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I watch his tall form walk away, his long legs eating up the ground quickly. Sadly, his coat covers his ass, but I remember from his football days that it was a fine ass.
Given the fact the man has filled out since high school, it’s a safe bet to say it’s still a fine ass.
I shake my head at myself and turn back to the tree. By anyone’s standards, it qualifies as “a big-ass tree.”
A few moments later, Jake comes back with a Christmas tree cart and one of the lot associates. The young man holds the large tree as Jake squats down and saws at the trunk. After a few minutes of cutting, he stands and strips out of his coat. “Can you hold this?”
I take it from his hands with a grin. “Getting hot?”
His gaze snags mine with an intensity to it that makesmehot, as he pushes up the sleeves of his Henley. “You have no idea, Sunflower.”
With a wink, he picks up the saw and gets back to work.
I’ve watched that hot guy on social media do nothing but split wood with no shirt on, with all those muscle rippling. I’ve drooled on my phone.
Watching Jake saw the tree down is like that. I can only see his forearms, but the muscles ripple under his shirt, and I would give all the money in my 401K to see what his bare back looks like while sawing.
It’s a whole new form of foreplay.
Within minutes, he’s sawed through the thick trunk and then it’s tied up, netted, and dropped into the waiting metal cart. While they head to cut down the other trees we picked out, I walk to the register to pay for our tree bounty. I add some live garland, a huge wreath to go on the front door, and some smaller ones to go on the front windows.
The clerk hands me back my card when Jake pushes the cart up.
“Did you pay for that?” he asks, frowning.
“Yeah, why?”
He sighs and plants his hands on his hips. “It’s not yours to pay for.”
“Just let me do this, okay?”
He sets his jaw. “I don’t need charity.”
I sigh and rub my forehead. “It isn’t charity. Trust me, you’ll pay for plenty before this is all said and done, okay?”
“Fine,” he says, pushing the cart toward the exit to the parking lot, “but I’m buying dinner. And paying for everything else that needs to be done for this project. I mean it, Lia.”
“Deal.” I shift the wreaths in my hands for a better grip. “Now get me some food. I’m starving.”
We get the truck loaded and head back to town. Jake stops by the local pizzeria in town and grabs a large pizza before we head to the shop.
I’m not much help unloading the truck because I find myself ogling Jake being all manly when he handles the large tree on his own. I do manage to pull it together in time to pick up the trunk and help haul it into the lobby.
Thirty minutes later, the tree is up in its stand, and I collapse on the worn sofa in the lobby with a sigh, holding my stomach. “Can we eat now? I’m on the superhighway to hangry at this point.”
“Then let’s get you fed. As I recall, you’re hell on wheels to deal with when you’re hangry.”
Jake holds his hands out for me to grab and pulls me up off the couch. The momentum of him pulling me up causes me to lose my balance, and I find myself falling into him.
Seems to be a theme for me.
I gasp softly when I connect with his hard chest. I gaze up at him, and he’s staring back at me with those stormy blue-gray eyes.
The intensity of his stare is so hot I wet my parched lips. His gaze follows the path of my tongue.
“Careful, Lia.” His voice is deep and rough, like he’s trying to talk through sand in his throat. “You keep staring at me like that, I’m not going to be able to hold back much longer.”
His words spark something deep in my core, and in that moment, I want nothing more than to be devoured by his mouth. To be reminded how he tastes.
