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For a second, I think she just might say it. And my day is going to get a hell of a lot better when I toss this woman over the retail counter and spread her legs wide open for my tongue.
But unfortunately for both of us, she doesn’t. “Thanks for the coffee and croissant, Jameson. I should get back to work.”
“I have some time now. What can I help you with?”
“Really?”
“I told you I want to help, Lemon.”
“Do you, by any chance, have a measuring tape on you?”
“No.” Her face falls, and I hate it. I never want to see anything but a smile on her lips. Or my dick, but that’s another story. “But I’ve got one in the truck.”
She smiles at me, and it feels like the sun on my face on the first day of summer.
“Do you think you could help me measure some stuff? It’s hard to do by yourself. And I forgot my tape measure at home.”
“No need to make things harder on yourself when I’m right here. Give me a sec to run out to the truck. Eat your croissant and enjoy the view while I go.”
The roll of packing tape she throws at me lands wide on the floor by the front door.
Turning around to grin at her before I step out the door, I can’t help but tease her. “I can help you with that aim, too, Lemon.”
What sounds like another roll of tape hits the door behind me as it swings shut.
chapter seventeen
jameson
Running my hand over the dovetail joint I’m sanding, I blow on the shelf corner in my hands. I haven’t spent this much time in the old detached garage at the farm where all my woodworking tools are in years. Some of the stuff is my dad’s, but more of it’s mine. All the more specialized tools I collected over the years as I got deep into carpentry. My dad builds or fixes stuff when it’s needed. He only ever cares about function, not skill, or looks. I like to think the stuff I make covers all three. It needs to serve the purpose, but it also needs to show off what I can do, and it needs to be beautiful.
Lily and I talked about the kind of bookshelves she wants for her shop. The only thing built into the space is the dark wood retail counter. The rest of the shop is just a long rectangle. Once all the garbage and crap are moved out of there, she just has four walls and the retail counter. She needs shelves to line all the walls. And a center shelving unit running up the length of the store. A mix of heights and sizes to display all the different plants and body products she’s planning on selling. She wants them stained dark to offset the white walls and her cream, pink, and green packaging. The shelves and retail counter are going to be the only dark things in the shop, other than the ancient hardwood floors.
I’m so proud of her for going for it with her shop. She’s so brave. Braver than I’ll ever be. I used to think about doing something with my carpentry. But I never really went for it. Working at the farm was familiar. I like working with my brothers. I never wanted to leave the farm or stop working here, but I probably didn’t need to quit carpentry completely, like I did after my mom passed.
The shelves are shaping up well, but it’s going to be a long road to make enough floor-to-ceiling shelves to fill an entire shop. And I’m rusty, so it’s not going as fast as I expected. I’ve got to cut all the wood to size. Do a million dovetail joints. Build them out and sand and stain them. Then get them to the shop and install them. The dovetail joints are fancier than they need to be. But they look so damn good. And I want to give Lily the best. None of this is going to happen in a week, when I only have evenings and weekends to work on it.
And I need to be home and in bed by ten-thirty when Lily calls me to make me listen to her fuck herself with her little vibrator. As much as it feels like torture, that’s my favorite part of the day. Well, that and any other time she’s paying attention to me.
When I hear the door open, I look up to see my dad.
“What are you doing out here so late? Forget you don’t live here anymore?”
“No, I didn’t forget I don’t live here anymore,” I mutter, continuing to sand the piece I’m working on.
“Well, what are you doing here after nine at night? You forget you need to be up and back at work at four-thirty?”
“No, I didn’t forget. I’m not an idiot.”
“The shelves are coming along. They look good, son.”
“Thanks. I think they look pretty good. Even if I’m rusty as fuck at this.”
“This is a big job you’ve taken on, son. I’m sure Lily really appreciates it. Does she know how much time you’re spending on this?”
“No. But I want to do it for her.”
“That’s nice of you. I like seeing you out here doing your woodworking. Your mom loved you doing carpentry. She was so damn proud of you.”
