Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) (25 page)

Read Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) Online

Authors: Ines Saint

Tags: #Romantic Comedy, #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Forever Love, #Adult, #Bachelor, #Single Woman, #Spinning Hills, #Ohio, #Town History, #Small Town, #Amador Brothers, #Community, #Hammer & Nails, #Renovating Houses, #Family Tradition, #Quirky, #Line Streets, #Old-Fashion Town, #Real Estate Agent, #Ten Years, #Small Agency, #Partnership, #Hometown, #Always Love, #Reconciliation, #Friendship, #Settling Down, #Houseful Of Love, #Little TLC

BOOK: Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2)
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Sam gave her a half grin, as if to say,
I always deliver
. “Of course.”
“I think Jake will like that,” she said, unable to look at him. “And I think we should draw him a fun map so he can find the time capsules and add his own.”
Sam leaned in and kissed her, thoroughly, until she melted against him. “I love you, Cass,” he said, hugging her to him tightly. “All of you. Your good intentions, your sweet heart, your harebrained ideas, and the fact that you drive me nuts. I need to be driven nuts sometimes. You make me feel alive.”
“Nobody likes to be driven nuts. That must be passion talking.”
He lifted her chin to look into her eyes before brushing his lips against hers. Her knees instantly felt weak and her insides aflame. “It’s definitely that, but it’s friendship and respect, too. What can I do to make you see?” he asked, running his fingers along the goose bumps on her arms.
Trembling, she looked down at the key she’d put on the grass. “I don’t think anybody has ever loved me like you, Sam. I can’t shut it out or refuse to listen anymore. You’re too loud.” She smiled up at him. “The scary part is I love you, too.”
“I know. Unlike you, I’ve been listening all along.” He winked.
Cassie groaned. “I have a confession to make. The wink really turns me on. It’s why it made me so angry.”
“And the suit?” he asked.
“So hot.” She tugged on his lapels. “It’s a good thing I’m all grown up and allowed to play with fire,” she said before brushing her lips across his. He picked her up and nearly tripped as she sprinkled kisses on his neck on the way back inside.
“Careful. I’m buying this house, and I don’t want you breaking your neck here and jinxing it forever.”
“You can’t buy it. I’m keeping it.”
“Sam!” She wiggled out of his arms, then stood facing him, outraged, but he lifted her arms and pinned her body and hands to the wall behind her, teasing her with slow, strategic, agonizing kisses while she tried to pant an argument to that.
“Shush. There’s only. One way. It can be yours. Too,” Sam mumbled between long, drawn-out kisses. “In time.”
“
Sam!”
She tried again, but what started as a yell turned into a moan.
“That’s more like it . . .” he said, as she dragged him down onto the floor.
Keep reading for a sneak peek at
Fixer-Upper
Available Winter 2016
Prologue
One year ago . . .
 
J
ohnny stepped into the small elevator, hit the ground floor button, leaned against the back wall, and sighed. His mask was itchy, but he kept it on. He didn’t feel like being himself at the moment. The unmasking was supposed to occur at midnight but he’d left just before. Hadn’t even said good-bye to his friends.
Snow White had been
pissed
. Apparently, he should not have attended the Department of Theatre’s Storybook Masquerade dressed as Prince Charming. She’d said it had sent a strong signal.
Had it? They’d only gone out a few times in the last couple of months and she’d made it clear they were on the same page. Not ready for a commitment. Dating for the heck of it. Enjoying life as a single person.
They didn’t even live close to each other. They were both graduate students at The Ohio State University and both were commuting from over an hour away in opposite directions.
But tonight she’d said her mother wanted to meet him next Sunday. . . at her entire family’s annual Mother’s Day picnic.
He’d wanted to be kind, but he’d also wanted to be a man about it. He wasn’t about to beat around the bush in a way that left questions unanswered.
The only kind but firm way he could think of letting her know he wasn’t about to meet her mother and entire family at an important event was to politely ask why her mom wanted to meet him in the first place and let the conversation take its due course.
The course had been a very public slap across the face. Next thing he knew she’d left with a vampire. Oh well.
He’d always considered himself good at reading people and their intentions, but dating was getting way too complicated. His words were always loud and clear, but something in him was sending the wrong signals. It was time to stop dating. Hanging out with friends was entertaining enough and it wasn’t like he had much free time anyway. Between classes for his doctorate in psychology and renovating houses for his older brother’s business, he barely had time to play.
The doors were about to slide shut when a woman wearing an off-shoulder peasant shirt, a colorful swishy skirt, and a plain cardboard mask stepped in. He smiled and was about to ask her about her mask and costume, but stopped himself.
It had also been brought to his attention that he didn’t know how to speak without flirting.
To him, it
wasn’t
flirting. It was his way of trying to be amusing and it had served to defuse the tension in his home growing up. But he was an adult on the brink of starting his professional life, and if women, and some men, kept taking his friendliness the wrong way, then he had to change.
The woman in the peasant costume hit a button on the panel, he sighed again, and she looked back and smiled.
The smile and the way her eyes twinkled hit him right in the solar plexus. He stood up straight and went on full alert. Like a soldier threatened by an enemy. He rubbed his chest and eyed her warily. What the hell?
The girl was watching him with dark, happy eyes and the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. There was no guile, no flirting, nothing hidden in her look. Something about him had amused her, and she was letting it show. Their eyes met and a pure feeling spread from his chest to every nerve ending in his body.
Alarmed, he looked away while his brain scrambled to make sense of it. Instant lust? No. That had happened plenty of times before and it didn’t involve purity. All of a sudden, he wanted out of the elevator, but the doors shut the moment he stepped forward. The elevator began its descent with an unsteady lurch.
They rode down in silence, each trying not to touch the other in the cramped space that suddenly felt alive with its own energy. Every inch of him was aware of every inch of her. Johnny swallowed hard. He couldn’t wait to get away from her.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The woman took two steps and Johnny looked up, relieved she was leaving. The moment he looked out, though, he saw they were between floors. His hand jutted out, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back so fast and so hard that she stumbled into him, her head hitting his chin with a loud pop.
She whirled around and a jumble of words spilled from her mouth, from thanks to sorry to asking if he was okay. And that was when confusion set in. Her scent and voice were eerily familiar, but a lightning-quick mental tour of everyone he knew didn’t yield an answer. Her scent was especially appealing, and it intrigued him because it wasn’t a perfume or soap or any artificial fragrance. He’d gotten close enough to smell
her
.
He cleared his throat and practically shoved her away, which made her stumble forward. Feeling like an idiot, he reached for her yet again and caught her by the waist.
“Um. Wow. Thanks. For grabbing me just in time. The first time.” She shook her head, probably wondering why he was treating her like a rag doll. He felt like a fool. The woman moved away from him and hit the ground floor button again. The doors closed and the elevator made a loud, screeching sound. The lights flickered off.
One moment they were glancing at each other, alarmed, and the next they were in each other’s arms in the now pitch-dark elevator. Instinct made him duck into a corner, plant his feet wide, and tuck her head into his chest with one hand while wrapping his other arm around her waist. One of her hands pulled his head into the crook of her neck and shoulder, as if she were trying to protect him too, while the other grabbed hold of the railing behind him.
Less than a second later, the elevator lurched and dropped down the last six or so feet. They were lifted off their feet and slammed against the wall, but they held on tight and their combined strength softened the blow.
For a moment, neither moved. Their hearts were thundering against each other so hard he didn’t know whose was whose. “Wow. Are you okay?” he asked, looking down. He now had both arms wrapped around her waist while her arms were around his neck.
He felt her nod. “Are
you
?” she asked.
“Yeah. We’re lucky we weren’t up higher. Jeez.”
Slowly, they unwrapped their arms and stepped away. Johnny checked to make sure his limbs and neck were in working order. “Are you sure you’re okay? No whiplash or anything?”
“I’m sure. Everything works and nothing hurts,” she assured him.
He fished around for his cell phone and turned on its light. “I guess we should try the red button.” He shrugged and pressed it. They waited. A few minutes passed and nothing happened.
“Let’s try prying the door open,” she suggested. He shone his little light on the doors. They were shut tight, but he thought they might be able to stick something thin between them.
“Do you have anything on you that we could use to pry them apart?” he asked as he flashed the light around the tiny elevator.
“No,” she said on a sigh. “Just a few bobby pins holding my wig in place.”
Johnny shone the light along the panels next to the door and found a certificate. He tried the only phone number listed, but got a message explaining the office was closed and to dial 911 in case of an emergency.
“I’ll call nine one one,” Johnny said reluctantly. He hoped she didn’t expect to be rescued right away. The last thing he wanted was to take police away from true life-threatening emergencies when they weren’t in imminent danger. They were already on the ground floor and they both seemed to be okay. “Are you claustrophobic or anything like that?”
“No. I’m fine. Maybe we should call the police department instead and let them know we can wait if their hands are tied,” she said. “They’ll know what to do or who to call.”
Johnny looked the number up, called, and explained their situation to a desk sergeant, who sounded relieved they could wait a while, because the police force was very busy. She said she would alert the fire department and told him whichever had a rescue unit free first would take care of them.
Johnny relayed the message to the peasant girl, slid down the wall, and stretched his long legs in front of him. It was too dark to see anything, but he heard the rustle of her skirts and felt she had sat down, too. Her small sigh sounded tired and resigned.
As much as he wanted to get away from the odd buzz that was beginning to fill the space between them, they had no choice but to wait.
“Remember that rash of hurricanes a few years back when every newscaster’s favorite two words were
hunker down
?” she asked. “I always wished they’d just tell everyone to stay put and be safe, because who’s really going to crouch and squat for the entire duration of a storm? But now I get it. This feels like hunkering.”
Johnny chuckled. At least he was stuck with someone who had a sense of humor over the situation. And who smelled good. Really good.
He cleared his throat. “I think this might be the Theatre Department’s way of getting back at us for sneaking away early. Maybe they rigged the building so no one could leave before midnight. They’re into drama after all.”
The girl laughed. “Well, the plot twist was wasted on me. I wasn’t leaving. I came out looking for someone, but they’re probably long gone.” Her voice was neutral, but something about the dark and their closeness made him catch the little notes of worry and exasperation in her voice.
“Would you like to call them?”
“No. They’ll only be annoyed I’m worried.”
It sounded like maybe she’d had a fight with her date, too. They were silent for a long while, but Johnny couldn’t seem to get his thoughts in order. He was too aware of her even breaths and the tension in the air each time she shifted and tried too hard not to touch him.
He shook his head and shifted, accidentally brushing his thigh against hers. Neither moved. In fact, she remained almost
too
still.
Could she feel the strange energy between them, too?
“Maybe we should play a game to pass the time,” she proposed.
“Truth or dare?” he suggested without thinking. Questions about her were swirling around in his head.
A few beats of silence ensued. “Can I go first?” she asked.
Even though she couldn’t see him, he nodded, slowly, and tried to brush away the strange, nonsensical sensation that his life was about to change.
“Truth or dare?” she asked, turning toward him.
The tone of her voice was all fun and innocence, but it was too close to his ear for comfort. “Truth,” he chose, swallowing.
“Why did you shove me away right after you saved me from tumbling out?”
Johnny closed his eyes and tried to find a way to say the truth without making her feel uneasy about being alone with him. “I don’t know you and so holding you close felt strange. I’m sorry I shoved you, though.” It sounded lame.
She was quiet for a few beats, as if she was mulling it over. “It’s okay. I can see how holding a stranger would feel wrong and I guess the jolt of seeing me nearly fall down an elevator shaft probably made you react more strongly.”
“I didn’t say it felt wrong. I said it felt strange.”
“Oh.”
“Truth or dare?” he asked, before she asked what he meant by that.
She hesitated. “Truth.”
“Who are you supposed to be?”
She laughed. “I’m Dulcinea.”
“From
Don Quixote
?”
“Yes! Exactly!” she said, sounding surprised and happy.
He smiled, feeling inordinately proud that he’d pleased her. “And where is Don Quixote?” he asked next.
“Uh-uh. It’s my turn.” She paused. “Why did Snow White leave in a huff?”
“You saw that?” he asked, stifling a sigh and shifting again. When she didn’t answer, he said, “I thought we were only friends. Turns out she wanted something more.”
“Does that happen to you often, Prince Charming?”
“It’s my turn, Dulcinea. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” she said, and he could hear the doubt in her voice.
“Where’s Don Quixote?”
“There isn’t one. Not yet. I mean, there’s a potential Don Quixote, but we’ve only been on a few dates and I get the impression that dressing up is not his thing, so I dragged along someone else. Truth or dare?”
“I don’t even know why we’re asking anymore. What could we possibly dare each other to do in here?” he asked.
“Sing and make a fool of ourselves?”
“My brothers say I can’t sing, so I’d definitely make a fool of myself. I wouldn’t mind though.”
“I didn’t think you would. You’re charming after all. You’d find a way to make the fact that you can’t sing seem endearing,” she said, sounding amused.
He grinned. “You’re probably right, but how can you possibly know that?”
“I know your type.”
“Ouch.” He rubbed his chest over his wounded heart. “Reduced to a
type
. A Prince Charming’s worst nightmare.”
She laughed, and her fingers lightly grazed his arm. Goose bumps instantly appeared. “I promise I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” she said.
“How did you meant it then?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“Whose turn is it?” she asked.
“I forgot.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Actually, I wouldn’t reduce you to a type. You’re no Prince Charming. He’s a stock character with no personality. Perfect for women searching for a standard prince. I meant that you seem to possess true charm. It draws people in, soothes ruffled feathers, and makes those around you feel at ease. Everyone wants to be around charismatic people. There’s a special light around them.”
“But . . .”
“I didn’t say there was a
but
.”
He grinned. “I know the Don Quixotes of this world only see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear, but I’m okay with you saying what you really think.”
“This conversation is getting weirder by the minute.”

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