Page 106 of Major Love

Honestly, the annex is done, bar the one room that we still need to coat with protective wood varnish, but the point of this trip wasn’t about the actual work – it was about proving to Sunday that if you’ve got a good team then your work is safe.

I lock the rails back into place and then glance down at Sunday.

She’s got my tool-belt around her waist and my Coleson Construction sweater on under her jacket.

And that soft blush on her cheeks that she only gets when she’s with me, as I place my hand on her lower back and tug her gently forwards.

“You did it,” I tell her.

She tries to laugh it off, blushing harder. “I wasn’t scared of you climbing a ladder, Jason,” she whispers shyly, although, from the death-grip that she had ten seconds ago, she could’ve fooled me.

“Yeah,” I drawl, “but I had to warm you up before getting you on the snowmobile.”

“No way,” she laughs, and I haul her closer as she shoves at my chest.

“Yes way,” I rumble against her cheek, before brushing a kiss there and lifting the ladder.

I haul the ladder over one shoulder, slipping my forearm through one of the rungs, and take Sunday’s hand with my free one, twining our fingers together as I drag her back to my truck.

I toss the ladder in the tail-bed and then I’m walking her backward to the passenger side.

“You did so good,” I rumble quietly, palms caressing her hips as she hits the side-panel.

“I guess it’s… not so bad,” she admits breathlessly, and I can’t help but chuckle at her assessment.

Given how she was feeling yesterday, I’d happily take ait’s not so badfrom Sunday right now and print it on a fucking t-shirt.

“Yeah?” I ask quietly, reaching around her to pull open her door. Once it’s open she dips inside and I wait for her to strap in before closing it behind her.

Then I’m rounding the hood and hunching into the driver’s seat, chest heaving when I turn to look down at her.

“Yeah,” she whispers gently, fingers toying with the tool-belt as it slips down her jeans and rests low on her lap.

I hesitate for a second before reaching over and enveloping her hip, the bite of the tools digging into my hand before I find the fastening and click it open. The belt falls away and she tentatively lifts her hips, letting me ease it out from under her thighs before tossing it in the back.

And then my eyes drop to hers, the tension in the cab so high that the windows start steaming.

I wrap a fist around the steering wheel, gaze sliding down her body as I work out what the best move is here.

Because, the thing is, if we go to my place, we’re hooking up. We have over a decade of history between us and after yesterday’s kiss, there’s no more fighting this. But I still want to earn her trust before we finally cross that line, meaning that I’m going to have to take her back to Casey’s, or I’m going to end up on top of her.

Plus, that’s another thing.

I need to talk to Casey.

Because if he comes home and finds out that I’m screwing his sister we’ll have a whole other problem on our hands.

So I lace my fingers through hers and drive us quietly back to her brother’s place, only for her to tell me to head to Haven’s instead so that she can have chick-time with her sister-in-law.

We pull up a couple minutes later and I keep the truck idling as she moves her hand toward the door.

But I reach over, stilling her fingers, chest pumping heavily as I decide what to do.

I gather both of her hands up in mine, bringing them to my quads as I look down at her.

Her lashes flutter, just as nervous as I am, but she’s letting me take the lead with this. And I’m grateful for that because this thing between us is… hell, yesterday she said it herself. It’s irreplaceable. And no matter how brutal my work-life has always been, this relationship is precious and I’m going to treat it with the gentleness that it deserves.

“I’ve got paperwork to do tonight,” I tell her.And I’m going to put my balls on the line to your brother.“But after I finish up with work tomorrow morning, I can head down here and bring you back to my place.”

---