Chapter Twelve
Tasha had taken only one sip of her morning coffee when the pounding of work boots pummeled her porch and male voices boomed in the air. She opened the door to five big men with impressive tool belts and was instantly overpowered by their size, their good looks, their innate confidence—as if they owned the world.
Which, among them all, they practically did.
Daniel stood in front like their emissary, too beautiful for words. “We’re here to help. Especially with the roof. But anything else you want done too.”
Her mouth opened, and the only thing that came out was a stunned, “The five of you came to help me?”
Tears of gratitude pricked at her eyes that these powerful, successful men—four of whom were, for all intents and purposes, strangers—would offer to help rebuild her cabin.
These past months, she’d been so focused on how she could have missed the darkness inside her family that it was hard to wrap her head around such a selfless offer. One she badly needed, considering her cabin truly had been uninhabitable during the recent storm. There was no way she and the puppies could make it through another one.
“Working vacation,” Matt said, his smile as wide as his face. His son must be absolutely lovable.
“We all spend too much time at our desks,” Sebastian added, “and need a good workout.”
“Speak for yourself.” Will flexed his biceps. “I get plenty of workout time.”
They amazed her with their humor, always ribbing each other. Five big, happy, smiling guys…who surely would abhor her if they knew her story. Especially given that she couldn’t accept their help, then immediately shove them out the door again. They’d want to get to know her. Good God, what if they wanted her to meet their wives and girlfriends?
She couldn’t do it. As desperate as she was to mix with people again, to talk and laugh, she couldn’t allow it.
As if he could read everything written on her face, Daniel said softly, “It’s okay, Tasha. We want to do this. It’s fun for us. There’s no obligation.”
She wanted it too—wanted the camaraderie and the conversation and the fun more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Well, apart from Daniel’s kiss. She wanted that more than her next heartbeat.
But the only right thing to do was turn them down. It wasn’t penance otherwise, was it?
“It’s really sweet of you all,” she said, “but I haven’t ordered the materials I need. So there’s nothing to be done yet.”
Will slapped Daniel on the back. “We’ve got a home-improvement mogul in our midst, remember?”
Sebastian hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “And a Top Notch store just over the hill in Carson City with a warehouse chock full of anything you could possibly need.”
“Even better,” Matt put in, “you can get it at cost.”
She looked at Daniel, and he spread his hands in a don’t-blame-me-that-they’re-dying-to-help gesture.
They had her beaten all around. Even Evan, though he hadn’t uttered a single cajoling comment, wore his tool belt. They were clearly determined to pitch in. En masse, they would charm the heck out of any person they’d ever met.
But hadn’t falling for charming already gotten her into enough trouble? Then again, if she’d known any of the Mavericks before meeting Eric, she surely would have seen right through him. His versions of charming and powerful were paper-thin by comparison.
She was still fighting with herself when one of the puppies started to whine in the crate, whimpering for her to let their hunky new friends inside.
“How is Noah’s little Spanky?” Matt’s eyes danced.
“He’s great. And always hungry.”
Will stepped into the action too. “I told Jeremy about his new puppy before he left for camp this morning. He was so happy that Harper didn’t even get upset at my highhandedness. Plus, I’m pretty sure she’s been secretly hoping for a dog.”
How could Tasha resist them? And how could she resist Daniel when he looked at her like that—as though her happiness was directly responsible for his?
At last, she held the door wide and stepped to the side. “Come on in.”
Giving her a huge smile, Sebastian retrieved a measuring tape from his voluminous tool belt and got straight to work with Will, Evan, and Matt.
Meanwhile, Daniel surprised her by grabbing her coat, taking her hand, and drawing her outside, his warmth and strength momentarily—and deliciously—engulfing her. The sun sparkled on the lake below them, dazzlingly beautiful, and Daniel had to let her go as the trail narrowed. She missed his touch more than she wanted to admit.
“What are they measuring?” she asked, stopping at a rock outcropping to view her cabin.
“Floors, walls, kitchen. They’ll do the roof too. You can use the measurements whenever you’re ready. We’ll add them to that app I showed you, if you’d like.”
“Daniel, I—”
He put his finger to her lips. It drove her crazy when he did that, making every cell in her body tremble for a taste of him.
“I promise I’m not going to steamroll you. I just want to help.” He smiled his killer smile. “And my mom ordered us to be gentlemanly and help you out.”
“You talked to your mother about me?”
“Of course I did.”
She was stunned by this news, but tried not to show it as she said, “So you’re doing this because your mother told you to?” She imagined a tiny white-haired lady shaking her rolling pin at her five able-bodied sons. Of course they’d do anything she ordered.
He tucked away a lock of hair that had escaped her ball cap. Her body tingled with awareness at the light touch.
“Well, I’m definitely not doing this because you’re having a Bad Hair Day.” He tapped her cap, and she laughed as she remembered the slogan stitched on this one. “Your hair is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she said, “but I swear I wasn’t looking for compliments when I put it on.”
“I’m not complimenting. I’m just stating a fact.” He ran the length of her ponytail slowly through his fingers, and she shivered as though he were touching so much more—her lips, her cheeks, her body. “And I’m doing this because I want to.” His voice was as gentle as his touch. “I hate the thought of you being in a house that leaks. You don’t even have a working stove or a real bed. But my friends and I have the means and the skills to help. And Sebastian’s right—I have a warehouse full of everything you need.”
“I’m grateful, I really am.” But that’s not how she sounded. All because she couldn’t tell him that she was scared—or why. She especially couldn’t explain why she didn’t deserve all the wonderful things he and his friends wanted to do for her.
“Just take one minute.” He seduced her with his deep voice, his expressive gaze. “Close your eyes.” He lightly touched her lids.
With his voice and scent surrounding her, making her knees so weak she had to reach out and hold on to him with one hand, she had no choice but to do what he said.
“Now tip your head back and imagine.”
“Imagine what?” she whispered, though she was already visualizing being in his soft bed, with his big hands on her, his muscled body over hers.
“Your cabin. The way you want it to be.”
In her mind’s eye, all she could see was her future hot tub. And the two of them in it together. Naked and wet.
“Tell me what you want.”
I want you to touch me.
“I see log cabin walls.”
“What else do you see?”
You above me. I can taste your naked skin.
“Hardwood floors. With a slate hearth for the wood stove.”
“Tell me more,” he said, his deep voice as enticing as all the small touches he constantly showered on her.
“There’s a counter separating the main room from the kitchen, with barstools, so I don’t need a kitchen table.”
“That’s perfect,” he murmured as if he were talking about the feel of her skin against his.
“Maple kitchen cabinets. Maple floors. It’s light and open and airy.”
“Good.” He paused and lowered his voice to an even deeper tone. “Now tell me about the bedroom.”
She shivered as she sank further into her fantasy of the two of them tangled up together, his body heat surrounding her.
“French doors leading out to a small deck.”
“And the hot tub.”
She bit her lip. “Of course.” She saw him in the bubbling water, reaching for her.
“Do you want it?”
“Yes.” God, yes. What she wouldn’t give to finally have a home, to finally have a place—and a man—she wouldn’t have to leave behind the way she’d had to for so many years.
She opened her eyes because she couldn’t bear the fantasies anymore. He was close enough for her to make out the dark cocoa laced with milk chocolate in his eyes.
“You can have it, Tasha. Let me help your dreams come true.”
This wasn’t what her time here in the forest, on this mountain, was supposed to be about. She wasn’t supposed to build her own dreams after playing a part in helping her father and brother crush those of so many other people. Yet here she was, on the verge of letting Daniel help her.
Then it hit her—he’d be leaving soon. She’d be alone again.
And nothing would hurt more than watching him go.
Maybe that was the reason she’d been compelled to come to Tahoe, to buy this cabin. Because she was destined to meet Daniel, to fall for him, to want him, to need him. To love him.
And then to lose him.
It would, she knew with perfect certainty, be the ultimate atonement for her mistakes.
The lump in her throat was so big she could barely speak around it. “Okay, Daniel, you’ve convinced me.” It was nearly impossible to keep the tears from falling as she said, “Make my dreams come true.”