Behind Closed Doors Read Online Free PDF

stubborn, he would’ve brought Craig with him. But Nathan hadn’t been thinking about getting the job done quickly or efficiently when he’d offered to bring the lumber. The fact was, he hadn’t thought much past those long legs and smoky hazel eyes.
    “I changed my mind,” he said when she returned for more boards. “I’ll take some water.” He hefted six slats onto his shoulder and caught her eyeing him with a suspicious frown.
    “I saw a whole big bottle of water in your truck. Think I don’t know you’re trying to get rid of me?”
    “You have some interesting paranoia issues you might want to get checked out.” He lowered his load to the second stack they’d started and then reached for the two boards she’d snatched off the truck. “Your water is probably cold. Mine isn’t.”
    She narrowed her gaze, staring him down and holding firm to her bundle...until his knuckles grazed her breast and she let go. He hadn’t meant to touch her like that, but her startled reaction made him smile all the same. Luckily she didn’t see because he’d already walked past her.
    He set down the boards and shook his head at the pair of new dark green shutters. The loose white siding around them was in sorry shape. A good wind could carry off the weathered clapboards. “You do realize you’ll have to take these shutters down again.”
    “Yes, I do.” She pulled off a glove and scratched the tip of her nose. “To fix the walls and windows. And the new door will have to come off, too,” she said, stepping back to admire the repairs. “That’s okay. We won’t get to the front for a while. The place can look nice in the meantime.”
    The right side of the porch had been reinforced, but the plank floor on the left was still sagging. At least the steps had been replaced. “You working mostly on the inside?” he asked.
    “Yes, I know I should make the most of the good weather but I take whatever labor I can get when I can get it.” She removed her second glove and stuffed them both between her clamped knees while she loosened her ponytail. A breeze played with her long wavy hair, the honey-colored strands getting away from her as she tried to secure them in one hand. She put her hair back in the ponytail, more tightly this time. “I’ll admit, at first I hadn’t considered the weather turning quickly. I’ve never tackled anything like this before.”
    The sound of someone gunning a neglected engine snapped him out of his trance. “You’re a brave woman,” he said, annoyed that he’d been staring when he should’ve been hauling lumber.
    Pulling her gloves back on, she followed him to his truck. “Or stupid. Guess I’ll know in a couple of months.”
    He threw a look at the tired white structure as he grabbed another load. “That might be too optimistic.”
    “I know.” Bethany sighed. “I wouldn’t care when it got done except I promised Rachel I’d have it completed in time for her wedding. She has friends who’ll need accommodations.”
    “Rachel?” He stopped and thought for a second. “Little Rachel McAllister? She’s getting married?”
    Bethany laughed, and she didn’t hold back. “Little? Are you sure you’re thinking of the same Rachel I’m talking about?”
    Nathan smiled. “I don’t know her well. I went to school with her two older brothers until the eighth grade,” he said, and caught her puzzled frown. “County-line dispute. When the dust settled, my brothers and I went to Twin Creeks High.”
    “That must’ve been awful for you.”
    He shrugged. “We already knew every kid within a hundred miles. And I got to play football without having to compete with the McAllister brothers. I wonder if those boys ever stopped growing.”
    She laughed again. “Cole might be taller than you, but I doubt Jesse or Trace is.”
    “I’m only six-two.”
    “Only?”
    He watched her balance the pair of boards she’d grabbed, trying hard to keep his attention off her legs and butt.