Handcuffed in Housewares (Tulle and Tulips #3)(10)
Author: Nikki Duncan

“Good question.” Leading the way to the kitchen, he picked some sample blocks of wood up from the bar. “I’m debating between the lighter, more natural-looking pine or a deeper, darker cherry, mahogany or ebony.”

“You strike me more as a mahogany kind of guy. You’re not light and open, but you’re not dark and secretive either. This mahogany—” she lifted a sample strip, “—is a happy medium and you could make things darker or lighter with your choices in furniture and finishing touches.”

“Is decorating another one of your talents?” he asked, shifting so his bicep rubbed her shoulder. Warmth and comfort slipped through him. The softness of her scent floated beneath the lingering smell of sawdust.

“If it involves shopping I’m good at it.”

“Oh, so you have a standing love affair with your credit card.” After years with his ex he should have recognized the signs. He would have if it weren’t for her conservative appearance.

Even conservative, there was a polish to her that came from shopping. From the top of her perfect bun to the tip of her pricey shoes. Between top and tip were perfect makeup, crisp clothes, erect posture and an insight into fashion shared with her friends. He’d been blinded by the sensible side of her and by her willingness to rearrange plans to go bowling, an evening that should have been harmless.

“We’re friends, but I prefer it when someone else gets the resulting bill.”

“Predictable behavior for most women.” Another thing she had in common with his ex. It wasn’t a shining quality.

She sat the wood blocks on the counter and looked up to meet his gaze. Her brows curved a little more than normal. It was the same way she’d looked at him when they first met, like she was worlds away from approving of him. That he wanted her approval was a new thing for him. He’d given up on worrying about what women thought of him, but he wanted Leigh to see only the goodness in him. Even if experiences had him looking for the negatives in her.

“You say that like you think I’m leading people into debt.”

“Really?” He wasn’t sure if it surprised him more that she sounded offended or that it upset him to hear her sound like he offended her. He wasn’t used to thinking so much about what others thought and felt. “You’ve never once encouraged someone to buy something just because it would look good? You only suggest things that serve a purpose?”

She turned and looked at him with her head cocked a little. Her voice, when she spoke, carried a bristly tone that said he’d raised her hackles. “By your logic no one would have things like art on their walls or colorful knickknacks. You wouldn’t have gone for the decorative wall sconces in your office when a normal light bulb in an overhead light would have sufficed.”

“Except that the more decorative sconce is an enhancement that makes the house worth more.”

Her lips curled. “If your next buyer likes muted light more than direct overhead lighting. It’s all personal preference.”

“You’re saying you help people define their preferences?”

“You guide your clients when it comes to updates and building projects. You help them decide what will work in a space and what won’t. And I’m fairly certain your suggestions are sometimes at the higher end of their budgets. I do the same thing for my clients.” She shrugged and turned toward the front door. “Had I known you’d find what I do, and me by extension, so distasteful, I’d have never come here.”

It shouldn’t have taken an argument to reveal the truth of her character. Being burned was never a good enough reason to mistreat someone. He should’ve known she was different.

She was halfway to the front door, muttering something about knowing why he hadn’t called, when his brain and body had gotten on the same page and caught up with her. “Leigh, wait.”

She stopped and pivoted slowly. Her eyes were colder than he’d thought capable given her generosity. He hadn’t thought he had the power to hurt her, either. She made making a liar out of him look easy.

She’d been dead accurate in the comparison between them. She’d proven how good she was when she made the suggestion about turning the room upstairs into a media room instead of a guest bedroom. It was the kind of thing he’d have considered if he wasn’t more concerned with flipping the house, or if he’d been planning the job for a client.

If she was guilty of leading people into debt then so was he. She was no more responsible for keeping people from overspending than he was.

“I’m sorry.” He shrugged, knowing there weren’t enough words to convey how sorry he was. “For a minute I allowed your pleasure in shopping to mean you were a shopaholic who’d use people to get ahead. I should’ve known better. If you were like that you’d never have helped me.”

Her brows popped up again in acknowledgement. “She really did a number on you.”

“Who?”

“Your shopaholic.” She crossed her arms, guarding herself. Her gaze met his, looked into his head and heart, saw the truths that made him tick. “I’m guessing an ex who tossed you over because she found someone with deeper pockets.”

He bowed his head in agreement. “My ex-wife. The more money I made the more easily she allowed the definition of things like budget and delayed gratification to slip away.”

“And the other man?”

Leigh saw even deeper into him than he was entirely comfortable with, but she wasn’t giving him a reason to hide the truth. Hell, if anything her questions were making her more desirable. They showed an interest his wife had never managed.

“We went to Disney World. Let’s just say the happiest place on Earth wasn’t so happy for me.”

“What’d she do, wait until you were in line for Stitch’s Great Escape and ask for her own?”

“Something like that, only I was holding our place, and her stuff, when her lover called her phone.”

She winced. “So you took your escape before she asked for hers.”

“Leaving her to find her own way home was… I’m not sure how I resisted.” His muscles tingled with the remembered rage. As he talked about the worst time in his life, he led the way to the bedroom where they could sit comfortably. Leigh followed and silently kicked off her dusty shoes to sit Indian style on his bed.

“It was probably the hundreds of kids surrounding us that kept me from telling her what I really thought of her.”

He mirrored her position, almost close enough for his knees to brush hers. The temptation of the touch shoved against the burn of the betrayal he spoke of. He wanted to reach out, yet at the same time he didn’t want the ugliness of his ex anywhere near Leigh.

Chapter Nine

Leigh listened as Burton talked about his ex. Everyone had baggage. Some bags weighed more than others. She especially knew that, just as she knew how important it was to not hold the past against people. Logic didn’t stand a chance against the chokehold of jealousy, even jealousy that shouldn’t be hers to feel.

The more Burton talked the more closely his words resembled a spewing release of old hurts. Paula had done a number on his ability to trust. She’d used him and cheated on him, and according to his version she barely blinked when he confronted her about the affair.

“I’d thought about staying to get my money’s worth out of the trip. The fun was ruined though.”

“You left early?”

He nodded. “I waited until we got back to the hotel to say anything. She didn’t try to deny it and I couldn’t deny how pissed off I was. I packed my stuff and left.”

“Did she leave with you?”

“No. Turned out her lover was there too. They spent the rest of the week together.”

“You’ve got to be kidding! What a bitch.”

Grinning wasn’t something he did when he thought about Paula. Leigh had a knack for making him smile, though, even when talking about his ex. “Yeah. As soon as I got back to town, I met with my attorney and filed for a divorce. By the time she got home I’d packed the things I cared most about and moved out.”

“Did she contest?”

He shook his head. Resignation pinched his lips and eyes. “I made her a settlement offer she couldn’t resist.”

“You gave her everything.” Leigh scooted across the inches separating them until their knees bumped. She flattened her hands on his knees, though she wasn’t sure if it was to offer comfort or reassure herself that he was with her for the moment rather than his ex.

She’d always hated the uncertainty that came from jealousy. Hated the way the irrational emotion made people behave. Hating it did nothing to keep her from feeling it.

“Minus enough for me to start my new business.”

“Did you give in so easily because you’re just that nice of a guy or because you wanted out that badly?”

“It must’ve been the latter, because I was not feeling like a nice guy.”

“Understandable.” He slid his hands over her thighs like she was doing to him. It was a reaffirming kind of touch she didn’t fully get. They weren’t in a relationship she should feel insecure about, so her need to touch him, to feel him touch her in return, held no logic. “Did she marry the other man?”

“Almost as soon as the ink was dry on the divorce papers. He didn’t even ask for a pre-nup.”

“You should’ve sent him a condolences arrangement. Sounds like he deserves whatever he gets.”

Burton laughed. It started low and built into a rolling laugh that shook his body, the bed and her. His laughter lit a spark in her libido.

“Man, I wish I’d have had you around when I left her. You would’ve made it more fun.”

“I suspect you preferred the kind of fun I’m not built for.”

“You weren’t exactly dull the other night.”

“If I was so great…” She trailed off, afraid to ask what she couldn’t get out of her head.

Burton leaned forward, supporting himself on her thighs. The look in his eyes said he wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t. “I didn’t call you because I didn’t think you’d want me to.”

I didn’t think you’d want me to. He said it so plainly, as if he was surprised to learn differently. “Why would you think that?”

“You made a pretty quick exit after I asked you to stay.”

She flashed back to that night, to what he’d said after the third round of orgasms. I could tie you up and keep you forever. It had been too much too fast. He’d gotten too intense and then hadn’t called because he’d misread her need for an escape. She’d thought he found her too dull; he’d thought she found him too risky.

Maybe they’d both been as wrong as they’d been right. He could stand to take less risks. She could stand to take more.

“I wasn’t sure how to handle you.” She winked, hoping to lighten the mood. “I have a better grip on things now.”

“You mean on me, or yourself?”