The Fix (The Carolina Connections, #1)(44)

“Nate,” she breathed and began to pull away a bit, but she was trapped under me so I lifted up a few inches to give her some room.

“What’s the matter?” We were both breathing heavily and my hand was caressing her thigh, moving closer and closer to the edge of her panties and the heat that waited there.

“I … I … I’m not sure.” Her flushed face turned toward the back of the couch.

“Laney, look at me.” She turned her face back and her hooded eyes met mine. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” My cock called me every name in the book, but judging by the look on her face, this was going no further tonight.

She put her hand to her forehead and I sat up, releasing her. She sat as well and straightened her skirt. “God, I feel like such an idiot. I really want this.” She motioned back and forth between us. “I mean, I really want this.” She attempted a smile.

I had no fucking clue what to do so I just shut up and hoped she’d clue me in.

“But I have more than just me to consider—I have Rocco. I can’t just let someone jump into his life, play with him, build him a treehouse, and then just disappear. He won’t understand that.”

“Who’s disappearing?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Laney, there is no guarantee in any relationship. I don’t know for sure what will happen between us down the road, but I can tell you that I am more than into you, if you can’t tell that already.” I raised a brow at her. “I can also tell you that while I’m seeing you I’m not even remotely interested in seeing anyone else—and I hope you feel the same way.”

She nodded but still looked unsure.

I took a breath. “But I understand you’re a mom and that has to come first. I just really want us to be able to spend time together and see where this goes.” My hand reached out and she took it with hers.

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

My mouth said, “Of course.” My dick said, “No fucking way!”

She gave me a small embarrassed smile and stood up, releasing my hand. “Thanks, Nate. I’m so sorry about … this.” She waved awkwardly in the general direction of my lap.

“He understands,” I said, and that got a laugh out of her. “Let me drive you home.”

The ride back to her house was mostly silent and I did not have a good feeling about the way we were leaving things. I felt like I was missing some crucial piece of information, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I hated the uncertain feeling.

“Will you still come over to start the treehouse on Saturday?” she asked. “I know I’m sounding like a complete contradiction right now, but Rocco is so excited.”

I shot her a smile. “Of course. I can’t wait.” We pulled into her driveway and I got out to open her door.

She stepped down. “Hopefully you guys can finish it before it’s time for you to leave. Thanks, Nate. I’ll call you.” And then she kissed my cheek and ran to her front door.

I waited for the door to close behind her before I pulled out of her driveway. That bad feeling I had was turning worse.



By Friday morning I still hadn’t heard one word from Laney and I felt a heavy weight in my gut. My only solace was that I’d at least get to see her tomorrow. I visited a couple sites already today to meet with some contractors, and I was pulling up to the Old Oak Ridge site wishing I could just drive down the street and knock on her door. But I’d promised to give her time and I knew she was at work anyway, so it made little difference.

As soon as I got out of my car I noticed Doug and Gavin walking my way.

“Nate!” Doug called. “I’ve got Gavin on framing but Mark mentioned he might pull him for some of that siding work. You know anything about that?” Both men approached and I adjusted the bag I was carrying.

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. Stay on framing, Gavin.”

“That’s what I thought,” Doug said distractedly and hurried away to address one of the contractors who’d just pulled up.

“How’s it going, Nate?” Gavin asked, his hands perched stiffly on his hips.

“All right I guess,” I responded. Gavin continued to stand that way and then I caught him clenching his jaw like he was mulling over a difficult problem. “Something wrong?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.” His voice was curt.

“Tell you what?” I was pretty sure I knew which direction we were headed.

“Dammit, I knew this would happen!” His voice rose and we got a few glances.

“What exactly happened, Gavin? I’m at a bit of a loss here.”

He looked at me like I was stupid. “Laney. She’s been in her room crying the past two nights, and it didn’t escape my notice that the timing just so happened to coincide with the early end of your date the other night. So what the hell did you do to my sister?”

I was dumbfounded—it took me a few moments to speak. “Gavin, I didn’t do shit. I thought things were going great and she’s the one who put a stop to it. I’ve been the one waiting for her to call and tell me everything is okay.”

“Well, shit!” He pulled his hard hat from his head and smacked it to his thigh. “Now I’ve got to wade into this like some fucking girl and find out what the hell is wrong.”