Page 15 of Because of Blake
It looks good on him, and my mouth runs dry. “Hi, Blake. Um, I would love some help, but you don’t have to.”
“I know, but it’s the neighborly thing to do, right?”
I look up and down the street. There are a few other people out shoveling, all by themselves.“I’ve never had a neighbor offer to help me shovel.”
“Well, then let me be the first,” he says, and stomps up the driveway to join me where I left off.
We work side by side for some time. The snow seems to get heavier every minute the sun beats down on it, and when we’re done with the driveway, I stand to stretch my back.
“You okay, Maggie? Need a break?”
“I just need to stretch a bit. This is killing my back.” God, I sound so old.
“So take a break. I can finish the sidewalk.”
“No, I’ll help. Give me a minute.”
“I don’t mind. I mean, your sidewalk is nothing compared to mine. Having the corner house means I have the entire walk in front of and on the side of my property.” He juts his chin to the porch steps and I reluctantly sit down. With a warm smile, Blake resumes shoveling.
As I arch my back and bend from side to side, I watch Blake work. The man is a machine. He took off his coat a while ago and now I’ve got a front-row view to the show. Even in a thermal long-sleeve shirt, I can see his rippling muscles as he scoops and heaves snow over his shoulder. Every lift has his biceps popping, his back flexing. The way his hips drive his momentum to cast the snow into the air is nothing short of virile, and that beard somehow makes him sexier.
Forget the snowblower.“So, what’s with the beard? I’ve never seen you with one before.”
“It’s no-shave November.”
Ah, yes.Charlie used to participate in that, too.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be gone here, soon.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
Blake stops mid-shovel and turns to me with an eyebrow cocked. “Why?”
“I think it looks good on you.” My body temperature skyrockets as Blake smiles at my compliment. The guilt of betrayal creeps into my gut, and I need a change of subject. “Is snow removal part of your job as a landscaper?”
Blake goes back to shoveling, heaving a shovelful of snow into the yard. “We do snow removal, yes. But it’s usually for businesses and we use plows.”
“So, you’re not just showing off to get me to hire you in the future?” My intended joke must not come across because Blake stops mid-shovel, straightens, and turns to me with furrowed eyebrows. I scrunch my nose. “Not a good joke, huh?”
His features relax. He laughs, resuming his shoveling. “If I wanted to show off for you, I’d do more than shovel your driveway.” The gruffness of his voice makes me shudder.
“How did you get into landscaping?” I need to change the subject before I end up taking a dive into the freezing snow to cool off.
“Just the way life played out. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing.”
I grab my own shovel, following him down the sidewalk to join him in the last bit. “Why? What did you want to do?”
“Well,” he says, taking a break to lean onto his shovel. “I got my degree in graphic design from CU Boulder. I wanted to go into marketing, but my dad wanted me to go into finance, so I added a minor in business management, thinking that would satiate him.” Blake tenses and picks up the shovel. He scoops a rather large mound of snow and heaves it with a deep grunt.
“It didn’t?”
Blake turns to me, and I see pain in his eyes. “That’s a story for another time.”
“Oh, okay.” Silence takes over, and I toss a couple shovelfuls to the side. “So, landscaping was the obvious replacement to a marketing job?”
Blake laughs, though it’s a bit stilted. “No. If I had gone to Chicago or New York like I’d planned, I’d probably be doing something in my field, but I love Colorado and decided to stay. The landscaping job was supposed to be temporary.” He scoops the last bit of snow from the sidewalk and turns in my direction, his broad shoulders squared and his chest heaving with deep breaths. “There, all done.”
I stare up at him, a heaviness in the air, and I have to clench my thighs. “Thank you, Blake. That went a lot faster than me doing it by myself.”