a ponytail, she stretched, and he noticed the baby pink tank top she was wearing—clearly with no bra underneath—and he knew he was staring like a creep.
Then she did walk over to the railing and looked down.
Wide eyes stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights.
Shit.
She looked like she was about to say something and then noticed Jake a few feet away. Obviously, she figured out they were here together and he wasn’t some…well…creep who was spying on her from the yard.
Awesome.
Without a word, she turned and walked back into the house, slamming the sliding door closed behind her.
“Well, that was pretty much the reaction I expected,” he murmured.
“You say something?” Jake asked as he walked back over, sliding his phone into his pocket.
“Uh, yeah. Sydney just came out on the deck and saw me. Then she stormed back inside without a word.”
Chuckling, Jake said, “You probably just caught her by surprise. Don’t take it personally.”
“Really?” he deadpanned, knowing he should take it personally.
They finished walking around the house while Kyle took notes before walking up the front steps and knocking on the door.
The woman who opened it was even more stunning up close.
And looked exactly like she had at eighteen.
Her eyes were blue—and not your average blue, but more vibrant, like a sapphire—and her skin was lightly tanned. He had to fight the urge to reach out and touch her because he wanted to know if she was still as soft as he remembered.
Kyle loved women—all women. He never went shy or quiet around a beautiful girl. But he’d never felt so damn out of his element as he did right at this moment. Sydney Albright was the woman against whom he measured all others. At one time, she had been his past, his present, his everything. She was the first beautiful girl he’d ever really and truly loved.
And the last.
Their breakup had left him reeling and his confidence shattered, and he hadn’t been the same since.
Not that he didn’t love his life now—he loved the freedom he had and enjoyed the single life immensely. But if things had been different a dozen or so years ago, he might be standing on the other side of that door right now, welcoming Jake and his foreman in.
Shaking that thought off, Kyle visibly shuddered and then forced himself to smile as he wished her a good morning. Part of him wondered if she remembered him or if maybe he was the only one feeling awkward right now.
Sydney’s gaze narrowed at him a bit before she turned her attention to Jake and he definitely had his answer.
And it was personal.
Then she smiled—at Jake, not at him. “Hey, Jake,” she said softly. “Come on in.”
Stepping into the house, Kyle made it all of three feet before he simply stopped and stared. “What the…?”
“Yeah, I know,” she said with a small sigh. “Apparently the house was damaged during Hurricane Amelia and the previous owners did the bare minimum to make it sellable—they got rid of the mold and the worst of the water damage. When my sister and brother-in-law bought the house, they knew they were going to have to basically get the place down to the studs and start from there. Unfortunately, Daren made the yard the priority before he started in here.”
“I’m sure he just wanted a place where Haley could play while the work was going on,” Jake commented.
Sydney nodded. “That was the idea.” She paused. “Honestly, I think they bit off more than they could chew. There was so much to do and Daren had hoped to do a lot of it himself. But both he and Tracy worked and this became a weekend project. And then…” Her words trailed off, but they all knew what she was referencing.
And for some reason, Kyle felt like he had to ask, “Why not sell the place?”
Both Jake and Sydney looked at him with wide eyes.
“Kyle!” Jake hissed.
“No, it’s okay,” Sydney quickly corrected. Then she aimed those sapphire eyes at him. “This home was my sister’s. This was where she wanted to raise her daughter. And my niece…well…she’s already lost the two most important people in the world. She doesn’t need to be uprooted. She doesn’t need to lose the last connection she has to her parents. And if that means I have to live in a construction zone and see work done on a house that I wouldn’t normally choose to live in, then so be it. It’s a small