Page 15 of Jamison's Story
“Okay,” she agrees with ease, her gaze back on mine once more. “Do you need any help?”
“No but that doesn’t mean I’ll turn it down. You can help me with measuring stuff,” I suggest, earning a full smile from her that I love, before glancing at her feet. “Those shoes will be okay for now, but if you come out where I’m doing the building, you’ll need something with a thicker sole. Don’t want you stepping on discarded nails.”
Her lips press into my cheek as she gives my neck a little tug down to her, and my cock pulses wanting more of them. More of her initiating contact, kisses. I won’t argue about being able to kiss or hug her when I want, but I want her to feel comfortable doing the same.
I head outside, getting everything set up the way I want, and a smile hits when Natalie comes out with a big glass of lemonade for me. “Thanks baby, it’s getting warm out here.”
“I was thinking of making some sandwiches. Figured you’d be getting hungry but with the heat, something light would go down better,” she suggests, and I nod, dropping a kiss onto her lips. “We could eat on the other side of the porch like a picnic.”
“That sounds perfect, Nat,” I agree, getting a few more things lined up to simplify putting the cabinet shells together after confirming the sizes on the plans once more.
I head over, finding her with sandwiches, chips, pickles, and Jackie’s potato salad set up on the blanket. The cabin has a porch that wraps around all four sides, covered but not enclosed, letting the breeze whip through keeping the heat down. This side of the cabin faces the big field with woods in the distance, whereas the kitchen side faces the stream. Both views are great, but with all the equipment on the other side, eating over here makes it feel like we’re here on a true vacation, rather than me being here to also do a job.
She doesn’t talk much during the meal, but it’s not a bad silence. I know she’s got a lot on her mind, and until we hear back from Kayla, we’re not going to know what happened with the judge. There’s nothing I can tell her that’ll make it better this instant, so simply being with her, showing her I’m here with her, for her, is the best that I can do.
We carry everything back inside, and I have her help me double-check the measurements and cabinet placements from the plans. I didn’t anticipate them being wrong but before I start cutting wood, I like to do my own and mark the spots so it’s simpler when I get to the install.
I finish marking the last cabinet spot and smile, seeing Natalie there looking at it as well. There’s a look in her eyes I’m not certain of and I slip my arms around her, lifting her chin to see her better. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no, nothing’s wrong,” she says, giving me a grin and I lift my eyebrow needing to know she’s not just saying it. “I was just trying to see what it’ll look like when you get everything in here. I’m just a little surprised that this is all I guess. I know it’s a cabin and he’s a guy, but when I was here with him last year, he mentioned that he wanted this place to be used by the family for things. That whenever Nanci and I had kids, he’d want us to bring them, having cookouts and stuff with them here. So this is not really what I was anticipating the final kitchen to be. There’s so much empty space.”
“We’re adding in some upper cabinets as well,” I tell her, showing her the design concept we’re working off of.
“There’s still like eight feet between the door and the end of the cabinets and then the table is all the way up in the dining area. It just makes it feel really undone like this,” she says, and I nod, seeing what she means.
“What would you do with it then? Add more cabinets up to the doorway?”
“Mmm…no, I’d add a peninsula so there’s more counterspace so if we did have get-togethers with a lot of food, there’d be room to put it out. You could also use it with barstools for a breakfast bar when you don’t want to use the full table. There’s still plenty of room to move around it that way. I think it’d be cool if it had open space beneath the peninsula, so having it rest on a single leg with a rounded end, wouldn’t make it feel crowded that way. Then you could add in some spaces for pans that don’t fit as well in the cabinets, like skillets, but do some built-ins in the base that’s anchoring it,” she suggests, and I drop a kiss onto her lips, smiling at her little giggle.
“I think you’ll fit right in with the rest of the family. None of them can keep their opinions on designs to themselves, so we always end up making changes or adjustments to things. There’s enough wood to add in the rest of the cabinets, do some shelves to fill in some of the other space along the wall. There’s not enough countertop to do it, but I do have a butcherblock countertop that would work well with it. You’ll have to take the blame from your brother if we do this though, he’d bitch me out for doing something for free for him, you know,” I warn.
“I can be the bad guy,” she muses, shrugging a bit and I drop a kiss onto her lips, before sketching out the changes, seeing if it’s what she’s thinking. “That’s perfect. I think with the flow the rounded end works better. Makes the kitchen still feel more open to the rest of the space.”
“Let me make a call to one of the guys I work with. He’s supposed to be coming out to help me put the countertop in when I’m done with the cabinets, so I’ll need him to bring the butcherblock with him. I think part of the post they replaced should work to hold the other side so Nick can’t argue with it. I’ll make sure it was only the one section that was damaged first and if not, I’ll have him bring something for it as well.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?” she says with a sigh as I hug her.
“I do my best,” I tease, giving her another little kiss before making myself get back to work. I’ll never get anything done if I don’t.
Each day I have her help me with something little, spending the time before and after with her, not pushing for more. Kayla called us that first night, saying Judge Phillips signed the paperwork with ease, and when Craig was served with the papers the next day, Natalie’s phone blew up with threats. Each one is forwarded to Doug and Detective Taylor, while Chief Davidson is copied on them, and Doug has men watching my place in case the jerk shows.
For the most part, Natalie’s kept her phone off, only checking it at night for messages from her brother and sister who think she’s on a road trip with some girls from school. I wasn’t thrilled that she didn’t want to tell Nick the truth, but I also understood. He probably wouldn’t be happy to learn she was here with me, especially not if he also learnt I’m desperate to sleep with her.
Even more now that I’ve spent the last week with her than that first day I saw her, knew she was mine. Everything I learn about her makes me love her more, and I’m on edge when George shows up to help me get the countertops installed Wednesday the week after I got here. It shouldn’t since the man’s forty-six and married to his high school sweetheart, but I still don’t want anyone around Natalie but me.
The way his brow lifts seeing her has my back up, which causes it to lift higher, a chuckle falling from him when I pull her tighter to my side.
“Nice to meet you, Natalie,” George says giving her a nod rather than attempting to shake her hand. “You’re Nick’s sister, aren’t you?”
“I am, he doesn’t know I’m here or that Jamison and I are together yet, so can you pretend you didn’t find me here?” she suggests, and he nods again.
“Let us get these in, you can enjoy reading,” I add, handing over the bag with the books I asked George to grab from my office to bring as well.
“You didn’t,” Natalie says, her eyes widening seeing the titles were ones she’d mentioned wanting to read a few nights ago. I had them delivered to the office to ensure no one tried to steal them since I’m not at home, and I definitely didn’t want someone showing up here with them.
“Enjoy, baby girl,” I tell her, earning a deep kiss that has my blood pumping fully.
“So, another Cartwright off the market huh?” George says as we unload the countertops.