Showing Jessie Read online

  She appeared relieved, and began to pull open a couple of drawers until she found a knife. Washing her hands at the sink, she glanced around. “Do you have a cutting board?”

  He reached into one of the bottom cabinets and set it on the counter. She rinsed the peppers and started to peel the onion. “The place really looks great, Noah. Are you happy with your choices?”

  “My choices?”

  She smiled. “Okay, are you happy with my choices that you agreed with?”

  “Completely.”

  She began to rinse and slice the little peppers and the onion. “I need a pot and a frying pan.”

  “I have those.”

  “See? You’re not completely clueless.”

  “I know how to cook, Jessie. I just don’t care to.”

  She shook her head and set about making the rest of their meal. Max came tumbling down the stairs just as the smells of fragrant oil mixing with the peppers and onions filled the air.

  “Mmm!” Max said, climbing up on one of the barstools to watch what Jessie was doing. “It smells like pizza.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jessie said as she added the chicken to the pan.

  Noah managed to measure out the water as she instructed and the rice was soon simmering on the stove.

  “Come and set the table with me, buddy,” he said to Max.

  He and Max set out his plain dishes and utensils. Soon they were serving up the rice, which he had to admit he’d cooked perfectly, and the chicken and vegetables she’d made.

  “This is fantastic,” Noah said around a mouthful of food, not apologetic in the least that he was stuffing his face. “Damn. Oops. Darn. Sorry, Max.”

  Max shrugged and ate a good portion himself, for a kid. Jessie seemed to bloom under Noah’s compliments. Didn’t she realize how incredible she was? She seemed to do everything just right.

  They cleaned up together as Max played on the coffee table with his Star Wars guys. He nudged Jessie with his elbow. “Just like you said.”

  She grinned. “Hey, I was a kid once you know.”

  They shared another smile. He liked this. Having another adult with him, and a pretty hot one at that, as he and Max started another weekend together. The food was just an added bonus.

  When she left he missed her. Flicking on the big screen, he settled back as Max continued to play.

  “So do you like Jessie, Max?”

  “Yeah. She’s nice,” Max said simply.

  He continued to play and Noah traveled through the channels. Max made little sounds for his guys, mostly blasting each other. He stopped playing for a second and looked up at Noah.

  “Hey, Daddy?”

  “What?”

  “Is Jessie your girlfriend?”

  Noah chose his next words very carefully. He didn’t know what he and Jessie were, actually. They were friends who shared a little bit more than conversation, but he couldn’t tell his six-year-old son that.

  “She’s a girl and she’s my friend,” he finally answered.

  “Are you going to marry her?”

  He gaped at his son, completely at a loss. “Why do you ask that?”

  “A lot of my friends have a mom and dad who are married. Nick’s mom and dad are married.”

  “That’s true.” Worry tingled up the back of Noah’s neck. “Is this something your mom talked to you about, buddy?”

  The boy shook his head. “No. I asked Paul about it when we went out for ice cream.”

  “And what did Paul say?”

  “He said something like you said. He really likes Mommy.”

  Relief nearly made Noah groan. “Uh huh.”

  In the next second Max was back to playing and Noah was doing his best not to freak out. So Paul and Nadine weren’t planning on getting married any time soon. Noah didn’t know anything about the guy and, if he was going to be a permanent fixture in Max’s life, that had to change. He also didn’t like the idea of another man spending so much time with his son.

  He had to talk to Nadine, though. About that and about maybe sharing more of Max’s time now that Noah had a home.

  He was building a home here. For Max on the weekends, anyway. The kid’s questions about Jessie, and about marriage of all things, really gave him pause. He was playing at something with Jessie. That was for sure. But, what?

  He didn’t feel like it was the time in their…whatever this was to have that conversation. Did she want to date? Did she want more than a few heated nights together?

  A bigger question loomed, though. Just what the hell did he want?

  Chapter 13

  Jessie tossed her empty yogurt container in the bin by her desk, adjusting her glasses as she peered at her laptop. It was Monday afternoon, and it looked like she had nothing else scheduled today. She glanced at the filing cabinet behind her, reasoning she could reorganize the guest comment cards to get ready for the email push they were set to do in a couple of weeks.

  “Hey, Jessie.”

  She looked up to see her boss walking toward her desk. “Hey, Rick. What’s up?”

  “You don’t have any other tours this afternoon, right?”

  “Nope. Why?”

  “If I give you the rest of the afternoon off, would you take a tour tomorrow around five?”

  “Sure.”

  Rick smiled. “Thanks. My father sent a couple of guys down here to check things out. They’re staying at the inn.”

  “From Chapman Financial?”

  Rick rolled his eyes. “Yeah. It seems that Bill’s grooming them to take the positions Jake and I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.”

  Jessie thought for a minute. She knew both Rick and Jake had little to nothing to do with their father, Bill Chapman. Jessie had met him more than once. She could admit to herself that he was full of bluster and confidence, and that he scared the crap out of her.

  “Your father isn’t coming, is he?” she asked.

  “Not this time. I want to give these guys the full-court press on Cypress while they’re here, though.”

  She turned and ran her hands over her skirt. “But why me? Tammy would be the best one for the job.”

  “That’s debatable, but I don’t want any Chapmans along for the ride.”

  “Why?”

  Rick leaned against her desk and crossed his arms. “Who knows what kind of instructions Bill gave these guys, Jessie? I don’t want them anywhere near anyone named Chapman.”

  Jessie wondered at the strange relationship all four of the Chapmans had with their father, and gave a silent prayer for the very wonderful man who had been hers.

  “You’ve got me, Rick.”

  He gave a curt nod. “Good. You and Noah take them through the neighborhoods and over to the east side.”

  A nervous tingle went through her. Noah?

  She’d gone over the evening spent with Noah and his son. Over and over again. The domesticity. The comfortable, at-home sensation. It was so tempting to think she could have that. It was what she’d craved after her dad died. It was probably why she’d been drawn to Mitch back then. She’d longed for that sense of family, and believed him when he’d said he could give it to her. It was what she was beginning to crave now with Noah, and she couldn’t allow herself to think she’d actually have that fantasy.

  That was the reason she’d begged off accompanying Tammy and Ben when they paid a housewarming call at Noah’s new place on Saturday. Thank goodness it was via text, because Jessie suspected Tammy would have seen right through Jessie’s thin excuse. Housework? Really? She could clean the entire tent-cabin in less than half an hour. She’d thrown in laundry as an added duty, and called it a day.

  Setting aside her pipe dreams, she focused on the job at hand. “Noah’s coming with me? Why?”

  “He’s our newest builder, and the green neighborhood is the hottest ticket right now.”

  “True.”

  “And I’m counting on you to bring home the eco side of things, Jessie.”


  “Will do.”

  “I’ll let them know you’ll meet them here at five tomorrow.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  He turned to leave. “So get out of here,” he said over his shoulder.

  Laughing to herself, she shut down her laptop and tidied her desk. It wasn’t even two o’clock, so she considered just how she would occupy her free afternoon. Waving to Lettie across the street, Jessie headed for her Jeep. She might be off every weekend, but free time on a Monday felt like a luxury.

  “You’re getting spoiled,” she told herself.

  When she used to work retail her schedule changed every week and she almost never had evenings or weekends off. Yes, she was giving a tour to some Boston corporate types tomorrow evening. Having Noah there would serve as a distraction, but with Bill Chapman’s people to concentrate on she’d make it through.

  Noah was still on her mind as she picked up a few things at the market and then parked in front of the tent-cabin. Chickening out of visiting him on Saturday had made her feel a little bit foolish all day. Oh, what he’d made her feel that night she’d helped him decorate! When she’d been over Friday night, it had taken all of her willpower to keep from envisioning that and more on his couch. Saturday she’d done a little online research, though. Naughty research. If she ever tangled with Noah again, and she suspected she would, she wanted to please him as he’d pleased her.

  Her pulse spiked as she recalled all that she’d learned on her little foray into internet erotic instruction. She’d never been very comfortable with the sexual side of things, and Mitch hadn’t encouraged it. He’d wanted what he wanted when he wanted it, until she began to dread their intimate time together. But with Noah? He was the most beautifully-built man she’d ever seen, but it was that crooked smile and those crystal blue eyes that made her want him.

  She decided what she would do with her afternoon. It had been about two weeks since she’d run more than just a couple of miles, and today was perfect for a longer run. It wasn’t too hot today and there were several clouds in the sky. That was no surprise, since rain was expected around dinner time. Living in Florida, a person got used to checking the hourly weather forecast. Heck, she had an app on her phone just for that. Giving outdoor tours, and living out by the lakeshore, she wanted to know what was coming her way. Forewarned was forearmed, after all.

  Humming, she went into the tent cabin and changed into what she considered her running uniform. Brightly-patterned leggings, sports bra, fitted tank top imprinted with a cheeky yet inspirational saying, and cushy socks.

  As she smoothed her hands over her thighs, she realized that the clothes were just about as close-fitting as they could get. Maybe she’d been ready for a change earlier that she’d thought, since she’d been wearing these kinds of running clothes for months now. She’d slather on some sunscreen too, of course. Just because it was cloudy didn’t mean there wasn’t a burn risk.

  After pushing her short hair back with a wide, soft headband, she laced up her running shoes and grabbed her water belt.

  “Just one today,” she said as she filled the bottle from the sink.

  She figured she’d run just over six miles today. A 10K would take her under an hour, which would get her back home before the rain if it decided to come earlier than forecasted.

  She set her sports-tracking watch, donned her sunglasses and stretched her legs. As she mapped her route in her head, she made the decision to avoid the green neighborhood. It was enough that she’d be spending time with Noah tomorrow after hours. Again, even though it would be all business. She didn’t have to run into him today. Literally.

  Stepping outside the tent-cabin, she began to run over the sandy path toward the town center.

  ***

  After Noah checked on site prep for the latest house to be built in the green neighborhood, he drove to the Sales Center to get with Ben on some specifications.

  He waved a hello to Ty’s mother and walked straight back like he usually did. Or so the woman had said after he’d crashed into Jessie that morning a couple of weeks ago. Ben’s office was about halfway down the corridor toward the larger office where Jessie worked, but he forced himself to the task at hand.

  Stopping at Ben’s open office door, he poked in his head. Ben sat at his desk, focused on his computer screen.

  “Ben, do you have a minute?”

  Ben looked over. “Sure, man. What’s up?”

  Noah stepped in. “I wanted to double-check on the specs for lot fourteen.”

  “Lot fourteen. That’s the narrow two-story.” Ben nodded and clicked to pull up the documents. “What do you need to check in particular.”

  “The stem wall is being built, but I thought of something. Is there anything indicated for this build regarding the west-facing wall?”

  Ben stared at him for a minute, and then his brows shot up. “There’s no natural shade to the west of that lot. Nice catch.”

  Noah shrugged and sat in the chair facing Ben’s desk. “It’s a two-story on a corner, but without a barrier that side of the house will get very hot.”

  “And lead to higher A/C usage and cost,” Ben added. “What do you suggest?”

  “I know the environment was very different out on the east coast, but several of the houses I built out there had similar orientation. Sandy soil meant not many shade trees.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Limit the windows on the west-facing side of the house, actually.”

  Ben narrowed his eyes, and Noah guessed he was envisioning the elevation of the house in question. “That could work. I set the laundry room on that side, as well as the half-bath. I could substitute a narrow window for the one in the laundry, and the bathroom wouldn’t need a window since we’re equipping it with a vent fan.”

  “And maybe order windows with a reduced solar-heat gain coefficient for the remainder of that side of the house,” Noah said.

  “I assume they make them in a style that would be indistinguishable from the other windows specified?” Ben asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Let me add that substitution into the materials list for that house.” Ben typed on the keyboard, throwing Noah a grin at last. “Nice catch, man. I’ll go over the upcoming lots to be built and see if any others have similar concerns.”

  “Cool.”

  “Just get me the specifics on the windows for the materials list?”

  “Will do.” Noah stood. “Thanks again for stopping by this weekend. Max loves the sling chair you got him for his room.”

  “That’s great.”

  “And the smoker? Above and beyond, man.”

  Ben smiled. “I expect to be invited over for ribs. They’re the only thing my brother can’t make.”

  Noah chuckled. “There’ll be a learning curve, but I promise you and Tammy will be the first people I have over.”

  “Just me and Tammy?”

  Noah leveled a look at him. “Who else?”

  “Jessie. She was supposed to come with us on Saturday, you know. Tammy said she had something else to do at the last minute, though.”

  That thought brought Noah up short. “Oh,” was all he could think to say.

  “Thanks again for coming in with this, Noah.”

  “I’ll leave you to it, then,” Noah said.

  He left the Sales Center, but didn’t head back to the green neighborhood. Instead, he turned the truck toward the far lakeshore. He wasn’t looking for Jessie. He was pretty sure she was still tucked behind her desk. Hiding behind her laptop. Hiding from him. That last thought felt a little mean-spirited but, seriously, she had something more important to do on Saturday than come over to his place with her friends? He thought the two of them were becoming friends, too.

  As he reached the end of the pavement where the path to Jessie’s place began, he parked the truck over on the side of the road. The sky was getting dark, and fat clouds seemed to roll in out of nowhere. Stepping out, he walked around to
the side and leaned against the truck, staring at the thick copse of trees bracketing what would one day be another recreation center. It was nearly dead quiet out here. No road traffic. No construction.

  The tent-cabin wouldn’t be disturbed for some time, since the new construction would be on the other side of the lake. Rows and rows of active-adult homes would go up to the southeast as well. Mr. Forbes had talked to Noah about being involved in that project, but that decision was a ways off yet.

  Jessie’s place would remain hers for a while, then. A curl of want settled in his belly. He’d loved sitting out with her on that back deck. That first time just talking. The next, messing around. Wednesday she’d come through for him, helping him begin to make a home for Max. What they’d shared on the couch, the way she’d felt and what she tasted like as she’d come apart, was something he wouldn’t forget for a while. She’d come over and cooked for him and his son, damn it. Why the hell hadn’t she wanted to come over on Saturday for a friendly visit?

  A sound reached his ears, a soft pounding like footsteps growing closer. He turned his head to see a small figure running toward him. He couldn’t see the runner’s identity from here, but as she drew closer it was clear she was a woman. And damn, she was built. Long legs for her short stature and breasts high and round beneath her tank top. Big sunglasses covered half her face and as she neared she kept her gaze on the road in front of her.

  He walked around to the back of his truck and leaned against the tailgate. When the runner was about thirty feet away, he could see her better. She kind of looked like Jessie, but he couldn’t be sure. He had to have conjured her up with his dirty little mind. He seemed to see her everywhere.

  Just last Wednesday when he’d thought that one of the other servers at the End Zone looked like her, too. With dark hair, but with a Pixie face a lot like Jessie’s. He hadn’t mentioned it to Ben or the other guys. He could just imagine what they would have said if he’d been all, “hey, doesn’t that girl look like Jessie?”

  The runner stopped, tossing her head back as she breathed through her open mouth. Her hands were on her narrow waist now, further accentuating her curves. When she took off her sunglasses and peered closely at the fitness watch on her wrist, it seemed like she almost couldn’t read it. Recognition slammed through him. It was her.