Page 316 of Screwged for Christmas

God help her, all day with Aspen?

“Let’s start in the guest’s rooms. Those have the least amount of work in them. A few touch-ups on the paint which I’ll take care of, wood polishing, and Gran wanted to change out the light fixtures that have broken crystals and have dulled over the years.”

“I’ll grab my tool belt from the truck. Just point me to which room I should start in and I’ll take care of the lights while you get the paint.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

A few minutes later Ivy pointed Aspen to the Jane Austen’s themed room filled with lacy throws and pink accents while she took Charles Dickens’s directly across the hallway with its earthy browns and golds. Each theme denoted her gran’s favorite literary classics, designed to give guests a relaxed yet entertaining stay.

She turned to catch a glimpse of Aspen hitching his belt around his waist. His deep blue cotton T-shirt stretched over well-defined muscles as he set out to complete his task. Of all the people she would have never guessed he would be the one to help her, yet there he stood. How he wondered, did her luck change? Because if she knew that answer maybe she could replicate the magic.

* * *

HE COULD STILL TASTE her on his lips. She’d been so sweet, so damn passionate it killed him to walk away from her bed when the phone rang. But he knew Ivy Sunday. Push too hard, too fast and she would shut down. Run away again like she had on their wedding day. Back then he’d been too young and foolish and let her go. This time, when she tried to run, he’d make damn sure she didn’t get far. If he were honest with himself, the second he spotted her on the deck, cast iron skillet raised he knew she would be his again.

Aspen tightened the last of the screws for the antique chandelier and made his way to where he left Ivy with her iPod and paintbrush.

How the hell did she manage to look so beautiful in an old pullover and a messy ponytail? He leaned against the doorframe and watched as she lost herself in the work. Her head bopping to whatever tune she had in the queue. He was experiencing Ivy in her element surrounded by the very thing that made her happy. He almost felt like he had a secret window into her soul and he needed to tread softly.

Part of him wished she’d opted for her reindeer slippers and pajamas so he could have could watched her pretty cheeks flush as he teased her. Then her body come to life as he stripped her of them and made love to her between the paint buckets and brushes.

His cock thickened and pressed against the confinements of his jeans.

He was about to pull away and head back downstairs to see what he could do about the decorations when he paused. Better yet…

Aspen pushed up and grabbed a second brush and dipped the tips in the bone-white liquid. “Mind if I help?”

She jumped. “Oh!” She laughed, a delicate hand to her mouth. “You scared the hell outta me.”

“Sorry. I just finished up the last of the light fixtures and thought you could use a hand here.”

And another question hit on the tail end of the last. How did she manage to smell like a sweet summer day in the middle of winter with paint buckets scattered all around her? He put a few steps between them before temptation had him getting her naked the fastest possible way.

“Thanks.” The single word answer came out a little shaky, and he grinned down at her.

They worked their way around the room. With him painting the top while she worked the edges and the trimming.

“Do you remember the last time we worked like this together?”

“Mmm-hmm. The gazebo. Your gran wanted one in the back yard and the next day we started building it.”

“I never had so many splinters and bruised thumbs in my life!”

He chuckled. “Or blisters and sunburns. It took us two months to finish that damn monstrosity.” All his fault with careful planning. When he’d heard of their acceptance into the University of Alaska he’d dragged out the project as long as possible so he could spend every second he could steal with her. Once fall rolled around, time together would be limited. They were set to marry the week before. had everything gone according to plan They would move to be closer to the university and they would start their lives together. Neither of their parents was happy about it, but they didn’t object either.

That summer they were up early every morning, lunches under the shade of the large pine with quick dips in the lake to cool off. “And now? Any better with a hammer?”

“I can wield a paintbrush like Michelangelo, but sadly not a hammer. But I did get smarter.” She waggled her brows playfully. “I got a nail gun.” The way her smile lit her face up had his cock ready to burst and sink into her until his name dripped from her lips. Did she know how beautiful she was? How she lit up a room simply being herself?

“You have to admit, it was the best summer hands down.” He watched her face for any signs. Of what he didn’t know. Regret. Sadness. Ghosts of summers past.

She paused her brush an inch from the wall as she raised her gaze to his. “I didn’t want it to end.” She stood and walked over to the window that overlooked the lake. They had great times with friends and family by those shores. Time he wished he could get back. Do things differently.

“Ice skating in the winter and swimming in the summer. If that tiny beach could talk it would tell a wonderful story, don’t you think?”

He nodded as he joined her by the window. With a swooping movement, he pulled back the lace curtains and propped himself up on the window frame as he studied her profile. “It didn’t have to, you know? End.”

Without looking at him Ivy dusted off the imaginary dirt clinging to her jeans.

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