Wyatt's Stand (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 2) (11 page)

He put their dishes in the dishwasher and crossed to her. Setting his hands on her shoulders, he looked down into her eyes. “Call me if you need anything, okay?” She had his number.

Another smile. “Thanks. I will.”

After climbing behind the wheel of Wyatt’s truck he waited until she turned out all the lights and sat there a moment. She was safe now. Greg would have to sleep it off overnight and would face charges in the morning. Hopefully, something would stick enough to land him some kind of punishment this time. Too often guys like him walked because of their past service and rich family.

His gaze cut to the window on the left when Piper raised the blind enough to peer out and wave at him, giving a thumbs-up and a grin that told him she’d known he would stand guard for a bit.

He waved goodnight, couldn’t help the smile on his face or the sense of anticipation stirring in his gut. While he was sorry as hell for what she was going through, he was glad he’d been there for her tonight.

He drove away, lost in his thoughts. He didn’t know if she’d ever return his feelings for her.

But at least now, for the first time ever, he finally had the chance to take a shot at making her his.

“All right, you stubborn bastard. It’s on.”

Shifting her stance, Austen raised the sledgehammer and slammed it into the upstairs bathroom countertop with all her might. The muscles and bones in her arms vibrated with the impact and she managed to punch a big hole in the top of the counter, but it still held firm to the wall.

She scowled and blew an errant curl away from her sweaty face. She’d only been at this for a few minutes already and she was about to melt up here. Damn vanity was freaking bombproof.

“Giving you a hard time?”

Her pulse jumped at the sound of that deep, sexy voice. She swung around to face Wyatt, standing outlined in the bathroom doorway.

Amusement danced in his eyes and he looked too delicious for words in his jeans and T-shirt that stretched across his muscular chest. It had been two days since the incident at his place with Piper’s ex. Piper had called yesterday to apologize, and Austen had been quick to tell her it had nothing to do with her and wasn’t her fault. Austen was more worried about Piper, to be honest.

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Wyatt had popped by earlier in the day to check on things, quiet and serious as ever as he went about his business and kept his guys on track, but then he’d left to help his dad at the farm. She hadn’t expected him back so soon, but it was a nice surprise. “I don’t know what the hell they built this thing with, but trust me when I say they just don’t make ‘em like this anymore.”

Apart from the kitchen, gutting and expanding this bathroom was her biggest priority. She was sick of living at the motel and wanted to be able to stay here instead. Financially it didn’t make sense for her to keep paying for a motel room when she could just as easily crash here once the plumbing and electrical systems were installed.

Wyatt eyed it, then her. “Want me to take a turn?”

Her back and arms ached and her hands were sore from wielding the sledgehammer. “Be my guest.”

She handed it over and scooted back to rest one cheek on the edge of the claw foot tub she was determined to salvage, stripped off her work gloves and picked up the bottle of water that was now warm. Still, it was wet, and felt good on her dry throat, which got even drier as she watched Wyatt raise the sledgehammer and bring it down on the vanity.

Wood cracked and splintered under the force of the blow, and the edge of the counter came away from the wall a little. Everything feminine in her sighed and tingled at the blatant display of raw male power from such a tightly controlled man. What would it take to destroy that control?

She imagined stepping up behind him and pulling that shirt over his head, then sliding her hands up his ribs, over his chest and stomach. With his back to her she had no qualms about staring at the way the muscles in his arms and back flexed with each movement, or the way his jeans hugged his fine ass.

Over the past couple days, she’d thought a lot about that moment on his front porch after Piper’s ex had driven off. It might have been a long time since she’d been interested in a man, but she recognized the signs when one was attracted to her and Wyatt definitely was.

Or at least, he had been.

Since the other night he’d kept a careful, professional distance from her. But she knew she hadn’t imagined that leap of heat in his eyes when he’d stared down at her on his front porch. Watching him now, she was tempted to find out what would happen if she pushed him, stoked that hunger inside him.

Probably best if she avoided temptation, however, she thought as he continued dismantling the vanity blow by blow. They worked together and she depended on him and his crew to help her get this done. Despite his distant exterior he was solid and reliable and kept everyone on task, even her. If they hooked up and things went bad, it would be awkward. Maybe even awkward enough that they couldn’t work together anymore.

She was curious about him though, wanted to know more about him and why he tended to avoid society. She liked him and could use a friend here…except she wanted to be more than his friend.

Part of her felt guilty for even thinking it, but John had been gone a long time and he wasn’t coming back. He’d want her to move forward and get on with her life. He’d want her to be happy.

If Wyatt was to ask her out, she’d say yes without hesitation. She’d ask him out herself if she wasn’t so afraid he’d turn her down flat. Would be nice if he did the pursuing though. Not that she’d hold her breath on that one.

Eight more blows from the sledgehammer and the countertop came away from the wall. “Think that did it,” Wyatt announced, setting the hammer aside to look at her, barely breathing hard. “Gimme a hand?”

She jumped up, slipped on her gloves and grabbed the far end of the counter, the two of them yanking the framework away from the wall. One last pull and it came free, clattering to the floor…right on Wyatt’s right boot.

“Oh!” Austen scrambled to her knees and grabbed it, tried to lug it off.

“No, it’s—”

Ignoring him, she managed to pry it off his boot. When she looked up to check on him, Wyatt was grinning at her. She blinked. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “No foot in there. Didn’t feel a thing.”

She flushed as his meaning sank in and floundered for a moment, trying to think of something to say. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten. But with him grinning at her like that, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, awkward moment over with, let’s move on.”

He held out a hand, palm up. She took it, allowed him to help pull her to her feet and the feel of that strong grip around her gloved hand sent another flutter through her. With them standing so close the bathroom suddenly seemed twice as small. And ten times as hot.

She lowered her gaze. “Thanks, I’ll take this downstairs.”

“I’ll help you.”

“No, I got it.” Grabbing the countertop, she turned it sideways and tried to step by as she hefted it off the floor, her ass and shoulder blades rubbing against him as she squeezed past him and out into the hall.

God, the man was playing hell on her libido and she was pretty sure he had no idea. By the time these renos were done she might explode from unrequited desire and sexual frustration.

Lugging the counter through the front door, she heaved one end into the Dumpster before shoving the works into it. Just as she was dusting herself off, a car turned up the driveway. When the driver pulled up behind her truck and got out, alarm leapt inside her when she recognized Greg.

Her spine stiffened. She moved to the top of the stairs to bar him from coming any closer and put her hands on her hips. She wasn’t going to let him go after Wyatt again.

Greg stopped at the bottom of the front steps and pulled off his sunglasses. “You Austen?”

She didn’t answer verbally, just nodded. Why was he even out of jail?

“Is Wyatt inside?”

“He’s busy.” No way in hell she was allowing a repeat of the other night. “What do you want?”

He broke eye contact, glanced around the cluttered yard rather than look at her. “I wanted to apologize for the other night. I…wasn’t myself.”

Oh, from what she’d been told about him from two reliable sources since then, he’d been
exactly
himself the other night. “Anything else?”

He stared at her a moment, then shook his head. “No. Again, I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

You can get the hell off my property before Wyatt sees you, and not come back
. Clearly he had issues, but part of her still wondered if there was any truth to his accusations about Wyatt and Piper. There was no denying they were close, and real fond of each other. “I’ll tell him. Now leave.”

Surprise flared in his eyes, as though he took offense at her ordering him off her property. Well, too bad. Her property, her rules. He could fucking deal.

To her relief he turned and headed for his car without another word, then got in and drove away. When he was halfway to the road, Wyatt came outside. A dark scowl lined his face as he stared after the retreating car. “What the hell did he want?”

“To apologize. I told him I’d pass on the message. As far as I can tell, he was sober.”

Wyatt wrapped a hand around her upper arm and turned her to face him. The stark concern in his eyes sent a shiver of unease through her. “Stay away from him. I mean it. If he shows up here again, come get me and I’ll handle it. If I’m not here, then call the cops. Don’t talk to him again.”

Concern for her safety was one thing, but she bristled at the blatant command in his voice. She wasn’t one of his Marines to be ordered around. He wasn’t a captain at her fire hall who got to tell her what to do and how to do it. She’d seen how Greg had behaved the other night. Just because she was a woman didn’t mean she was weak and couldn’t defend herself.

“I can look out for myself,” she told him, a bite to her tone.

Jaw tight, he shook his head, his grip firm on her arm. “Not with him.”

She jerked her arm free of his grasp and stepped back. Didn’t matter that she knew he was worried about her. Nothing rankled her faster than someone bossing her around. “Okay, think I’m done for the day.”

Turning away from him, she dug in her hip pocket for her keys and started down the steps to her truck.

“Austen.”

Nope. She was tired and sweaty, pissed off by his heavy-handed attitude, and increasingly sexually frustrated by just being near him. She needed to get away from him for a while. A long cool shower followed by a cold drink and a nap sounded a lot more preferable to sticking around here with him.

“Text me if you need me to answer anything,” she threw over her shoulder, not even bothering to look at him as she got in her truck and drove to her motel.

****

Standing outside the second floor motel room door, Wyatt resisted the urge to fidget as he waited for Austen to answer. It had been five hours since she’d jumped in her truck and driven away from the jobsite. He’d thought about texting her rather than just showing up here but even he knew that wasn’t going to clear the air between them.

When he’d seen Greg’s car driving down her driveway he’d reacted without thinking, only worried about her safety because he knew what a piece of shit Greg was, and what he was capable of when he was wasted. He hadn’t meant to sound overbearing and domineering, but he guessed he had.

The door swung open and Austen stood there with an unreadable expression on her face and wearing a red wrap-around dress that hugged every curve of her long, lean body, the low neckline displaying the tops of her breasts.

Tearing his gaze from her cleavage, he met her cool stare. “I came to apologize,” he blurted, thrusting the bouquet of flowers he’d bought at her.

She took them, lowered her head to smell them even as she held eye contact. For some reason he found that direct gaze sexy as hell. “Wow, that’s two men who’ve apologized to me in the space of a few hours. Not sure that’s ever happened before.”

He couldn’t tell if she was still pissed at him or not. “But mine was better, right? More sincere.”

She nodded, one side of her mouth curving upward. Okay, she couldn’t be
too
mad if she was smiling. “And you brought flowers. So yes, yours is better.”

“So…I’m forgiven?” He wanted to make sure. Sometimes with women, he couldn’t tell.

She gave him a considering look. “Mostly.”

He frowned. “If I took you to dinner, would that do it?”

Her eyebrows went up. “It might. Couldn’t hurt to try it, anyway.”

Damn, he was torn between wanting to squirm and pulling her into his arms to kiss her until she couldn’t stand up on her own. “Can we go tonight?” It was already after six. The woman had to eat sooner or later.

“We could,” she hedged. “What did you have in mind?”

“There’s a place on the river I’d like to take you to.”

She straightened, cocked her head. “Is this a date?”

“No,” he said quickly, because that would be totally inappropriate. She was his boss. Well, technically she was, according to their contract. Didn’t matter, because right now he was all about inventing excuses to help him maintain his distance from her.

“No?” She lifted a dark eyebrow.

He could feel the heat rushing into his cheeks and was grateful that his beard would hide most of it. Wait. “Do you want it to be?”

“Do you?”

Shit, he didn’t know what to say to that. He was so far off his game it wasn’t even funny. He’d been out of the dating scene for a long time and Austen threw all the rules he’d thought he’d known completely out the window. He was off balance and flailing. “We work together.”

“We do,” she agreed, then grinned. “Doesn’t have to be a date. But I wouldn’t mind if it was.”

Damn. He hadn’t been prepared for that one, or the rush of desire her words triggered.

She let out a light laugh. “You’re so cute when you get flustered.”