Page 42 of The Ghost of You

The sound of a table saw jolts my thoughts to the present.

Maybe that is the distraction I need.

12

Noah

I countthe number of two by twos I’ve cut. I head over to my porch and double-check my numbers before cutting a few more pieces of wood for the porch railing.

“Need any help?”

The sound of Anna’s voice startles me. I’ve spent the last five days trying to forget about the fact I almost kissed her. But every time I try to all I can think about is the smell of her lemon and patchouli scent infiltrating my nose, her hands on my chest, the way she looked into my eyes like she could see into my soul.

Then my mind thinks about seeing her naked. And how I would kill to see her naked again. To press my body against that soft milky skin, run my fingers through her luscious red locks, taste the sweetness I can only imagine she tastes like.

I turn around telling my dick to calm down but it doesn’t help when I see her. She is wearing tight denim jeans that look painted on. A black t-shirt hangs loosely from her shoulders and a red and black flannel is tied around her waist. Her complexion is bright, that smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks nearly visible, and her green eyes are focused on me.

I set the piece of wood down I am holding. “What are you doing here?”

She shrugs. “I needed a distraction.”

“From what?”

Her gaze pierces mine as she repeats the same words I told her a few nights ago. “Life.”

I don’t have words for her. And I know she doesn’t expect any. I just nod and wave her over to the table with the wood.

“If you want to bring those over to the porch while I finish cutting the last few spindles.”

“Okay,” she says as she picks of some of the boards and carries them to the porch.

I cut through another board when I hear her curse. She throws a pile of wood on the ground and starts shaking her hand.

I chuckle as I walk over to her. “Splinter?”

“Fuck. Yes, it hurts.” She looks up at me. “I’m a wimp.”

I take her hand in mine and look for the tricky piece of wood in her hand. “Nah. You just need some gloves.” I take my gloves off when I find the little devil buried in her hand and use my nails to rip it out. “All better,” I say with a grin. “And I think I have an extra set of gloves around here somewhere.”

I walk back to the garage and sift through a bin of miscellaneous shit and find what I am looking for buried in the bottom. I walk back over and hand them to her.

She inspects the pink gloves and raises a brow at me, teasing, “I didn’t take you for a pink guy. But now that I think about it, pink would definitely look good on you.”

“My hands don’t fit in those,” I answer with a straight face.

She nudges me with her shoulder as she puts them on. “Kidding.”

She gets back to work and I can’t help but think of Claire. Those are her gloves; she wore them the one time she attempted to garden. She killed her plants in a week. I don’t even know why I am still holding on to them. Maybe it’s me holding onto hope that she will come back.

As I watch Anna move the wood from the garage to the porch, the sun hitting her hair at the right angle making it look likes it’s glowing, it hits me. The reason I feel this attraction to her, this false connection I now realize isn’t real. She looks like Claire.

“You going to help or do I need to build this railing by myself?” she shouts to me from the porch. I blink a few times until I see Anna standing there, not Claire. My head is fucking with me. I don’t have feelings for Anna, it’s the resemblance to Claire that has my mind twisted.

“Be right there,” I shout back. I head deeper into the garage, sticking my gloves into my back pocket. I pinch the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, letting the memory of Claire fade away.

I grab a level and a tape measure before heading back out to the porch. Anna is on her hands and knees moving the spindles in front of the dots I drew on the porch earlier. I give her a weak smile. “Looks like you don’t even need my help.”

She sits back on her feet, her hands going to her hips. “Remember how I couldn’t even figure out how to turn the water off at my place? Your entire house might collapse if I try to use a power tool.”

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