Page 16 of The Fall Fix Up

Janae sighed and tried not to let Braeden’s words cut too deeply. “Stop, Braeden. There are only two bedrooms that are livable at the moment, and we share a bathroom. It’s fine.”

“Janae,” Braeden said, her voice dripping with warning. “You have the worst radar for men.”

“Thank you so much for that fucking reminder, sis.”

“I’m just saying,” she replied. “I trust you. I just don’t trust these men who show interest in you.”

Janae clenched her jaw before speaking. “Well, good thing he hasn’t shown interest in me then. He’s been nothing but polite and professional. He even started working on the kitchen this morning, so I think I will be fine. But thank you for your concern.”

Braeden was quiet for a moment. “Okay. Well, I guess it’s good that he’s starting the work since I’m still coming in two weeks.”

“No,” Janae said. “Please don’t. The house is still a disaster zone mostly and—”

“I’ll love it, and I need the break,” she countered. “You know I don’t scare easy, so be ready. I have to go. Love you and see you soon.”

“Brae—” Janae’s voice was cut off by the line going dead, and she groaned. She stared down at her phone. Braeden’s visits always felt like someone spent time rearranging the gray matter in her brain. She loved her sister, but she needed a few days to recover after the fact. She shook her head before standing up and grabbing her now-empty coffee mug. When she stepped out into the hallway, the bathroom door abruptly opened and steam billowed out, escaping into the cooler air of the hallway.

Clearly, the universe was trying to test her, because when Janae looked up, Aiden was standing in the doorway with a towel slung around his shoulders. The scent of his soap, musky and yet intriguingly sweet, curled around her. Janae’s eyes widened when she realized he was shirtless and still damp.

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Aiden said. “I didn’t mean to take too long.”

Janae shook her head before her gaze was pulled to the damp curls partially stuck to his forehead. A drop of water fell from a loose strand, landing on his cheek before continuing slowly down his gleaming skin to his collarbone. Janae yanked her eyes back up.

“No,” she choked out. “You didn’t. I was talking to my sister and then . . .”

Her voice trailed off when another drop of water fell. Aiden lifted the towel and brushed it over his face. His skin and muscles rippled, and Janae’s breath caught. She needed to keep moving before she lost what little was left of her mind.

“I promise I didn’t use all the hot water. The contractors did get the new water heater in and hooked up, so that’s good,” Aiden said.

“It’s fine,” she managed, her voice too high. She was frozen in place as he dropped the towel back onto his shoulders.

Aiden nodded before giving her a quick grin. His eyes widened before he turned back around and leaned over. Janae’s gaze dropped before she could stop herself, but she managed to avert her eyes before he straightened back up. He turned, clothes crumpled in his hands.

“Almost forgot my dirty clothes. Won’t happen again,” he said with that same unbothered, dimpled grin and Janae needed him to go away now before she said something that would get her canceled.

“It’s fine,” she repeated, as if that were the only phrase she knew. She stepped back as he left the bathroom and went into his room. It wasn’t until the door shut between them that she remembered she had legs. She forced herself to start moving and didn’t stop until she was at the kitchen sink.

The air still smelled like Aiden’s soap as she leaned over the faucet. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing pulse. Her mind kept replaying the image of water dripping over the curve of his cheek and down his chiseled chest.

“Get it together,” she whispered. “This is temporary.”

She splashed cool water on her face but didn’t turn when she heard footsteps in the hallway headed to the front door. It wasn’t until she heard the door close that she made her way back to her room. She needed to get herself straightened out before school started back up. She didn’t have time to think about someone who was only here because he had to be.

Chapter 7

“Damn it,” Janae said softly as she plopped her paintbrush back into her water cup. She had been hoping to do some painting today, but her mind just wasn’t in it like it needed to be. Every time she paused, she remembered how Aiden had looked in the hallway, skin glowing in a way that had to be magic. “It’s just a body. Why does it matter so much?”

Even as she asked herself that question, she knew why. Aiden was fine with a capital F. Anyone could see that. She was an artist. Appreciating beauty was what she did, and that didn’t stop at canvases or colors. Still, the way she appreciated Aiden had nothing to do with hex codes or brush techniques and everything to do with the fact that he had a gorgeous smile and a good personality. It wasn’t fair for him to have both and be able to wreck her concentration like this.

With a sigh, she placed her canvas on the stool beside her and took a step back. Trying to force herself to paint wouldn’t do anything but frustrate her even more. She knew from experience that if her mind and heart weren’t aligned with what they wanted to do, she wouldn’t be able to create anything worth showcasing. Plus, it wasn’t like she had a show coming up anytime soon. She had put a pause on exhibitions for the past two years, and she was enjoying being able to create without the pressure of needing to make it count in a big way.

Or she had been anyway. The blank canvas staring her in the face said otherwise.

“What is wrong with me today?” she asked herself. It wasn’t the first time she had dealt with a block on her creativity, and if she really thought about it, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that she was having trouble now. A lot had happened in the past couple weeks. But giving herself grace had never been an easy task, and it was made even more difficult now.

With a sigh, Janae gave up on doing anything creative and decided leaving the sunroom was the best course of action before she did something ridiculous, like throwing the paint at her canvas and calling it a study in patience. As soon as she opened the door, she heard the sound of gravel crunching. Looking out the window, she saw Aiden’s truck pulling in. A glance at her watch told her it was lunchtime, and she was surprised that so much time had passed. Her stomach grumbled. Clearly, she had been standing there doing nothing for longer than she thought.

“Hey,” Aiden said as he opened the front door and walked in. “I was hoping you’d still be in.”