Page 201 of One More Kiss

Honestly, I had to step out back in hopes the cold air could calm me down. I didn’t know what it was about her, but I couldn’t help but act like I was hard up. I was right though. She was the perfect balance of woman, cute but still sexy, sweet but fiery, curvy and soft. I probably should have thought twice about touching her without permission, especially since she likes true crime shows.

I drank my coffee, called Danny and Bo, then went back inside after I got an update of nothing new but more rain.

“Hey, do you mind if I go up and shower? I’ll use the stuff we provide. I just don’t want to put my clean clothes back on ‘til I’m clean, too.”

“Sure, I’ll be here working.” She was dressed with gloss on already. Pink, plump, glossy lips.

I grabbed my clothes from the dryer and headed upstairs. She kept the room tidy, and her bed was made. In the bathroom, not much was on the counter except toothpaste, a toothbrush, and two jars of what I guess were some kind of skincare. Toothbrush. I wondered if there was one in the truck.

Still dressed, I started bounding down the stairs.

“You okay?” she asked from the couch.

“Yeah, I need to check the truck for a toothbrush.”

“Oh, I have an extra.”

I stopped. “You do? I can check the truck.”

She put her computer down and stood, then headed up the stairs so I followed. She opened her luggage and there was a carboard pack of toothbrushes. “I had this unopened in my cabinet, so I grabbed it instead of bringing my normal one.” She pulled one out and handed it to me. “They’re cheap ones but they clean your teeth. And my toothpaste is on the counter.”

“Thanks. I’ll add it to my tab.”

She smiled. “No worries. I’m not keeping tabs. We’re both stuck here so we gotta make the most of it, right?”

I nodded. Stuck here. She’s stuck here with me. Great.

“Yep. Well, I guess I’m gonna hop in the shower so…”

She flung her arms up and her eyes went wide. “Oh, I guess I need to give you some privacy. Sorry.” She giggled and went to the door. “I’ll leave ya alone now.”

While the water warmed up, I took my clothes off and threw them to the door, so I’d remember to grab them on the way out. I climbed into the shower and let the hot water warm my bones. I sat on the porch a while before I came back in, and it was cold and rainy still. It would be at least a few more days before a crew made it up because it was still raining, and they were tending to the main roads first. We were definitely off the beaten path.

Stuck here. Make the most of it. Was I that terrible? I guess I had come off a little rough and maybe came on a little strong after that. I could take it down a notch. Making her uncomfortable was not my intention at all. I wasn’t sure what my intention was exactly anyway. But it wasn’t that.

She was a tourist. She lived hours away according to what she told Bo. It’s not like anything would come of it, even if I did make a move. Plus, she clearly was nervous. Yep. I needed to back off.

I finished the shower, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, got dressed, then went downstairs and tossed my sleep clothes in the wash. Trying to be quiet, I sat in the kitchen scrolling my phone a while to keep tabs on the rain and the roads. I checked social media to see what some of my buddies were saying was happening in other areas.

After a while I switched the laundry to the dryer then went to the front porch and sat, taking notice of the gravel driveway. Some had washed away but most was intact. Needing to burn off some energy, I went to the truck and grabbed my rain slick and the axe from the bed. If there were trees on the trail, I could at least try to bust them up little.

The rain let up a little as I walked past the side of the cabin and headed toward the trail, we took the four-wheelers on. I walked behind the cabin and only a few yards up the trail a smaller tree was downed.

Walking over to it, I kicked it in several places to see if any of it was splintered or weak. Under the tree cover the drizzle wasn’t coming down so I removed my rain slick and pulled the towel from the pocket to dry the axe handle.

I fixed my stance and started swinging the axe down with almost exact precision on the same spot over and over. After several minutes of steady hits, the cut was more than halfway down so I dropped the axe and dropped a few kicks to the end of the tree before the section fell away.

One down, a thousand to go.

So much for the shower I had earlier…I was sweaty and hot. I took off my flannel and lay it over the section I just chopped before I moved on to the next one. At least I could burn off some of the pent-up energy, even if it was ridiculous to think I could clear all the logs with an axe.

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