sure she was okay with what happened between them.
And if she was potentially interested in doing it again.
Yeah, he hadn’t been able to think of anything else since Jake showed up and ruined the hottest moment he could ever remember.
It wasn’t often that simply kissing a woman stayed with Kyle beyond the initial moment, but the way Sydney had responded to him—the sounds she made—were playing on a constant loop in his head for days, and if he didn’t do something about it, he was going to lose his damn mind.
Walking up the stairs from the ground level, he stepped into the living room and spotted her coming out of Haley’s room. He opted to start with business talk and then lead into the personal.
“Hey,” he said softly. “I’ve got the bookcases all put together. You got a few minutes to come downstairs and show me where you want them placed?”
Her eyes went wide with delight. “Really? That was fast!”
Shrugging, he smiled. “It was smart to order the ones you did from Amazon. The fast shipping and the easy assembly really worked in our favor. You should be able to start working down there next week.” He turned and began walking down the stairs with Sydney right behind him.
“That is going to be perfect. Mia’s starting to send me book inventory, and I think I finally figured out all the programs I’m going to be using, but I’m mostly excited to figure out a bit of a routine where I’m actually working again. Haley starts school next week, so…”
At the bottom of the stairs, he motioned for her to walk ahead of him into the office. “So the timing will be perfect for you to really be able to get organized.”
In the office, she paused. “Oh, Kyle, you got so much done! This is amazing!”
He loved the praise. In all actuality, it wasn’t a lot of work. It was a matter of organizing and decluttering what her sister and brother-in-law had stored down there and cleaning the space up. After that, it was a quick coat of paint and furniture assembly. There had already been a desk down here, and Sydney had decided to use it rather than buying a new one, but he knew eventually she’d want to remedy that.
“There’s a great home décor place in town—Shore Décor—and I think if you go there, you can get some great accent pieces to really brighten up the place and personalize it a little. Jake’s wife Mallory owns it. I’m sure if you went in there, she’d help you out and maybe even give you a discount.”
She grinned. “I’ve been in there and I’m slightly obsessed with it, but I had no idea she was Jake’s wife! How cool is that?”
“I’m not really sure cool is the right word…”
“I mean, he builds or renovates a house and Mallory helps decorate it! That is very cool,” she reasoned.
“I guess.” Pausing, Kyle watched her walk around the room. “So we’re at the end of the third week here. The outside is done and down here is done. On Monday, I’ll be starting upstairs. I’ve got two guys coming with me to help demo the master bath.”
Nodding, Sydney said, “Jake emailed me my options for the tile for the shower and the vanity. I have to admit, I would have been fine with something pre-fab for the shower and maybe just repainting the existing vanity. I feel bad that so much is being done to customize the space.”
“Don’t feel bad. You know how people in Magnolia are; we take care of our own.” And he meant it. Nothing about the budget he’d been given for Sydney’s place surprised him. If he had a bigger crew, they would almost be done by now, but after the kiss the other day, he was glad it was just him here.
Which reminded him…
Cautiously, he moved closer to her. “Maybe we should go back upstairs to the bedroom and…”
Gasping, Sydney turned to him with wide eyes. “Excuse me?”
It took him a moment to realize how what he’d said could have been misconstrued. “I meant to look at the master and make sure we’re on the same page for what we’re going to do.”
Then he moved even closer.
“Although…I have a confession to make.”
He saw her swallow hard. “You…you do?”
He nodded. “I do.” Pausing, he slowly reached for one of her hands and just caressed it. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened the other day. If Jake hadn’t shown