpose.” He winks before taking a big sip of coffee. “Then brought it into my house for safekeeping. I’m so glad that brought us together.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you always this…” I trail off, trying to find the right word.
His expression is hilarious as he fights an instinct to provide some words to fill the gap.Handsome,maybe he wants to suggest.Clever.Maybe he’d even admit tobossyordemanding.
“Rigid,” I finally settle on.
He shrugs. “Yes.”
I lift my mug to my mouth. “Interesting.”
