Begin Again: Short stories from the heart (6 page)

“May I be of some assistance?”

Startled, Natalie swung around, lost her footing, and tumbled from the ladder. A pair of tanned, well muscled arms caught her in mid-flight. Natalie looked up into the most incredible blue eyes she’d ever seen – ocean eyes. When her rescuer smiled, she glimpsed white teeth, and full welcoming lips. From her close vantage point, she could tell there wasn’t much about the man not to like. He was extremely attractive, no doubt too attractive for his own good or anyone else’s.

“You look like you could use some help,” the man said with the hint of a smile. He made no effort to release her and Natalie found herself suddenly embarrassed by the entire situation.

“You can put me down now.” She spoke with as much dignity as she could muster, considering she was covered in dirt and soaked with sweat.

He released her gently, lingering a moment on the small of her back. Natalie stepped out of reach and eyed him. “Is there something I can do for you?”

The man smiled again as though he found her humorous and held out a tanned hand. “Are you Natalie
Allington
?”

Natalie’s gaze narrowed. She didn’t extend her hand, but crossed her arms over her chest and demanded, “Who are you?”

He crossed his own arms, making the muscles in his forearms bulge even further and took a step closer. Looking her straight in the eye, he said, “I’m Chase
Danning
.
Your landlord.”

Natalie sputtered for a moment, struggling to get the words out.
“You… you… you!”
She rounded on him, angry as a she-cat. “You shouldn’t be allowed to own a paper box let alone a house! It’s been five days since I’ve had hot water. Do you have any idea what it’s like to take a cold shower every morning?” She glared at him, not waiting for his response. “And that’s not all. My faucets leak, the carpeting’s coming up, two windows are broken…” She paused a moment to catch her breath. “And I have ants! I hate ants.”

Chase could see she was really warming to the subject of airing out the house’s problems, right here on the front lawn. Her loud ranting roused a few neighbors. An old lady with a straw hat and a middle-aged man with a beard peeked over shoulder-high shrubs, waiting to see what he would do.

Chase turned from the onlookers and focused on the obviously upset, sweat-streaked, semi-crazy woman in front of him. He kept his tone low and gentle as he spoke. “Why don’t we go inside? We’ve got quite an audience and right now I feel like I’m about to be lynched.”

Natalie glanced at the small group of onlookers whose number had increased to six by now, and nodded. Then she turned on her sneakered heel and headed for the door with Chase close behind.

Once inside, she went straight to the small kitchen, threw off her gloves and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She looked at him and held up the bottle, “Drink?”

“No thanks.” The woman could be polite even when she was furious. He could tell by the way her almond-shaped eyes narrowed whenever they slanted in his direction and those full lips pinched together that she was good and mad. He’d lay a hundred dollars she’d just as soon throttle him as offer him a drink but the lady had manners. Remaining a safe distance away, Chase attempted to appease her. “Look, I’m really sorry. I had no idea. I bought this property about six months ago and the real estate agent was supposed to handle everything.”

“And it took you six
months
to see if he ‘handled everything’?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been working on a deal out of town for several months and it just wasn’t top priority.” As soon as the words were out he regretted saying them.

“Oh really.”
She took a step closer. “Well, let me tell you, Mr.
Danning
, my life and how it is affected by this run-down shack is
my
top priority. So, unless you plan on making some very major repairs, very soon, I’m breaking the lease and I’m not paying.” Natalie knew she was playing hardball but he’d made her so angry the words had just slipped out. She didn’t want to move; it had taken her long enough to find this little bungalow and she felt safe here. The neighbors were very protective and she had her own privacy, even a great wooded view.

“If you want out of the lease then it’s fine with me. I can understand your frustration and whether or not you stay, I’ll give you two months free rent for your inconvenience.”

“I’m not a charity case, you know.” Just because he could throw money around and probably was some high-powered executive who flitted all over the country on his private jet spending more money in a week than she made in ten, did not mean he could buy himself out of his negligence.

“I never said you were. But I really had no idea what was going on and for that I apologize. My real estate agent was supposed to handle all the repairs and maintenance, whatever the cost, until I was back in town. Rest assured, I’ll find out what happened and deal with it.”

“
If
I stay,” she hedged, putting extra emphasis on
the
if
, “and I don’t know if I want to or not, but if I do, when can I expect these repairs to be completed?”

Chase
Danning
rubbed his jaw. Natalie noticed it was a strong jaw. Just like the rest of the man, strong and hard. She shivered. My but he was handsome. Handsome and deadly—that kind always was.

“As I said before, I just finished a major project and have about three weeks to kill before I start the next one. After sitting behind a desk for so many months, I’m anxious to work with my hands again.” He paused. “If you have no objections, I’d like to handle the repairs. We could go through the house together and make a list of what needs to be done and I could start on it tomorrow. I’d try to work when you’re not here so as not to interfere, but there might be an occasional overlap.”

Natalie said nothing for a full minute, weighing the pros and cons of her landlord’s proposal. She was certain he was more than capable of fixing a house, probably could build one for that matter. That wasn’t why she hesitated before agreeing to his plan. The problem was the man was also extremely attractive and when she looked into those big blue eyes he threw her off balance. And that didn’t set well at all with an independent, assertive, take charge kind of woman like herself. She knew his type with his charm, good looks, and no-commitment attitude. Too many of her friends had fallen for similar types only to be left in the end—alone.

Well, she wasn’t interested. Natalie immediately chastised herself for thinking such thoughts. The man was her landlord.
Period.
He’d offered to make the repairs to the house, not start a torrid affair with her. And she probably wouldn’t see much of him anyway, so what was the
harm? But when she finally spoke, her eyes darted about the colorful kitchen, carefully avoiding his watchful gaze. “That would be fine,” she conceded, focusing on the clump of mud caked on the toe of her sneaker. “By the way”—she fiddled with her belt—“what line of business are you in?”

“Real estate development.”

***

The next three days proved uneventful. True to his word, Chase
Danning
began working on the list they’d prepared together. He’d even added a few extra things she’d overlooked. When she returned home from work on the fourth day she was surprised he was still there, minus his shirt, working in the tiny bathroom. He smiled when he saw her and greeted her easily, “Hi. Sorry I’m still here, but that leaky valve caused more damage than I initially thought and I had to replace a huge section of drywall. I should be done in about an hour. Is that okay?”

Natalie looked at him, his huge frame overpowering in the small bathroom, sweat glistening on his bronzed back, and nodded. Dear Lord, but he was good looking, even if he was crouching in a bathroom and dripping with sweat.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked quickly.
“Beer, tea, lemonade?”

Chase smiled, flashing perfect white teeth at her. “Actually, a beer right about now sounds great.” Natalie disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a beer for Chase and lemonade for herself. He accepted the drink gratefully and took a healthy swallow. “Remind me to add air conditioning to this place next year. This is ridiculous.”

Natalie laughed. “Actually, I like to think of it as my own private sauna.
Great way to lose weight.”

“Lady, from what I’ve seen you’re perfect just the way you are

“Easy for you to say.
You haven’t seen me with my clothes—”

He smiled and his gaze slid along her body. “No. I haven’t.”

Natalie swung around and headed for the bedroom, ignoring the rich male laughter that followed her.

***

A half hour later, she emerged from her bedroom, determined to put her stupidity behind her. She felt relatively attractive dressed in a sleeveless royal-blue, silk dress, her hair gathered in a classic chignon. Small pearl earrings adorned her ears and a long strand of pearls draped her neck.

She stood in the door of the bathroom, looking at Chase
Danning’s
back. “I’ll be going out for a while so you can just lock up when you leave.” She wanted him to turn around and be awed by her presence but he barely acknowledged her.

“Sure. I shouldn’t be much longer.”

Natalie hesitated. “Okay. Well, you don’t need to worry about any lights because I have them on timers.”
Damn you, Chase
Danning
, turn around.

“Okay.”

“And if you’d like another beer, or… or something else to drink, just help yourself.”
How can you ignore me, you big oaf?

“And if you—”

“What is it, Natalie?” He cut her off, clearly irritated with her mindless chatter. He turned around and stared at her. “Oh,” he said as he took in the dress, the hair,
the
pearls. “You want me to tell you how beautiful you look?
Fine.
You look beautiful.” His expression softened slightly. “But I happen to think you looked beautiful in those cut-offs and that tank top you had on the other day.”

She turned to
leave,
annoyed he’d guessed her silly game. Whatever on earth had possessed her to act like such a fool?

“Natalie?”

“What?” She stopped, but refused to face him.

“I take back what I said about your clothes the other day.” He paused. His next words were soft, seductive, “When you move with that dress on, I can see
everything
.
Just as though you were completely naked.”
She whirled on him, prepared to give him a piece of her mind, when the doorbell rang. Natalie hurried to answer it, stopping only long enough to grab a jacket from the hall closet. She thrust her arms into it as she opened the door to greet her date. Naked indeed!

Chase leaned against the tub and took another long swallow from his bottle. What in hell had possessed him to say such a crude thing? He had more class than that and yet he had to admit, he’d spoken in anger.
Maybe even a little jealousy.
At first he’d only been teasing her about her clothes. He loved to get her all worked up. It was so easy to do. And then, when he’d heard she was going out on a date and seen what she was going to wear on that date, it had set him off. He didn’t like the way he’d been acting these last few days, somewhere between a lovesick schoolboy and a possessive idiot. But Natalie
Allington
had gotten to him. He may have dated more physically beautiful women, but he’d never met anyone like her. She was real.
Open, honest, genuine, full of laughter, fire and passion.
He wanted to get closer to her but she wouldn’t let him. Chase vowed he’d find a way. He smiled and took another swig of beer. Natalie
Allington
was not going to get away that easily.

***

After work the next day, Natalie picked up her dry cleaning, bought a few groceries, and returned an overdue book to the library. She’d do anything to avoid a chance encounter with Chase
Danning
. Natalie was still angry with him for his behavior last night. Angry and humiliated, if the truth
be
known. She’d practically begged him for a compliment, throwing her ego at his feet and when she didn’t get an immediate response, she’d tried another tactic. It was pitiful.
She
was pitiful. As Natalie turned onto her quiet tree-lined street, she ignored the little jump her heart took when she saw Chase’s SUV parked in front of her house. She really didn’t want to see him. He was arrogant and far too handsome. Still, by the time she got to the front door, her pulse had tripled and her breath grew choppy
. It’s all these bags I’m carrying
, she assured herself as she pushed open the door. The smell of fresh paint greeted her and dropping the bags on the sofa, she followed the odor to her bedroom.

Chase was folding the drape sheets and glanced up when she entered. “Hi,” he said quietly.

“Hi.”

“About last night…”

“I’m sorry. I acted like a fool. I guess I did want you to see I do have more of a wardrobe than shorts and tank tops.”