Wild in the Moment by Jennifer Greene Read Free Book Online Page B

little kid. Couldn’t shake the love for it, so made a career out of it. The Cunningham job, though, was more a favor than the kind of work I normally do. They were going to be out of town for a few weeks, so I could fill in here when I had time from other projects. Mostly, though, I do reconstruction stuff. Old wood. Uneven floors. Tilted ceilings. Ruined woodwork—”
    She could hear the joy building up in his voice like an opera singer letting loose with an aria. “Now, don’t go have an orgasm on me.”
    He grinned. “I can’t help it. That’s the stuff that pulls my chain. I went to college to be a lawyer. Just wasn’t for me, hated every minute of it. Went back to do the apprentice thing with a master carpenter.”
    â€œSo. Why are you working solo and how on earth did you get stuck in White Hills?”
    â€œWhat makes you think I’m stuck?”
    â€œBecause I know you didn’t start out here. I’d have known you—we’d have gone to school together. Or I think we would have. How old are you?”
    â€œThirty-four.”
    â€œA few years older than me. Which means I’d definitely have known you, because I knew every cute boy who was a few years older than me. And I’ll bet you were downright adorable in high school, because you’re so delectable now.”
    That almost made him choke on his food a second time. “Campbell, you are one bad, bad woman. You always tease like this?”
    â€œGood grief, no. Only with people I’m stranded with. Especially when I’m stranded with someone for an unknown period of time without deodorant or enough water to take a shower.”
    â€œThere’s deodorant in the downstairs bathroom.”
    She lifted a brow. “There’s some upstairs, too. I was just trying to make the subtle point that we’re stuck with each other for company, so we might as well enjoy it. Which means I think you should tell me why in God’s name you picked a rustic village like White Hills to live.”
    â€œHey, there are lots of old homes here. Homes, historic buildings, stores, churches. And that’s what I love best. Restoring stuff. Not necessarily restoring it back to how it looked historically, but taking something that’s turned ugly and bringing it back to life.”
    â€œThat’s cool. But you couldn’t find any place more exciting than White Hills?”
    â€œMaybe I didn’t want to.”
    â€œMaybe you’re hiding a deep, dark secret,” she suggested instead.
    He looked amused at her nosiness. “For the record, I’m making money hand over fist in your little burg.”
    â€œThat’s nice. But it doesn’t answer the question why you picked this town to live in.”
    â€œI had a job here once, liked the place. And since moving here about five years ago, I’ve built up more work than I know what to do with. The only thing really holding me back is being so unartsy.”
    She cocked her head. “You need to be artsy to be a carpenter?”
    â€œNot always. I mean, give me a kitchen, a blank room, and I’ll come up with a floor plan, a way to use the existing features and space to make the most of it. I love that kind of creative work. But these days, people hire someone for a major restoration project, they really like all the experts in one basket. I’m first fiddle in the carpentry department. But when they want me to pick a color for a wall, or what knobs on a door, or what furniture to go with the floor…hell, I don’t see why they want decorator stuff from me. But that’s the part I’m missing. Assuming I wanted my business to grow. Which I don’t. But sometimes that does hold me back.”
    â€œSo hire an interior decorator.”
    â€œWouldn’t work.”
    â€œAh.” She rubbed her hands together. “Am I picking up the real reason you ended up in a godforsaken small