Page 8 of Nailing Studs
I had plenty of memories that haunted me from the men who’d broken my heart throughout the years.
Ghosts were hard to shake.
Now I regrettedcalling him grumpy. “I’m so sorry. I get what he’s going through.”
“Yeah?” Taylor reached into his tool belt, took out a wrench, and started working his repairman magic while I watched with fascination. I’d always been intrigued by men who workedwith their hands and fixed things. Grant couldn’t change a light bulb if he tried. Suddenly, I felt like a fool for ever having been with him. What was wrong with me that I’d picked men so eager to make me feel bad about myself in order to feel good about themselves?
“Your fiancé broke up with you, too, or you did the letting go?” Taylor’s voice floated into my awareness. Focusing on Taylor after Domwaslike putting on a rom-com after a thriller film. Dom was everything dark and brooding. Taylor was sunshine and smiles and a velvet voice meant to stroke a woman’s soul.
He also had deliciously chiseled abs from what I could see through his tee. Yum. Memories of my fantasy the night before charged into my mind, and my arousal intensified.
“Boyfriend, and it was…messy,” I murmured. So messy, I abruptly remembered, that I suddenly wanted to go hide upstairs, to get myself away from the temptation Taylor and his friend represented. “Hey, do you mind if I shower while you’re doing that? It’ll only take a few minutes.”
He glanced at me, and for a long moment, held my gaze. Almost as if my mention of the word “shower” had been an invitation for him to imagine me naked.
Heat crept up my neck and cheeks. I swallowed. “I meant—”
“No worries, you can trust us. The entire population of Fosterman does. Go do your thing. We’ll do ours. Besides, I’m almost done with the sink.” As if to prove his words true, he ducked back under the counter, wrench in hand, and moments later popped back out and turned on the faucet.
I clapped and thanked him, and he gave me a grin before going to his toolbox and pulling a little contraption out.
“One task down,” he said,runningthe unit along the walls until the little machine beeped. “Now let’s see what else this gorgeous lady needs.”
Everything that was naughty in me went wild at those words. Yeah, I get it—he was talking about the house—but my libido interpreted his statement in an entirely different way.
I needed to get upstairs and catch my breath already. “Shower time,” I murmured before ducking out of the kitchen.
As I got to the landing and turned the corner, Dominic surprised me by coming out of the guest bathroom across the hall. We nearly slammed into each other. He grabbed my arm to steady me, and his touch and proximity made me stiffen.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Thought you were still downstairs.” I worked my way around him.
“Not a problem.” Even through a judgmental stare, his eyes, dark and intense, roved over my body, stopping on my chest where my nipples had pebbled, pressing through the fabric. Unlike before, his gaze lingered boldly and I had to fight the sudden urge to whip up my shirt and show him the goods. Instead, I quickly crossed my arms over my chest and headed for the guest bathroom.
“You have a short circuit in there,” he warned before I got too far. “Is there another bathroom you can use?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, turning back to face him. The man may have an attitude toward me I didn’t deserve, but at least he'd savedme from being electrocuted. I guess that was the electrical hiss I’d heard yesterday when I’d first arrived and turned on the lights. Besides, I could easily use Tabitha’s bathroom.
He nodded curtly.
Okay, so he wasn’t friendly, but I suppose he didn’t have to be for me to be attracted to him. Though he was quieter, more somber than Taylor, I sympathized with his reason why and wished I could tell him I knew his secret. Our gazes unlocked, and I found myself catching my breath as I stepped into the guest room.
Deep breath, Kayla. Let’s recap, shall we?
Taylor and Dominic were builders here to fix my kitchen sink and give me an estimate for the repairs to the house so I could figure out if I had to sell or might possibly be able to fix it up. Nothing more. It’s not like they were here to help bring orgasms into my life. For all I knew, Taylor could be married with kids.
Push them out of your mind, I told myself. Today’s task was to sit down and compile a To-Do list for getting my life back in order, not allow fantasies of construction men to invade my brain.
I grabbed my towel and made my way into Tabitha’s master bathroom, but even then Taylor and Dominic’s low voices came through the walls, messing with my resolve to put them out of my head. Their combined rumbly voices did crazy things to my insides, and for the briefest second I had a vivid image of the three of us together. Last night the two men had been true fantasies, but now? Now they were here, and my fantasies were so much more colorful and real than they had been last night.
Dominic holding me against the counter, gently gripping my neck, nipping my ear and Taylor sinking to his knees and spreading my legs…
God, it all felt so…possible.
“Not now, Kayla,” I whispered. “Save it for tonight, when you’re all alone.”
Not finding any shampoo or soap, I grabbed a couple mini hotel bottles Tabitha had stored under her sink. Hopping into the shower, I let out a squeak as the icy cold water fell over me, but it soon warmed up. Letting the grime of the previous day wash off my body felt good. The warm water sluiced through my hair, and the jasmine-scented shower gel permeated my senses. My libido faded, much to my relief.
I finished up my shower, dried myself, brushed my teeth, and knotted my hair into a bun. Nothing like beingrefreshed and ready to tackle anything. I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out of the bathroom—and about leapt out of my skin. “Taylor!”