Chapter 3

Rhett

Living next door to a sexy lumberjack was not all it was cracked up to be. For one, he was always doing physical activities, which led to sweating and taking off his shirt. It was not incredibly distracting. At all. Nope.

Why did the man have to be so perfect?

The second reason was learning Helga had a type.

From the first night on, I saw her attempts to seduce Jakob. I also saw how he rebuffed her. It should have made me feel better, seeing him reject her advances, but I wondered how long he would hold out. Secretly, I hoped Jakob never caved.

Helga was not a good wife or stepmother, but she often got what she wanted by wearing you down. While I didn't want Helga cheating on my father, it might be a relief for her to leave us and find someone else.

She was constantly pursuing our new neighbor, but I couldn't help the pull I felt toward him either.

After trying to get my father to drink some broth and failing, I held back tears of frustration at not being able to help him. He wasn't speaking much anymore, and my brother would be home soon.

Caring for my once energetic and loving father was hard on me, always making me melancholy. I decided to get out of the house.

As I wandered toward the woods, a rhythmic splintering sound had me veering around Jakob's cabin. I found the man chopping wood, plaid shirt tucked into his back pocket, suspenders loose at his hips. Jakob's muscles rippled under a layer of hair, sweat making him glisten in the late afternoon sun.

Licking my lips, I leaned back against a tree to enjoy the view. I rarely got free time alone, but I'd found myself getting off to the thought of Jakob's thick arms around me more than I'd ever admit. Hansel teased me about my crush, but I denied it, mostly because I didn't want Helga to find out.

A crush might be a stretch, but I couldn't deny finding the man sexy as hell.

Jakob turned to toss the split firewood onto his nearby pile. Our eyes met and one corner of his lips lifted. I was caught.

"Hi, Rhett."

Pretending I didn't mind being seen ogling him, I took a few steps forward until we were almost close enough to touch. The thought of running my fingers along his damp skin had me shivering.

"Hi, Jakob."

"Enjoying the show?" Jakob lifted the axe to rest on his shoulders like some kind of lumberjack calendar model.

"Yes," I answered without thinking. I felt my cheeks heat and stumbled to clarify in a way that might be less embarrassing. "I mean, um, you're very good. With the wood. Yeah. That."

"Thank you." Jakob lowered the axe to rest on the chopping block and rubbed at his mouth like he was hiding a smile. "I am pretty good at handling wood."

Fuck. Was he flirting with me?

"I could be better at it…" I tried my hand at flirting back.

Jakob's brows furrowed and I remembered how inexperienced I was. I still looked feminine in school, and hadn't been interested in dating boys who saw me as a girl. Thankfully, he still appeared interested.

"With what?"

Licking my lips again, I watched Jakob's eyes track the movement and decided to go for it. "Handling wood."

Jakob's lips curved up under his thick, blond beard, finally catching onto my attempt at banter. "Want me to show you how?"

Nodding, I didn't look away from his face as he reached for the axe. Jakob held the tool as if it weighed nothing, balancing it in one large hand. His lips twitched again and I realized he was holding it out for me.

Using both hands, I put one below and one above his. Despite my father showing me how when I was a child, I'd always used smaller, children's size axes, so I was unprepared for Jakob to let go. The weight had me almost dropping the blade on my feet before Jakob caught it.

"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling my face and neck heat. I felt so weak, so unmanly, next to Jakob.

"No, that was my fault." Jakob refused to accept my apology. He moved to stand behind me, holding the axe in front of my body as his other arm wrapped around to hold my hand up to the handle. "Let's try again."

With his arms and scent curling around me, I struggled to breathe properly, practically panting when his warm breath fanned across my hair and ear.

"The heavier the axe, the more effective," Jakob whispered, making me shiver. "And you have to make sure your chopping block is wide enough, or you might miss and cut your leg off."

"Right," I chuckled under my breath, "don't want to lose a leg and still have no wood for the fire."

"Exactly."

Jakob pulled my hands down the handle with his until we were both gripping the end. I gasped when I felt his body line up with mine, with his thick thighs against my backside and an obvious hardness pressing into my lower back. "Now, lift the axe over your head and bend your knees as you swing down."

While I could have told him my father taught me all of this before I was ten, there was no way I wanted him to let me go.

Jakob lifted, and my hands went along for the ride. When he let our arms fall and his knees bent, they pushed at the back of my thighs and my body moved with his like a puppet on a string. The wood split down the middle and the axe stopped in the chopping block.

"Think you can do it on your own now?" Jakob asked, but before I could protest, he gave me an out. "Or do you want me to show you a few more times?"

"No, I think I need you–" I started, turning my head and finding Jakob closer than I expected. His lips were a breath away, and forgot what I was going to say.

"You need me?" Jakob's eyes got those crinkles in the corner, letting me know he was amused, but not laughing at me.

"Yes." I licked my lips, working up the courage to ask for a kiss.

Outside of family, I'd never kissed anyone before. I wanted the feeling I found described in my books. Lips touching lips and the joy of discovery. As if magic came over the couple kissing and everything disappeared except one another. I wanted Jakob's hands on me, for more than just teaching me to hold an axe. And I'd never been so turned on in my life.

"Rhettel," a shrill voice called out, breaking the spell. "Jakob?"

"Dammit." I stepped away from Jakob to pick the split pieces of wood off the ground as a way to hide my flushed face, willing myself to calm down. I swore I heard Jakob cursing under his breath as well, but couldn't make myself look up to see how he felt about the interruption.

Looking at him would not help my racing heartbeat.

Helga was standing at the corner of Jakob's cabin with one hand on her hip, a beer stein in the other, and a pinched expression on her face. We had been cut off from view of my house, and I had felt as if we were alone. I shouldn't have assumed.

"Helga." Jakob replied to her with a gruff clearing of his throat. I got a perverse satisfaction that he was affected by our previous closeness. He wasn't wearing a belt, so I knew what had been pressing into my lower back as if he had another tool in his pocket.