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Guys like Lucas never looked at her that way. Usually, she only got attention from the sort of men who didn’t have their lives together. They were the guys who didn’t have jobs, lived with their parents, and didn’t have any drive.
It had gotten to a point where she just had to accept that attractive, hard-working men simply didn’t have an interest in curvy women who couldn’t get rid of those stubborn pounds.
Ella moved out of Lucas’s way, retreating into the barn and hating the way her thoughts continued to gravitate to where they’d been when she was a teenager. Hadn’t she outgrown that way of thinking? She’d grown to love herself the way she was. She could appreciate looking in the mirror and seeing a woman with soft curves and full hips.
She’d made something of herself.
All it took was coming back home and seeing Lucas again to bring back all the insecurities she’d had. It wasn’t fair.
Lucas glanced toward her as he headed outside for another two-by-four. Their eyes locked for just a moment and then she turned away. For the next several minutes, Lucas made trip after trip. The muscles in his arms flexed and rippled each time he tossed the wood onto the pile.
When he was done with the two-by-fours, he brought in a few pieces of OSB. Ella’s eyes landed on the wood, and when he finally closed the tailgate of his truck, she gestured to it. “I didn’t have that put on hold.”
“No, you didn’t.” Lucas wiped his brow with a leather-gloved hand. “But you wanted to get to work on the roof, right?”
“Sure, but we don’t have the scaffolding until Monday.”
He grinned. “I saw some ladders out back. They’re rusted but sturdy. There’s also an old pully system. I’m sure we can rig it.”
Ella gaped at him.
Lucas sobered. “Unless… you want to wait until next week?”
She glanced at the wood for a moment. It would be ridiculous to get upset with him over taking the initiative. And yet she found herself more than a little irritated. The only reasonable explanation for that feeling was that Lucas continued to prove he wasn’t who she thought he was.
He folded his arms, staring at her expectantly. “Well? Are we going to do it or not? You’ve got the saw all set up, so I suppose I could help you get some pieces cut before the weekend. Either way, I’m not going to be here tomorrow. I’ve got a date and—”
“You’ve got adate?” Ella blurted. Of course, he had a date. This was Lucas Keagan, for heaven’s sake. She’d only been back a little over a week and had already heard about his romantic escapades. She had a sinking suspicion that he had only agreed to help with this restoration because of a girl.
Maybe she was the one he planned on seeing.
A heavy, hot jealousy settled in her stomach. “No. You’re done for the day. Go get ready for your date or whatever.”
“My date isn’t until tomorrow—”
Ella turned from him. “Doesn’t matter. We’re ahead of schedule, and I don’t need any additional help this afternoon.”
Lucas persisted. “If we’re ahead of schedule, shouldn’t we keep at it?”
She sighed, looking up to the rafters rather than at him. “This isn’t a race, Lucas. It’s a marathon. We’ll get it done on schedule. If we’re lucky, we’ll do it ahead of schedule, but not because we’re trying to beat the clock. I refuse to get distracted and allow something important to slip by unnoticed. Have a nice evening. I’ll see you on Monday.”
He was quiet for a while until, finally, she heard his footsteps retreating.
Finally. She could think again, breathe again. The fact that she’d allowed herself to get so off-track daydreaming was nerve-wracking, and she fully intended on fixing it.
7
Lucas
“It’s not my fault that I know how to pick up women. And by the way she looked at me, you would have thought I told her I planned on running over a raccoon crossing the street with its babies.” Lucas paced in front of Elijah and Scarlett as they sat on the front porch. He chose to ignore the fact that they were holding hands and clearly too in love to care about his predicament.
His brother had gotten him into this mess, and if anyone should have been empathizing with him, it should have been Elijah.
And yet there he sat with not a care in the world.
Lucas itched to pick up the glass of ice water he’d brought out and toss the contents at Elijah’s face. The only thing stopping him was that Scarlett would end up getting wet, too. Scarlett was scary enough when she wasn’t antagonized.
“What’s he complaining about now?”
