by Jessica Gray
“Curious as to what I’m doing at the cabin?” Rocco moved closer, and she could appreciate his strikingly beautiful blue eyes. Why did all the scorching hot men have to be assholes?
“Maybe. My uncle said you’re doing some remodeling inside and fixing some things outside.”
“How about I buy you another drink and show you my plans?” Rocco offered, his voice low and husky.
“Is that kind of like offering to show me your etchings?” Lee asked, doing her best to steady her voice. His nearness made her nervous. Nervous and hot. Unbelievably hot.
“Ha-ha. No, I have the drawings I did for your uncle on my iPad. You’re welcome to look at them if you want.”
“I’d like that. How about we find a table, though? These barstools are not the most comfortable place to sit,” Lee said as she slid off the stool and rubbed at her hip.
“What are you drinking?” Rocco asked, while he picked up her drink and sniffed. He put the glass down again with a broad grin. “Screwdriver?”
“Yes.” Lee totally missed the grin Rocco threw her way. She was busy looking around to locate an empty table. When she found one near the back of the bar, she gestured in that direction and said, “I’m gonna go grab us that table.”
“Sure. I’ll be right there.” After refreshing her drink and grabbing another beer for himself, Rocco joined Lee at the table and watched her intently as she took a very tiny sip of her screwdriver and followed it up with a larger drink of water.
“Lightweight, huh?” Rocco grinned and sat down besides her.
“Yep, I never liked the taste of beer, and it doesn’t take much of the harder stuff to knock me.” Lee felt the blood rushing to her cheeks – she was so not defending herself.
He just nodded. “So, you want to see my plans for your uncle’s cabin?”
“Sure.”
Rocco grabbed his iPad from his backpack and turned it on. While he waited to open the correct app, Lee moved her gaze around the bar, in an attempt not to stare at him. What wouldn’t she give to run her hands through his hair? She loved the way it was cut almost military-short in the back and slightly longer on top of his head.
Her musings were interrupted by his strong hand on her arm. Fire burnt through her body and she had to take a big sip of the drink in front of her. This must have been the worst idea in her life to sit besides him, staring together into the tiny screen of his iPad.
He had loading the plans for the cabin, and handed her the iPad, and she already wanted to sigh in relief, but then he touched her hand while showing her how to scroll around and see the 3-D renderings of the proposed changes. The fire in her body intensified and she couldn’t move.
Only when Rocco said, “Here, try it yourself,” and backed away a few inches could she breathe normally again and use her trembling fingers to move the 3-D renderings around.
When Lee turned to look at him, she noticed, he’d been watching her the entire time with tension, even anxiety. But the anxiety transformed into pride and pleasure as soon as she said, “These are absolutely stunning. If you can envision something like this, why on earth are you working as a handyman instead of designing buildings?”
The drawings were absolutely fabulous. He’d found a way to utilize the wall of windows and yet afford the residents inside the privacy currently missing. The man was a genius.
“Rocco, I mean it. You’re a genius.”
His grin broadened and for the first time since she’d met him, she saw something like satisfaction on his face. “Well, I did study to become an architect, but life has a way of throwing curveballs at you, and you either hit a home run off them, or you make an out.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Look, I had this girlfriend in college. She had grand ideas of us taking a year off after graduation and traveling around, seeing the sites, doing our own thing – free spirits, sort of. I had been offered an internship with one of the top architecture companies in the country and was excited to start with them. But she convinced me taking a year off wouldn’t hurt my career choices and the jobs would be there the next year as well.”
“And they weren’t?” Lee asked, intrigued to find out more about him. Nothing about him was the way she’d expected it after their first encounter this morning.
“I don’t know. I never went looking for them.”
Lee stared at him, trying to find the missing piece to the puzzle. What he had just told her didn’t make any sense. “Why wouldn’t you go looking for them?”
“I no longer cared about finding them, I guess.” Rocco was staring at his hands as they lay on the table.
“What happened to your girlfriend?” Lee longed to touch him, to make the obvious torment disappear from his eyes and voice.
“Well now, that would be why I didn’t care about finding the job. See, she decided having me at her disposal wasn’t enough. She liked to collect things, and men were at the top of her list. While she was with me, she hooked up with every other willing man. When I finally found out what was going on, I confronted her on it. The next day, she cleaned out our bank accounts, sold everything of value we had, and disappeared.”
“That’s awful.” Lee put her hand in front of her mouth.
“Yeah. I was devastated. My family and friends had tried to warn me and I hadn’t listened. When I finally pulled my head out of the bottle of Jack, I realized I no longer had the drive to play in the big corporate world. And here I am. Surprisingly, I actually enjoy what I do.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say.” Lee watched Rocco for several long moments before she continued. “She was an idiot, you know that, right?”
“My old girlfriend?” Rocco asked.
“Yep, she had no idea what she was giving up. You have real talent and I’m sure if you wanted to, you could get a job with a big architectural firm anytime.”
Rocco glanced at Lee, seemingly not sure if he should believe her, but then his face hardened and he said, “Whatever. I like my life just the way it is right now.”
Lee yawned. It had been a long and exciting day. And she needed to get away from this man who was getting under her skin, too much for her liking. This morning she’d wanted to have him arrested and now she was about to jump at him and tie him up herself. Time to go. “Thanks for the drink but I’m gonna head home now.”
“It’s kind of early, isn’t it? What kind of city girl goes to bed at 8 o’clock?”
“Well, I haven’t been sleeping well and someone woke me up at the crack of dawn, so I need some extra sleep,” Lee said, while she stood up.
Rocco smileded at her reference to their first encounter. From the way he licked his lips, he remembered the sight she’d given him. Stark naked. Heat flushed her entire body and she turned her face away.
“Do you always sleep naked?”
She jerked around to do some damage to his handsome face, but he’d already taken a step back in a safe place. “You’ll never find out.”
A snot-nosed yet adorable grin crossed his face as he answered. “As you say. Sweet dreams, princess. I’ll be up tomorrow.”
Not waiting for her to leave the booth, Rocco turned on his heels and returned to the bar for another beer. Lee shook her head. He definitely could use a lesson in manners. None of the men she knew in the city would have dared to leave the booth before her, let alone not walk her to her car.
Back at the cabin, the answering machine was blinking and her uncle had left a message that he’d be stopping by tomorrow afternoon to see how things were working out.
Chapter 8
Zzzzzzzzzzz. ZzzzzzzzzEeeeeeee. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
“Not again,” Lee groaned as she attempted to block out the noise by pulling a pillow over her head. When it didn’t work, she crawled from the bed and remembered to grab a robe, as she headed for the first confrontation of the day. The clock on the fireplace showed it was almost 9 o’clock this morning. Well, that was at least better than 7 a.m.
&n
bsp; She opened the back porch door and screamed, “Would you please stop making so much noise?”
Rocco didn’t appear to have heard her as he continued what he was doing without even pausing. Lee slipped on a pair of slippers and stepped out onto the deck, positioned herself in his line of vision, and tried again: “Rocco, turn that blasted thing off!”
As soon as he became aware of her, he let go of the power button on the drill just in time to hear her shout at him. As he looked her up and down, he seemed slightly disappointed at the fact she had remembered to dress this morning.
“Good morning to you as well. Lots of work to do today,” he said with a wink and turned back to his project and started the power tool up again.
Lee watched him with her mouth hanging open. The man had some nerve. Didn’t he understand she needed her rest? It was evident that he didn’t care. So much for the slightly better opinion she’d formed about him last night.
She threw up her hands, and made her way back into the house, taking great satisfaction in slamming the door. It was a shallow victory, as she was sure he wouldn’t be able to hear it over the deafening noise of his power tools, but at least she felt better. Now that any chance to sleep had evaporated, she trudged toward the kitchen and started the coffee machine.
While the coffee brewed, she returned to the bedroom and dressed for the day, brushed her teeth, and applied a minimal amount of makeup. She might as well look presentable when Uncle Charlie visited later in the day.
As she poured herself the first cup of coffee, she inhaled the aroma and then let out a long sigh. Okay, so maybe she had been a touch grumpy this morning. But who wouldn’t be grumpy after being awakened by the sound of those tools? It was his own fault…
Through the window, she watched Rocco work for several minutes before the guilt overwhelmed her. She definitely owed him an apology for her earlier outburst. A cup of coffee might be appropriate. Said and done. She poured another cup of coffee, and placed both cream and sugar on a tray.
Then she took a deep breath and headed toward the porch door, where she set the tray down on the small deck table, before she cautiously approached Rocco, trying to gain his attention.
It was useless to try and shout over the noise, so she put herself again into his line of vision, and sure enough, he stopped working and stood up as soon as he became aware of her. His expression was unreadable and it took her some courage to continue with her plan to apologize.
“Rocco, would you like some coffee?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, while she pointed to the deck table.
He glanced at her for a moment and then nodded, “Sure, coffee sounds good. Did you happen to bring any sugar out?”
“Yes, I brought cream as well. I wasn’t sure how you took your coffee.” She gave him a tentative smile, suddenly feeling foolish about her earlier outburst. Since when did she behave like a two-year old?
“Sugar will do.” He followed her to the table, “Thanks. I’m sorry I woke you up again this morning. I did wait until 9 o’clock to use the power tools.”
“No, I should be the one apologizing to you. I woke up grumpy and took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
Rocco gave her a little nudge with his shoulder that sent tingles down her spine. “It’s okay. I’ve been known to wake up grumpy from time to time as well.”
Lee preferred not to pursue the topic of waking up and changed the topic. “So what are you working on today?”
“First of all, replacing the remaining split boards on the deck rail. I’ll need to replace several of the uprights and have to stick some temporary supports up,” he explained.
“Temporary what?” His explanations sounded like Chinese to her.
“While I attached the new uprights, I have to have some way of holding them, otherwise the whole deck will tumble down.”
The grin on his face was absolutely irresistible and Lee shocked herself with her offer, “I can give you a hand, if you want to.”
“You?” His eyes widened, “Well, why not? I sure could need some help.”
Several times throughout the morning, he knocked on the patio door, asking her to come hold a board for him while he screwed it in place. Each time, she felt herself more attracted to him. Being so near gave her all the time in the world to focus on his gorgeous body with the rippling muscles back and front; she assisted him without any complaints. Who was she to complain watching a shirtless hunk anyway?
***
Rocco had enjoyed Lee’s help in the morning. Contrary to his first impression she wasn’t the city princess he’d assessed her to be. No, she was actually quite practical once she’d stopped her snobbish behavior. Not to mention she was hot as hell, and every part of him longed to touch her smooth skin and kiss her luscious lips.
After lunch, she’d wandered back out to ask if she could be of further help, but Rocco had to tell her he wouldn’t need her anymore. He would have liked to keep her around, but there just wasn’t a single task he could think of where he might need her help.
Was it just his imagination, or did she look disappointed when she sauntered back inside the cabin? He didn’t see her for a while and wondered what she was doing, until he rounded the cabin to work on the side facing the lake.
Holy Lord! Rocco broke out in a sweat at the sight unfolding in front of him. Lee walked vigorously on the treadmill facing the lake. She had changed into a pair of tight-fitting black gym shorts that left nothing to the imagination and highlighted her long legs. His eyes were drawn directly to her breathtaking backside, and the rhythmic up and down of her legs sent pulsating throbs through his groin.
Salivating, he let his eyes travel further up her body, caressing her slim and bare belly, until he reached the very pink and very tiny sports bra just barely containing her ample breasts. Her breasts moved with every step she took and he ached to fill his palms with them. Even her haphazard ponytail was sexy, and Rocco couldn’t help but stare at her for what felt like an eternity.
Fortunately she was so lost in the movie playing on the screen of the treadmill, she was oblivious to everything around her, including him. Get a grip, man! With the last ounce of willpower he turned away from the tantalizing sight and worked on the deck boards at the bottom of the stairs for the remainder of the afternoon. Anything to not torture himself staring at her without the slightest hope ever to be allowed to touch her.
Thirty minutes later, he reached the landing and once again had an unobstructed view of Lee as she continued to keep a steady pace on the treadmill. As he watched her, she smiled at something and occasionally giggled. He moved along the deck until he could see what movie she was watching. A popular comedy playing on the television. He left Lee in her own little world and got back to work.
A while later, the deep voice of Charlie Taylor interrupted him. “Hi, Rocco, how’s everything going?”
“Hi, Charlie. Going just fine. I’ll show you.” He gestured for Charlie to follow him and showed him what he had already accomplished, and then discussed the rest of his plans for the outside deck.
“And how are things going with my niece?”
The question caught him off guard and he blinked several times before he answered, “I’m not sure what you mean…”
Charlie chuckled, “Well, I heard she was about to have you arrested.”
“Oh that…” Rocco tried to hid his reaction to the memory of the “naked scene” as he’d named it. “That was a misunderstanding. She’s not too fond of my noisy power tools, but we kinda agreed on a schedule.”
Lee’s uncle searched Rocco’s eyes for a moment before he said, “I’m glad to hear you two are getting along. She’ll be here for a while, but you still need to get the work done before winter sets in.”
They walked around the corner to the side of the cabin facing the lake, and Rocco spotted Lee, who had finished her run and was just putting the treadmill away. When she looked through the window, he waved at her and pointed to her uncle.<
br />
Lee hurried outside and greeted her uncle with a big hug. “Uncle Charlie, I’m glad I didn’t miss you.” Her uncle returned the embrace, but then held her at arm’s length and took a moment to look at her attire. With raised eyebrows he asked, “And this is…?”
Rocco almost chuckled at the sight of the cute blush appearing on her face as she glanced down at herself. “I was just exercising on your treadmill when I spotted you through the window.”
Charlie nodded and said, “I was just questioning Rocco about some built-in planters on the plans – what do you think?” He pointed to the place where the planters would stand.
Lee crooked her head and said, “I believe they’d look perfect there. Did he show you his plans for the inside as well?”
If her uncle was surprised that Rocco had showed the plans to his niece, he didn’t show it. If anything, he seemed to be content that Lee and Rocco were getting along better than it had sounded like yesterday. “Of course. I approved them. How do you like the proposed renovations?”
“The plans are stunning. He’s a genius; the way he’s figured out a way to maximize the wall of windows and still create a sense of privacy is amazing.”
Rocco drew his eyebrows together and growled, “It’s nothing. Anyone could have come up with the same plan.” He didn’t know why her praise bothered him so much. Her taking his side had spread a warm feeling across his chest. A feeling he didn’t appreciate at all.
Charlie looked at Rocco and then at his niece, squinting his eyes, before he said, “I’m sure the next several weeks will be fun, and I am looking forward to the finished product.”
Rocco wasn’t sure what exactly Charlie had referred to, but decided it was better not to ask and put on a fake smile. He held his breath, glancing over to Lee and waiting for her next words of wisdom. When none were forthcoming, he gave a mental sigh of relief and decided to leave while the leaving was good.
“I’m gonna take a late lunch. Charlie, stop by sometime later in the week, I should have the planters and benches installed by then.”
