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.“Tessa accidentally sent a crystal through the glass and almost blew Jake’s hand off.”Kenneth’s brow furrowed.“I thought you were aiming for his head.”Tessa smacked his leg with the catalogs.“Funny.Ha-ha.I wasn’t aiming for anything, actually.”He walked over and examined the broken window.“Looks like you blew right through it.Guess this means I’ll need to order a replacement.”“Any chance we can get shatterproof?” As long as they were redecorating, might as well upgrade.Kenneth thought a moment.“I’ll check.” He ambled off, heading back to work.The girls watched him go.Gwen shook her head.“Unbelievable.” She laid a hand on her sister’s arm.“Don’t treat him bad, okay? If you’re just going to use him, cut him loose.”Bristling, Tessa pulled her arm away.Getting drunk and jabbering like a baboon on crack was one thing.Saying hurtful things quite another.“Why would I hurt him?”Gwen looked at her through soft green eyes.Her momentary jealously had bled out, replaced with sincere concern.“You’re arrogant, Tess.We all are when it comes to humans.Even though we don’t like to admit it, we do treat them like lesser beings.”Tessa’s mouth quirked down.She had to admit there were lots of times when people—humans—just annoyed her.After they’d answered her beck and call she wanted them gone.Period.The realization made her feel a little sick.“I won’t do that to Kenneth.” She raked her fingers through her long hair.A moment ago she’d been near freezing.Now she was burning up, beads of perspiration dotting her forehead.She really didn’t want to talk about how she would or wouldn’t treat Kenneth.It was none of her sister’s business anyway.Gwen wasn’t the woman in Kenneth’s bed.But she’d like to be.Gwen studied her through an all-too-perceptive gaze.“Just make sure the darkness doesn’t get the best of you.”Despite the fact she was burning up, Tessa shivered.Things were getting too complicated, too fast.Kenneth frowned at the line of rot running along the base of the wall he’d just knocked down.He’d hoped the damage hadn’t seeped down into the floors of the house, but one look revealed the worst.He cursed under his breath.Damn.Looked like it was going to take a lot more work than he’d initially estimated.Hands on his hips, he cast a look around the room.The workmen he’d hired had called it quits for the day, promising to be back first thing tomorrow morning.He’d definitely have to adjust his original plans and re-figure his budget to cover the extra costs of replacing the floors.Kenneth shook his head.It needs to be done.No getting around it.He’d just have to roll up his sleeves and plunge right in.The old house was in terrible shape.Battered by wind and water for generations uncounted, it had suffered badly through the years.Regular maintenance might have helped allay a lot of the damage, but it was work a single woman on her own definitely couldn’t manage.The sort of repairs the house needed definitely called for a man’s hand.Several men and several pairs of hands, in fact.After a few days of working on his own, he’d quickly figured out the job was too much to tackle alone.Some might think renovating the house was his way of repaying Tessa.In a way, that was true.She’d given him back his life.But being alive didn’t necessarily mean the will to live.He’d had to rediscover that for himself.It felt good to have a purpose, goals to pursue.Of course, he’d consulted Tessa before plunging in.There was no way he’d enter into a major renovation without her say-so.While it was true they shared a bed, his place in her life was still tenuous.They were still learning their way around each other’s moods, the slow dance that came with getting to know a person and their preferences.He’d already learned the hard way that Tessa was moody.She was a woman who sought independence, but had no way to maintain it.Since she couldn’t very well refuse, she’d agreed to let him handle—and pay for—repairs on the house.He’d asked for control and she’d granted it.He did so with an eye toward the future.He wanted to make things work between himself and Tessa.Simply put, he wanted a future.With her.But Tessa wasn’t the kind of woman to go along for the ride just to see the scenery.She wanted a destination in mind before running off.In that respect she was careful, wary, almost afraid of being tied to a man a second time.She needed her space.Kenneth knelt, digging at the moldy rotting wood with the tips of his fingers.He was willing to give Tessa what she needed.Putting a solid roof over her head would go a long way toward soothing her insecurities.He had the means and he had the money, so why not? Whether he’d be living there in the future or not didn’t matter.He had other plans simmering on the back burner.If the time came to move on, he’d be ready to pack his bags and hit the road [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]