Done (Harmony Haven #1)

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

EASTON

The more I was around Jesse, the more I wanted to know everything about her. But I was having trouble just coming out and saying it for some reason. She seemed complicated, and it was a situation I was navigating for the first time. I couldn’t keep being coy, though. The more I walked around the house, the more I realized West’s contractor had done a great job. That meant I couldn’t linger with odd jobs until I grew some balls.

“Hey,” I knocked gently on the door, just in case Max had laid down for his nap. “All done.”

“Thanks,” she leaned on the frame and smiled at me. “I can’t wait to let Max play outside now.”

I looked out from the porch and smiled. With the fence surrounding the entire yard, and the big oak trees creating patches of shade over the plush grass, it was the perfect place for a kid to play. It made me proud that even if I couldn’t get the balls to ask Jesse out, I at least did something good for her.

“Did you think of anything else I can do?” I asked with a hopeful bounce in my step.

“No,” she shrugged. “Your maintenance duties are done. Your brother will be happy.”

“Yeah, maybe he won’t call me all day and night again.”

I sounded pathetic, and by the smirk on her face, she knew I was full of shit. So instead of keeping up some lame excuses and a ruse that would never work, I took a deep breath and laughed at myself.

“Honestly,” I started, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment. “I called him nine times. After the call the other night, I just…fuck…I just wanted to know…”

“You practically saw me naked.” She tried helping me with my words, but those weren’t the right words. “I get it.”

“What? No?”

“Yes you did,” she laughed.

“But that isn’t what this is about.”

“Then what is it?”

“Hell if I know. But I left here the other night with my head spinning and I’ve been trying to find an excuse to come back since. And it wasn’t because I almost saw you naked. Hell, I did my best to not look.”

“Easton?” She sighed. “I’m flattered by whatever this is, but I’m not available. My heart belongs to someone else.”

Her heart? I just wanted to know her last name, and to know why she was in town. Then maybe a little about her favorite sex positions. None of that involved her heart. My questions were so far away from her heart that they were practically on her toes. No one said anything about a heart, and I was tempted to start counting her little piggies and sending one to the market just to prove it.

“Max has a dad,” I nodded, like that was the answer to the questions I never asked.

“Max has a father, not a dad. And that’s exactly why he’s the only man I have time for in my life. As good as you looked in that uniform the night we met, and as much as I loved watching you fix the fence, you would be wasting your time trying to get closer to me.”

She cut through the bullshit and laid it out for me in black and white. Her honesty and strength were doing the opposite of what she had hoped, though. All she was doing was making me want more. What was it about her that had me so intrigued?

Like a puppy, I started to tuck my tail and turn away. She had drawn a line, laid it out there, and let me know that any games I was trying to play were futile. Then I remembered that tucking my tail and running wasn’t my style.

“You liked the uniform?” I smirked.

With a small laugh, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms but stayed silent.

“So here's the thing,” I continued before she could push me away again. “Something happened to me that night, and I need some time to figure out what that was.”

“Sounds like a personal problem.”

“It is,” I agreed. Who could deny I had a problem? “But you could spare me a little, maybe humor me.”

“I’m new around here. Maybe I’m just a novelty?”

“No,” I stepped closer to her without even thinking and ran my hand down her arm.

She flinched a little but didn’t pull away, so I kept my hand on her skin and felt the goosebumps rising as I leaned in towards her ear. “It’s not because you were naked and it’s not because you’re a novelty. You intrigue me, and I wanna know everything you’ll tell me about you.”

“How about I just let you ask a few questions? That way we don’t run the risk of an extended conversation that may be misleading.”

I pursed my lips, content with that answer for the moment. But I knew deep down that I would never be satisfied with just a few questions.

“How about you bring Max to the station on Thursday? I can let him sit in a truck and show him around, and it’ll give me a chance to ask those questions.”

She was shaking her head no, but I knew she was considering a solid yes . Not for her, but for Max. Maybe without meaning to, I went too low by using him as an excuse to see her again.

“Are you married?” I blurted quickly.

“No.”

“Are you in a relationship?”

“No.”

“Okay that helps a little. I need time to prepare my questions properly.”

“You mean, those weren’t your questions?” Her confused laughter made me smile, and I bit my lip as I shook my head.

“No, those were just the ones I needed to ask so I knew if it was okay to ask more.”

She bit her lip as well, suppressing a smile that was hard to hide while her cheeks pinkened. Maybe my honest insecurity was charming for her because right in front of my eyes, her answer went from no to maybe to the yes I had predicted.

“I’ll see you, Thursday.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “Thursday.”

“I work 24 hours so I’ll be there no matter what time you decide to stop by. I’ll text you the address so you know exactly where you’re going.”

I took my hand off her arm and started to back away, mindful that there were steps behind me, but not wanting to turn around just yet. I wanted to look at her face and into her eyes so I knew for sure she’d come to the station. I wanted it to feel like a promise, and I wanted to look forward to it.

Carefully, I backed off the steps and made my way down the sidewalk. When I was halfway to the truck, I waved and turned around, making sure I watched where I was stepping the rest of the way.