Page 89 of Firecracker

He paused. “I do, actually. I was going to wait for Jamie to help on the weekend, but you might be able to hold the drywall in place while I screw it to the studs.”

She blinked. Hearing Tyler talking about screwing and studs sounded sexual. She caught the gleam in his eyes. Her lips twitched. “Okay. I can do that. Screwing studs is always fun.”

“Oh, baby.” He grinned, and his tense shoulders relaxed. “Just wait.”

Her body tingled everywhere as she followed him to the bathroom. It had been over a week since she and Tyler had slept together, and although they’d seen each other several times, he hadn’t initiated anything more than a few kisses. They’d been amazing, melt-her-insides kisses. She’d spent a lot of time daydreaming about Tyler and the things he’d done to her, the way he’d made her feel, the things she wanted to do to him. She had to be honest and admit that she hoped their date was going to lead to more action of a sexual nature. Because she really, really wanted him.

She’d started to doubt that he wanted her though, except he still seemed to want to take her out for dinner, so…hell, like she’d admitted to him, she didn’t know how to do this.

She’d just go with the flow.

Tyler directed her on what to do in the small space of her bathroom. Finally it seemed they were getting somewhere, now that the plumber had been there. Twice. The first time he’d apparently cut out and removed water lines and plugged up the open drain lines to keep sewer gas out. Tyler had then worked on framing the walls of the bathroom, and the plumber had come back to do more work. Now Tyler was ready to drywall. He pulled out a drill and began noisily driving screws into the drywall piece that she was helping hold in place against the wall.

“Why is it green?” she asked. “Is the bathroom going to be green?”

“No. It’s green because it’s a special water-resistant drywall for bathrooms.”

“Oh. What color is the bathroom going to be?”

He smiled. “You want to pick?”

“Can I?”

“Sure. I doubt if Jamie cares.”

“How about pink?”

Tyler choked. “Yeah, he might care about that. Probably something neutral is better, in case you ever move out.”

“I was kidding.”

“Good.” He continued working, measuring, cutting drywall, hauling it in, and fastening it into place. She admired how he worked—not just his strong hands and arms, but his competence, measuring carefully, cutting precisely, taking care with every drywall screw. Competence porn was definitely a thing.

She focused on following his directions, helping him fit the boards and hold them in place. “How did you learn to do all this?”

“I guess I mostly learned from a buddy at work. He did renovations on the side, and I offered to help out. I learned a lot from him. He retired last year, but we still help each other sometimes if we need extra hands.”

“It looks like you enjoy it.”

“Yeah. It’s fun doing something hands-on.”

“You’re good at it.”

He eyed her, and her belly did a little flip at his intense expression. “Thanks.”

“It’s lunch time. Should I make us a sandwich?”

“That would be great.”

She left him to head into her kitchen, where she put together two toasted bacon, tomato, and avocado sandwiches. Then she made one more sandwich, with the feeling that Tyler probably had a bigger appetite than she did. “Okay,” she called to him. “Lunch is ready.”

He emerged and strode to her kitchen sink to wash up. “Do I smell bacon?”

“Yeah.”

He groaned. “I love bacon.”

“I think you mentioned that a time or two.” In fact, she’d remembered that he loved bacon, and had picked up a package at the store with that in mind, not sure when she’d get to feed him but wanting to make something he’d like.

---