She's Got a Way (Echo Lake #3) - Maggie McGinnis Page 0,42
She shrugged. “And if it matters, Luke’s got a pretty finely tuned bullshit meter, so if he still thought you were rich-bitch material, you wouldn’t be getting the time of day from him, let alone help with the girls.”
“Um, thank you? I think?”
“Give it time, Gabi. I have a feeling you’ll be surprised by what both you and your girls could learn from Luke.”
Chapter 14
“Ceremonial flush?” Gabi laughed as she handed garbage bags of clean clothes to the girls, who’d jumped up from the picnic table as the Briarwood van had emerged from the leafy driveway into the tiny parking lot.
Sam smiled. “Apparently it’s a thing.”
“Yeah.” Eve piped up. “When you complete a plumbing project, after it passes inspection, you do a ceremonial flush.”
“And Luke made you wait till I got back to have this little ceremony?” Gabi laughed as she closed the van doors. “Gosh, I’m honored.”
Madison rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s quite an honor, Gabi. You should be so proud.”
“Oh, but I am.” Gabi squeezed Madison’s shoulder. “A flushing toilet is nothing to sneeze at here. We’re just one step from the Ritz now, girls.”
“Right.” Waverly half sneered, but couldn’t help but let a smile sneak through it. “Come see, Gabi, so we can actually start using the thing.”
The girls tromped down the pathway before her, setting their bags down outside the bathroom, which now had actual walls and a door. As the girls went inside, Gabi walked around the outside, feeling her eyes widen as she ran her hand along the planks, pausing to admire a dead-even row of nails.
“Didn’t think they could do it, did you?” Luke’s voice, soft and deep, startled her from behind. He was close—too close—and the feel of his breath on her ear sent signals to all sorts of places that really didn’t need to be awake right now, thank you very much.
“Um.” Flustered, she turned around to face him, but when she caught his amused smile, words fled her brain.
“Um?” His smile grew, and his dimple appeared. “We’ve been working our asses off all day on this, and I get um?”
“Sorry. It’s awesome! I can’t believe they got it done. You got it done. You all got it done.” She shook her head. Good Lord. It’d be helpful if some blood could return to her brain here.
“Hey, Gabi?” He—damn him—stepped six inches closer, and she found herself nose-to-pecs with his chest. She inhaled, expecting a mixture of sweat and man. He’d been working all day in the heat, after all. But what she smelled was soap, detergent, and was that aftershave? On a guy who didn’t seem to shave? “Don’t move.”
He lifted his hands, deadly close to her body, and a slew of thoughts went careening through her brain while her feet stayed frozen to the ground. Then he slid both hands into her hair, gently, slowly. What was he doing?
“Spider in your hair,” he finally said, stepping back, dangling a huge wolf spider from two fingers. Was it her imagination, or did his voice sound a little huskier than before?
Her hands flew to her hair as her eyes took in the huge black arachnid.
“Don’t worry. They’re ugly, but they’re harmless.” He backed up another step, letting the spider go on a tree branch.
She shivered, but she knew it was more from his touch than from the fear of a spider building a nest in her damn curls.
“Thank you.” Her voice was strangled, soft, and she swallowed hard, trying not to let him know just how strongly her body had reacted to his fingers skating gently through her hair.
“Welcome.” His eyes met hers, then lowered to her lips, then closed as he blew out a breath and turned away. “Okay. Girls are waiting.”
“Right. Girls. Yes.”
Gabi shook her head as she followed him around the bathroom to the doorway. Could she be any more pathetic? Had she thought he was going to kiss her or something? Why would she think that?
She took a deep breath as they reached the doorway, pasting on a bright smile as he turned around to motion her inside.
“Your bathroom, Ms. O’Brien.”
Gabi stepped inside, and her fake smile turned into a real one as she smelled the fresh lumber and saw four new stalls and an open area at the end, where the girls were standing.
“This will be the shower, eventually.” Eve pointed at the walls of the open area.
“Look!” Sam bounced her eyebrows up and down as she swung a stall door open and closed. “Doors!”