Page 25 of Wildest Dreams

“Yeah, that’s it. Now start twisting it,” he says.

I drop my eyes back to the bolt and begin tightening it to the right.

“Keep going,” he instructs, and I nod in response. I keep my eyes on the bolt, not wanting to lose my concentration.

“I think it’s almost there,” I say quietly, as I begin to feel a little resistance in my hand.

“Yeah?” he asks, shifting slightly at my side. He removes his left hand from beneath the bolt so that he can grip it at the top of the headboard and he opens his right palm beside mine, crooking his digits in a silent question. “Want me to check?”

I move my hand up the drill so that he can take control of the handle, and then I back away slightly as he jerks his arm roughly. The screw undoubtedly twists another couple of turns.

But he doesn’t mention it. Instead he looks at me with a smile and says, “You did it perfect.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Yeah, okay,” I say, going along with his little lie.

He grins back at me as he moves to the other side of the headboard, grabbing a second bolt from his shorts and beginning to slot it into the next hole.

Feeling kind of bold I fluff up my ponytail and suggest, “Maybe I could, uh… do the other ones too?”

“Yeah,” he rasps immediately, quickly making room so that I can slip back underneath the cage of his biceps. I try to bite back my smile as his chest begins pumping unevenly against my back.

We work our way through every bolt on the back of the headboard, Tanner watching my handiwork carefully and thenshowering me with praise – even though he has to low-key fix every single bolt when I step back for his assessment. But he doesn’t mock me or complain. He just makes the little tweak and then smiles down at me, telling me what a good job I did.

And I enjoy every single second of it.

He screws the final bolt and then he gives the headboard a firm shake, making sure that everything is safe and secure.

I can’t contain my excitement any longer.

“Is it finished?” I ask him, clutching my hands in front of my chest.

“All done,” he confirms, chuckling quietly when I squeal in delight.

I clap my hands together and run around to the bottom of the bed, tears almost flooding my eyes as I take in the sight of my newly-finished investment.

“Well, almost all done,” he says, joining me where I stand. Before I can ask him what he means he’s gripping his hands around the bottom of the bed and shoving it forward with a low grunt. Then he turns to the wall behind us, rolls his shoulders, and hauls up the mattress. He drops it heavily onto the bed and smacks the edges into place.

Once it’s perfectly aligned he turns toward me with a crooked grin.

“Now it’s all done,” he rumbles, raking a large hand through his messed-up hair.

“Wow,” I breathe, falling back against the wall behind me. I’m pretty sure we both know that I’m not talking about the bed anymore.

He smirks and rubs the back of his neck, the stretch of his arm causing his shirt to slide up over his abs. “Anytime.”

I blink away from his big muscles and sexy smile creases and I push off the wall, walking on unsteady legs toward the doorway.

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” I ask without turning around. The sound of his footsteps behind me tells me that he’s already following.

When I see his wallet by the doorjamb I lean down to pick it up.

“Fuck, thank you,” he says, accepting it as I pass it over to him, but as it leaves my hand something begins to slip out of it.

“Sorry! I’ll get it,” I say hastily, but he bends at the same time, alarm in his voice when he says, “No, no, I’ve got it, I’ve got it–”

By the time that we’re both on the floor I realise exactly what just slid out of his wallet.

I blink up at him, alarmed, my cheeks burning pink as I hand it back to him.

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