Page 27 of It’s Only Love (Citrus Pines #1)

“Well, someone needs to look out for her,” Beau grumbled, only slightly calmer.

“I’ve tried, but you know what she’s like. She doesn’t want anyone looking out for her. She guards her independence fiercely and doesn’t appreciate anyone interfering, trust me,” Dean said.

“Yes, and she’s got the new sheriff’s number now so if she needs him, he’ll be there,” Christy added.

“Exactly, and me. She knows to call me straight after him,” Dean pointed out.

“We’re worried too, but she doesn’t want our help,” Christy said, gesturing to herself and Dean, and he smiled at her inclusion of him, like they were a team. She was already beginning to relax around him.

Beau stopped pacing but worried a hand over his jaw. “I’m going away for a couple of weeks on business, but when I get back I can move into one of the cabins at the bar. That way I’m around if she needs me but not crowding her,” he said.

“You don’t need to do that, I’m sure Dean doesn’t mind you staying with him, do you Dean?” Christy asked, looking at him pleadingly .

“Actually, I think that’s a great idea, Beau,” Dean said, a smug smile crossing his face.

Christy narrowed her eyes at him and he winked at her. He would have loved to lean in and kiss the suspicion right off her face but he had to restrain himself. Friends. Don’t. Kiss .

“Yeah, I can look out for her better that way.” Beau nodded to himself and then, all calm again, he went back out to bring in some more tools.

Christy faced Dean. “What are you up to?”

Dean tried for an innocent expression. “I’m just looking out for my baby sister. I want her to stay safe.”

“Uh huh,” she replied doubtfully.

“And they’ll drive each other nuts which will be fun to watch.” He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes and walked away, but not before he noticed the smile split her face.

But later that day, Dean was ready to lose his shit.

Friendship with Christy was already proving to be very difficult.

He didn’t know how long he could last but he had to stick it out, for himself and for Taylor.

Every time a job needed doing, Christy didn’t ask Dean for his help or opinion, she only cared about Beau’s, again!

“Beau, what do you think we should do about the porch railing?”

“Beau, what do you think we should do with that tree stump in the backyard?”

“Beau, would you like to go upstairs and have your wicked way with me?”

Okay, so she hadn’t said the last one, but she might as well have. That’s how they were acting, and his jealousy was getting the better of him.

“Beau, do you think we should strip this old wallpaper off?” Christy put a hand on one hip and stared up at the walls in the living room.

Dean turned to Beau, glaring at his friend once again as his input wasn’t wanted or needed.

“Well, hon,” Beau started, coming over and draping an arm around her dainty shoulders. It felt so wrong that it made Dean want to rip them apart.

“I think that’s something the new owner can do, you don’t need to worry about doing it,” Beau smiled down at her, and Dean muttered under his breath.

“I don’t mind, I like doing it and I’m sure if the new owner knew I didn’t mind and actually enjoyed it then they would be happy to let me get on with it?” she said meaningfully.

Beau chuckled. “Well, if you’re sure, then I think that sounds like a good idea,” he said, squeezing her into his chest.

As they broke apart, she peered up at Beau again. “What color do you think we should paint the walls?”

Dean stared back and forth between them. Was he actually invisible? Enough was enough, dammit! He stepped forward. “How about cream?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Christy peered at him but didn’t say anything before shifting her focus back to Beau.

Beau looked over at him, smirking, like he knew exactly how much this was pissing Dean off and was loving every minute.

Beau then made a huge drama over which color to pick, what would look better in daylight as opposed to night-time, what color would be better feng shui , really building up his part until finally. ..

“I think cream is probably the best color for now, don’t you?”

“Oh absolutely, great idea,” she enthused, clapping happily .

Dean threw up his arms in frustration and stormed off into the kitchen for some water and to calm the fuck down.

Beau insisted on picking up the paint and as he was leaving, Dean heard him say, “I’m paying for the paint though.”

Dean held his breath, smirking to himself, as he waited for Christy to start sputtering and refuse to let him pay, insisting she could afford it, like she did with Dean.

But then she shocked the hell out of him by agreeing to let Beau pay.

Dean’s temper flared again, and he decided it was best he stay in the kitchen and have another go at fixing the stubborn garbage disposal.

After a while of trying to bang his frustration away, he was getting nowhere except sweaty and angry, but for a different reason.

He was ready to take a break when Christy came into the kitchen.

“Can you help me change the lightbulb in the living room?” she asked, opening the kitchen drawer and pulling out a pack of spares.

“Is Beau not around?” Dean asked petulantly.

“No, he went out to get the paint,” she replied, not noticing his tone. “I can change a lightbulb myself, it’s just the ceiling is really high and I’m not great on ladders. I think even if I did get on it, I might not reach. But I’ll hold it steady for you, so you don’t fall,” she teased.

“More like tip it over with me on it,” he joked.

She pretended to be hurt. “Maybe last week. Besides, I would find a much more inventive way of hurting you than a silly accident with a ladder.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he replied, following her into the living room.

The ladder was already out and in position.

He made a show of checking it was locked correctly in case she had tampered with it and she giggled.

He climbed halfway up the rungs and reached up to unscrew the old bulb while she held the ladder firm.

He reached down to hand her the old one and get the new bulb off her, and tingles ignited where their fingers brushed against each other.

He tried to ignore it and reached back up to screw the new one in, leaning his weight against the ladder, freeing both hands.

As he was doing it, he felt a warm breeze skate across his lower abdomen.

He looked down and saw his shirt had ridden up, exposing some skin and a glimpse of his happy trail.

The warm breeze he felt blowing over him was coming from Christy, and she was staring at the strip of his skin on display.

Realizing it was her breath, the next time he felt it, goosebumps appeared on his skin, despite the heat.

He watched as she stared intently at his abdomen.

Her breathing slightly unsteady, her eyes heating and she ran her tongue across her bottom lip, pulling it between her teeth.

He felt his cock stirring in his pants, her face the perfect height to take him into her mouth.

He nearly swayed off the ladder at the thought of her mouth there.

He felt himself growing hard and knew he needed to distract them both before he did something stupid.

“Darlin’,” he rasped, voice laden with desire. “I really need you to stop looking at me like that.”

After a moment, she blinked hard and her cheeks flushed. “Sorry, my mind was on, uh, my new book that I’m due to start writing. I must have zoned out,” she finished lamely.

“Glad I’m in safe hands then,” he joked.

He finished screwing in the bulb and got down as quickly as possible, trying to keep his pelvis turned away from her. They were saved any awkward moments by Beau coming back and distracting them with various paint tins.

*

Christy was growing happier day by day. Not only was her confidence building, but she felt more and more like she had made peace with her father.

She’d started to let go of everything that had happened and move on, since there was nothing she could do about it now.

She had spent so long letting it tear her up inside and she couldn’t do this to herself anymore.

Doing up the house had definitely helped.

She found it therapeutic, tearing the old down and making it new again.

It was like she was tearing away the bad memories and replacing them with new happy ones.

Her growing friendships with Beau and Dean were becoming really special to her.

She loved their banter and relaxed nature, and they really cared for her too.

Thinking about Dean still made her blush, but not in the embarrassed way of lusting after someone so far out of reach.

Now it was the flush of constant arousal tainting her cheeks, a state she hadn’t been able to shift since that day together in his office.

The more time they spent together the more she realized he genuinely liked her, and wasn’t that a boost for the old ego.

They’d discovered they had so much in common.

They both loved soul music, scary movies, and reading.

He promised to read her novels now he knew what she wrote, and she thought it would be great to bounce ideas off him.

They talked about the crime documentaries they had watched, what they would do if they murdered someone, and how they would totally get away with it, which was starting to freak Beau out .

They had the same sense of humor and loved practical jokes.

They had grown closer and sometimes she was convinced she could feel him watching her, but whenever her eyes sought him out, he was always looking away.

She was confused about whether or not he desired her.

Yes, they had cleared the air and yes, they had that moment in his office, but he pushed her away and hadn’t tried for anything but friendship since then.

However, yesterday when he was on the ladder she’d heard desire in his voice, had seen it etched across his face.

He called her darlin’ and though he tried to hide it, she saw evidence of his arousal.

She knew enough about him at this point to know he was an honest person and couldn’t have been faking the times they were together.

She didn’t want to get involved with someone, but she felt drawn to him in a way she couldn’t explain. She was so confused.

Christy tried to put it out of her mind as she began stripping the ancient wallpaper in the living room that had been on the walls so long, it refused to come off.

She was having to use as much force as she could to chip away at it and it was taking so long she asked Dean and Beau to help her.

But after ten minutes, Dean was red-faced and sweating, then he cursed and stormed out of the house.

“What’s the matter with him?” she asked Beau, wiping the sweat from her brow. Beau smirked at her and gestured towards her chest. She looked down and could see a rather large amount of cleavage on display and glistening from perspiration.

“Oh!” she cried, pulling her tank top up to stop her breasts from trying to escape any further.

She realized Dean must have been getting an eyeful with all the jimmying and scraping she was doing.

Beau chuckled and leered at her comically, she snorted and shoved him away but was secretly flattered at the attention.

Her boobs did look great, she had to admit.

Dean returned to the house half an hour later with a new machine that steamed the wallpaper, loosening it, so it would peel off easily and they didn’t have to scrape at it so much.

“But I like doing it this way!” Christy protested as Dean took her scraper away and shot her a dark look that resulted in heat spreading throughout her body, pooling between her legs.

“Trust me, darlin’, it’s better for both of us if we do it this way,” he growled. “No. More. Jiggling.”

They set about using the steamer despite the heat that plagued them from the soaring temperatures. Christy tried to watch Dean surreptitiously to see if he was noticing her, but he didn’t look her way the rest of the day.