Page 123 of Ice Princess

“Nothing much.”

“Come on, Gunner. This place was a dump.”

“The foundation was always strong,” I tell her. “What you see now was always there.”

Rebel glances up at me, a flush rising in her face.

My heart jolts at the sight. I wanted to kiss her so badly at the truck.

I want to kiss her now.

But I made the decision to keep my distance until I figure out the truth behind our family history.

And I’m sticking to it.

No matter how tempting she is.

Keep your hands to yourself, Kinsey.

“Were you the one who worked on it?”

I nod.

“When?”

“After our last home game.”

She gasps. “You didn’t go home that night because you were repairing this place?”

I nod again.

“Are you crazy?” She throws her hands wide. “Why would you do that? What if you’d gotten hurt out here in the middle of the night? And why onearthdid you come to the community clean-up after working so hard on the treehouse? No wonder you conked out at the hospital. You were running on fumes. What were youthinking?”

I smile harder.

Rebel plants her hands on her hips. “I’m not laughing with you, Gunner Kinsey. Don’t think you’re invincible because you have all those muscles. That was really dangerous.”

She’s worrying about me.

It’s adorable.

Pleased, I jut my chin at the ladder. “Need a hoist up?”

“Absolutely not.” She looks offended. “Climbing trees is like riding a bike.” She taps her head. “You never really forget.”

I smirk and watch her approach the ladder confidently. She plants her foot on the bottom rung and pulls herself up.

I admit. It’s impressive.

The higher she climbs, however, the more her skirt bunches up, showing off more and more of her shapely calves.

I’m terminally attracted to Rebel Hart and flashing all that skin doesn’t help me in my goal of keeping my hands off her.Desire rears its ugly head, demanding I drink her in. But I beat it back and force myself to be a gentleman.

I avert my gaze until she makes it to the top.

“Haha!” Rebel rejoices, pointing down at me. “Told you.”

I blow out a long breath and join her on the porch.

---