“I’m fine.” I let my eyes have one last glance before releasing him and stepping back with more poise than I thought I possessed. Turning toward the garage, I went in search of the bucket and took a deep breath to rid my system of the craving Adrian ignited.
“Do you know where Ben disappeared to?”
“Try the guest bedroom. The Wi-Fi is really good in there.” I chuckled, shaking my head.
I returned to the bathroom a few minutes later, after making a quick stop off at the kitchen to gulp down a cold glass of water.
“Here.” I hunched down to offer the bucket to Adrian, who was hunched down, his head tucked under the sink, his toolbox open next to him.
“Thanks,” he said, his answer muffled by his position.
“Do you need me to do anything?” I sat there on my haunches, feeling awkward and unsure what to do.
“No.” Adrian grunted as he put a wrench to the pipe. “Just hand me the bucket when I call for it.”
“That I can do.” I sat down next to Adrian.
“Do you like this type of work?” Now that Adrian was opening up a little, I was eager to find out more.
Adrian was like a crème brûlée. He had a hard outer shell, but a rich, decadent inside I couldn’t seem to get enough of.
I was afraid I’d be as addicted to him as I was to the actual dessert.
“Cleaning clogged drains?” Adrian laughed.
“No, silly.” I tapped his outstretched leg with my foot. “Construction in general. Do you like it?”
“Yeah,” came his quick reply. It felt like a rehearsed answer, one he gave automatically. It lacked the authenticity from our talk earlier.
“I’m being serious, Adrian.” I touched my hand to his shoulder, and his movements stilled. My heart hammered in my chest. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the simple touch, or because I was eager for him to give me his honest opinion. Not just what he told everyone, but to open up to me more. Give me another part of himself and let me in. Even only a tiny bit more.
He pulled out from under the sink and met my eyes. He gave me a nervous smile. “At first, I hated it. Because I was terrible at it.” His mouth twisted down. “Then I met Larry. He was like an older brother to me. He saw through the rough exterior, and he took me under his wing. He took the time to teach me things. He changed the job from just being there, knocking out the hours to bring home money to feed Ben, to teaching me skills that would help me grow and progress in the job. I soon learned that there were things I was good at and other things I genuinely sucked at.”
“Like what?” I smiled, having a hard time imagining Adrian sucking at anything with his hands. He was so strong and able.
“Well.” He pulled his right eyebrow up, tilting his head down slightly. “I get by with tiling, but I don’t enjoy it. Basic tiles are fine, but when clients want mosaics in certain patterns, I get impatient. These hands were not made to do that.”
“Well, neither were these.” I held up my hands, turning them back to front and back again.
Adrian chuckled.
“What are you good at? All the rest?”
“Hardly.” Adrian snorted.
“What, then?”
“I’m pretty good at carpentry. And unclogging drains. Which reminds me.” He scooted down, returning to his position hunched down under the sink.
“I’m sure you’re much better than you give yourself credit for. You landed this job on all of that skill,” I complimented him.
“You, Shelley, always see the good in everything and everyone,” Adrian said.
“I don’t know about that.” A few bitter thoughts regarding Zo flashed through my mind. After all these years, just thinking of her still made me feel invisible. How many times had she swept in and claimed all of the attention, pushing me to the background? And Patrick. I didn’t have positive memories on replay where he was concerned. “But you must be a lot better than you give yourself credit for.”
“Do you still keep in touch with Larry?”
I wondered if this person who meant so much to Adrian and sounded like he was a big part of his life in Arizona was still a part of his life now.
“Larry helped me move. And he texts at least once a week. His wife, Michelle, misses Ben especially. We’d spend Thanksgiving with them each year. They are good people. Made Arizona feel like a real home for me.”
“It must have been hard leaving them behind.”
“It was. But Ben has always been my number-one priority. This job meant moving up the ladder. Going from an okay job to one that offered great medical insurance, life insurance, and a hefty raise in what I was making before. I couldn’t pass that up. I need to think of Ben’s future. His education.”
Adrian turned his attention back to the drain, but my mind stayed stuck on his words. The amount of sacrifices he had made for Ben were astounding. He’d left home to go to Arizona at first. Then he’d built a home for them after Zo split and parented Ben alone. And now he’d moved here to a new job to ensure Ben had a better financial future, leaving behind the little bit of help and friends he had.
“Hey, Shell, can you pass me that bucket?”
Adrian’s words shook me back to the present. I handed him the bucket right on time for him to get it under the drain, but the gush of water from the full sink came flowing out in a gush, sloshing not only in the bucket but also on Adrian.
“Oh, no.” I rushed to his side. Setting the bucket off to the side, I grabbed the first towel I could find and started dabbing off the water from Adrian’s face and shirt. “I’m so sorry.”
Adrian crept out from under the sink. His hands took hold of mine, which were frantically trying to dry his soaked up shirt. “It’s okay, Shell.” He calmed me down. His voice sounded in my ear, so close. Looking up, my eyes landed on his lips. Right in front of me. I got up on my knees, facing him. “It’s only a shirt.” My hand stilled, right on his chest. The heat of his body blazed through the fabric of his shirt, causing my insides to melt in a pool of hot, dark chocolate. Staring up into a similarly colored pair of eyes didn’t do much good for my unbalanced state.
“Shell.” Adrian’s voice dropped low, and I started to tremble, affected by the nearness of him. My hand clasped the fabric of his shirt, hoping to ground myself in the moment and also keep myself from toppling over. Adrian’s muscles tightened under my touch, and it was nearly my undoing. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “What are we doing here?” he whispered, his breath fanning over my face.
My eyes closed, and I released the breath I’d been holding. “I don’t know.” I opened my eyes and forced them up, passing Adrian’s tempting lips to his eyes. The same burning desire I felt reflected in his gaze.
“I don’t either,” Adrian whispered. His hand moved to my cheek and lingered there. I leaned in, soaking up the warmth of his gentle touch.
“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” I said, my voice unsteady.
“Maybe not.” Adrian’s hand traveled behind my head, his fingers threading in my loose ponytail. “But I don’t want to pull back.”
“I don’t want you to, either.” I dropped my gaze down before meeting his again. My cheeks were on fire again.