Page 105 of You Found Me
“I’m not.” She huffed out an exasperated sigh and marched back into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, lacing it with generous amounts of cream and sugar. Piper would hate the fake cinnamon in the single-cup packet she used.
Della didn’t like it much either, but it was this or ice water, and she wanted the heat.
She cupped the warm mug in her hands and was about to leave the kitchen when she heard the sound of an axe on wood. She hadn’t heard Ward go outside, but the office door was open now, and he definitely hadn’t gone upstairs.
She peeked through the curtains. If she couldn’t have Ward’s attention, she could at least admire the view.
Watching him chop wood was a special kind of torture. He looked fantastic in his usual uniform of dark gray dress shirt and dark jeans, but he looked even better with his shirt off.
Morning sun glinted off his chest when he lifted the axe. He looked like Thor or He-Man, all hard and strong and ready to take on all the bad guys.
His face tightened with concentration, and his biceps rippled as the axe came down, which triggered all sorts of visions of how his arms would feel wrapped around her. She’d had a taste of that yesterday, and it left her wanting more. A lot more.
When he turned to get another log, she sloshed coffee all over the windowsill.
Sweet baby Jesus, she’d never been so turned on by a man’s back before. He looked like he could do a thousand pull-ups and run a hundred miles and still go for more. His jeans rode low on his hips, giving a tantalizing peek of areas she’d like to explore.
If he looked this good without a shirt, what did the rest of him look like?
Had the heat come on? It was a lot hotter in the kitchen for some reason.
The man should be on calendars or magazine covers. None of the Hollywood A-listers she’d partied with even came close to what she was looking at right now. She’d never be able to look at Scott the same way again, the poor guy.
Before she met her warden, she’d been happy moving from place to place, party to party. “Have a little fun” used to be her goal and her motto.
But now she’d seen his home and his town and his family. She’d seenhim, and everything she used to want felt childish and empty.
She wanted what her sisters had.
She wanted someone who would look at her the way Renic looked at Lizzie. Someone who would go over the top to make her happy like Adam did for Mattie. Someone who would travel the world with her just to show her how the stars looked like Blake did for Piper.
Ward was the kind of man who would stand between her and a bullet without hesitation.
He was thoughtful enough to take her somewhere she’d wanted to go, even though she never asked.
But then he walked away instead of kissing her.
She wanted him, but he didn’t want her back.
Somewhere in the past few weeks, her pretend relationship had stopped being pretend for her.
But apparently not for him.
Her eyes burned at that thought.
She swallowed some of the vile coffee, but it didn’t help.
Irritated with herself, she went to the back door and thrust it open. “Hey!”
Ward finished his swing.
Thwack!
He shoved the two pieces to the side, then looked up, eyebrows raised. The slight sheen of sweat along his chest made him glow.
She wanted to tackle him right there. “I need to go in to work early tomorrow.Reallyearly. Like, let’s-take-donuts-for-everybody early.”
He gave a brief nod, then picked up another log.