Page 42 of Made for You
I let the head of the ax drop into the stump and stick, then brushed my hands together to soothe the raw feeling I always got after wielding the tool for very long. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to disrupt your beauty sleep.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You saying something?”
I chuckled, relieved her hackles were only put-on and not actually that reactive. One never knew, these days. “Obviously, that’s not a comment indicating you require beauty sleep to be beautiful, Ki. It’s merely an observation that beautiful people sleep. In my world, we call that beauty sleep.”
She smirked. “In your world?”
I nodded, taking a swig of water from the bottle I’d left on the little bench by our bee and butterfly garden. That’d been Kiley’s idea and the first sign she wanted to have her own stamp on things. It was still my favorite part of the back yard.
“Yes. In my world. It’s serious business, sleep, so you can trust that I am an authority on the matter.” I was talking a bunch of nonsense, but it’d been a while since we’d just blown smoke.
“Yeah? Is that why you’re so bad at it, then?” She crossed her arms and kicked one leg over the other in a pose so relaxed, it would’ve made me smile but for the insult.
“Bad at something? You couldn’t possibly be talking about me.” I chuckled when that garnered me the biggest eye roll in history. “Careful. They’ll get stuck like that.”
She scoffed, then laughed. “That’s how I know you’re not just my brother—that right there.”
And even though she’d said it light and jokingly, I felt it. Dang, but did I feel the reality that I was more than her brother. I was her guardian, and that title held weight. It was both duty and honor, privilege and responsibility, and one I’d gladly bear. It was a gift to watch her grow into whoever she’d be, especially considering how little I saw of her when she was younger.
I hated that my being her guardian meant our mom hadn’t been able to be a parent to her. But I’d never been more appreciative of my idiot self for getting into the Army at seventeen and doing whatever I could to save up and build the things I’d never been certain of as a kid. I hadn’t built a family, but I had the makings of one already—me, Kiley, and this place.
“Seriously though, I think Nikki likes to sleep in, so you might want to adjust your quiet hours or something.” She turned and trudged up the stairs to the deck, then leaned on the railing and spoke down to me. “And you should probably throw on a shirt and think about showering before you try to flirt with her, because you’re all sweaty and gross and it’s not cute.” She made a face and her eyes flicked up toward the neighboring house, then she swirled on her feet and padded inside.
I turned just in time to see Nikki step out onto her porch. Her hair was slung back in a ponytail, face makeup free, a fluffy mint green robe hugging her upper body and—I swallowed. Her legs and feet were bare, and a flash of heat sent my heart beating faster, my own feet moving toward her like they ran this show.
Her robe ended just above her midthigh, and nothing stood between the end of that soft-looking material and her painted toes, and I wondered if I’d ever wanted to touch something so much. Not the robe—the miles of skin revealed below it.
“Hey. You’re out early.” She smiled when she noticed me, then her eyes flared.
I should’ve put on a shirt. I could’ve popped inside and showered and knocked on her door now that I knew she was awake. But I’d had no thought in my head other than the compelling need to be closer to her, to be near hernow.
“I was a little restless this morning. Thought I’d get some energy out.”
She bit her lip, and a handful of other ways I would like toget some energy outbattered my mind.
“That’s, uh, yeah. That’s good.” Her gaze slipped down my torso, snagged on the tattoos shadowing my pecs and over my shoulders, and then hit my face again.
I grinned when her blush darkened. How I loved the pale complexion that gave her away. Otherwise, she had a stellar poker face—at least sometimes she did. Right now, her expression said something, and it wasn’t that she found megross and not cute. On this, Kiley was apparently wrong.
“Hope I didn’t wake you up. Kiley said I need to observe quiet hours until at least ten for the sake of the neighbors who might want to sleep in.” I glanced at my watch—nine fifty-eight.
She shook her head, an amused smile gracing those beautiful lips. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t sleep in that late and Gram’s up at eight or earlier most days. I think maybe she was pleading for her own sake.”
“Could be,” I said, finally reaching the step of her deck. I set a hand on the post marking the end of the railing, just next to where she stood. Even having my hand within a foot of her made me feel hotter.
“So… what gave you all that energy so early?” she asked, eyes boring into mine.
“Just… thinking.” Over the years, I’d earned a reputation for being charming. Glad to see my ability to finesse and flirt had failed me so completely right when I wanted it.
Still, one side of her mouth slid up into that reluctantly amused smile she did sometimes, and I didn’t mind so much.
“Sounds profound.”
I nodded. “It sure was, right until Kiley came to tell me to pipe down and that I was all sweaty and gross and not cute and I couldn’t talk to you until I’d showered and put on a shirt.”
Her lashes fluttered. “Well, she’s a smart kid, but nobody’s perfect.”
A laugh tripped out, her comment so dry and unexpected, I grinned full-out at her. She smiled back at me while my stomach did somersaults. God, she was pretty and funny and smart, and I did wish I wasn’t all gross, because I couldn’t invade her space like this even though it was all I wanted.
