Chapter Three

They went through her house, spending time discussing the different aspects of what she wanted to be implemented along with things she hadn’t thought of. She smiled as Nate stretched toward the rope to pull the stairs down from the attic. Silently she let out her breath as she admired the hard plane of his stomach. He still had an athlete’s body. As soon as the stairs were secured, he went up them and disappeared.

Leaning up against the wall, she waited for him to come back down. She’d peeked up there when she’d first moved in; it was a vast, empty space and she hoped to keep it that way.

“Hey Mya.” Nate’s head popped over the edge and he looked down on her. “Have you been up here?”

She shook her head. “Just to see there was nothing up there.”

Grinning, he used his head to motion her to come closer. “You totally have to come up here.”

Wondering what he’d found, the curiosity got the better of her and she scrambled up the stairs. When she got to the top, Nate was there holding his hand out to her.

“What did you want to show me?” When she looked around, it still looked as empty as the first time she had seen it.

“Over there.” He pointed to a small window at the far end of the house. “Look through it and tell me what you see.”

Wondering what he was up to, she walked over and looked out it, trying to figure out what he wanted her to see. “Besides another gorgeous view, I have no idea what I’m looking for.”

He moved in close to her and tapped the window. “You see that cabin right there?”

“Yes, but what’s so important about it?”

“Besides being your closest neighbor? It is also my home.”

“And I was supposed to know this how?”

He bumped her shoulder. “Obviously there was no way for you to know, but now you do. Anytime you want to, you can come see me.”

“That’s all great, but since I’m not a bird that can fly, how do I get there?”

“Since you asked so nicely, I would be more than happy to give you directions to my place. I’ll even give you directions to my sister’s place. She’ll be back in town in a couple of days. In fact, you should go there unannounced. That’ll be great.” He paused and tapped a finger to his lips. “Actually, I have a better idea. Why don’t you come over for dinner on Sunday? I’ll invite her too, but not tell her you’ll be there. That way I’ll be able to see her reaction when she sees you there.”

Mya tapped his clipboard. “How are you going to keep this from her?”

“Easy—I’ll file everything under the Bancroft place until next week. She’ll never know.”

They sat down at her kitchen table to discuss the specifications and timeline to install her system. From her research on the products, she had complete confidence that Nate would be able to deliver on everything he said. Even if she hadn’t known him since he was a teenager, Mya could tell from the way he talked that he was aware of the whole system backwards and forwards. Frowning, she stared at the bottom line, tapping the paper. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “That can’t be right.”

He winked at her. “Who runs Vault Security?”

Sighing heavily, she rolled her eyes. “That would be you. However, I’ve researched these products and I know what they cost.”

“You know the retail price. My price is significantly better. Trust me, I’m still making a profit.”

Mya sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

“I promise you, I’m still making a profit. Are you getting a deal? Yes, you are, an excellent one, but please, we do very well, so please, take the discount.”

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll find some way to pay you back. I always did.”

His eyes twinkled as he rubbed his hands together. “I seem to recall you made wicked oatmeal raisin cookies. Anytime you want to make some of those I’d be more than happy to take them off your hands.”

Smiling, she nodded and picked up the pen to sign at the bottom of the page. “That I can totally do.”

“I’ll have Brent out here tomorrow to go over the system with you, and he’ll be able to start customizing it for you before we even install it. You’ll be up and running faster that way. We’ll have the rest of the crew out here on Monday, so be ready for the chaos.”

“I didn’t think you’d be able to start for three weeks—that’s what your receptionist said.”

“Traci doesn’t know everything. The crew that begins a job is finishing theirs up on Friday. Once we get to phase two, that crew will be finishing up their job. See? Everything worked out like it was meant to be. Instead of my guys sitting around with a few days of free time, they have something to do. I should be thanking you.”

“Don’t try to pull something over on me. I know what you’re doing.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But because I want this system up and running and as soon as possible, I’ll go with it.”

Grinning, he stood up and reached down to help her up, bringing her closer to him. “Of course you could always offer to make me dinner, which I’d come over for, and then afterward I could work on your system. You know, get the job done quicker.”

She gave him a half smile and looked at him through her eyelashes. “Want to spend some time with me, do you?”

“We have fifteen years to catch up on. I don’t want to miss another moment.”

The beat of her heart sped up and her breath caught in her chest as they stood there, frozen in time, staring into each other eyes. Slowly he dipped his head and kissed her on the cheek, close to her lips, before turning and walking out her door.

Feeling the loss of his warmth, she wrapped her arms around her stomach and watched his truck drive away. All the teenage feelings she’d had for him came rushing back, along with some new adult longings she hadn’t felt in a long time.