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He jumped, realizing she’d caught him staring. Shoot! Hadn’t he told her they were going to avoid each other? They weren’t supposed to talk about anything other than work. And now here he was staring at her like she meant something to him.
How could he tell her that he was still bothered by the way she clearly disliked him? No one disliked him. He’d sound crazy at best, narcissistic at worst.
Lucas scowled and turned his focus to his food. “Nothing. Let’s just finish eating so we can head back and make plans for the next month. I’m sure you have a list of things you want to get done first. Let me guess, some demolition?”
Ella’s eyes narrowed. “Obviously.”
“What do we need for that? Just some extra men? Or do you need me to get my hands on some bigger equipment? I doubt you want to tear down the exterior. So, I’m guessing we need something that can fit through the doors.”
She watched him through heavy-lidded eyes. “There’s a lot of work we have to do on the roof. The walls are okay. I’d like to remodel the inside a bit. I know we need to keep the architecture similar to the time period it was built, which is why we’re going to keep the gambrel roof style. I think it would be good to expand the loft area…”
While Lucas listened to Ella’s plans, her words started to fade, and he got a really good look at her. The first thing he noticed was just how pretty her eyes were. Earlier, when they’d been out at the barn, they were a bright color. Now they were a shade of blue he had never seen before. They were almost violet—was that even possible? It had to be the indoor lighting.
“Are you listening to me?”
Lucas jumped again. “Yes. Roof. Loft. Gambrel structure. Got it.”
She sighed.
“What?” he demanded. “I had to help my family with our barn. I’m sure I’m just as good as anyone else you would have gotten around here.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” Was she finally going to admit why she disliked him so much? He leaned forward slightly. If she’d tell him, maybe he could do something about it.
“It’s nothing, Lucas.” She smiled, but it looked more like there was something invisible stretching her mouth into a strange expression instead. “It’s like you said. We’re going to be respectable. We’re not going to say or do anything that could be detrimental to this project. You do your best, and I’ll do mine.”
He sat back, disappointed. The curiosity was burning him up inside. He tried to rack his brain for who she might have spent most of her childhood with. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recall anyone that might have been close to her. Surely, she would have had a best friend who might be willing to shed some light on the subject.
Once again, he found her walls had come up. There would be no more chatting, at least not until they got back to the barn. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t even sure she’d chat there. Knowing how she felt, he predicted she’d just give him a list of what needed to be done and a schedule for when he’d have to be at the barn.
Lucas focused on his food, no longer having an appetite. But he couldn’t just let it go to waste. His whole life had been spent eating hand to mouth. Wasting food wasn’t an option.
He picked up his burger and took a bite, then another.
They could do this.
Only a few months, and then he’d be free.
6
Ella
Ella sat in her car and stared at the barn. Every morning for the last week had started this way. Each time she thought she’d arrive before Lucas, he got here before she did. Ever since that lunch he’d practically forced her to attend, she hadn’t been able to get ahold of that sense of control she had before.
Lucas had gotten under her skin. She shouldn’t even be bothered by the fact that he thought she disliked him. Because she did. There were several reasons why, and yet there was a part of her that still had a small crush on him.
Why couldn’t she be rid of those feelings? Her childhood crush refused to leave. It was probably the way his smile made her insides melt. Or maybe it was the dimple in his cheek. He also had the longest lashes she’d ever seen in her life.
When they were younger, his dirty blond hair had always been on the longer side. Even now, it was tempting to touch it, run her fingers through it.
Ella gripped the steering wheel tighter and shut her eyes. She wasn’t going to fall prey to him and his charms. Just because he caught her off guard didn’t mean she was going to allow herself to give in entirely.
Lucas was in that barn right now, waiting for her. He had probably already started working on tearing more things down. They didn’t have a crew put together yet; that would come after they took down everything that needed to be removed from the building. They were nearly to that point. The roof was all but taken down. The pieces of siding had been tossed in the recycle pile. Soon, all they would need to do was cut the wood and put it all back together.
There was no telling how much time that would take, though. It was hard to look forward to the work when all she could think about was what it would feel like if Lucas smiled at her like he smiled at all those girls in high school.
What was she thinking? There was a reason why she’d never ended up with someone like Lucas. He was shallow and only cared about himself. Ella still couldn’t understand what was driving him to be here every morning. Something didn’t add up.
