I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, but as I looked around the Camu house I felt a sense of pride. A sense of accomplishment.

I’d never decorated anyone’s home but my own, although I had been in charge of decorating the gallery. I hadn’t expected it to be so exciting … so fulfilling. To see my ideas play out before my eyes was unbelievably satisfying, and I couldn’t wait to see the family’s reaction to their renovated home.

Of course, after my conversation with Sadie, I now worried about the possibility of them hating it.

I’d come in early this morning to help Sadie and the team put the finishing touches on the home. I hadn’t had a chance to go to the gallery at all in the last two days, and I was averaging about four hours asleep. But, even though I was exhausted, I was also oddly energized.

I briefly thought about cancelling on Jed for dinner that night, needing to catch up on work, and on sleep, but when I caught sight of him at the Camu house that morning, I knew no matter how much I had to do, or how badly I needed rest, I wanted to see him more.

He looked so handsome in his jeans and a nice button-down shirt. His hair was styled, and although he was camera ready, his scruff was still there, and I realized I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t. The rugged look suited him to a T, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

“Something catch your eye?”

I braced and turned my head to see Kylie standing next to me, her gaze also on Jed.

“Bet I could get him in the sack before you could even get his number,” Kylie said haughtily.

She was ready for the camera, in full hair and makeup, with a pretty, feminine dress on. The sweet, demure look was so completely different from her actual personality that it would have been funny, if she didn’t seem to have the whole country fooled.

Sadie and myself excluded, of course.

Knowing better than to engage in her petty bullshit, I ignored her and turned my attention back to the crew, who were standing joking around while they waited for filming to start.

“Oh, what’s wrong, Ice Princess, afraid he’d take one look at your frozen mug and run in fear of his dick freezing off?” Kylie asked with a laugh.

That laugh … that fucking laugh had followed me around the halls of high school like a bad case of acne.

I never knew what had made Kylie hate me on sight, but from the day I moved to town, until the day I’d left, she’d made it her mission to make my life a living hell. She and her doppelgangers had embarrassed me, tortured me, and spread rumors about me. They were the reason I’d had no friends, why I’d closed myself off and hid from everyone but my family. In a way, they also helped me find my love of art, which had given me the outlet I needed to get through my formative years.

Kylie huffed, frustrated that I wasn’t rising to her bait. She hated to be ignored, always had, and once I’d realized it was my best defense against her, I’d used it often.

“Kylie, we’re ready for you,” the producers called, and her entire demeanor changed as she smiled and left me standing there.

Needing to shake her off, I stepped outside to take a few deep breaths, then went back in to join the others. I wasn’t going to allow Kylie to ruin the big reveal for me. I’d worked too hard.

As we waited, my eyes found Jed again, but this time, he was watching me as well.

I smiled and gave a little wave in greeting, and when he grinned back, my mind shifted to the night in his workshop. The memory of his mouth on my breast caused a flash of lust to run through me, and I could feel my neck heating as I remembered how I’d had to finish myself off when I got home.

Jed’s eyes darkened as he watched me, and I knew he realized what I was thinking about when I saw his hands fist at his side.

I could hear them calling action in the background, but my entire being was solely focused on Jed. Handsome, thoughtful, creative, sexy, Jed. And, I knew as he mouthed the word tonight that I was falling hard and fast for the neighbor I’d once thought of as annoying.

The realization sent a thrill of anticipation through me, and I found myself wishing we could skip the final taping and the wrap party, and head right to dinner, and what came after…

“Oh my God!”

The excited squeal had me tearing my gaze from Jed to the happy couple, the warmth of his stare following me.

I couldn’t help but react to the way Mrs. Camu was looking around her house, eyes wide, her hand covering her mouth, while Mr. Camu led her in with his hand at the small of her back, a big grin on his lips as his head swung back and forth to take it all in.

Thank God, they love it!

Kylie was doing her thing, showing them around the house, with Sadie and Jose stepping in to clarify new additions to the space.

Once they started the tour, the rest of us filed out and into the yard, to give the stars of the show, the cameramen, crew, and the Camus space to film what they needed.

“We’re heading to the bar and grill on Main Street for the wrap party, see y’all there,” one of the crew members yelled out, and everyone who wasn’t on cleanup started piling in their vehicles and heading out.

“There you are…”

I paused on my way down the steps to see Jed sauntering over to me.

“Hey,” I greeted him with a shy smile. What I really wanted to do was jump up on him and start kissing his face, to hell with the camera crews and everyone, but I settled for placing my hand on the back of his bicep and giving it a small squeeze before dropping my hand to my side.

Damn, his muscles feel great under my palm.

“That was pretty cool, huh?” I added, tilting my head toward the house.

“Yeah, I had no idea how great it would be to be involved in something like this. Seeing it on TV just isn’t the same.”

Jed’s hand came up to brush a stray lock of hair off of my cheek, and the feel of his rough, work-worn fingers against my skin had me leaning into his touch before I even realized what I was doing.

His eyes darkened, and I swear, I felt that look all the way down to my toes, and suddenly wished we were anywhere but in the midst of a television crew.

“What do you say to skipping the wrap party and going straight to dinner?” Jed asked, his tone low and full of promise.

That promise had me suggesting something that would normally make me blush.

“Or, what about we skip the wrap party and dinner, and just head to your place … or, mine.”

Jed looked like he wanted to not only say yes, but to drag me to his truck and take me home right then, but instead he shook his head as he ran his thumb across my cheek.

“I want to take you on this date first … do this right. Then, if we still want to continue the date after dinner, I’ll be more than happy to meet you wherever you wish.”

I liked that. Really liked that he wanted to stick by what he’d said from the beginning and take me out on a real date, even though I was dying to get him alone and do the naked mambo.

I let out a sigh, which I’m sure conveyed my disappointment, because he grinned wickedly in response.

“Okay then, yes, let’s skip the wrap party and go to dinner.”

“Do you need to go home first?” he asked, and although I was eager to get to our date, I thought about how much work I’d done over the last few days and realized I had a situation that needed shaving, and if we were going to do what I hoped we were going to do after dinner, then I needed to jump in the shower for some quick grooming.

“Yes, if that’s okay, just for like, thirty minutes,” I replied.

“Perfect, I could use a shower, and we can drop off your car and ride together,” Jed said easily, then added, “I’ll be at your door in thirty.”