Chapter Three
Anita had had her share of lovers, one every July for nearly twenty years. But never had she felt this intense, immediate attraction to a man. Recognition. That’s what it felt like. It was as if she’d looked at the man she’d waited her whole life for.
And wasn’t that intriguing? And completely insane.
She’d found the patio chairs and tables in a room in the back of the attached garage. The sticky note recommended she enjoy the sunsets. She also found a cherry-red Buick in what appeared to be mint condition. The note stuck to the dashboard said, If you want to sell the car, you can truthfully say this was driven by an old lady only to the grocery store and to church on Sundays.
She didn’t want to like Aggie’s sense of humor. Or know they shared a love of the same color automobiles.
Anita wasn’t going to think about her grandmother this evening. She lounged in one of the chairs, making a mental note to pick up some new cushions. Would it be worth the money for only four weeks? She shifted and felt the lump beneath her. Yep. Totally worth it.
She’d asked Noah over this evening to discuss the work on the house and to propose a fling. Was this what she wanted? Of course it was. She needed to get the house ready as soon as possible. To sell as soon as possible.
The real question was if Noah was the man she wanted for her July guy. He wasn’t her usual kind of guy. He was sexy in his own way, though. Strong. Steady. Intelligent. Great sense of humor. And he liked ice cream.
Noah was perfect for her July fling. A man with roots that deep? She’d be so ready to walk away by the end of the month.
She wasn’t ever going to get serious about a man. She’d built a good life for herself, and she wasn’t going to change for anyone. For one month each year, she let loose, and her July flings had been some of the best times of her life.
But would Noah go along with the idea? He seemed pretty straight-laced and might not be a fling type of person. Anita had never been the type to overthink things. Hell, she rarely thought much at all about things before she jumped right in. What was the point when doing it was the fun part?
After more than forty years, was she actually thinking first? Looking before she leaped? Was there something that special about the salvage man? His long fingers and wide palms were calloused, rough. They spoke of years working with his hands. I’m pretty good with my hands. Wouldn’t they be stimulating while stroking her bare skin?
She wanted Noah so badly she could taste it. And now that she’d met him, she didn’t want to look for anyone else to be her July guy. She couldn’t imagine anyone else. The sparks had been shooting between them since the moment they set eyes on each other, and if that was a cliché, that was too bad. It fit.
The wind had kicked up a bit, and while it cooled the muggy evening, the surface of the lake was no longer calm and serene. Waves broke the surface. She’d have to add a lot more gray to her palette if she was painting that scene.
She walked back into the house and was reaching for the bottle of Pinot Noir she’d placed on the counter when the doorbell rang. When she opened to Noah, she’d never felt younger, more carefree and alive. Her heart raced, and an unexpected joy burst in her chest. “Hi.”
He filled the narrow space with more than his body. And what a body. But there was an energy about him. Or maybe it was between them. She couldn’t resist taking his hand in hers. Touching was imperative. So was a kiss, so she rose up on her toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
A real kiss had to happen soon, but maybe they should wait until they were out on the porch, with the lake as a backdrop. A tiny mudroom wasn’t the place for a first kiss.
But Noah evidently thought differently, because he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him while he lowered his lips to hers. Lips and tongues met with no distractions, just taste and heat. She flung her arms around his neck while she breathed him in, drank him in. But when she moaned into his open mouth, he pulled away. Gently, but with purpose.
He cleared his throat and took a step back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you like that.”
Anita laughed. “You can attack me like that whenever you want.” She sent him a bright smile and hoped he didn’t notice the way her knees were trembling. “Come on in. Take a look around.”
“Sure. In a minute. I can’t quite focus yet.” He rubbed a palm over his face. “I don’t know where that came from.”
She was glad to see he was as affected by the kiss, by their attraction, as she was. “I think we’ve been building up to that kiss since yesterday morning.” Her heart still thudded in her chest. “Good to get it out of the way.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re probably right.”
“This way.”
He followed her into the kitchen and then whistled. “Wow.”
“Yeah. I hope I don’t have to gut the whole thing before I can sell it.”
“You’ve decided to renovate before you sell?”
“If I can get back more than I put in.”
He walked through the space, opening drawers, the oven, the refrigerator. “The cupboards can get away with a new coat of paint, but I’m sure if you replace the appliances, countertops, and flooring, you’ll more than make back your investment.”
Anita nodded. Might as well put the subject out there. “Your brother and cousin tell me you’re a whiz at renovating. I thought you were a salvage man.”
“I manage to be both.”
“So you tear things out and you put them back together, too?”
“I save what I can from old buildings, and I find new homes or uses for those things. I enjoy doing that. Giving new life to things that might be destroyed otherwise. That’s the salvage work, and my family has been doing that for as long as I’ve been alive.”
She grabbed the wine bottle and led him through the dining room. He shook his head at the wallpaper and followed her into the living room. He made a beeline for the mantel.
He traced his fingers along the battered surface. “What happened here?”
“Apparently, Aggie liked to use it to take out her frustrations.”
“How do you know?”
“She left me notes. All over the place. I’m still finding them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s kind of weird. But I definitely need a new mantel.”
“Well, actually this is how my renovation work started. A client who picked out one of our salvaged mantels arranged for me to put it in a house he was remodeling. Pop had never bothered with installations before. It had always been up to the customer. Anyway, I enjoyed doing it, and when I finished installing the mantel, the guy asked me if I wanted to do some of the other work in the house. I don’t do it that often, but I enjoy it.”
“You did say you’re good with your hands.”
He chuckled. “Would you like me to help with the renovations?”
His tone was almost too lighthearted. As if he didn’t care one way or the other, but she had a feeling he cared a great deal. So was it the job he wanted, or did he want to spend more time with her?
Gah, since when did she ever second-guess herself? “I would love your help.”
Now that the house business was taken care of, it was time to get personal. Anita lifted the wine bottle. “Let’s pour a couple of glasses and toast to the month of July.”
…
Noah and Charlene had been high school sweethearts. They’d done the expected thing and gotten married as soon as she’d graduated from community college. She’d talked about going on to get her teaching degree, but they decided to start a family instead. Noah worked long hours for the business, and she cashiered at the local grocery store until Sarah and Hannah were born.
Char had been a quiet girl, but over the years, her moods began to go up and down. Taking care of twins was a lot of work, so he tried to understand when she’d seem unhappy. She often tried to start fights with him. Maybe it was a way to take out her frustrations like Aggie had with the fireplace. But he’d refused to engage, and it didn’t help their marriage.
But in all their years together, rarely had Charlene taken the initiative. He couldn’t picture her ever pouring them each a glass of wine and hinting she wanted them to get cozy.
Noah followed Anita out onto the worn wooden deck with the amazing view of Lake Margaret. She lit two candles and slipped hurricane globes over them to protect the flames from the breeze. Their gazes locked, but they didn’t speak while he held the glasses and she poured the wine. Her eyes sparkled when she tapped her glass to his.
“To July,” she murmured.
“To July.” He took a sip of the deep-red wine and smiled back at her. He had a feeling they weren’t talking about the renovations.
“Have a seat.” She dropped down onto a lounge chair. “I apologize for the lumpy cushions. I don’t think Aggie was out here much in the past few years.”
“Probably not. Last time I saw her, she seemed pretty frail.” Shit, he didn’t mean that to sound critical that Anita hadn’t been here to see her grandmother. “Sorry, I—”
“My mother told me that my grandmother died before I was born.”
Noah stared at her. “What?” He tried to imagine how that would feel. To find out that his mother had lied to him about something that important. Noah’s grandparents had been a large part of his life growing up. They’d all passed on now, but at least he’d been able to get to know them.
She was silent for a moment as she looked out over the lake. “Apparently, the women in my family are hot-tempered and stubborn.”
There must be a story there, but he wanted to dissolve the tension he heard in her voice. “Is that a warning?” he asked lightheartedly.
She turned to him and smiled. “Guess so.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, then.”
She stood, glass in hand. “Come on. I’ll give you the tour of the rest of the place.”
He wished he’d brought a notebook with him to start a list of what needed to be done. The living room was in pretty good shape. Unlike the dining room and kitchen, the walls were painted a neutral ivory. “Replacing the mantel will make a big difference in here.”
“And you said you have some salvaged mantels to choose from?”
“Right.”
She led him into a bedroom off to the side. Thank goodness, there was no wallpaper to remove. The walls looked like they were covered in the same ivory paint that was used in the living room.
“I’m going to start cleaning this room out tomorrow. All of Aggie’s things are in here. There must be someplace around here where I can donate?”
“I’ll get the number for you. They’ll even come out and pick up everything.”
“That would be great. Do you think we can get everything done in a month?”
A month wasn’t very long. “How much needs to be done upstairs?”
“The front room has been totally updated already. The bathroom is old, but nothing’s cracked and everything works, so unless you see something I don’t, I vote to leave it as is. There’s one more bedroom upstairs. I’m not sure what needs to be done in there. I haven’t been inside yet.”
He wanted to ask her why. He hadn’t known her for long, but he knew that she didn’t hesitate to speak her mind. So he took another sip of wine and waited, but she didn’t add anything more.
“Come on.” She led him up the narrow stairs. Luckily, these walls were also painted, so there was no additional wallpaper to strip. The wooden treads were worn, but there didn’t appear to be anything that needed to be replaced.
The summer heat had gathered in the small hallway and grew worse as they ascended. When they reached the top of the stairs, Anita gestured to the closed door, and he saw the square pink Post-it notes. He read them quickly. He wondered why Aggie’s daughter had never come back, why she’d lied to Anita, and what had happened to make Aggie and her daughter estranged in the first place. Maybe there were some answers behind that door.
“Do you want me to open it?”
Anita tossed down the rest of her wine and shook her head. “Not tonight. I have other things I’d like to talk about. A sunset to watch. More wine to drink. Let’s assume there’s going to be wallpaper to be stripped and stuff to be cleaned out.” She raised her empty glass. “I’m ready for more wine. How about you?”
The upstairs hallway was narrow, and their arms brushed as they stood beside each other. Her scent wound around him heavily in the summer heat. His desire grew. He could grab her again, take her on that hard hallway floor, but he wouldn’t. She might even tell him to go for it, but that wasn’t who he was.
But right now, he kind of wished it was.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Let’s get out where there’s a breeze.”
“If I were keeping this house, the first thing I’d do is put in air conditioning,” she said as she followed him down the stairs. “If there weren’t a downstairs bedroom, I think I’d be sleeping outside on one of the lumpy lounge chairs.”
Noah could picture her in a thin little nightgown sleeping in the evening air. Or in little short shorts and a tank top. He swallowed. He had to stop imagining her that way. She wasn’t hanging around here. There was no point in taking up anything with her. It didn’t matter how much they were attracted to each other.
But right now, he couldn’t resist following her back outside and pouring them each another glass of wine. The sun was heading toward the horizon. Shades of pink and gold streaked across the sky.
They settled in lounge chairs, side by side, facing the lake. If he wanted to, he could reach out and take her hand. If he really wanted to, he could lean over and take her mouth with his. Instead, he reminded himself why he’d come here to begin with.
“Tomorrow, I’ll work up a project estimate based on what we talked about this evening. Also I need to—”
“Noah?”
The way she said his name sent a shiver through him. He set his wineglass on the table beside him. “Yes?”
She set her wineglass down, too. “I don’t want to talk about the house anymore tonight.”
He swallowed. “What do you want to talk about?”
The sun was rapidly setting, and soon he wouldn’t be able to see her anymore. “Us. How we want to spend the next four weeks.”
“And we’re not talking about working on the house?”
“Man and woman do not live by work alone.” She slowly rose from her chair and climbed onto his lap, straddling his hips. The hot spot between her legs rubbed against him, hardening his body in an instant. “Time is slipping by. There are only twenty-nine days and a few hours left in July.”
“That’s a real shame.” Noah slid his fingers into her thick hair, cradling her head as he drew her down for a deep, wet kiss. When they finally parted, he rested his forehead against hers. “You drive me crazy.”
“Good. I’d hate to be boring.”
He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose before gently pushing her upright. “I doubt anyone’s ever called you boring.”
“Thank God. So let me propose a non-boring plan for the next four weeks. You and me. Sex. As often as possible.”
“Are you always so direct?”
“What’s the point of dancing around it? Why talk it to death? It’s more fun to jump in and do it, don’t you think?” When he couldn’t form a coherent response, she let out a bitter bark of a laugh and climbed off, leaving him cold and missing her. “Come on, salvage man. Be a little impulsive. You don’t always have to be the responsible one.”
He rose and met her at the edge of the deck. “I’m not the kind of guy who jumps into having an affair without putting some thought into it.”
“Don’t think of it as an affair. It’s a fling, pure and simple. A few weeks of fun, that’s all.”
He was actually considering it. But how would it ever work? It wasn’t who he was. “I’m going to have to schedule the renovation job here around my work at the salvage business. And the mayoral election is set for July thirty-first. I’m not going to have much time for anything else.”
She brushed her palm down his chest. Light from the candles flickered over her face. “You know what they say about all work and no play.”
Damn, but if he didn’t want to play with Anita. “There’s still the problem of no time.”
Anita wriggled a little closer, as if that was even possible. “We can make time. You can put our playtime into your schedule. You’ll already be working here. You have to rest sometime.” She began to massage his shoulders. “I’ll help you to relax.”
He had no doubt, but at the moment, he was enjoying her kneading his muscles too much to speak at all.
She brushed her lips over his. “Say yes, Noah. We’re attracted to each other. We both know that. And I like you. I’ve never proposed a fling with a man I didn’t like.”
Something in the way she said that made him pull away. “And exactly how many flings have you proposed?”
There was that little knowing smile he could barely see by the light coming through the windows. “Including you? Nineteen.”
He stumbled back. “Nineteen? Are you fucking kidding me?”