Page 6 of Wrong Number, Right Grumpy Silver Fox

She blushes again, making her face look oddly angelic. I need to get a grip on myself so that I don't start drooling right in front of her. The rest of the trip to the materials store is spent with her making little noises of approval every time she finds something she likes.

"Find anything you like?"

"Honestly, a lot. I want to keep it simple, though. I want us to stick to a budget."

"You don't need to do that."

"I do, otherwise I'll never be able to pay you back for the materials and the work itself."

"Let's just go in there and dream a little. At the end, we'll see about the money."

"I can do that. And Mitchell? Thank you."

We spend the next two hours choosing paint, tiles and granite. I manage to get her to accept the better materials instead of the cheap ones, but she keeps frowning at me. At one point her frown is so fierce I pull her to me and smooth the creases on her forehead with my thumbs.

"You're too young to be wearing a constant frown. Relax."

"I'm not that young, I'm twenty five."

And I'm an old geezer, who wants her more than anything.

"Let's go. I want to see how the stuff we got is going to work in the kitchen."

Sarah seems more relaxed after the trip and is talking very animatedly as we get back to her house. I park on the driveway and look at her with her face flush and smiling at me.

"Looks like you had fun."

"I did, thanks to you."

"The kitchen is going to look great once we're done with it."

"Why are you really doing this, Mitchell?"

She's looking at me, interest on her face. She's obviously not thinking I'm trying to take advantage of her or any of the like, but it bothers me that another man could do the same as I'm doing. I want to be the only one for her. I let out a deep breath.

"I think you are a good person going through a tough time and you need a break. I can give that to you."

We're sitting so close to one another that I can almost feel the warmth of her body. It should burn me, but it only calls to me.

"Stay for dinner, Mitchell."

"I'd love to."

There was no way I would have turned down that invitation. I want to spend more time with this girl and find a way to make her mine. Old geezer or not, I'm starting to get attached to her and her bright light. When we're back inside, we both move to the kitchen to visualize the changes with the samples we got from the store.

"Thanks so much, Mitchell. Grandma would have loved this renovation. The colors look great, and I'll have a working kitchen once we're done. I love to cook."

"Is that why you invited me to dinner? To showcase your cooking skills."

"It's the only way I have right now to thank you."

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to."

We're toe to toe and looking into each other's eyes. I want to kiss her, but I don't know how she'll take it. Am I being too forward? Moving too fast? All I want is more of her. Instead, what I do is ask for work. Work I can do.

"I can start moving things from the cupboards to the back room so that we can start working on the kitchen on the weekend."