Page 10 of Tell Me Again
He smiled despite himself. Her cheeky sense of humor had always made him laugh, which was almost as dangerous as wanting her. Sam had been not only his first love, but also his best friend, and he realized it would be far too easy to fall back into their easy rapport.
He dotted her arm with antibiotic ointment from the first aid kit and pressed an adhesive bandage over the cut. It was no easy feat to ignore the feel of her skin and the scent of citrus and spice that drifted up from her hair. It was different from how she’d smelled years ago, and he had the ridiculous urge to press his nose to the hollow of her throat and see if the smell of her skin was unchanged.
“Time-out’s over.” He zipped shut the first aid kit and stepped away from her, tossing the bandage scraps into the trash can on the other side of the kitchen. A little distance between them was a good thing.
“Great,” she answered, hopping off the stool. “I wouldn’t want to lose sight of how much I hate you for keeping Grace from me.” She bent to pick up the items that had fallen off the cabinet when it toppled over.
Yes, he thought, he’d deal with hate. Since he couldn’t seem to muster that particular emotion for this woman, he’d have to rely on hers to keep them both safe.
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t give a damn what you think of me.”
A hard wind kicked up for a moment, blowing in through the exposed ceiling. A sprinkling of wet pine needles landed on the kitchen floor, and Sam cursed under her breath. “As you might have noticed, I’ve got my hands full. I need to get the mess in here cleaned up and reattach the tarp to the roof. I took it off this morning when the insurance adjuster was out. Grace texted that she gets out of school at three. Why are you here this morning?”
“I’m here to help,” he answered, stepping closer to examine the gaping hole in the roof.
“I don’t need help,” she snapped. “It’s under control.”
A bird flew into the room and winged around the perimeter before zooming back out.
“Really?” He pointed to the branches drooping across the front of the refrigerator. “Because I’m pretty sure there’s a tree in your kitchen.”
She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Thank you, Captain Obvious. Here I thought that breeze was from a window I left open.”
A chuckle bounced out of his mouth before he could stop it. “Did you find a contractor?”
She bit down on her lip and... damn... that full mouth of hers, as sassy as it could be, had always gotten to him. He ignored his reaction and took a step closer. “It’s not a trick question, Sam.”
“Not yet,” she admitted. “My contractor’s son took over the business, and I met with him over the weekend but...”
He waited, shifting slightly closer when she crossed her arms over her chest. Not much unsettled Sam.
“He knows who I am,” she said after a moment.
“I’d imagine people recognize you all the time. So what?” She might dress down, but there was no hiding Sam. Not only was she close to six feet tall, but her long hair and perfect bone structure were etched into the brains of people around the world. He knew she’d dated a string of famous men in her twenties and had the reputation in the tabloids as quite the party girl. An article about her engagement to some eyeliner-wearing rock star had led him to redouble his efforts to ignore her existence. It had just been too damn hard to be reminded of how much she’d hurt him. “Do you honestly expect people to not know who you are?”
Sam worried her bottom lip between her teeth again, a nervous habit from childhood that she hadn’t been able to break. “Of course not,” she told him, turning to put the pots and pans back into the cabinet. “But sometimes men mistake what I did and what they think they know about me for who I am now.”
She glanced over her shoulder to see Trevor trying to work that one out. Of course he wouldn’t get it. For all his surliness, Trevor Kincaid was a stand-up guy. “I don’t understand,” he said after a moment. “It’s not like you were a stripper.”
She barked out a laugh. “To some people, modeling lingerie and swimsuits equates to the same thing. And with the gossip surrounding my personal life, men seem to think—”
He was at her side in an instant, whirling her around to face him. “Did this guy put a hand on you? Did he hurt you?”
The intensity of his gaze both shocked and soothed her. “No, nothing happened.” She shrugged. “But I’ve learned to trust my instincts when it comes to men.” That wasn’t exactly true. She didn’t trust her instinctsat all, so she stayed clear of men.
Trevor let out a vicious litany of curses before meeting her gaze again. “I’d like to string him up by the balls,” he said before rubbing a hand over his jaw.
“Creative use of language,” she whispered, trying not to be affected by his defense of her and the sound of his beard scraping against his fingers. But inside she was cheering.
She’d spent so long cultivating the image that she didn’t need support that most people believed it. To hear him angry on her behalf loosened the tight knot inside her chest. “I’ll find someone else. There’s a guy coming tomorrow morning to take care of the trees. I can ask for recommendations—”
“I’ve cleared my calendar for the next few weeks,” he interrupted, pulling out his phone and punching in a text. “I’ll have my roofers here on Wednesday morning.” He lifted the phone and snapped a few pictures of the kitchen. “Are you just replacing what was damaged? If you’re open to it, I have some ideas that will make the space more functional and give it a modern feel.”
She shook her head, impressed despite herself that he’d realized her intentions for the renovations without her speaking them. “The kitchen hasn’t been remodeled since I took over. I’d like to tweak the design and upgrade appliances.”
“What about the other cabins? Can you show me what else was affected? What’s your time frame?”
“I haven’t agreed to this.” She tapped one boot on the floor. “I don’t want you here, Trevor.”
