Chapter 30

CHAPTER30

“Are you pouting?” Bryce found himself asking as the small woman sitting next to him released a shuddering sigh as she looked from him back to Thomas House.

“No,” Cayley mumbled sadly, looking so fucking adorable that he couldn’t help but chuckle as he turned off his truck and opened his door.

“Is there a reason that you’re pouting?” Bryce asked teasingly as he reached for her.

With a forlorn sigh, Cayley mumbled, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Because…” Bryce asked as he placed her down on the driveway covered in snow and took her hand in his simply because he couldn’t seem to be around her and not touch her.

It was as simple as that.

“I don’t want you to think less of me,” Cayley said with an adorable sniffle as he laced his fingers with hers and led her to the front door of the large, two-story nineteenth-century Victorian house that he’d been dying to get his hands on for a long time.

“And why would I think less of you?” Bryce asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled the keys out that Rory gave him, even as he couldn’t help but wonder why he was bringing her here.

“Because I was hoping that you were taking me home so that you could do really naughty things to me to help pass the time, but this works too,” Cayley mumbled absently as she looked around, taking in the old oak tree in the large front yard, noting the collection of old ropes tangled around the largest branch hanging over the yard where countless tire swings had been hung over the years before focusing on the large house in front of them. “Why are we standing in front of Thomas House?”

“You know this house?” Bryce managed to ask as his mind shifted to what she’d said and was forced to bite back a groan.

God, she was fucking killing him.

Nodding, Cayley reached over and plucked the keys out of his hands and focused her attention on opening the door. “Sean heard that it was haunted and was determined to find out, so he dragged me over here one night when we were ten, handed me a flashlight, a half-eaten candy bar, and his old sleeping bag before he shoved me inside and told me not to come out until morning with proof that it was haunted or he’d send me back in there,” Cayley explained as she searched for the right key.

“That does sound like something the little bastard would do,” Bryce said as he reached over and plucked the keys out of her hands and found the right key before handing it back to her. “How did it go?”

With an absently murmured, “Thank you,” Cayley slid the key into the temporary padlock that one of his brothers installed and unlocked it before handing the lock to him. “It actually wasn’t that bad,” she said as she opened the door with a satisfied sigh, revealing a house that had been neglected over the years. “Around two in the morning, I gave up trying to escape and was able to find a lovely spot in the kitchen to cower and wait for morning when your brother came back to retrieve my body.”

“And when he finally came back?” Bryce asked as they walked into the large house that he’d been waiting most of his life to get his hands on.

“I beat the hell out of him with that sleeping bag and shoved the rest of the candy bar down his throat and shoved him into that insanely large pantry in the kitchen before I took off running for my life,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly.

“And when he caught up with you?” Bryce asked, placing the padlock on the hardwood floor that he was hoping to be able to salvage.

Blinking up at him, Cayley said, “I don’t like to think about that,” making him chuckle as he found himself reaching for her hand again.

“What do you think?” Bryce asked as they walked into the large house that he couldn’t wait to start working on.

“It’s beautiful,” Cayley said with a warm smile as she took in everything from the ceiling that was in the process of caving in, to the aged wallpaper that was probably the only thing keeping the crumbling walls up, to the hardwood floors covered in debris before glancing at him. “What are we doing here?”

“We are here to take a look at the house that Rory and Connor are selling me so that I can restore it and make an obscene amount of money on it,” Bryce said, giving her hand a gentle pull that had her following him down the long hallway that led to the kitchen.

“You’re going to sell it?” Cayley asked as she trailed her fingertips over the white trim lining the long hallway.

“Yes,” Bryce said as he pulled her into the large kitchen.

“But it’s so pretty,” she mumbled sadly, making him chuckle.

“It’s going to be even prettier when I’m done renovating it,” Bryce said with a teasing smile as he released her hand so that she could explore the large kitchen he was going to gut and update, but he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t really fucking tempted to restore it to its original design and blend in the modern touches.

The only problem with doing that was that it would make it harder to sell. Most buyers wanted a modern kitchen with all the modern trends throughout the house, which would make it easier to sell. Returning the kitchen to its original design, even with all the modern conveniences, would make it a hell of a lot harder to find an interested buyer and was a risk that he wasn’t sure that he wanted to take right now. He’d find a buyer eventually, but until then, he’d be stuck with it.

It was the same risk that they were taking with the Dawson Project, but unlike this house, they already had a long line of interested buyers who could tell them exactly what they wanted. He’d considered seeing if anyone on the waitlist would be interested in this house, but…

He wanted to do this his way.

“Why did you go to work for Rory instead of opening your own company?” came the question that brought his attention back to the beautiful woman that he was struggling to stay away from.

“Because I love my sister,” Bryce said, watching as she took in the large fireplace that had once been used for cooking meals in but now housed a rusted woodstove that he was going to have to rip out.

“I don’t think that was ever in question,” Cayley said, throwing him a curious look as she ran her fingertips over the brick that had been painted white at some point.

“Would you believe that I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time?” Bryce asked, watching as she made her way to the cabinets that were falling apart.

“And now?” Cayley asked, glancing up at him as she continued making her way around the room.

“I love what I do, but I want more,” Bryce found himself admitting.

Nodding absently, Cayley walked past him and glanced out the window overlooking the backyard as she said, “Which is why you came up with the Dawson Project.”

“Yes,” Bryce said because he needed a change. He loved what he did, loved helping his sister and working with his brothers every day, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. Over the years, he’d debated going out on his own and figuring out what he wanted to do, but it wasn’t an option.

He’d promised Rory the day that she decided to start her own construction company that he would always be there for her and with everything that Rerum Highland Construction had planned, walking away wasn’t an option. They were taking on the impossible with this project and he needed to be there to help his sister.

“It’s also why you flip houses,” Cayley correctly guessed.

“I enjoy it,” Bryce said, unable to take his eyes off her.

“I’ve always loved this house,” Cayley said with a warm smile as she ran her fingertips over the cracked kitchen countertop as she made her way to the large pantry door hanging off its hinges.

“It’s a beautiful house,” Bryce found himself murmuring in agreement as he thought about what this house would look like once he was done renovating it only to find himself swallowing hard as he allowed his mind to go where it didn’t belong.

It would be so fucking easy to give in and find out just how good it would feel to wake up with her in his arms every day and losing himself in her body every night for the rest of his life. It was so fucking tempting, Bryce thought, only to be reminded of the reason why he couldn’t have her when she asked, “Why don’t you like Christmas?”