AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A FEW MONTHS LATER
“Okay, so keep your eyes closed, love.”
“I’m worried I’m going to fall…” she said, slowly placing her foot on the next step. It was slow-going. He was leading her down into the basement.
The basement they’d spent all of the previous month redoing. The basement that was now a game-room plus a laundry room. The basement that had once been such a source of stress for him.
There was now carpet at the bottom of the stairs, and she wriggled her toes in it once she’d stepped off the last step, taking in her surroundings. The air was no longer damp, thanks to new heating and air ducts. It was no longer unnaturally cool, either. Still smelled like a basement, though. Perhaps because they spent little time down here after finishing it.
Jaxon’s hand was warm in hers. Warm and sweaty. He squeezed her hand once.
“Are you ready?”
She grinned and nodded. “Yes. I’m ready.”
“Okay, open your eyes.”
She did, blinking in the artificial light of the basement and looking around.
The room was just as empty as it always had been. There was an antique lighting fixture she’d found at an estate sale hanging overhead and looking very much like it wanted to be hanging over a billiards table, but other than that and the fresh paint and finished drywall, the game room was still empty.
She frowned and turned around, dropping his hand and not seeing anything out of the ordinary. “Wait… Jaxon… what’s…”
After she’d spun in a circle, she ended up back where she’d started: facing Jaxon and reaching for his hand again.
“Am I missing something? Did you paint it again?”
He chuckled. “No. I just… I wanted to give you a tour, and it starts here.”
“A tour?” she asked, laughing. “A tour of the house I helped you renovate?”
Grinning, he nodded. “If that’s okay?”
“I mean… a little redundant, babe. But sure. You know I love watching you talk about things you love.”
He tugged her close, wrapping one arm around her waist and kissing her lips gently. “Then you should enjoy the tour.”
He took a step back, his hands trailing down her arms until their fingers laced, and he pulled her into the center of the room, towards the door on the far end. The one that led to the laundry room.
When they stepped through the door, she blinked at the bright sliver of sunlight that fell across her face. The laundry room still had the concrete floor with the drain in the center, but it was brighter with clean glass in the windows.
“It was flooding in here. A lot. Remember?”
She laughed. “How could I forget?”
His smile was wide and infectious, and he pulled her hand up to his lips. “It was the first time you helped me fix something.”
“Oh, so you’re admitting I helped?”
“You did more than help, Teagan. You came up with the solution. If it hadn’t been for you, this place would still be soggy and gross and leaking.”
“Well, you were upset. I had to be the cooler head.”
“You didn’t have to do anything,” he reminded her. “Not then. Not now. You’re just wonderful. You make me better.”
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Jaxon…”
“I’m being serious.”
