She hadn’t thought about Spencer and his betrayal once that night. She’d finally been ready to move on from her ex-fiancé and to dip her toe in the dating pool. A dating pool of one, maybe, but still, it had been a big step for her to admit, if only to herself, that she wanted to explore her feelings for Nate. That getting to know him better, seeing where the attraction led, was worth the risk of having her heart broken again. And then he’d disappeared for months on end, only showing up in her dreams.
Nate dropped her hand like it was hot cement and then cleared his throat. “I’ll take care of the leak for you.” He looked around. “Do you have any roof cement?”
She blinked, wondering what had happened or what she’d done wrong.
“Ellie?”
“I have some, yes,” she said, glancing at him. He smiled, and she thought maybe she’d been imagining things. He was acting perfectly normal now. “It rolled off the roof. I’ll get it for you.”
He shrugged off his leather jacket, revealing a white T-shirt that hugged his broad chest and showed off his bulging biceps. “That’s okay. I’ll get it.”
“I don’t mind helping.” She dug her phone from her pocket. “I have my trusty YouTube fixer-up guy’s video right here.”
“I’m good. Two of my brothers-in-law flip houses for a living. I give them a hand when I can.” He lifted his chin at the ladder. “You should get started on your plans for the room renos. Figure out the couples you’ll be using.”
Nate and Ellie immediately popped into her mind. She blamed the thought on her grandmother putting ideas into her head. It didn’t help that Highland Falls was in the finals for most romantic small town in the country. All this talk of romance was getting to her.
“You’re right. No time to waste,” she said in that over-the-top cheerful voice she used whenever her nerves got the better of her.
Be quiet before you really embarrass yourself, she told herself. It wasn’t like Nate knew she was fantasizing they were a couple. Although in her defense, she didn’t think a fleeting thought counted as fantasizing. No, that’s what you did last night.
She pushed to her feet, the toe of her sneaker catching on the edge of the lifted tile. She tripped, gasping as she fell forward. Nate wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her against him. “Thanks. I need to invest in a pair of work boots or at the very least sneakers with better treads.” She tipped her head back. “You can let me go now.”
“I need a minute to recover.”
So did she, and having her back pressed against his chest, his arm wrapped around her waist, wasn’t helping her regain her equilibrium. If anything, she felt a little lightheaded.
“Damn it, Ellie, you nearly fell off the roof.”
“But I didn’t.” She went to remove his arm, but he simply tightened his hold. “Are you planning on keeping me here all day? Because I have lunch to make and rooms to redesign.” And I’m at risk of melting into a puddle of lust at your feet if you don’t let go of me, she thought but didn’t say out loud.
“What’s going on up there?” The judge was standing on his balcony, leaning back to look up at them.
“Ellie tripped and nearly fell off the roof is what’s going on. So don’t get your shorts in a twist, Judge.”
“Maybe you’ll listen to us now, young lady. We told you to call a roofer.”
“I don’t need a roofer. I was doing perfectly fine on my own.”
“Sure you were,” Nate muttered. “And stop leaning to your left.”
“I can’t see the roofing cement on the ground. Did it fall on your balcony, Judge?”
He disappeared from view and then came back, holding up the cement gun. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
“That’s it. Can you toss it up?” She held out her hands.
Nate snorted. “Don’t toss it up until I get Ellie safely on the ground.”
“I’m perfectly capable of getting myself safely on the ground, Nate. How do you think I got up here?”
“Humor me,” he said, walking her across the roof toward the ladder, his front still pressed to her back and his arm still holding her tight. “Okay, now turn around. Slowly.”
She huffed an annoyed breath but did as he directed. “Happy now?”
His lips twitched. “No, but my heart is no longer pounding out of my chest.” He nodded at the ladder. “Probably a good idea if you go down on your knees before stepping onto the ladder.”
“Really? You’d think I’d never done this before. Who do you think shoveled the snow and ice off the roof?” She lowered herself onto her knees, searching for a rung with her foot.
“You’re killing me right now,” he said as he crouched in front of her, holding the ladder steady as she made her way down.
She smiled up at him, jumping from the second-to-last rung to make the point that she wasn’t athletically challenged and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Only there was something sticky on the right side rail of the ladder, and she couldn’t get her hand off as quickly as her feet, and she nearly brought the ladder down on top of her. Well, she would have if Nate weren’t still hanging on to it.
“Damn it, Ellie. Did you hurt your hand?”
“No, it’s fine.” It was stinging like crazy. She thought she might have taken off a layer of skin. “And my name isn’t Damn It Ellie,” she said before walking away.
He was still laughing when he told the judge to toss up the cement gun. She glanced over her shoulder. Of course he caught it easily.
As she rounded the corner of the inn, she nearly ran into a tall, lanky, freckle-faced teenager walking Toby. “Hi.” She smiled. “You must be Ryder. I’m Ellie.” She went to offer her hand and noticed the droplets of blood.
“What happened?”
“Little mishap on the ladder, but don’t tell Nate.” Her eyes narrowed on the smoke coming through the fingers of the hand hanging at his side. “And I won’t tell him you’re smoking. But I will tell you that it’s bad for your health, and there’s no smoking inside the inn. Besides, you’re only fifteen.”
“Almost sixteen, and it’s not weed.”
“I should hope not.” She angled her head. “You don’t actually smoke weed, do you?”
“Not anymore, I guess.” He dropped the cigarette, putting it out with the toe of his Doc Martens.
He wore baggy jeans and an equally baggy navy sweatshirt with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department logo emblazoned on the chest. His dad had worked for the sheriff’s department. She could only imagine how Nate felt when he saw the sweatshirt. The sheriff, two deputies, and a woman from Highland Falls had been directly involved in Brodie’s murder. Then again, the sweatshirt had probably belonged to Brodie.
“I’m sorry about your dad, Ryder. I never met him, but I heard he was a wonderful man.”
“Yeah.” He looked away and lifted his chin at the road. “Is it okay if I take the dog for a walk?”
“His name’s Toby. We just got him today.” She crouched in front of the Irish setter, scratching him gently behind the ears. “Lucky boy. You’ve made a friend.” She straightened. “He was abused, so he’s a little skittish. He’s a rescue.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. She’d told the vet the same thing.