“You didn’t even recognize me,” she says. “I recognized you instantly. So maybe you shouldn’t make assumptions about someone that you haven’t seen in five years.”
Fucking hell. I start counting numbers backwards in my head so I don’t show her how bad I want her right now. Because I’m on the edge of a full-blown erection. The fire in her eyes and the way her arms are crossed lifting her breasts toward me. I love it. But that doesn’t excuse my point either. “You didn’t answer the question.”
“What was the question?”
“You’re going to fix all this?” I gesture to the house around us. “By yourself?”
“If I have to.”
“But can you? Do you have the skills to do that? Cause if you don’t then you need to have some words with your parents because they gave you an impossible task and that’s really unfair to you.”
Her eyes spark with anger, and I find myself leaning in. I wonder if I could kiss the anger away or if she’d slap me. I think I’d be down for either one, and that makes me question what the hell is wrong with me?
“It’s really none of your business,” she says. “So, if all you’re going to do is insult me, then you can fuck off and go back to wherever you came from.”
She’s standing tall, chest pushed out in defiance, glaring at me. In all the years we’ve known each other, I’ve never seen this kind of fire in her. It makes me want to push her buttons more to see what else she’ll throw at me. “You still didn’t answer the question, did you?”
“What question?” She rolls her eyes.
I step into her space so we’re nearly touching. The small, surprised gasp is everything, and if I leaned forward even an inch our bodies would be sliding against each other, and it’s a temptation that I’m savoring at the same time as I’m resisting because she’s so fucking hot that I’m going mad. Probably because there’s no blood left in my brain. It’s all in my cock.
“Do you have the skills to fix this mess?” I say softly. “Because I’m still curious what you’re going to do and if you suddenly became a master contractor in the last five years.”
The fire in her eyes makes me want to pin her against the wall and see if the fire tastes as good as it looks. But I hold back, waiting for her answer. I do want to know. A lot can happen in five years. Maybe she left town and turned herself into the best contractor this side of the Rio Grande. Hell if I know.
“No,” Klara says through gritted teeth. “I can’t do those things. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out. I’m going to get these houses into shape, in time. I’ll do whatever it takes. So, you can chill the fuck out with your judgement, Rey.”
I can’t stop the smile that crosses my face. “Good.”
“Good?”
“It’s what I like to hear,” I say. “You’ve got a spine. You’re going to need one to fix this mess.” A pause. “Maybe Klutzy Klara has grown up after all.”
Klara’s cheeks flame with a blush, and the air between us goes tight. This isn’t something I ever would have predicted. When I knew her, she was a gangly teenager who faded into the background.
The woman in front of me wouldn’t fade into the background of anything.
Klara’s eyes drop to my lips, and I swear to god if she kisses me, the state of this house won’t stop me from making her scream. What will her lips taste like? They look like strawberries. That makes me wonder what she’ll taste like other places, and if I don’t step back right the fuck now, then I’m not going to be able to stop myself from asking.
“Well,” I say quietly, “if you’re determined to do this, then I guess I’ll see you around.”
“I guess you will.” Her voice is breathy, and I hold back the smile from knowing how deeply I’m affecting her.
I open the door and look back to where she’s still staring after me. “Maybe next time I’ll see you without the skirt again. Or, if you’re game, topless would be a nice change of pace.”
She gasps, and I pull the door shut just before she takes her shoe off and hurls it at me. It thuds against the other side of the wood and I laugh. She might think that I’m kidding, but I’m absolutely not. Now that I’ve seen part of her, I want to see all of her. I’m dying to know if her nipples match the color of her lips and how far down her blush spreads.
If she’s planning to be around for a while to fix up the disaster that is this neighborhood, then maybe I’ll get the chance.