Page 10 of Anything for You
I figured since I was witnessing the moment, I should break it before he heard me breathing heavily and weird as I took in his quiet reflection, so I asked if he was okay. And then my brain short-circuited as I tried to say he looked hot, like temperature hot, because he turned toward me and mountain man beard be darned,he was so flippin’ hot.
Some of his dark hair had blown over his forehead, and I could actually see his mouth was opened softly with a hint of white teeth, and then—good with a side of ness, his plaid shirt was unbuttoned and a three-inch strip of his chest and abs were showing and yes.
I would raise my hand and admit it in the courts. I was temporarily mesmerized by the sight of golden skin and intriguing ridges and even a dusting of hair between his pecs.
I’m sorry, your honor! I didn’t fully realize howridiculously hot my grizzly bear of a landlord is until he teased me with this pec and ab cleavage! I cannot be blamed for my ogling because it was due to his assault with a dead-sexy weapon!
Okay, so maybe I was being dramatic, but the utter vomitorium of word salad that spewed from my mouth in the seconds after my brain whited out from his magma-hot post-work appearance absolutely required an apology. It did. And I still needed to apologize for making him leave last night. Clearly, he’d found a way to handle the crowd or circumstances or whatever had been bothering him, and my approaching with abandon had ruined that.
When a curt double-knock came at my door, I gave myself one last look and flared my eyes, pointing my rubber-gloved finger at myself in the mirror. “Keep it together, Jensen.”
Tossing the gloves at the kitchen sink, I sucked in a calming breath and centered myself.
Ha, j/k, I danced around in a panic silent-screaming at myself to calm down, then swung open the door with a clownishly large smile.
“Hi. Thanks for coming. It’s just through here,” I said in a pitch I wasn’t certain my voice had ever reached. Vocal constriction due to nervous energy, coming in hot!
He waited, evidently willing to follow me into his own cabin as though he didn’t know the way. I pivoted on a heel, not ever quite letting my eyes reach his face since the whole voice and energy situation clearly indicated I’d have a blush to light a thousand fires on my hands.
I hovered at the doorway of the bathroom and flipped on the light, turning to face him. “So, the—oh! You trimmed your beard!”
His big hand reached up and scrubbed across the facialhair remaining. It was still a full beard covering his jaw and chin, but I could see the shape of things. And… yeah. He had a nice face.
As though I needed any more assistance noticing this man’s assets.
“Yeah. Gets hot this time of year and just hadn’t gotten around to it, but today was too much. Had to go.” He ran his hand over his head, which still had the longish strands with a slight wave and curl at the end.
Honestly, it was gorgeous hair. I couldn’t say whether I’d ever thought much about a man’s hair other than appreciating when it looked nice, maybe? Or that time when Jamie Morris cut off all his hair and everyone on Earth mourned the passing of his man bun? But otherwise, I’d never looked at a man’s hair and wanted to touch it.
Not like now…
“Well, looks nice. You have a nice face.”
His brows jumped up, then lowered. “Thank you?”
I giggled because nerves and also, was he confused? “Is that a question?”
He blinked, shaking his head. “No. It’s… no.”
Without any way to read his mind or expression or anything about him because I hardly knew the man, I let it go.
“Well, so, the shower…” I slipped past him, trying not to feel the sizzle from contact with his warm skin as our arms brushed. Pulling back the curtain of the tub, I flipped the water on. “Brace yourself.”
I pulled the knob to start the shower, and water sprayed everywhere. Instantly, he moved to shut the water off, his hand covering mine briefly before the flow halted and he removedit.
“Sorry about that. Shouldn’t take me long to fix it. Let me grab a few things and I’ll be back, if you don’t mind?”
“Of course. Thanks. Just come on back in whenever, no need to knock again.”
Aware enough to know I’d seem like a real creep if I hovered in the doorway and watched him work, I grabbed my e-reader and snuggled into the couch. It was way too warm to have a fire, but I could see myself sitting here reading all evening come fall, and I couldn’t wait for future Dove to enjoy such a simple pleasure.
He knocked, but then the door swung open and he moved through the space on fairly light feet considering the heavy-looking work boots. These must’ve been a different set than he’d been wearing earlier because they looked nearly pristine whereas the others appeared to have been dipped in mud.
The water in the bathroom went on, then quickly back off. I’d have liked to see what he was doing to solve the problem, but maybe I could just ask. Eventually, I’d own a home again, and when that time came, it’d be good to know more about plumbing and such.
My childhood education focused on practical and “womanly” pursuits. Plumbing wasn’t part of the course, nor was anything much outside of meal prep, child-rearing, and sewing. There was a reason I would never enjoy cross-stitch or crocheting as an adult, though fortunately my interest in medicine had been allowed.
It’d been my loophole to escape the role of nanny or preschool teacher given to all the young women as though we all loved kids equally. Don’t get me wrong, I loved kids, but I didn’t want to spend all day every day with them. God bless the people who did, women and men… ’twasn’t me.
