things on his own, and would never see any point in paying someone to do it. He might have a business manager, but Iris had a sense that that was different.
At least, she hoped it was.
For all the little she knew about men, she did have her brother, her cousins and Logan. And they were that kind of hardheaded man.
First things first, she had to get the place a bit more habitable. But since he clearly didn’t want her coming up to the cabin in the meantime, that seemed fair enough. And maybe in the end, she could outlast him. He’d come down here to get food, because she would be too busy to go up for the next couple of days.
As seduction plans went, it wasn’t a bad one.
If you couldn’t lead with experience and skills, you might as well lead with excellent cooking.
She may not know all the places to touch a man, but she knew how to make mashed potatoes.
And in the grand scheme of things, that was pretty good.
She was committed to working with what she had.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HE HADN’T SEEN hide nor hair of Iris for a couple of days. He’d overstepped. Yelling at her like he had that day she’d come to the housing site. He didn’t know what the hell he’d been thinking. Well, that was the thing. He hadn’t thought at all. It had been nothing more than feeling.
He’d felt cornered. Invaded in some way. He’d felt like she was getting close to treading on sacred ground and he didn’t like it.
Then she left dinner in the fridge for him, had left all that food for him...
Of course, now it was nearly gone.
It was what enticed him back to the cell phone rock. To see if she’d gotten in touch. He was gratified when a voice mail came in, and he could see that it had come from Iris.
“Hi, Griffin. I didn’t want to surprise you again up at the cabin. Not until we talked. But I’m moving in to the apartment and there’s an issue with the sink. I don’t how to fix it. I need you to either hire a plumber for me or maybe you can come take a look?”
There was a strange note in her voice, and he had a very odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“I’d like to see you.”
That pit grew.
It wasn’t just an odd note. It was breathy. Strange. And he recalled the tension that had arced between them when he’d been angry with her.
He’d wanted to...
That was the problem. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He hadn’t even wanted to shout at her. What he’d wanted to do was grab her, claim her mouth with his. Punish her with every bit of pent-up rage and desire inside of him in the form of pleasure.
He growled, gritting his teeth.
This was not helping.
He didn’t want to acknowledge it. He didn’t want...
He didn’t want it.
Still, he found himself hitting the return call button and waiting.
She answered. “Griffin?”
“Are you around? Because I could come over and fix that leak.”
What the hell.
“Yes,” she said, her words altogether too bright. “I am.”
“Great. I’ll be down in a couple of hours.”
“I have... Some food for you.”
“Thanks.” He hung up.
He hadn’t misread the look on her face when he’d moved toward her the other day. He hadn’t. She might’ve been upset at him. She might have been a little bit frightened, but she had also been intrigued.
Maybe even aroused.
There had been a time in his life when he would have taken her up on that offer without even thinking about it. Hell, that was just a Friday night. He didn’t need to know a woman to have sex.
At least he hadn’t.
But that was before Mel.
When he’d met her it had changed everything. It had made him want different things. It had made him something else. And then he’d lost everything. Everything that had made him who he was. And he didn’t know who he was on the other side of it.
If he was anything.
Why does it matter? If she wants to have sex...
He took a sharp breath. It mattered. It just did. Right now, it did.
Anyway, her asking him to come fix a leaky pipe could be nothing. Nothing more than his body overreacting to having a woman in close proximity.
Because one thing was for certain, this was most definitely the longest span of celibacy he’d ever had in his life. And it hadn’t mattered. Not one bit. Until Iris Daniels