Derick (Delta Forces #3) - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,5

and…and it was taken out of her hands. “Where do you want this?” he asked.

It was really heavy, but she didn’t want his help. She could handle this work on her own. “I can put it away.”

He lifted it out of reach when she tried to take it from him. “I know that you can handle it. But it’s heavy and you’re tired. So, why don’t you just tell me where I should put it,” he paused, those firm lips quirking upwards slightly as if he were trying not to smile, “and don’t suggest up my ass. I doubt it would fit.”

Despite herself, she laughed outright. Especially since those words had been on the tip of her tongue. “Fine. In the garage please. That way I can lock my tools up at night.”

He walked over to the garage, placing it in the open space where she’d had it earlier. “How many houses have you flipped?”

Her heart thudded at that question. She glanced at him, startled that he was so perceptive. “Why do you think I flip houses?”

“Because you know enough about fixing up a house to save the exterior painting for last,” he replied. “Not many people do that. They want the curb appeal to happen fast and don’t like coming home to an ugly house.” He moved closer. “You’re skittish too. Which means you’re hiding from something.”

Carrie almost ran at his words. But she instead, she pulled herself up straighter, determined to face the truth. She was so sick of running. “I’m fine.” A lift of her chin reinforced her assertion.

“I can see that you’re very fine, Jolene. But I can help.”

Carrie crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m fine,” she told him again.

He sighed, looked over at her porch. “Right. You’re fine. So,” he paused, rubbing the back of his neck, “When you decide that you’re tired of being fine, let me know. I’m good at resolving problems.”

And with that, he walked back to his house.

Carrie watched him walk away, half of her admiring his tall, strong body. The other half craving the safety he offered.

Chapter 5

Carrie stared out the window, sipping her coffee and thinking about what Derick had said yesterday. “I’m good at resolving problems.” What did that mean? And didn’t he know that she was perfectly capable of solving her own problems? She was fine at it!

There was that word again. “Fine.”

Looking around, she saw the power tools she hadn’t put away last night after working on the staircase. Fine. She was fine, that was true. But did she really want to be just fine for the rest of her life? Did she really want to lose all of her power? Her dreams?

Carrie looked out the window again. The sun hadn’t come up yet, but there was a grey sky in the distance, indicating that the sun was close to starting the day. Carrie sipped again, but she didn’t taste the coffee. She didn’t feel the joyous burst of energy that she normally anticipated when she sipped her coffee.

Sighing, she closed her eyes. “I’m fine!” she whispered out loud.

And yet, she was sitting in a dark, mostly empty room with just a fabric bucket chair, sipping coffee out of her one mug and wearing a boring tee shirt to sleep in instead of something nicer. Sexier. She had dyed her hair black, hiding her normal strawberry blonde coloring and she wore nondescript, baggy clothes, no makeup and a baseball cap, just in case someone might notice and remember her.

Growing up, she’d dreamed about having a family and doing something with her life. Okay, so flipping houses was a lucrative job. But that’s all it was. It was a job, not a career. She liked the work, but she didn’t love it. Granted, she truly loved bringing a house back to life and…perhaps she loved what she did. It might have been something she’d stumbled into, but she loved it.

So if her work wasn’t the problem, what was the problem?

Sex. Carrie chuckled as she snuggled into the chair a bit more. Yeah, she missed sex. A lot! It had been too long since she’d felt a man’s caress. Not that she’d loved sex all that much, but she really craved the human touch, the connection with a man. In her experience, sex was the only time that a man really touched. Other times, he was just too busy.

Granted, sex had become a bit…scary…towards the end of her marriage.

Carrie sighed and rubbed a hand over her face.