by Jill Sanders
“I couldn’t ask…” she started as she thought about all the work that had to be done at the cottage.
“I offered,” he countered quickly.
“Why?” She shook her head, not fully understanding why he was offering his help.
Again, he looked uncomfortable as he avoided her gaze.
“It beats helping my brother out today,” he answered with a shrug.
“I thought you and Jacob got along.” She leaned against the edge of the table and crossed her arms over her chest. Everyone in town knew the Jordan clan was as thick as thieves.
Here, in the daylight, she could take her time and fully assess the man. Not that she hadn’t before, but after the other night, she realized she’d never really given him a full chance.
He, of course, had the standard good looks that all the Jordan men had. He was probably the tallest out of all of them, though Iian Jordan did tower over everyone. She figured Conner was easily six-four or six-five.
His dark hair was a deal curlier than his younger brother’s.
“We get along great,” he said easily as his eyes met hers. “It’s Jacob and Rose that don’t get along. They fight like… well, siblings. The thought of getting between them while they work on this project scares me.” He shivered clearly for show since he had a smile pasted on his lips. “Besides, if I tell my mother that I’m helping you fix up the cottage, she won’t pressure me as much to moderate the fights I know are ensuing up at the job site.”
“Jacob and Rose?” she asked, watching him closely.
“Rose Derby, a friend of the family. My uncle hired her fresh out of college as head architect to design the new neighborhood. As I said, she’s like a sister to us.”
“Jacob doesn’t get along with her?” She couldn’t imagine it. Jacob was easily the most outgoing Jordan man she knew. He was always laughing and joking about something.
Conner chuckled and leaned a little closer. “Riley’s always joking they should just sleep together, then the fights would end.”
Kara smiled. “I had wondered if he had someone.”
Instantly, Conner’s eyes narrowed as he leaned back.
Kara could tell that he was thinking she had an interest in his brother and for a moment thought about telling him she didn’t. But something made her keep her mouth shut. She liked thinking that he was a little jealous. After all, that would mean that he had an interest in her. Right?
“If you want to help,” she continued with a shrug, “we were going to pull up the old carpet. It stinks.” She frowned. “It means pulling out all the furniture thought and, well, Robin and I haven’t had the time or the energy.”
“I’m your man then.” His smile was back. “If you show me what you want done, I can start today.”
“Today?” She thought of the mess she’d left in her bedroom and wondered about the rest of the place. Robin was the tidy one. Kara wasn’t a slob, she’d just been busy that morning. Robin had taken the truck into Edgeview early that morning to get supplies, and Kara had been tasked with picking up the flowers today. Actually, the more she thought about it, it had been her only task. She’d expected the job to take several hours since she would be walking back and forth to the flower shop.
There were parts of her that wished she still had her old car, which she’d sold to pay for the new BlueStar platinum series natural gas range for the kitchens. Then she remembered that everywhere she had to go in town was within walking distance. Besides, they depended on that stove for the business.
“Sure, I mean…” Conner broke into her thoughts. “I’ll have to head back and grab some tools first. If you want paint, I can swing by and grab that and some supplies.” He was thinking out loud, which gave her more opportunity to watch him.
With the sunlight streaking into the building, she could see honey colored specks mixed in his blue eyes. She got so lost in looking at them that she lost track of his conversation and when he stopped talking, she had to blink a few times to try and catch up.
“Sure,” she answered and started towards the door. “You can start in the living room. That carpet is the worst. We haven’t picked out what we’re going to replace it with, but at this point, exposed boards are better.”
“Some of these old homes have hardwood underneath. The last time I was in the cottage—”
“You’ve been in there before?” She stopped on the pathway between the two buildings and he almost bumped into the back of her.
“Yeah, I knew the Rogers family. They had a son around my age. He left shortly after high school and joined the Marines.”
“Of course.” She started walking again. Everyone in Pride knew everyone. She should have thought of that before.
When they stepped through the front door, she glanced around with a slight groan. Yup, the place was a mess.
Conner instantly knelt inside the door and yanked the carpet back.
“Yup.” He smiled up at her. “There’s some nice hardwood under here. I bet we can sand it down and stain it and this place will look good as new.” Then he glanced around. “How do you feel about the yellow walls?”
She winced. “Hate them. Both Robin and I were thinking of going with a light sky blue or a robin’s egg blue.” She walked over and grabbed the paint samples they had chosen.
Conner held them up and squinted his eyes as he looked around the room with them in front of his eyes.
“Sky blue.” He held it up and then moved closer to her. “Squint your eyes and look between the color and the walls.”
He was standing so close to her now that she could almost hear his heartbeat. She tried to focus on doing as he asked, but then his soft sexy scent filled her senses and her knees almost buckled.
“Okay,” she said after a moment, not caring really what color the walls were just as long as the dirty yellow was gone.
“I’ll head into town and pick up the supplies.” He glanced around and tucked the paint sample into his pocket. “If you want to get the smaller items out of the room, I’ll help you move the bigger ones into the dining area until the flooring and paint are done.”
“Sure.” She glanced around.
“You weren’t doing anything else today?” he asked suddenly.
“No, thanks to you, my one job today is done,” she answered with a smile.
His smile was quick. “Good.” He turned towards the door, then stopped. His eyes ran over her slowly. “You may want to put on some work clothes. Even though you look great in it, I’d hate for your dress to get dirty.”
She glanced down and nodded slowly.
When he walked out of the door, she slid onto the sofa and melted.
Damn. How could the simple look from him do that to her? She’d seen him around town for over a year and had hardly given him a second thought other than to recognize he was a sexy piece of meat. Now that he’d given her a little attention, her body was practically bursting into flames when he looked at her.
She fanned her face, and took a moment for the heat to leave her face. She got up and rushed around the room, tossing all their personal items into their own rooms.
Less than an hour later, when she heard Conner’s truck pull up outside, she had everything removed from the living room except for the big furniture. She’d also changed out of her skirt and blouse into a pair of worn jeans and a tank top under the oversized sweatshirt she always wore when she painted or sketched.
Swinging the door open, she smiled and felt excitement grow when she thought about working with him to better the cottage.
“Wow, you work fast,” he said, setting a bag of tools and a paint bucket just inside the doorway.
“I’ve been dying to fix up this place,” she admitted. “I just didn’t have the willpower to do it all myself.”
He chuckled. “What about Robin?” He glanced around.
“She’s running errands all day today. And trust me, she’ll be fine with whatever we do to improve it in here.” She motioned to the floor.
“She hates having to wear shoes inside.”
He nodded. “Think you can help lift the sofa? If not, we can slide it—”
“I can help,” she jumped in.
“Okay.” He motioned to one end. “We can fit it over by the table.”
She’d already moved all the end tables and other small stuff herself into the dining area. The sofa and the two recliners were all that was left.
The moment everything was moved out of the room, she stood back and watched Conner yank up the old carpet. It took him only a few tugs to have the massive square up from the floor and rolled into a heap. The amount of dust that floated in the air had her coughing and racing to open the front door and windows.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I should have thought to ask you to do that before I started yanking this up.” He bent down and lifted the entire carpet in his hands. “I’ll take this outside.”
Once all the windows were opened, she leaned down and started removing the carpet pad. Sure enough, a beautiful dark hardwood floor was underneath the mess.
“Here, let me help with that. If we do it right, we can roll it up easily,” Conner said when he came back into the room.
They spent the next few minutes trying to get the pad up, but it had been stapled down to the hardwood floor with big staples. Conner disappeared outside and came back with a pair of pliers and started pulling out each spot that was stuck.
In the end, she had to bring in her large garbage can and stuff it completely full of the pieces of the padding, which were nothing more than hand-sized chunks by the time they were done.
She poured them each a glass of iced tea as Conner pulled off all the tack boards from around the perimeter of the room. The wood strips came up a lot easier than the staples had.
They drank their tea and looked at the flooring.
“This looks…”—she shook her head slightly— “amazing. I mean, it’s like a hundred times better already.”
“If you have a broom and dustpan, we can get all the dirt cleared up. Then we’ll be able to see just how damaged the wood planks are and how much sanding and staining will need to be done.”
“Sure.” She set her tea down and disappeared into the kitchen. She opened the pantry door and cried out when the door shifted and started to fall towards her.
Strong arms reached around her and held the heavy thing up.
“This is dangerous,” he said, stepping around her and removing the door completely.
“It’s on the list to fix.” She sighed and rolled her shoulders, then reached in and took out the broom and dustpan.
Conner was looking at the rusted hinges on the doorframe.
“I might have some new hinges in my truck,” he said absently. After he leaned the large door against the countertop, he turned towards her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you.” She tried not to look too affected by his chivalry and those muscles he’d used to lift the heavy wood door.
His eyes ran over her slowly before he nodded. “I’ll run out to my truck.”
The moment she was left alone in the kitchen, she melted against the countertop, almost tipping over the door again.
Could she get any more turned on at this point?
Sure, the house was now a complete mess and covered in a layer of dust from the carpet, but watching Conner work was one of the greatest pleasures in her life.
When he walked in with a small box in his hands, she was back under control. Or so she thought. When he started working on replacing the door, she excused herself and went back into the front room to sweep all the dirt and dust from the hardwood flooring. She even pulled out the mop and worked until the wood flooring almost shined.
She’d been so busy herself that she hadn’t noticed that it had taken Conner a long time to rehang the door.
She stepped into the kitchen and held in a low gasp when she noticed he’d removed the cupboard doors.
“What are you doing?” she asked, instantly embarrassed at the lack of items and organization that the old doors had hidden. There had only been a few doors left on the cupboards when they’d moved in, and so they were the only cabinets that they had been able to use. The rest of the cabinets sat empty since they didn’t want to showcase the mess.
“My mom has some cupboard doors that would go better in here,” he said over his shoulder as he took down the last door. “She just had me move them all into the barn for storage. We can paint the cupboards and the doors and then add a few new knobs. By the time we’re done, you’ll have a new kitchen.”
“I didn’t expect you to go this far.” She shook her head.
He looked concerned suddenly, and she reached out and touched his arm. “I’m thankful, but don’t you have things to do other than this?”
He shook his head and then smiled quickly, and she felt her knees go weak.
Chapter Six
How could he tell her that she was saving him? Saving him from having to follow his little brother around like an underling. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have skills of his own. Hell, he could outswim Jacob any day or night.
But in the last two years, Jacob had spent his free time getting his general contractor’s license and studying everything there was to know about building.
“No, as I mentioned, I’m avoiding getting between my brother and Rose,” he reminded her.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and he understood she was skeptical of his reasoning.
He sighed and relaxed slightly. “About a year ago my uncle chose my little brother as head of what could be the largest project to come to Pride since the Coast Guard opened a training facility just outside of town about fifteen years ago.”
Her eyes opened slightly. “It stings. Knowing that your sibling is…” She stopped talking when his eyebrows shot up.
“Smarter?” he asked. He knew that Robin took care of the business side of things, while Kara tended to… be left hauling plants.
She frowned instantly and shook her head. “I was going to say more talented.”
He chuckled and motioned around. “I’m pretty talented myself. At least when it comes to fixing things up. Our dad never let us go one summer without doing something constructive around the old place.”
“Isn’t your dad a chef at your family’s restaurant?” she asked almost sarcastically.
He chuckled. “And I’m a glorified lifeguard.”
“I wouldn’t call you a glorified anything.” She instantly closed her mouth, and he watched heat flood her cheeks.
He couldn’t help but smile seeing her face heat. She’d been sexy in a dress at the wedding last week, damn hot in nothing but underwear and her bra as he’d pulled her from the water, but now, dressed in a pair of worn jeans and an old shirt covered in a layer of dust with her honey colored hair tied up, she was knockout gorgeous.
Clearing his throat to break the silence, he shifted and glanced out the window.
“What do you say we start painting the walls?” he offered.
She glanced back at the room and nodded.
Two hours later, they both stood and looked at the perfectly painted sky-blue room. The new color, mixed with the dark color of the wood, completely changed the room.
“It’s hard to believe that I’m standing in the same room,” Kara said. “I can’t thank you enough for helping out.”
He turned to her and reached up to brush a drop of blue paint from her face. He heard her breath catch when he moved closer. He hadn’t counted on getting caught up in her eyes or the immense sudden desire to kiss her.
Her body swayed to his as her eyes moved down to gaze at his lips. He did the same and held in a groan at the thought of what she would taste like.
They both glanced towards the windows when they heard a car outside.
Seeing the old truck pull into the parking spot out front, he figured now was a perfect time to head out and grab the doors for the cabinets.
“I’ll head on over to my place and grab the cabinet
doors.” He started to turn and then stopped. “I can be back after lunch with some other paint and the doors if you want to continue working in there.”
Her smile was quick. “I’d love that.” She followed him out to the front porch where her sister was unloading items from the back of the truck. “Thanks again for your help,” she called after him brightly.
“Sure thing.” He nodded to Robin as he passed her and headed to his truck.
He hadn’t wanted to stick around long when he’d spotted Robin show up. He knew how sisters could be and figured it was better not be around to witness how Kara explained the destruction they’d caused in the place. Then again, with the new paint and the hardwood floors exposed, he knew it was just a matter of cleaning things up and putting it all back together before it would look amazing.
Driving back to the house, he decided to sidestep explaining to his mother why he’d skipped out on helping Jacob and headed directly to the storage barn where he’d stored all the old cupboards and all the other things his mother had made him haul out of the house over the past year.
He knew that at one point his mother had run her family antique shop in town. It could easily explain why his mother was always holding onto old furniture.
Stepping into the dim barn, he was slightly surprised to see his father rummaging through the drawers of an old dresser they’d moved out of the house less than a month ago.
Walking over, he waited until his father noticed him standing off to the side just in the corner view of his eye.
“What are you doing here?” his father used sign language to ask him.
“I’m taking the old cupboard doors to Kara’s and maybe the buckets of French white paint mom decided was too bright for her office.”
His father’s dark eyebrows shot up as a slow smile formed on his lips. “Avoiding helping your brother out?”
Iian Jordan wasn’t a difficult man to read. It probably helped that Conner was pretty much the spitting image of his old man and saw the same expressions in the mirror each day. The main difference was Conner’s curly hair. Jacob had gotten his father’s straight locks while Conner took a little more after his uncle Todd.
