Page 48 of Asher
Asher’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he reached down to pull it out. I tried to step away, but he held me close. I thought it would be weird having this much physical attention from him, from any man really, but it felt natural. Right. Like we’d always been this way. Now that it’s happened, I don’t think I’ll ever want him to stop touching me. My cheeks flushed with heat at the thought of all the other ways he could touch me.
Other ways Iwantedhim to touch me.
His dark eyes flared with heat while he dragged a knuckle along my cheek. Of course, he didn’t miss the way I turned pink.
“It’s your brother.” Hitting answer, he handed me the phone.
“Hey Connor,”
“Hales? Who’s phone are you on?”
“Asher’s. Mine’s dead. Do you have time to do a walkthrough right now?”
“Right now? What for?” Connor’s voice was gruff as he yelled into the phone. Hammers and saws echoed through the line behind him. My brother owned a popular construction company in Sweet Springs and was known for being fair, so he was never out of work. Braeden tried to convince him to join the fire department right out of high school, but as Connor would say, being a hero wasn’t his thing.
“My house flooded.”
“Shit. I’ll be right there. How bad?” He asked and then yelled at one of his guys that he would be back.
“About four inches deep by the time I got here.”
“The whole house?” There was no hiding the surprise in his voice.
I rubbed my chest as I thought about how much damage there really was. “Yeah. I was in Vegas for work. I don’t know how long it’s been running.”
“Alright. I’ll be right there.”
“Thank you.”
He grunted in response before ending the call.
* * *
“So, what do you think?”I asked my brother as he surveyed my living room. Luckily, he brought a pump so we could start getting out some of the water that was still sitting in my house.
Connor puffed out his cheeks and pressed his hands to his hips. “We’ll have to gut it. New walls, flooring and cabinets.”
“Balls,” I groaned.
He motioned toward the kitchen. “Depending on how long your appliances sat, you may need to replace those, too. If you don’t, they may crap out within a few months.”
“Fucking Balls.” I loved my kitchen. It was my favorite room even though I hardly cooked. My appliances were brand-fucking-new. I didn’t want to replace them again.
“Really, Hales?” Connor chuckled one brow raised.
“What?” I tossed my hands up and started pacing. The carpet seeping water from my weight. “You just told me that you have to gut myentirehouse and I already lost all of my shoes.My shoes,Connor.” I widened my eyes dramatically because besides my camera, my shoes were my babies. “I have been building that collection since my feet stopped growing. This day could not get any worse and now I’m going to be sleeping in a fucking construction zone.”
He grimaced. “Uhhh.”
“No.” I pouted and dropped my head. My haphazard bun flopped to the side.
“Sorry, sis. But you can’t live here while we do this. Your insurance will most likely cover a hotel, though.”
“Why can’t I live here? I promise I won’t be a distraction.” I pressed my hands together under my chin, batting my lashes. Not that it would work because we both knew I wouldn’t just be a fly on the wall.
Connor spit out a laugh. “Well, that’s just the biggest lie I’ve ever heard. Aside from it being dangerous, I can’t have you distracting the younger guys. They would spend more time ogling you than working.” Asher growled under his breath and took a step closer to me. The damn flutters were back because I liked when Asher showed even the slightest ounce of jealousy over me, though he had no reason to. Connor raised a brow but didn’t comment before continuing. “And we can’t just go from room to room. We’re going to gut everything so that mold doesn’t start to grow in the rooms we haven’t gotten to yet, which means we need to move everything out this week, including you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my head pounding. “I can’t live in a hotel.”