Page 14 of Taming the Wild Mountain Man

She yanks her hand out of mine and shoves my chest with both hands. "No way!"

"Way." I enjoy telling her about it and answeringallher questions, though I do miss having her hand in mine. When I'm done, she glances around my shed. "What can I do to help?"

"With what?"

She waves her hand around. "With this. I'm great with a brush."

"Oh. Okay." It takes me a second to recalibrate my brain from recounting the high and low points of my entire life in under ten minutes, to this. I find her a brush and set up a bed frame for her to coat, and she starts applying it in long, broad, even strokes. Sheisgood with a brush.

"Have you given any thought to the repairs your place needs?" I ask after working silently for a few minutes.

"I have. And I've been meaning to speak to you about it, but we seem to keep missing each other."

"I'm here most nights," I say, smiling.

She doesn't smile back. In fact, her face tightens. "I'm sorry for making such a big deal about the noise you were making. If I knew the reason?—"

"It's fine," I cut her off, not wanting to revisit any more dark topics tonight. "Whatever the reason, you're still entitled to not being woken up in the middle of the night."

"I…I guess."

We continue painting in silence for a while before I bring up the maintenance work again. "You know, I have an opening in a few weeks. My team and I could make a start on some of the most pressing things."

"Like the crooked walls?" she asks with a half-smile.

"Yeah. Like the crooked walls."

"That would be fantastic. Thank you."

I don't know what her financial situation is, so I hope what I'm about to say comes across as reassuring and isn't overstepping. "I'll charge you a fair price. Just materials and labor. Nothing more."

"Oh, no. I can't have that. I've been responsible with my finances and have some money saved up. Treat me like any other customer."

I suppress a chuckle. How can I treat her like any other customer when she's anything but? It goes to show, though, that any deeper feelings at play here are only occurring on my end. She probably only sees me as nothing but her annoying neighbor, and now her contractor.

Time for me to accept that. And while I may not have a shot at being with her, I can at least make sure her house is properly renovated.

"I'll tell you what," I drop my brush and walk over to her. "I'll give you my special neighbor pricing if you answer one question for me."

Her eyes narrow. "Fine. But if the question is rude or inappropriate or bro-ish in any way, I reserve the right to splash you with this." She dangles her brush in front of my face.

"Deal." I latch onto her wrist, gently steering the brush away from me. I take a breath. "Why do you always pretend like you didn't get my apology note?"

"What apology note?"

"Oh, come on. The one I left on your front porch the day after you moved in. I felt bad about what happened, so I wanted to say sorry before I apologized to you in person. I left it before I went to work."

She rests her paint brush onto the tarpaulin on the floor, which I interpret as a good sign. "I'm not pretending because I didn't get a note."

"You didn't?"

"No."

"Really?"

She raises her right hand to shoulder height, palm facing me. "I swear."

"So what happened to it?"

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