Strong Enough

It wasn’t, the yard actually looked very nice, and the patio was beautiful. But I knew that for Derek, there was no such thing as “good enough.” It had to be perfect. “I can do it all. Honestly. Just show me where everything is, and I’ll get it done in a few hours.”

He looked at me sideways. “You sure?”

“Positive. I like this work, and I’m good with my hands.”

The sunglasses covered his eyes, but the slight drop of his chin made me think he looked at my hands after I said that. He cleared his throat a second later. “Okay, then. The job’s yours. I’ll deduct from your rent.”

“No. This is a favor, Derek,” I said as we walked toward the house. “I’ll still pay the full rent.”

He unlocked the back door and pushed it open. “Whatever. But you’re going to need some money for clothes too.”

Oh, yeah. I’d sort of forgotten about that. While I was trying to think of a solution, he went on.

“Let’s not worry about rent for now, okay?” He set his keys and sunglasses on the shelf and took off his shoes. “When your savings get here, we can talk. I’ll help you make a budget. And we’ll get you that job so you can start saving for classes.”

I removed my shoes too, and followed him into the kitchen. “That sounds perfect. I don’t know how to thank you.” (A total lie. I could think of plenty of ways to thank him.)

He leaned back against the counter and took out his phone. “Pay it forward someday.”

“I will.” Turning away from him, I removed the hoodie he’d loaned me and hung it on the back of a chair. It was warm enough outside that I wouldn’t need it. When I was done working, I’d ask him if I could wash some things, and then stay out of sight during his dinner party. “I’m going to get started out there.”

“Tools are in the garage.” He didn’t look up from his phone. “I’ll be out in a minute. I’m just going over my grocery list.”

“Okay.” I put my shoes on again and went out the back door into the sunshine, unable to keep the smile off my face.

This already felt like a new life.

Eleven

DEREK

I kept my eyes on my phone until I knew he was out of my view.

Then I exhaled.

This wouldn’t be easy, having him around for two weeks. And yet…it would be completely easy. Enjoyable, even. It was the craziest thing—I felt comfortable with Maxim in a lot of ways. He was easy to talk to, he made me laugh, he was interesting and fun and different. I liked hearing about his life in Russia, too. It gave me some insight into why he was the way he was.

Where it got uncomfortable was when my body reacted to him. A hitch in my breath. A tightening in my chest. Heat in my blood. Provocation of that thing in me that existed only to want and didn’t care about the consequences.

It was maddening that I couldn’t feel those things for someone like Carolyn, who was perfect for me in every other way. Why should it be Maxim who ignited that fire in me, rather than her? What was it about him that wouldn’t let me out of its grasp? Why was I being punished this way?

As if being pulled by magnetic force, I walked over to the chair where he’d hung the sweatshirt I’d loaned him. Glancing out the sliding glass door to the patio, I saw him standing by the rosebushes at the side of the yard, the sun glinting off the gold in his hair. I picked up the sweatshirt and brought it to my face.

It was still warm from his body.

I inhaled slowly. Soap. Fabric softener. But there was something else there, too. At the deep end of my breath was the heady, masculine scent of his skin, and I held it captive in my lungs, closed my eyes.

You inside me.

My mind feasted on the scent. I felt my lips on his skin, my hands on his back, my chest against his. He was warm and strong and hard and—

Two quick knocks on the glass door made me jump, my eyes flying open to find Maxim standing there on the patio, his head turned, so he was looking away from me. I immediately dropped the sweatshirt onto the chair and slid the door open.

“Hey.”

He looked at me, his face impassive. “Hey. Do you have some gloves?”

“Uh, yeah.” My face was probably fifty fucking shades of red. But he hadn’t seen anything, right? “Be right out.”