Travis: Chapter One
♀♂
Pictures certainly hadn’t done the house justice, and Kylie couldn’t help but smile as she stepped onto the wide, rickety wood steps of the old farmhouse. According to the tax records, the house had been built in the late 1800’s. It was apparent that sometime in the last two centuries, someone had done some significant work to the exterior. It needed more work, definitely, but at least it was workable. She’d been hoping since the day she met Gage Matthews, and he went into detail about this little project of his, that he wasn’t pulling her leg.
Granted, for the last two months, she’d spent more and more time with him, getting to know him not only as a client, but something else. What that was, she still had no idea. The fact that he was a cop hadn’t helped in the getting to know him department, though. He tended to do that whole evasive answer thing that really got on her nerves. It was a good thing he hadn’t been lying about this house though. At least she would get something out of the last sixty days she’d spent getting to know him.
“What do you think?” Gage asked from behind her.
Kylie turned to see him standing two steps lower than she was, yet he was still taller than her. “It’s beautiful. On the outside anyway.” Grinning, she felt like a kid at a carnival, excited about what came next.
“I assure you it only gets better.”
Kylie didn’t doubt it for one second.
Sidestepping her, Gage moved to the front door, and Kylie followed with a rush of adrenaline burning like jet fuel through her veins. Admittedly, she’d had her doubts about whether this house actually existed. For the last couple of months, she’d had a myriad of encounters with this sexy cowboy, but until now, he hadn’t offered to show her this house he’d been so interested in hiring her to restore.
Now that they were here, the tiny town of Coyote Ridge, which was nothing more than a small blip on the Texas map, was growing on her. They’d stopped at a small convenience store as soon as they reached town to get sodas and Kylie had been amused when she talked to the cute little old man that ran the store. From the sound of it, the elderly gentleman knew Gage fairly well, which told her a lot about the small town. Although she had worked to pry some information out of Gage, he was the equivalent of a closed book for the most part, giving her remarkably few details about his home town. Or his life in general. He was born and raised here, that much she knew.
When he surprised her that morning by showing up on her doorstep once again, Kylie had been giddy with anticipation ever since he told her where he was taking her. The hour drive from her house in Killeen gave her plenty of time to think, and even more time to get worked up over the possibilities. It clearly didn’t take much to impress her, and the opportunity to restore a house, seemingly untouched since the late 1800s, was like waking up on Christmas morning to find out the biggest present under the tree actually belonged to her.
She’d done a little research prior to their little road trip, actually begging him on a couple of occasions to take her to see the house. He had always had an excuse, but he somehow managed to take her mind off of it by spending more and more time together.
“How many acres does it sit on?” she asked when he opened the sun faded front door, swinging it inward, gesturing for her to precede him.
“Almost fifteen.”
She wondered if he was planning to do anything with the land but she didn’t ask. Thinking was the last thing she wanted to do when she got her first glimpse of the interior. As usual, as soon as she stepped inside, she felt as though she were in a time warp, imagining the life that passed through these walls for the last two hundred some odd years.
Just like she expected, there were walls everywhere. The term open concept hadn’t played a role in the construction of this house back then. The small parlor entry was spacious but enclosed by a set of French doors that led to another smaller room where the wrap around staircase stood proudly on one side. The wood was well maintained, and with just a little buffing and a fresh coat of polyurethane, it would sparkle like the sun. To her right, there were two sets of double doors, both leading into an oversized living space that was probably two actual rooms back in the day.
Without slowing, Kylie made her way around, through the dining room, then through the small, fairly cluttered kitchen. She was excited to see a set of servant stairs, and probably even squealed a little as she followed the narrow, rather steep steps up to the second floor.
“This is amazing,” she muttered, talking to herself.
Glancing into each of the three rooms and one bathroom as she passed, she noticed they were all decent sized. The landing that looked back over the main staircase was large enough to put a small settee or maybe even an antique desk.
God, she wanted this job. She’d been doing this – restoring historic homes – for the last eight years, but never had she taken on a project quite this large.
“Glad you like it,” Gage’s deep, thundering voice filled the interior of the tiny bedroom she was standing in. “You still interested?”
“Are you kidding?” She was grinning ear to ear as she stared at the cracked plaster and the hideous floor. She wondered whether there were hardwood floors beneath the dingy, olive green shaggy wall to wall carpet.
“Perfect.”
Kylie stopped and took a second to stare back at the man filling the doorway. She could’ve sworn the room seemed larger before he walked in. As she stared at the sexy, dark haired cowboy, she still found it strange how he’d blown a mountain-size hole in her life in just a matter of weeks with his unexpected arrival at her house looking for her specifically. But yet here she was about to take on a project that would take her away from her home for a good number of weeks if not months.
Just that morning, Gage had talked to her about a timeline and getting things rolling. According to him, he was putting his house on the market and looking to move into his grandmother’s old house in just a few months if she could be finished with the work in time. She didn’t make him any promises because he hadn’t even allowed her to see what she was getting herself into until now.
Although she didn’t normally take such ambitious projects so far away from home, the longer she stood there, the more interested she became, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether the attractive cowboy cop played more into her excitement than the house did.
The situation she found herself in was quite unusual, at least by her previous history. Although Gage seemed genuinely interested in hiring her to do the work, he also seemed interested in her on other levels. She knew she wasn’t imagining it either because, over the course of the last two months, they’d actually gone on several official dates. Originally when he’d asked, she’d been taken aback, unsure whether it was a nifty idea to mix business with pleasure, but the longer she was in Gage’s company, the more she found that she genuinely liked him.
Granted, she had little experience with dating mostly by her own choice. She chose to keep herself so wrapped up in work that she didn’t have time to entertain the idea of a relationship. Not that what she and Gage had could be considered a relationship, but she knew for a fact that it was more than friendship. Or she hoped so. After all, the couple of times he’d kissed her sure didn’t feel like just friends to her.
“You ok?”
Caught a little off guard, but more than grateful for the distraction, Kylie turned away, then back.
He really was one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a body that tempted her to sin like the devil. “Fine, why?”
The smile he shot her direction made her tummy dance with a sweet tingle that she’d been oblivious to for longer than she cared to admit. Or maybe she just hadn’t had that tingle in a solid decade or so.
“You’ve really never heard of Coyote Ridge?” he asked, his attention directed to the chipped plaster that clearly needed some attention.
The way he asked the question made her feel as though she should’ve heard about the tiny little town that this man obviously called home. “Nope,” she said casually, trying to stay focused on determining how much work the space needed.
That wasn’t the first time he’d asked that question, and Kylie had to wonder whether it bothered him that she hadn’t or if it was just another one of his random inquiries. He’d certainly asked more than his fair share over the last two months since she met him. Kylie attributed that to him being a cop. He was just naturally nosey, or so he’d told her.
Taking the opportunity to continue with her tour, Kylie ventured through the small bathroom that connected to another smaller bedroom. It could be considered a closet almost, she thought. As she took notes of the flooring and windows, jotting down the things that would need to be restored, fixed, or even replaced, Kylie’s thoughts drifted back to Gage.
Ever since the first night he took her out to dinner, Kylie had been thinking some rather heated thoughts about the man. They’d shared quite a few intimate meals together, and some much more casual dates, most of them spent getting to know one another. Well, more like him asking her questions and dodging those she asked him, but she found it fascinating that he was interested in getting to know her.
In fact, Kylie couldn’t help but think that a long time had passed since she’d actually dated a man who wasn’t all about jumping into bed with her within the first ten minutes. Since she never obliged them, she figured this was actually quite nice. Well, with the exception that her hormones were beginning to overflow, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could store up before the lid blew off due to the pressure. If Gage kept this up, she was going to have to buy stock in Duracell or Energizer just so she could function on a daily basis.
She still wasn’t sure why they hadn’t moved to the next phase of what felt like a potential relationship, but to this day, they had somehow managed to sidestep sex. How, she wasn’t sure. That was one thing this relationship, or whatever it could be called, was lacking. The making out portion was testing the limits of her smoke detectors, but they still had never taken that next step. The chemistry was off the charts, but they both seemed to shy away at the last minute. It wasn’t unusual for her, but for some reason, she sensed that Gage wasn’t used to backing off quite so intensely, yet he somehow managed every time.
However, there were plenty of times when she wondered whether Gage Matthews might actually be getting too close for comfort. She found she genuinely liked him. They laughed, talked, and yes, he knocked her socks off with his kisses, but as far as going any further, she risked the possibility of getting too attached.
Kylie Marie Prescott did not roll that way.
Not after Travis Walker ruined her for all time.
Damn it.
As a rule, Kylie did her best not to think about Travis. Even all these years later, her body reacted in strange ways to those lingering memories that hadn’t yet faded around the edges. Considering how he walked out on her after they’d been married only three weeks, it would make more sense if she wanted to slap him, not jump him, but damn it if she didn’t want to just…
Ok, inappropriate. Tune back into reality, girl.
Some days were more difficult than others, but she figured that was because they were still married. A technicality, she told herself. It was just a piece of paper. Not that she considered it a marriage by any means. After he had walked out ten years earlier, she’d never once looked back. Ok, maybe just a little, but she tried her best not to. If only she had the desire to find him, she’d seek a divorce. She just knew it was better if she didn’t. At least not right now. There was no way she could handle seeing him again. Not after what he had done to her. Ripping her heart right out of her chest and walking away with it still beating in his hands had been the worst thing anyone had ever done to her.
Ok, you’re cut off now, woman. No more thinking. Her internal monologue with herself was enough to set her straight.
Ten minutes later, Kylie was doing her best to push the stray thoughts out of her mind and concentrate on the pen and paper in her hand.
“Let me know when you’re done. I’d like to take you to meet some folks.”
Kylie turned to look at Gage, who had obviously been following her through the house. Dropping her hands to her side, she exhaled and smiled. She was suddenly eager to get some fresh air. Whether it was the close proximity of this handsome man or thoughts of the one from her past, she wasn’t sure, but the room was suddenly getting a little warm. “I’m good for now. As long as you promise I’ll get to come back soon.”
“Honey, you’ve got the job if you want it,” Gage said, grinning.
“You don’t even know my price,” she informed him.
“Irrelevant.”
Kylie had to wonder whether he’d done this before or if he just had money to burn. Either way, this project wasn’t going to be cheap, but at least she could do the work in stages. However, she was going to have to try and find some crews that were local to help her. The ones she normally worked with weren’t likely to venture this far out.
After Gage locked up the house and helped her into his truck, Kylie allowed her mind to relax as he drove. The familiar song on the radio made her want to tap her foot on the floor, but she refrained. It was rare that she was in a good mood after such pressing thoughts from her past, but for some reason, just being in Gage’s company helped. That and the prospect of the new job made her smile, and for once, she just wanted to enjoy what life threw her way. It was high time she stop trying to hide behind those events that had changed her life irreparably. Time to move forward.
Still smiling, Kylie pulled herself back to the moment as Gage turned off onto a long dirt driveway. In the distance, she saw a lovely old farmhouse come into view, the fresh paint and new roof gleamed radiantly in the bright Texas sunshine. This one looked significantly different than the one they’d just left. This one was sporting a recent facelift.
She wasn’t sure where they were, but she began to wonder whether Gage wanted to show her what ideas he might have. Refraining from asking questions, she paid attention to the details, noticing the men in front of the house. Two were carrying furniture, two more were talking on one end of the beautiful wrap around porch.
Did this place only breed hot, sexy cowboys?
When Gage pulled the truck to a stop, Kylie unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the truck. She continued to eye the beautiful house, her eye for detail noting the few things they’d done to stick with the houses former glory, although there were quite a few enhancements they’d made to modernize it as well. Either way, she was impressed. Wouldn’t have been her choice, but then again, it wasn’t her house.
Gage surprised her when he walked around to her side of the Tahoe, taking her hand in his. That tingle that had been stirring in her belly erupted into a volcanic explosion of activity, and she wondered if her palms were going to start sweating. God, she hoped not. At least not while he was holding her hand.
Hoping she made a good impression on these people, whoever they were, Kylie pasted on a smile and fell into step beside Gage.