Chase greeted me enthusiastically. “Ava! Glad you could join us on such short notice.”
I chuckled. “It took some work to clear my busy social calendar, but here I am.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be booked up before you know it,” he said as we climbed the steps. He pointed his grill brush toward the French doors behind him. “You can go on in and put your salad in the fridge. Hannah’s in there working on the rest of the food.”
His wife appeared at the open door before he finished talking and she slid the screen aside for me. “Yeah, come on in, Ava. Keep me company while I finish up in here.”
“Thanks again for inviting me,” I said as we walked to the kitchen. “Whatever you’re making smells great. My stomach is already growling.”
She took my salad and found a spot for it in the fridge. “Well, here’s to hoping you aren’t disappointed.”
I assured her I wasn’t worried, and she laughed a little ruefully. “Maybe you should be. I didn’t cook at all before Chase and I got married. He’s still better at it than I am, but I try. Let’s just hope our first neighborly meal isn’t ruined because I forgot the salt or something.”
“At least you made the effort to be neighborly,” I said. “Back home, I only knew the name of one of my neighbors.”
Hannah waved a hand. “I know exactly how it is. I lived in an apartment building in Nashville before I moved here. I smiled and said hello to people in the elevator, but that was about it. It’s just a different culture. Not like here in small-town America.”
“I think I’ll like this better,” I told her. “Can I help with something?”
Hannah put me to work fixing a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit for everyone to snack on while the guys grilled the steaks and the vegetable kabobs she’d already prepared. The baked beans and mac and cheese were bubbling away in the oven when we took the appetizer plate and bottles of water and iced tea outside.
It was the beginning of a very enjoyable evening. The guys grilled everything to perfection then acted a little cocky about it, but it was all in good fun. We talked and laughed and ate, not getting up from the table for the next hour and a half, except to refill our plates and bring out dessert.
When we’d all finished our chocolate-peanut butter ice cream pie, Hannah leaned back in her chair and sighed contentedly.
“This has been so great,” she said, smiling at me. “It’s nice to have another woman around to balance things out a little. These two can be a little overwhelming sometimes.”
“Oh, come on, Han, we coddle you and you know it,” Chase protested fondly.
“And you haven’t had to take Lulu out to do her business since I moved in,” Jude added.
“At least not when you’re home,” Hannah agreed. “I’m gonna miss that, I’ll admit.” She looked at him and smiled slyly. “It’s almost dark, but if you’d want to show Ava the new walking trail in the woods, you’d have just about enough time.”
Jude raised a dark brow at her. “Seriously, Hannah? You don’t think I’m capable of asking Ava to go for a walk all by myself?”
She shrugged. “Just helping you along,” she said, not at all apologetic.
I loved the easy camaraderie between the two of them, but I felt a little awkward. I mean, what if Jude didn’t want to go on a walk with me?
Before I could say anything, he looked over at me with one of those slow smiles that did me in every…single…time.
“Ava, would you like for me to show you part of the brand new Hidden Creek trail?”
Hannah giggled at his overly formal invitation. “You should go, Ava. It goes right through the woods out back.”
“And she does mean right out back. You can be glad it was completed before you moved in,” Chase said. “There was a lot of noise out in the woods last month. Lulu practically lost her mind.”
“Yeah, but now that our section is done, the whole five-mile trail is finally connected,” Hannah said. “I’ve been walking a quick couple of miles almost every morning. Not many people are out then, and it’s so peaceful.”
“I’d love to see it,” I said, which was true, although I was a lot more excited about spending time with Jude. “I’ll help you clean up first, though.”
“Nah, we got this,” Chase said. “You two go on, otherwise it’s gonna get too dark for you.”
Jude stood and held his hand out to me. “Let’s go before he changes his mind,” he said, grinning at his friend.
Oh wow. I was about to touch Jude Keller for the second time, and it was crazy how hard my heart was pounding. I couldn’t help remembering the simple handshake we’d shared over the fence. I’d felt the contact all the way to my toes, and as I reached toward the same hand now, I knew it would be more of the same.
I desperately told myself not to overreact. It was only his hand, for Pete’s sake, and not a big deal. But then his fingers closed around mine and it was a big deal. It just was. His hand was big and warm and calloused—a man’s hand. The kind of man who knew how to work. Jude might be a project supervisor, but I was willing to bet he was a hands-on boss and picked up tools himself on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, he let go as soon as I gained my feet. As we walked through the grass side by side, he informed me the trail was only about twenty yards off the Owens’ property line. And mine too, for that matter.
We exited the yard through another hidden gate, this time one in the back fence with a keypad lock, and soon found ourselves in the trees. Jude surprised me by grabbing hold of my hand again. I glanced up to find him smiling.
“I knew Hannah would be watching until we got out of sight. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.”
I chuckled. “You two are like brother and sister the way you pick on each other. I feel bad for not helping with the cleanup, though. It’s not nice to make the pregnant gal work so hard.”
“But we don’t know she’s pregnant, remember? And by the way, good job on not blurting it out.”
“Were you seriously worried I would?” I asked.
“A little.”
“I wouldn’t blow my chance for a Battleship rematch, Jude.”
“Good.” He squeezed my hand. “I like having some leverage.”
We walked a little way in silence, then suddenly we were at the edge of the trail.
“Welcome to the Hidden Creek Bike and Pedestrian Walkway,” he said grandly, a bit of sarcasm seeping through. “I’m sure you’ve never seen a nicer one.”
“It actually is pretty nice,” I said approvingly, eyeing the smooth pavement. “I thought it might be a simple dirt path with a little mulch thrown on it.”
We stepped onto the path and walked in the direction of the setting sun.
“We don’t have to go far,” Jude said. “Just tell me when you want to turn around.”
I nodded, but if he was going to keep holding my hand, I was game for a nice long walk.
“So, I know we talked a lot last night and also at dinner,” he said after a brief pause, “but I still only know general stuff about you. I know you were born in the DC area and have lived there until now, you have two older sisters who like to tell you what to do, and you’re a self-employed computer whiz.”
“I never said I was a whiz,” I corrected.
“But you are, right?”
I shrugged self-consciously. “I mean, I hold my own, I suppose, but there are a ton of people every bit as good as me. And quite a few who are a lot better.”
“Okay, and now I also know you’re modest.” He paused again. “Tell me more, Ava.” His voice was low and smooth, as attractive as the rest of him.
I was flattered he wanted to know more about me, but also afraid he was going to be disappointed. My life wasn’t all that exciting.
“I don’t know exactly what to tell you,” I said. “If you have questions, just ask. Chances are I’ll answer.” Unless it has to do with my job.
“Okay, so this might be lame, but in the interest of getting inside your head, I’ll ask anyway.” He gave me a sideways look. “If you were going to post a profile on a dating site, a real profile, not a made up one, what would it say?”
I returned his sideways look with one of my own. “If I tell you, will you reciprocate?”
“Yep.”
“You promise?”
“Yep,” he said, this time with a grin.
I pretended to think about it. “I’m trying to remember what my last profile said,” I began, sneaking another glance at him.
He looked at me sharply, his brows drawn together. “You actually post on those sites?”
“Why not? They’re all the rage nowadays.”
He lifted his free hand and rubbed his jaw, the stubble rasping against his fingers. “There’s nothing wrong with it, I guess. I just didn’t figure you were into that.”
I laughed and bumped his arm with my shoulder. “I’m just messing with you. I’ve never signed up anywhere. But I have a friend who did, and she got engaged last month. It worked out great for her.” I shrugged. “I don’t think I could ever do it, though.”
“Same. But if you did, what would your profile say?” he persisted.
“Hmm. Well, obviously I’d say I love taking moonlit walks on newly paved trails through the woods,” I said, shivering a little when he gave a low chuckle.
“Be serious, Ava,” he chided softly. He turned his hand, lining up our palms and lacing his fingers through mine.
I don’t know why it felt so different that way, so much more intimate, but it did. It also made it harder to concentrate on the conversation, and it took me a little bit to focus my thoughts.
“Okay,” I finally said. “Ummm, I guess I’d say I’m a girl whose faith and family is really important to her—even though I have to admit I’m pretty excited about being farther away from that family right now. I love them all dearly, I really do, but they can’t seem to accept I’m grown up and don’t need their constant advice.”
“I imagine they’ll realize that soon enough, now that you’re gone.”
“I hope so,” I said fervently. “They mean well, but it can be so stifling. Even the baby of the family eventually has to grow up, you know?”
“So my baby sister tells me.”
I laughed. “Make sure you listen to her.”
“What else is on that dating profile?” he asked.
I thought for a few more seconds. “It would probably say that I sometimes have trouble finding a good balance between work and play. I work crazy hours sometimes, but I do enjoy my down time. I just have to be really careful about making sure I get it.”
“So, what do you do in that down time, when you remember to take it?”
“Sometimes I hang out with friends, or I’ll go running or hiking, or maybe just read a book.” I grimaced. “That’s not real exciting, I know.”
“Doesn’t have to be,” Jude said. “Down time just needs to be enjoyable and relaxing so we can recharge and hit work hard again the next day.”
“Agreed,” I said. “And to finish up my profile, I’d say I like to cook, I love to eat, and I enjoy the outdoors. I drive a sensible SUV, but someday I want to get a sporty little car to go with it. Not a convertible, though. I don’t like the idea of sitting out in the open where everyone can see me and look inside my car. That just seems weird to me.” I looked up at him hopefully. “Is that enough? Do you know me now?”
His low laugh came again and I almost closed my eyes in delight.
“It’s a start. How did your family react when you told them you were moving to Hidden Creek?”
I winced. “I told them soon after I found out Grandma had left me the house, but they didn’t think I’d actually do it. No matter how much I talked about it, they were convinced I’d change my mind. My mom was speechless when she asked me to have lunch a few days ago and I told her I couldn’t because I still had a lot of packing to do.”
“Ouch,” Jude murmured.
“Yeah, she was floored. Twenty minutes later, she showed up at my condo with Ella and Audrey in tow. They started telling me how ridiculous I was being. I listened for about five minutes, then told them they needed to either leave or help me fill boxes.”
“Please tell me they helped you with the boxes.”
“They did,” I said with a laugh, “but only because it allowed them to stay and keep hounding me.”
“Did they really think you’d reconsider at that point? I don’t see you as someone who changes course after digging your heels in.”
“See, that’s the thing. I’ve been digging my heels in since I learned to walk, but they never learned how to handle it. I feel like I’ve had to fight for almost everything I’ve ever wanted to do. But at the same time, it’s hard to get mad at them because I know they love me. They just don’t know what to do with such a hard-headed girl.”
“You’d think they’d learn after twenty-some years.”
“You’d think. But in spite of it all, I still feel lucky to have them.” I smiled wryly. “It’s just a lot easier to love ’em when they’re not breathing down my neck.”
“Did you get some distance when you went to college? Or did you stay local?”
“I stayed local because the school had a good volleyball team and offered me a scholarship. But I did live on campus, which was nice.” I paused, then decided to be completely honest with him. “I only went for two years, though. I’m not cut out for the classroom.”
I was a little worried about how he might react to that tidbit of information. Being a college dropout wasn’t normally something I was sensitive about, but since Jude didn’t know I’d left school due to a fantastic job offer, he might see me as a quitter.
He stopped walking and tugged me around to face him.
“That’s kind of ironic,” he said, a smile curling his lips. “You hated school and now you spend your days at a desk. At least I assume you do.”
I gave him a sheepish look. “It’s kind of a table because I have a lot of monitors….but, yeah. Same thing.”
He chuckled. “I was kind of the opposite. I played sports too, but I loved the classroom. I couldn’t get enough. I finished college early and went right to grad school for my MBA. Didn’t even take a break. I intended to work my way up to being a CEO somewhere, and I never saw myself anywhere but behind a desk.”
“Really?” I asked skeptically. I slipped my fingers from between his and lifted his hand, holding it palm up as I ran a fingertip along the row of callouses at the base of his fingers. “These aren’t the hands of a man who stays behind a desk all day,” I stated.
He smiled. “No, they aren’t, and it’s all because Chase talked me into taking a summer job at Owens Construction after I finished the MBA. He said I needed to decompress from so many years of school. Expand my horizons. I laughed at him at first. I’d never had the slightest interest in construction, even though my older brother, Jed, went into the field. In my mind, I was the academic son. I didn’t swing a hammer.”
“Until that summer?” I prompted. I was still holding onto his hand, and I wasn’t ready to let go.
“Yeah. I let Chase convince me to give it a try, thinking I could do that for the summer while I pondered which companies I wanted to apply to to get my business career off to a good start.” He shook his head and laughed. “They put me on a framing crew for a house, and I was incredibly bad at it. I knew how to pound a nail the old-fashioned way, barely, but I’d never even seen a nail gun. Thank goodness I worked with guys who were patient with me. As they taught me the ropes, I became totally fascinated with the process. The whole process. Reading the plans, figuring out the materials needed, and then building an actual house from them. I loved watching it all come together. Every day when I left the job site I felt fulfilled, you know? Proud of the progress we’d made. I couldn’t wait to go back the next day. By the end of the summer, I knew building things was my passion. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure that out, but I’ve been with Owens Construction ever since.”
“So you started building houses and never looked back?”
“I never looked back, but it took a few twists and turns to get where I am now. I started with houses, then moved into the commercial side. That’s where I wanted to stay, but Chase’s dad, Howard, had a cancer scare about three-and-a-half years ago and took a six-month leave of absence. Because of my degree, Chase and his dad asked me to fill in for him on the management side of the business. I rented a house here in town and worked at the headquarters while he was off. It was good for me to see that side of the business, but I couldn’t wait to get back out in the field. When Howard came back to work, they finally released me from the desk and let me create again.”
I loved knowing that about him, and there was no doubt in my mind he was very good at what he did.
“What kind of building are you working on now?” I asked.
He laced his fingers through mine again and we started walking back the way we’d come.
“I have two projects going at the moment. One is a medical office complex, and one is an elementary school.”
He told me about them as we went, and it was clear he’d indeed found his passion. Being a supervisor, he did have more office time and paperwork than he’d like, and running crews and dealing with bad weather could be frustrating, but it was all part of turning a bare lot into a beautiful building. Each one was a thrill for him, especially since he’d gotten more involved in the design process over the past couple of years.
We’d walked all the way back to the Owens’ fence before he stopped talking about it. That was mostly because I’d asked a ton of questions, but he still gave me an apologetic look when we stopped at the gate.
“Sorry, Ava. I ended up making this walk mostly about me.”
“No, please don’t apologize,” I said quickly. “I was the one making you talk about it. I love hearing how much you enjoy what you do.”
He let go of my hand to open the gate, and I immediately missed the contact. I wondered if he’d walk me over to my house, and then of course I wondered if he’d kiss me—which was totally ridiculous because we weren’t even on a date, and I didn’t kiss on the first date anyway. But…..we’d held hands for a good half hour……so maybe that changed things.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” he asked, breaking my train of thought—the one that was steaming straight toward a good night kiss.
“What what means?” I asked, trying to make the switch to his train.
“The fact that we wasted too much of our walk talking about me. It means we’re going to have to spend more time together so we can focus on you.”
I gave an exaggerated wince. “Oh man, I have to hang out with you again? I shouldn’t have asked all those questions.”
He looked stunned for a split second, then he laughed, his white teeth flashing in the dusky twilight that had settled in. “You’re quite a girl, Ava,” he said softly. “Hannah says you’re adorable, and she’s right. That word came to my mind about a dozen times tonight.”
This time my wince was real. “Adorable? Ouch. That makes me feel like a little girl.”
He laughed again. “You’re also beautiful, sexy, smart, intriguing, and you make me laugh, which is a good thing.” He raised his brows, his smile making me tingle all over. “Is that better?”
“It’ll do,” I said, my voice sounding a little husky. “And I guess I can make a little more time for you one of these days.”
He grinned and stood back to let me go through the gate first. As we walked toward the deck, which was empty, he took out his phone and unlocked it. “Will you put your number in for me?” he asked, handing it to me.
“Of course.” I turned slightly, holding the phone so he couldn’t see what I was typing. I entered "Not Adorable" in the name field and then my number. I even entered my email address for good measure. I closed the contact list before handing it back to him, and he slid it into his pocket.
“Thanks. I’ll send a text soon, so you’ll have my number too.”
“Good, then I’ll be able to text you when Lulu shows up again,” I teased.
“You be sure to do that,” he said, a smile in his voice. He put his hand on the small of my back as we went up the steps onto the deck, making me wish I’d set a slower pace so it could stay there longer.
“I’ll get my salad dish and thank Chase and Hannah, then I should head home,” I said, sliding open the patio door screen and stepping into the kitchen.
Hannah and Chase were standing at the sink locked in a tight embrace and what looked to be a very steamy kiss.
I looked over my shoulder at Jude. “I think they’re celebrating getting all the dishes done,” I said dryly.
He gave a little snort of surprise at my comment, then we both started chuckling. Chase and Hannah slowly pulled apart, giving us bemused looks. They weren’t the least bit embarrassed about being caught in the act.
“I just came in for my salad bowl,” I told them with a grin.
Hannah pointed to the table where the clean bowl was waiting.
“How was the trail?” Chase asked, his arm still slung comfortably around his wife’s shoulders.
“Great,” I said. “It’s pretty cool to have that right in our backyards. I guess I’ll need to put a gate in my back fence for easier access.”
“You’re welcome to use ours whenever you like,” Hannah said. “The code is 4481, if Jude didn’t already tell you.”
“But if you do decide to put in your own, be sure to get one with a keypad lock like ours,” Chase advised. “You don’t want random people wandering in off the trail, and you don’t want to have to worry about a key.”
“Good points.” I smiled at him and Hannah. “Thanks again for a great evening. I promise to return the favor and host you guys once I get settled in.”
“Sounds great.” Hannah looked up at Jude. “You’re going to be a gentleman and walk her home, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Mother,” he said, earning a glare from her. “Not that I need to be told.”
Yes! My insides did a happy dance. That would give me at least three to five more minutes with him. Was it pitiful to be so excited about that?
Unless….wait….would he expect me to invite him in? That would give us a lot more than just a few minutes. I could offer to make coffee—we hadn’t had any with dinner, so that would be kind of a natural thing to do, right? Or would it be best to just say good night to him at the door and hope I left him wanting more?
Ugh. I had no idea what to do and not very long to decide.
I picked up my salad bowl and said good night to the Owens, and Jude followed me back out to the deck. I tried not to show my nervousness. It had been such a great night so far, and I didn’t want to do anything to make it end on a bum note. But that’s exactly what would happen if I invited him in and he turned me down. Even if he had a reasonable-sounding excuse, I’d feel rejected.
Still, I was tempted to risk it. I wasn’t ready to say good night to him yet, I just wasn’t.
I continued to stew about it as we walked to the gate between our yards. By now it was pretty much all the way dark outside. The Owens’ house was lit up, and even their yard had some strategically placed solar lights, but my yard and house were completely dark. The outside light was still burned out, and I’d forgotten to turn on any lights inside before I left.
Jude opened the gate for me and we walked the length of my yard in silence, except for me commenting that I should have left the kitchen light on.
When we were about five feet from the bottom step of my deck, we were suddenly flooded with light. I gave a little gasp and stopped in my tracks, staring at my outside light, which was shining brightly.
Jude’s low voice was close to my ear. “I didn’t mean for it to scare you,” he said.
With a jolt I realized he was the one responsible for the warm, welcoming glow at my door. It wasn’t just a new bulb, either. The whole fixture was new.
“Oh my word, you did this? You put up a whole new light for me?” I whirled and went in for the hug without even thinking about it. I just wrapped my arms around him, salad bowl and all. Then I was afraid my response was too exuberant, so I stepped back quickly before he could do more than put his hands on my back.
I hoped the light wasn’t bright enough to reveal my acute embarrassment—or my reaction to touching him like that.
Wow. Wow….wow…. wow. That had felt really good.
I cleared my throat nervously. “Thank you so much,” I said, hugging the bowl to my chest while I tried to recover my equilibrium. “When did you do it?”
“Right after I got home from work. I wanted to ask you first, to make sure the light I picked out was okay, but I knocked and you didn’t answer. So I figured I’d just surprise you with it. If you don’t like it, I can change it out.”
“I was probably upstairs,” I said. “I love it, Jude. It’s perfect, and I love that it’s motion-activated. But you have to let me pay you for it.”
“Nah, consider it a housewarming gift.”
I admired the light for a little bit longer, then went to the door and looked back at him, making up my mind. “At least let me make you some coffee.”
His blue eyes took on an interested gleam. “Any of those brownies left?” he wondered.
“Yes, although I made a dent in them today. Painting makes me hungry.”
Now that the invitation had been made and accepted, my nerves faded away. However, I refused to let my mind go anywhere near a good night kiss. I didn’t want to become a tongue-tied mess again.
We sat at the table and chatted easily over the coffee and brownies. He asked what I’d been painting, and I told him about my formerly pink office, and that got me started thinking about the security door.
Should I ask him?
If I did, it would be only fair to tell him why I needed it. Not the job specifics, necessarily, but about the value of my equipment. Which would in turn reveal more about my work than I was normally comfortable with.
I pondered the decision. Would it be crazy to trust him already? Maybe. Probably. But my options were limited if I wanted to have a solution before Ian got back to me. It was either Jude or complete strangers.
I preferred Jude.
“You’re thinking pretty hard over there.”
His voice roused me from my roiling thoughts. I looked across the table at him, right into his eyes, searching for anything that made me feel any sense of unease. Any waving red flags.
There was nothing. Aside from my unusually strong physical reaction to the man—which I hadn’t yet figured out how to handle—I felt totally comfortable with him. Safe. He’d installed a brand new outside light for me, for Pete’s sake. That had to be some indication of the kind of man he was.
I bit a corner of my lip, taking a few more seconds to decide. I really did need the door as soon as possible. Also, if I decided to trust Jude, with both the door and the reason I needed it, I could go ahead and put my equipment in the office right when it came. Whereas if I hired unknown contractors, I’d have to set up my stuff in Grandma’s bedroom temporarily, because I wouldn’t want strangers to see what the door would be protecting. That would require setting it all up twice, which would be a lot of extra work.
But then again, Jude might not even want to mess with such a small job, which would make all of my internal arguments moot.
I licked my lips then rolled them together, still stalling. He raised a brow but didn’t speak, as if he knew I was working through something and didn’t want to push me.
“I want to ask you something, but I’m not sure I should,” I finally said, which was as good as committing, in spite of the disclaimer.
He cocked his head to the side. “Why aren’t you sure?”
“Multiple reasons,” I said, stalling again.
“Name one.”
“I don’t know you very well.”
“You can ask me anything you want,” he countered. “I don’t have any deep, dark secrets.”
“This isn’t a ‘what’s your favorite color’ kind of question,” I warned him.
He smiled. “Well, if it was that kind of question, the answer would be blue.”
“What shade?” I wondered, momentarily distracted.
He gave a one-shouldered shrug and took a sip of coffee, his eyes not leaving mine. “I’d have to say the shade of your eyes. What would you call it? Navy? Sapphire?”
I felt warm all over. Really warm.
“Hmm,” I said softly, trying not to smile too wide. “I think sapphire sounds nice. No one’s ever told me I have sapphire eyes.”
“Well you do,” he said. “Now, give me another reason why you don’t think you should ask me your question.”
“Because it’s kind of complicated. It’s not just asking you something I’m curious about, it’s asking for something, and I’m not sure what you’ll think.” I scrunched up my nose. “I guess I kind of have to ask, now that I’ve gone this far, huh?”
“If you want me to be able to sleep tonight,” he teased.
I propped an elbow on the table and rested my chin in my palm. “I need someone to install a door for me.”
His brows rose. “A door? Like a front door?”
“No. A special kind of door.” I looked down at my coffee mug, then back up at him. “I need a security door installed in a room upstairs,” I said in a rush.
He processed that and nodded slowly. “Okay. Are we talking a full-sized door, or some kind of safe?”
“A full-sized bedroom door.”
“Got it. So I’m guessing your hesitation is because you aren’t sure you know me well enough to trust me with whatever it is you need to protect?”
I grimaced. “It’s partly that, and partly because even though I’d pay you well to do it, it feels like I’m asking for a favor. It’s such a small job, and I know it’s way beneath you.”
“Helping out a friend isn’t beneath me, Ava, no matter what the job.” His low voice and warm eyes made my breath hitch. “If you decide you can trust me, I’d be happy to put your door in.”
“It’s not what you’re probably thinking. I mean, I don’t have expensive jewels or a fine art collection or anything,” I clarified.
“It’s not something illegal, is it?” he asked, his denim-blue eyes twinkling.
“You mean like a meth lab? Or storing stolen property for a street gang?” I grinned. “No, it’s not illegal.”
“Good,” he said, with a perfectly straight face. “The neighborhood would probably frown on those activities.”
That made me laugh. “Ya think?”
He sat back and folded his arms across his chest, waiting patiently for me to work through my final hesitations. He was a good guy, I felt that clear to my core, and I decided to trust my instincts.
“Do you have time to come upstairs with me so I can show you the room?”
He immediately pushed back his chair and stood. “Of course.”
We left the kitchen and I paused at the foot of the stairs, looking back at him uncertainly.
“You can trust me, Ava,” he said quietly. “Whatever it is, you can trust me.”
“Do you happen to know anyone else I can trust? Security doors are really heavy. You’re going to need help.”
He squinted at me. “Are you talking the really high-end ones? With a steel frame and multiple bolts?”
I nodded. “Like a panic room door.”
“No problem. I’ll get Chase.” He gave me a confident smile. “He’s almost as trustworthy as me.”
Maybe it was that irresistible smile, or maybe I’d known all along where this was going to go. At any rate, my mind was made up.
“Okay. I need to get this door in as soon as possible, and if you agree to do it, I’ll be up and running a lot sooner than if I hire strangers and have to hide everything from them. But promise me you’ll say no if you don’t want to take the job once I show you what I need.”
He walked up to me, put his hands on my shoulders, and gently turned me toward the stairs. “Up, Ava. Show me the room and I’ll tell you what we need to do to get you set up. There’s no chance I’m going to say no.”
Halfway up the stairs I had a crazy thought and couldn’t help but giggle. “My Grandma would be so disappointed in me for bringing a man upstairs on only my third day here.”
He grunted. “If this is all a ruse to get me to your bedroom, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m holding out for my wedding night.”
I was at the top of the stairs by then, and I turned to watch him as he joined me, trying to figure out if he was serious. His gaze was steady, but I caught a brief glimpse of uncertainty.
Oh wow. He was serious, and he wasn’t sure how I would feel about his declaration.
I was thrilled, as it turned out, but it raised so many questions. Had he always abstained? A guy like him would be propositioned every other day—so why had he made the choice not to sleep around? Was he a Christian who actually lived out his faith? Or was there a bad experience in his past that had put him off relationships?
I didn’t ask any of those things—not yet. Maybe one day I could.
“Good. Same for me,” I said simply, before starting down the hall. “You didn’t really think I had nefarious intentions, did you?”
“Nope, but I’ve been taken off guard before. Just thought I should mention it, since the opportunity arose.”
I smiled. “Grandma would’ve liked you,” I told him as we stopped in front of the doorway to my new office. “This is the room.”
The door was open so he walked in, turning in a slow circle to take it in.
“This is the room you painted. Your office, right?”
“Yep. I need to get another coat of paint on the trim, then it’ll be ready to move stuff in.”
His eyes stopped roaming the room and fastened on mine. “Most offices don’t require an impenetrable security door.”
I shrugged. “It’s in my contract. The company that gives my team most of our work hires a lot of subcontractors like us. It’s a good gig, but the security requirements are pretty stiff.”
“I assume this has to do with the cyber security part of your job. Are you expecting armed terrorists to try to get in?”
“Well, there’s always that chance,” I said, causing his brows to arch sharply up. “But it’s actually a pretty low risk due to our anonymity and how careful we are about covering our tracks. It’s more important to have the door as a deterrent to home invaders who might break in and see expensive equipment they could sell on the black market. If the stuff falls into the wrong hands it could mean big trouble. So we hide it behind a security door. That way, potential thieves don’t know what they’re missing.”
Jude shook his head slowly and I was pretty sure he was still hung up on the terrorist thing. “Okay, but it’s going to make them pretty dang curious. What if you’re forced to open the door?”
“That’ll only happen if I’m home when the break-in occurs, and they catch me before I get inside the room. To guard against that, I’ll also be installing a security system throughout the whole house, with alarms at all the doors and windows. If I’m home, the system will give me advance warning of a break-in, and I should be able to get to the office and secure the door as soon as the alarm goes off—if I’m not already there. If I can’t get to the room in time, I’ll at least have a chance to send an automatic shut-down-and-delete command to my servers before I’m caught and forced to open the door. I can do that with my phone in about five seconds. That way, even if it’s someone targeting me because of the equipment I have or the work I do, they won’t be able to access what I was working on.”
His expression had darkened as I spoke, giving me the impression he didn’t like that I had to know this stuff.
“You’ve been well briefed on security,” he said after a moment, folding his arms across his chest.
I nodded sheepishly. “I’m required to go to multiple seminars on it every year. I pretty much have everything memorized. The hardest part is not getting complacent. I mean, really, what are the chances of burglars breaking into this house?”
“You do government work?” he guessed.
He was astute, and I wasn’t surprised. “Um, yeah. I have a top-secret clearance, and I work on some pretty incredible projects. I’d like to leave it at that, if we could.”
He looked into my eyes for a long moment, then a slow smile curved his lips. “You’re more than a beautiful computer geek,” he said softly. “Thanks for helping to keep our country safe.”
“I didn’t say anything about that,” I protested.
“You don’t have to. I can connect the dots.” He gave me an approving nod. “I’m proud of you, Ava. And grateful.”
I looked down at my feet, my face warm. “Don’t make me into something I’m not,” I said quietly. “I’m just following my passion, like you are. My job is no more important than yours.”
“I disagree, but I don’t want to argue about it.” I looked up as he turned his head to survey the room again. “So this is where all the good stuff will be kept?”
I explained the basic layout for my work table and the vertical racks I’d be installing. I told him that the door at my last house had been made to look like a regular bedroom door with panels and a knob and everything. The actual keypad had been hidden in the baseboard, but I rarely used it because I could access it remotely with my phone.
I hoped to have the same setup here. That way, any legitimate visitors to my home would think it was just a locked bedroom door. They would never suspect it was actually solid steel, with two bolts top and bottom and four along the long edge, all slotted into a steel frame.
“Are you sure you don’t want to reinforce the walls with steel panels?” Jude drawled.
I could tell he was being sarcastic, so I didn’t admit to doing exactly that in my condo. But that was in the DC area, where threats seemed much greater and panic rooms weren’t unusual. I didn’t feel it was necessary to go to quite that level here in Hidden Creek. Actually, I didn’t think the security door was necessary either, but it was required.
Jude asked if I had a tape measure, and I hurried downstairs to Grandma’s junk drawer in the kitchen where I knew she’d kept one. I found it right where I expected, and when I returned to the office, Jude was standing in the doorway, running his hands along the doorjamb and tugging on the trim, like he was testing to see how easily it would come off.
“Smart of you not to paint this, because it’s going to have to be removed to get the steel frame in. But I should be able to put it back up afterwards so the door still matches the window.” He tapped the wood. “This is actually some really nice old trim. You have to special-order this kind of thing nowadays.”
I handed him the tape measure and he did his thing, typing notes into his phone. I watched closely—because it was impossible to look away from Jude Keller in work mode. When he reached over his head to do some measurements at the top of the door, the tapering from his wide shoulders to his lean hips was so pronounced it made my mouth go dry. Jude was one hundred percent man. One hundred percent gorgeous man. And I was already way too attracted to him for my own good.
He turned around to face me unexpectedly and I quickly blinked a few times, hoping he hadn’t seen the blatant appreciation in my eyes.
“Do you want me to send you some door options to choose from, or do you already have one in mind?”
“Um, no,” I said, flustered. He looked a little confused and I quickly clarified. “I mean, no, I don’t already have one in mind. Options would be good.”
“Okay, I’ll do some checking tomorrow. I have a supplier who will have what you need, and he’ll give me a good price. I’ll give it to you at cost.”
I quickly shook my head. “No way, Jude. If I hire you to do this job, I want you to make good money on it. I know it’s not something you’d normally take on.” I could tell he was going to protest and I held up a hand. “Don’t argue. I can afford to pay you. I want to pay you.”
“I don’t need your money, Ava.”
“I’m sure you don’t, but I’m not going to take advantage of you. If you don’t charge me enough, I’ll just add on whatever I think a fair price would be.”
He raised his own hands in defeat. “Fine. I’ll mark it up a little. Just know I’m glad to help you out. It’s not about the money.”
I could tell he meant it, and it really touched me that a person I’d just met wanted to do that. It made me feel a whole lot less alone in my new town, and this time when I blinked rapidly, it was because I felt an unexpected sting of tears.
“I appreciate that,” I said, my voice sounding a little strangled because my throat felt tight. “You’re pretty much the best neighbor a new girl could ask for. First the light, and now you’re helping with my door. I might be a little sad when you move back to your own house.”
He took a half step toward me, his gaze dropping from my eyes to my mouth. My heart did a big, slow roll of anticipation, but then he abruptly looked away and walked toward the door.
“I think I have what I need here.” He reached back to hand me the tape measure. “I’d better let you get to bed. You have a big day tomorrow.”
I was so filled with disappointment it took me a moment to figure out what he was referring to. Oh, right, the moving truck.
“Uh, yeah,” I said as I followed him down the stairs. “It’ll be nice to get my things. My office stuff doesn’t come until Monday though.”
He walked to the kitchen without pausing. “Let me know if you need help tomorrow. I have to go to the office in the morning, but I’ll be free the rest of the day.”
“I will. Thanks.”
He was leaving. I didn’t want him to, but it was his choice.
“I need your email address so I can send you the door—”
I was still following him when he stopped short and turned to tell me that. I ran smack into him right as he said “the door.” He was big and solid and immovable, and a little “ooomf” came out of me. His arm came out to steady me when I bounced off him, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Geez, Jude. A little notice would be nice.”
“I didn’t know you were so close behind,” he said apologetically. His arm was still around my shoulders and I tried hard, really hard, to pretend I was unaffected.
“It’s okay. And, uh, I put my email into your phone earlier.”
“Oh, good,” he said, his voice soft. “We’re all set then.” I felt his fingertips lightly brush the bare skin of my shoulder where my loose sweater had slipped down, and then his arm dropped away. “Good night, Ava.”
“Night, Jude.” I stood still and watched him open the door, feeling lonely and forlorn all of a sudden.
I must have looked it, too, because Jude glanced back as he was closing the door, then he stopped and leaned against the jamb, giving me a slight smile.
“I’m sorry, Ava. I’m only rushing out because if I don’t, I’m not going to be able to stop myself from kissing you, and I know it’s too soon for that.”
A tremor went through me at his words. I was surprised to hear him put it out there like that, but I liked his candor. His willingness to tell me what he was thinking. I also found myself wishing he had a little less self-control.
I cleared my throat. “I’m glad you told me. I would’ve probably lost sleep wondering what I did to make you want to get away from me so badly.”
His eyes bored into mine. “I want to get to know you, Ava,” he murmured, “not scare you off.”
I gave a jerky nod. “I want to get to know you, too.” More than anything.
He smiled. “I’m glad. I’ll see you soon.”
And then he was gone.
I kind of regretted not telling him I didn’t scare easily.