Every Night (Brush of Love 1)

She was vulnerable, wild, and sweet with a touch of chaotic. I could feel my body tightening for her. I could feel my skin burning and crying out for the warmth it knew she could provide. But my body’s quick ability to cave to a woman I didn’t know worried me. This was a chaotic woman with no roots other than the ones she created herself, and I didn’t know her.

I was worried that I had already gotten in too deep.

But how was that possible? I’d only shaken her hand yesterday. The events of the day came rolling back to me. The dusty building. The electrical issues. The smell of her sweating skin.

That painting.

Holy hell, that fucking painting.

I closed my eyes and conjured it. The brown cabin in the thicket of trees with the Jeep sitting to the side as the lights shone from the rooms inside the home. It was reminiscent of a drawing John did when he was in high school. A drawing of our family cabin my parents had built when we were kids and wanted a treehouse in the backyard.

My brother’s first car was a Jeep.

I rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. I turned around, taking in the tattoo I had put on my back. It was the first one I’d ever gotten, and it was that same cabin drawing John did when he was in high school. It started at the lower left quadrant of my back and took up about a fourth of the span of my entire breadth. I had it done shortly after John had died because I wanted something to remember him by. I took it to fourteen different tattoo artists before I found one confident enough to take on the drawing.

I’d been back to the same artist ever since for each of the subsequent tattoos I’d designed for myself.

Then, the most important part of the day came back to me. The estimate I promised her. I told her I’d do it for free, and I knew the only reason I promised that was because I was attracted to her. The wildness of her life. The freedom she seemed to possess. She flew by the seat of her pants, much like my brother, and that was something I admired.

I possessed many traits, but spontaneity wasn’t one of them.

I didn’t care about the free estimate, though. I wasn’t wasting anyone else’s time but my own. It wouldn’t affect the company in any way since I wasn’t pulling anyone from a job site, and I was oddly excited about the fact that I’d see this woman again. But I had to start my research. I had to take the day off to make sure I could get her some accurate numbers, which meant informing Drew I wouldn’t be into the office today.

I cleaned myself up at the sink before I grabbed my phone. I dialed Drew in the office as I ran water for my hot shower. At first, I thought he wasn’t going to pick up. I was about to hang up and call his cell, asking him why in the world no one was at the office yet. But then, he picked up the phone, panting and huffing as he did so.

“B.D. Construction. This is Drew speaking. How may I help you?”

“Late to work again, huh?” I asked.

“Heard the phone while I was still in the staircase,” he said. “What gives? Where are you? Not that I give a shit. You’re almost never in the office anyway, which is why I’m glued to this place.”

“Boo-hoo. Listen, I won’t be in the office today.”

“Again. Got it. What the fuck did you call for?” he asked.

“To let you know.”

“You never let me know.”

“This is true,” I said. “So, I guess I called to rub it in your face.”

“You’re a dick of the biggest proportions,” he said.

“Thank you. It is quite a beauty. Listen, how are things going at the mobile home site? Are things wrapping up all right? It’s supposed to be done by this weekend.”

“Yep. You gonna be there for the homeless guy’s big reveal?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it. How are we on those other two sites we were going to develop?” I asked.

“Already got both sites set up for preliminary clearing tomorrow,” he said. “You scouting the city for other people you can hire?”

“Yep. I’ll be doing that today as well as looking at another potential project.”

“Oh, really? Do tell,” he said.

“I’m not sure about anything yet. Getting out into the city to clear my head about it while looking for people to hire will help me decide whether I want to do it or not.”

“Sounds about like you, yep.”