Kyle had been at the house for three weeks. Whitney kneeled on the porch, running a paintbrush over the new wooden beams he had used to replace the rotting pieces.

She couldn’t figure him out. She couldn’t figure any of it out. He had landed on her doorstep ready to do anything she asked. Some sort of gift from Sam.

The light switch in her room worked. The step had been replaced. The dryer didn’t make a rattling sound anymore. Her shower didn’t leak. The gate opened. The porch swing was hung. Right now he was on the roof, tacking down new shingles.

Every morning they had breakfast together. Every afternoon lunch. And at night she made dinner. Not just any dinner. She tried recipes she had never attempted. French sauces. Grilled combinations with special spices. She dusted off her old cookbooks. She did everything she could to impress him with her cooking. But after every meal he cleaned the kitchen and hit the door for the barn.

It didn’t make any sense. His eyes were always on her. She hadn’t been with many men, but she knew when eyes were undressing her. And Kyle Brake was always undressing her.

She shoved the paintbrush back in the can and stood back to examine her work. Once the paint dried it would blend in with the rest of the railing.

“Hey.”

She heard his voice over her shoulder. She spun around.

“You scared me.”

“Sorry.” He grinned. “Done on the roof.”

“How did you do that so fast?” The bridge of his forehead was sweaty. Damn he was the sexiest sweaty man she had ever seen.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought. But I did notice some flashing missing around the chimney. I’m going to head to the store and get some. Be back.”

“Want me to ride with you?” she offered.

“Nah. I got it.”

She watched him climb into his Jeep and speed off down the driveway. She put her hands on her hips. Maybe there wasn’t much to figure out. Kyle wasn’t interested. The sooner she accepted that, the easier it would be to spend time with him every day.

* * *

She had been dreading it, but Sam’s room wasn’t going to pack itself. She pushed open the door, armed with cardboard boxes and a trash bag.

“I can’t believe you left me this mess,” she spoke to the empty room.

Once Sam joined the Army, he had made the house his legal residence and moved everything from his apartment into this bedroom. He said there was no reason to keep an apartment or to buy another house. He was a drifter as long as he was a Ranger.

He didn’t accumulate much, but the closet was full of high school football trophies. Whitney pulled a stack of yearbooks from the top shelf. She dusted them off and put them on the bed.

There was a box on the floor, under his winter coats. She opened the top flap. It was full of Ranger school manuals. She sat on the floor, looking through everything her brother had saved.

What if Sam hadn’t joined the Army? She looked at the pictures of him in his uniform. He was a handsome guy, but she never would have told him that. It would have gone straight to her older brother’s head.

She wiped away a tear.

“Whitney?” She heard Kyle’s voice outside the door. He stepped into the room. “There you are. I’m back from the store.”

He stopped. His eyes landed on the pictures in her lap, the tears streaming down her face.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” His chest puffed forward and his eyes immediately darted to the window. He scanned the room.

She shook her head. “I’m fine. I thought I’d pack up Sam’s things, but maybe I shouldn’t. It’s too soon, but I’ve got to clean this stuff out of here.”

“Oh.” He lowered his voice. He took a step toward her, crouching to the floor so they were eye level.

She caught her breath when he reached for her face and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “What did you find?” he asked.

It was tender and sweet. His skin was warm.

“Maybe you can help me.” She couldn’t take her eyes off him. The world had felt dark and sad, and then he walked into the room. His wide shoulders making her feel protected. His eyes full of concern. His touch gentle.

“Sure. What do you have?” He sat next to her.

She shoved the manuals in his lap. “Do I need to save these?”

He looked down at the manuals and chuckled. “He kept these?” He flipped open the first one.

“Are they important?” she asked.

“Not really. It’s just basic intro school stuff. It’s not like there are any classified secrets in here.” He seemed to enjoy looking through the manual. “Man, I forgot our instructor’s name.”

“Were you in this class with Sam?”

“Yeah. It was our first class together. Who knew we’d end up on the same team?”

“Was anyone else from that class on your team?”

“No. Half of them didn’t make it through the training. Then after that one, there was another Special Forces school. The graduation rate isn’t very high.” He eyed her and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

“Sam didn’t tell me much.”

“I’m sure he wanted to. We can’t share much about we do.” His voice was thick and husky and sitting this close to him, she was feeling her skin begin to tingle.

She picked up a stack of pictures from the box. “Do you know who any of these guys are?”

Kyle shuffled through them, pausing every once and awhile. “Yeah, I knew a few of these guys.” He handed them back to her.

“Do you want them?” she offered. “I don’t know who they are. You can keep them if you like.”

“No. It’s better if I don’t get attached to things. I travel lightly. Everything I have fits in my Jeep.”

Her forehead creased. “Well, that’s kind of a sad way to live. You don’t keep pictures? Or what about books? Family mementos? You must have at least one Christmas ornament.”

He shook his head. “Tools and clothes. That’s it. I can’t afford to put down more roots than that right now.”

Suddenly her chest felt heavy. If Kyle Brake wasn’t the definition of unavailable she didn’t know what man was.

“Oh. All right.” She threw everything back in the box and tossed the manuals on top. “I think I’ll do this another time.”

“You sure? I can take it to the burn pile for you.”

“I can’t burn my brother’s things.” She knew how angry she sounded and she didn’t care. How could he even suggest it? The fury had surfaced before she could even think about controlling it.

“Sorry. Sorry.” He put his hands in the air. “I think I’ll just get back to the roof. I’ve got to get the flashing up before it rains again.”

And before she could apologize he was gone.

“Damn it,” she whispered.