Page 58 of Forgiving Her First Love
“Oh you can definitely kiss my ass,” she muttered as she buckled her bib into place.
“I gave you that one because I felt sorry for you.” He smirked as he put the things away in the kit and closed it.
As he returned the kit to the bathroom and rewashed his hands, a terrible pang arrived behind her sternum. She still liked him, damn it. Beneath her childish crush and hero worship, there had always been a genuine affection for him and it was still here. He was funny and smart and competent and, when he wanted to be, kind.
He came out to walk wordlessly past her, all the way through to the breakroom. He came back with a ceramic coffee mug that had the resort logo on it. He offered it to her.
“Stay hydrated?” She looked inside, but the mug was empty.
“Put the nails in it. Unless you want to keep showing me your ass?” He angled his head with suspicion.
“I am never going to live this down, am I?”
“The jokes about you getting nailed are barely staying in my mouth.”
“I hate you so much right now.” She absolutely refused to laugh.
“That’s okay. I’m starting to like it.” He took up the hammer and got back to work.
*
They knocked off at nine o’clock, having readied the new room for painting and flooring first thing tomorrow.
“That was a lot of good work today,” Logan said, tired, but in a satisfied way, as they stepped outside to the darkening July sky. “We make a solid team.”
Sophie flicked him a glance as she locked the marina door, maybe not comfortable with any word that suggested they were together.
“Unless I get an early call-out, I’ll be in at nine. I want to have breakfast with Gramps and make sure he takes all his meds.”
“Sure.”
Maybe their OCD-like focus on finishing the task at hand had been an effort to keep from acknowledging that other thing. Her ass.
Why. Why had she had to hurt herself there? He had done everything he could to behave as professionally as a doctor. It was just skin. Just a scratch. Everyone had a bum. That one happened to be hers.
That one also happened to be spectacular. Round and firm and the shape and the freckles would be imprinted on his eyeballs for the rest of his life. He had wanted to kiss it.
It was Friday night so the DJ was in the pub. Other than that thumping melody, the village was quiet. As they passed the wharf, Logan sent a habitual look across the marina, always keeping a mental inventory of the vessels moored there. He was never shy about dropping by to ask for a tour if he saw something new and interesting.
Sophie clicked on her phone’s flashlight as they left the lights around the village buildings and entered the darker shadows where his driveway peeled up from the lane that led to hers.
An empty house again. Great, Logan thought glumly.
“Oh shit. Bear.” Sophie grabbed his arm to halt him.
“Where?” Logan reflexively pulled her close into his side and followed the point of her finger to the boulder-sized silhouette at the side of the lane up ahead.
Two eyes glowed. It didn’t seem to have the hump of a grizzly, but it was big enough to be a cranky brown bear with cubs, even though he didn’t see those, either.
“We’re going this way,” he called out, shoving Sophie behind him as he sidled up his own driveway. “You keep doing your own thing over there.”
Sophie flashed her light at it a few times while they gained the higher ground of his driveway.
The bear turned away and crashed into the bushes, going the opposite direction. They turned and hurried up to the house, not talking because they were both listening to be sure the bear didn’t change its mind and come back this way.
“I’ll post that on the community page.” Sophie tapped her phone as soon as they were inside.
“Did someone leave garbage out?” Logan asked.