Chapter 18
Molly
The morning came and I squinted to the light coming in from the window and I closed them again to give them a rest. When I opened my eyes back up, I was better able to tolerate the light and I was able to focus on what was going on around me and who was next to me. Chris’ body heat was making me hot and he still had an arm over my hip.
I didn’t want to wake him up because I wasn’t ready for another round with him. If he caught me up and in the bed naked, I knew that it was going to push us back into each other. I don’t know if I could say no to him in those circumstances and didn’t want to find out. I needed a shower and something to drink. I felt like I’d been rode hard and put up dirty and dehydrated. Chris was wrong though, I remembered this part well.
Somehow I made it to the shower without waking him up and I turned the water on after I closed the door. I needed a moment to think. When I was around Chris, it was the last thing that I did and now I needed to think more than ever. It was already almost half way through his time here and with only today and four more days to go, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to convince him to stay.
It was the thought of him leaving that made me sad. Last night and yesterday had been amazing, but it was going to end and soon and that was hard to deal with. I didn’t want it to end. I wanted it to keep going, for him to stay here and for us to have the family that we’d talked about so many times before. It felt like it was all a waste now. There was nothing that I could do to change his mind and the more I tried to think of a way, the more I realized there was no use. He was going to go back and I was going to be left with all of these feelings. It wasn’t regret that I felt, but it was something akin to it because I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to get the feeling back. I’d spent a long time trying to find a man like him and I hadn’t found one yet.
The water was getting cold when I’d stewed enough and I started to come out. Chris came in and didn’t even knock. We’d seen all of each other so many times that it didn’t seem to be a problem. With Chris, I’d never had much to hide.
“You’re done?”
I nodded that I was. “There is a little hot water left, but if you wait a minute it will be filled back up. Takes no time at all.”
He looked disappointed and I asked him what was wrong.
“I was trying to catch you in here. I miss our early morning showers.”
There he was going down memory lane again. I needed to get off that path and back into reality, so I dodged his grope and made my way to the towel rack to cover up. I couldn’t think when he was looking at me like that. I was going mushy brained again and I had to combat it with some distance and some clothes.
“Where are you going?”
“Out of here before you give me that look again and we don’t get anything done. I still need to get the trim hung.”
I could have cared less about it, though it would be a nice reminder when he left of his stay here. I figured that if I got him working, we would both be able to think a little straighter, which may or may not be a good thing. I knew that it was for the best to get back to work, no matter how badly I wanted to spend all day in the shower and in bed with him. It was tempting, but at the end of the day I had other things that I needed to do and if I only had him for a few more days, I might as well get the trim done at the very least.
Getting dressed, I went into the room that was scattered with cut wood and started to get everything ready to hang them. I kept looking for Chris, but he didn’t emerge until a half an hour later with wet hair and a smile on his face.
“Gosh, we needed that. I can’t believe how good that felt.”
I don’t know if he was talking about what we had just done before going to sleep or if he was talking about the shower. Either way, I wasn’t ready to have a discussion. I was ready to work and I was grateful that he came up next to me and started to grab the first piece to hang.
We worked quietly for some time together and it brought me back. We’d worked together before and it wasn’t long before the room was done and we were sitting back, admiring our work.
“You know, I never get this in the city.”
“What?”
“The feeling of accomplishment. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love having a good day and making some money and negotiating a good deal, but I can’t sit back and look at it.”
“You could look at the numbers on your bank account.”
“Yes, and I do.” He chuckled like he had actually done it before. “But it is just not the same. There is something different about seeing what you have done in front of you. I missed this.”
“Well since you got done so quickly, I was thinking that maybe we can do a few more chores before you go back? You can have that feeling again.”
“Good. There are other feelings I would like to have again before I go.”
I sighed. I liked the way he was back to light-hearted and teasing, but he was still talking about leaving and I still wanted him to stay.