Page 26 of The Fall Fix Up

Her hands moved then, running over his chest before cupping his cheeks.

“Does anything hurt? Do I need to call an ambulance?”

“Yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, no. No ambulance. I’m good.”

Aiden was distinctly not good. When Janae shifted again, it was like an alarm went off in his head and he knew he needed to get up before he made things even more awkward. His body was a traitorous thing that was about to get him into trouble unless he moved now.

“We should probably . . .” He trailed off again and looked down.

Janae followed his gaze and her eyes widened when she seemed to realize the position they were in. “Oh!” She scrambled, moving back and away until she could stand. She slipped slightly and Aiden shot a hand out, gripping her hip and helping steady her. Once they were both standing, their eyes met.

“We look like drowned rats,” he joked to lighten the mood.

Janae huffed out a soft laugh as she glanced at herself in the mirror. “We really do.” She looked back at him, concern in her gaze again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Aiden waved off her concern. “Totally fine. But this bathroom isn’t. I’ll go grab some towels so the water doesn’t soak into the wood. We don’t want it to warp.” He wasn’t lying. The floors were real wood and they needed to get rid of the water as soon as possible. But he was also making a strategic retreat so he could attempt to have another chastising conversation with his dick. “You stay put so you don’t fall again.”

Janae nodded. “There are extra towels in the box in the hall closet. I actually remembered to label that one.” Aiden gave her a thumbs-up before carefully making his way out of the bathroom.

Once he was in the hallway and away from her gaze, he took a steadying breath and started counting, willing his body to get with the program. Falling and nearly busting his ass in the bathroom wasn’t the start to a dirty movie. This was chaos and danger. Janae was trusting him to be a good guy, and he wasn’t about to let a wet T-shirt derail that.

No matter how good it looked clinging to her skin.

Chapter 11

Waking up was a little easier to do when she knew it was in her own bed, in her own house that was slowly morphing into a true home.

Janae had enjoyed her time at the old apartment well enough. She didn’t have any big complaints anyway. But nothing compared to the feeling of opening her eyes in her new bedroom, the familiar slant of pale morning light trickling in from the windows. She understood now why Braeden slept better at home regardless of how plush the hotel mattress was on her travels. There was nothing like being in your own safe space.

The scent of coffee had become a familiar calling card as well. She and Aiden had settled into a comfortable routine of trading off who woke up first and turned on the coffee maker. Well, they had never had an actual conversation about it, but it seemed to just come about that they switched off every other day. It was just another way that Aiden had slotted so perfectly into her life, one that Janae continued to not look so closely at.

When she walked into the kitchen to grab herself a cup, she smiled at the way the new kitchen counters sparkled, adding to the bright warmth emanating from the rebuilt cabinets. Aiden really had done such amazing work, and she was surprised every time she walked in.

Logically, she knew people built homes. But she had never known anyone to be so handy and capable in her everyday life. At most, her ex had screwed in a light bulb or two over the course of their entire relationship. More often than not, she was the one doing things—and wasn’t that just another revelation to add on top of all the others? She sipped on her coffee and leaned against the counter, thinking about it.

It probably wasn’t fair to compare her ex to Aiden, but fuck it. Aiden had been more helpful in the first week of them living together than her ex ever had been. And he didn’t even have sex to fall back on. Not that Janae thought sex should be transactional. But it was amazing to her how other men acted in comparison. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a great role model with her dad when it came to men. He and her mother had always been loving and affectionate with one another, and he’d been the same way with Janae and Braeden. But he was her dad. She couldn’t compare all the men she dated to him, so she had tried not to let how great he was keep her from giving other guys a shot. He was her father, which meant he was hardwired to want to be there for her. Right?

“Ugh, so many thoughts too early in the morning,” she groaned to herself as she walked into the living room. Her body was sore from the abrupt swimming lesson last night. She and Aiden had spent an hour mopping as much water as they could from the bathroom floor, and by the time they’d finished, Aiden putting a fan in the hallway to dry up what moisture they couldn’t see, she’d felt like she’d worked out for hours. The upside was that she’d fallen asleep even easier. “Maybe I should do some exercise every night.”

She stepped over the fan cord just in time to see Aiden’s bedroom door open as if she’d summoned him. His hair was adorably tousled; the curls flattened on one side, the rest waving at her wildly. His eyes were still fuzzy with sleep, and she could see the dark haze around his jawline where his hair had grown overnight. He scrubbed a hand over his face before pausing and blinking at her. His lips curled up in a soft smile that had her nearly choking on her sip of brew.

“Good morning,” he said, voice rough with sleep. The sound of it scraped up her spine and Janae was glad that he was probably still half asleep, hoping he’d miss the way she shivered.

What would it be like to have that voice in her ear? She knew for a fact there were apps out there that would pay to have him read with a voice like that. Hell, she’d gladly sign up for a membership and not even bat an eye when the charge hit her account each month.

She coughed to clear her throat so she could be a normal person and respond. “Good morning, Aiden. Sleep well?”

He nodded before his lips parted on a yawn. How the hell is he cute and hot at the same damn time? It wasn’t fair that he had such a cherubic face on the body of a god. A body she wouldn’t mind kneeling at the altar of. She’d gotten a taste of how he felt beneath her palms last night when they’d both fallen victim to gravity, and though it was an accident, she couldn’t stop remembering the way his chest had felt underneath her hands. I think I might be a pervert.

“Slept incredibly well,” he said, catching her attention again. “That mattress you bought is like sleeping on a cloud. It molds to my body and makes it so hard to get up, but in a really good way.”

Janae could imagine. It was the same mattress she had on her bed, and she felt the same way each morning. Being on her feet teaching for hours on end made her all the more appreciative of having the right mattress to fall on top of at the end of the day. The only thing that would make it better was— No! she thought to herself, cutting off that line of thinking.

“Isn’t it amazing?” she gushed, pushing past her inner thoughts. When Aiden just stood there smiling, she searched for something else to say. Before it could get awkward, she lifted the mug in her hand. “I made coffee.”

Aiden nodded. “Awesome. I’m going to grab a shower first. We have a shipment coming in this morning, so I need to get to the shop earlier than normal. I managed to get the shower faucet fixed, but I want to replace it completely, so be careful when you turn it. Sorry I can’t do more work here until I get home this evening.”

Janae shook her head to stop him. “No, don’t apologize. Honestly, when I asked you to move in, I thought you’d mostly do work on the weekends. You’ve already been going above and beyond for me.”