Instead of painting at his easel last night, he’d set to work cleaning up the place. He’d taken apart the furniture in the second bedroom and stored it in the garage, then turned that bedroom into an art studio. But he’d quickly realized that merely cleaning and rearranging wasn’t enough, and he’d come up with a plan for today.
And for the first time since he’d lost his leg, he’d woken up excited to face the day and conquer those plans.
He’d gotten his workout in early, and Jules had called shortly after to thank him for the flowers and lanterns. They’d ended up talking for a long time. She’d told him about Leni’s group-texting fiasco, and he’d wished he’d been there to shield her from the embarrassment. He’d reassured her that he could handle Archer, although he hadn’t heard a peep from him. They’d talked about how great last night was, and she’d reminded him to get the painting out of the trash, but he’d already retrieved it. He hadn’t wanted the call to end, which was weird as shit, but then again, he wasn’t used to a lot of changes Jules was evoking in him, like the texts they’d shared throughout the day. He’d never been a texter, and when she’d asked him for a selfie, he’d felt like a fool taking a picture of himself. But when he’d thought about doing it for Jules, he’d even managed a smile. Of course, he’d asked for one in return and Jules had sent him three. One of her making a kissing face, one smiling, and one in which she made a goofy face and wore an even goofier hat.
He must have looked at the damn things a dozen times already.
He’d had a phenomenal day. He’d drawn up plans to build a kitchen island and had hit the stores for supplies and home decor. Then he’d spent hours building that island and turning the bungalow into a homier place for his girl. What had started as a project to make Jules more comfortable had turned out to be exactly what he’d needed. He’d almost forgotten how good it felt to plan and execute a mission, no matter how small.
He began setting the wood and kindling in the firepit and glanced at the new lounge chair built for two he’d bought for their date tonight. The bungalow sat far back from the edge of the dunes amid long grasses, spiky junipers, and wild bearberry and beach plumb bushes, which would buffer them from the worst of the wind sweeping up from the sea, but he’d bought a heavy blanket to use tonight by the fire. He’d never even thought about blankets, lounge chairs, or home decor before Jules.
The sound of a vehicle on gravel pulled him from his thoughts. He went around to the front and saw Jules’s bright-yellow Jeep at the bottom of the hill. His heart thumped harder as he headed down to her, making a mental note to clean up the overgrown driveway so she could drive up it.
He opened her door, and she turned those beautiful hazel eyes on him. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hi.”
He drew her into his arms and kissed the hell out of her. Man, he loved her kisses. As their lips parted, she whispered, “Again.”
A growling noise rumbled up from his chest as he reclaimed her mouth, backing her up against the Jeep. She fisted her hands into his hair, causing a sting of pain and pleasure that sent fire all the way to his cock. He ran his hands over her hips and gripped her ass, pressing her tighter against him, earning one of her wanton moans. He could kiss her all damn night, but there would be no stopping him. He eased his efforts, kissing her softer, and trapped her lower lip between his teeth, giving it a gentle tug. The breath sailed from her lungs, and she pulled his mouth back to hers, kissing him like she’d been dying for it all day.
He told himself to go slow, but her sensual mouth and her eager tongue were too much to deny. He wanted to feel them everywhere, and now that he’d had a taste of her, he wanted more of that, too. His fantasy bank was stocked to the hilt with this gorgeous creature who was turning his world around and his body into a greedy, hot mess.
She came away breathless, and he touched his forehead to hers, breathing heavily. “Jesus, Pix. Every time I’m near you, I want to be all over you.”
She smiled up at him. “Yay for me.”
He laughed. “You’re killing me.” He gave her another not-so-quick kiss and took her hand to head up to the bungalow.
“One sec. I brought a few things,” she said, hurrying to the passenger side of the Jeep.
“I told you I was making dinner. I’ve got steaks ready to throw on the grill.”
“I didn’t bring food.” She reached into the Jeep and pulled out one of the vases of flowers he’d sent her and two of the lanterns, handing them to him.
“Babe, I got these for you.”
“Now they’re for us,” she said cheerily. “You promised to water my flowers, remember? I would have brought more, but I couldn’t carry everything, and I was running a little late.”
Us. He liked the sound of that.
She grabbed two shopping bags from the Happy End and pushed the door closed.
“Pix, you don’t need to buy me anything.”
“They’re not all for you,” she said coyly as they headed up to the bungalow.
He followed her inside, and she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes bloomed wide as she took in the island he’d built, with a countertop overhang to use as a table, two cabinets with access from the front and the back of the island, and shelves on either side. He hadn’t painted it yet, because he wanted to do that with her. But he’d bought two tall sea-blue chairs to go with it, and had set the tabletop for two with new matching place settings and glasses and the candles she’d given him.
“Whoa, Grant. Where did you get that island? And where are your painting supplies?” Her gaze moved over the new throw blanket draped along the back of the couch to the white-and-sea-blue drapes framing the window. “You got a new blanket and curtains, too? Holy cow, you’ve been busy. It looks like a whole different place.”
“Thanks.” He’d also bought new bedding and towels, but she’d see those soon enough. “I wanted you to be comfortable, so I cleared out the second bedroom and turned it into an art studio, and I made the island so we’d have a place to eat. You’d mentioned curtains, so…”
She beamed up at him. “You did all of this for me?”
“Well, it turned out I needed the change, too.”
“I can’t get over how different this place looks, and you made the island? This is unbelievable.” She carried the bags over to the island and set them down to admire it. “It’s gorgeous. I’ve never seen one where you could access the cabinets from the front and back.”
“It’s not bad, but it’s not finished. That’s just an undercoat of paint.” He put the flowers and lanterns on the counter. “I thought it might be fun to finish it together. I noticed on your inspiration wall that most of the furniture you liked was distressed. I can show you how to make it look that way.”
“Really? Our first project together! I would love that.” She wrapped her arms around him, grinning. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I was fine eating on the end table and without curtains.”
Her enthusiasm and easygoing nature made him want to do everything he could for her. He pressed his lips to hers and said, “I know, but you shouldn’t have to. Are you free tomorrow? We can paint the island, and then I was thinking that maybe we’d head over to Seaport.” Seaport was at the north end of the island.