Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 21

This man. He was going to be the death of her, Jo knew it. How did he make her feel all irritated one second, fluttery-soft the next, and then laughing right after that? What had she been doing wrong all her life that she'd never experienced emotional lows and highs like this before?

Jo knew she should've shut down the romance. She should have said no to the date. Feelings were dangerous. She was dangerous. But the way he'd looked at her, the way she could see his anxiety as he waited for her answer--she hadn't been able to say no.

And the reward for saying yes, holy smokes. She could still feel the heat his fingers left behind on her neck when he'd tucked her hair behind her ear.

Of course, then Ryker had to go and ruin the moment by driving her nuts again. Jo smiled and shook her head as she glanced over at Ryker, who was currently putting the new deadbolt onto the door while she set up all the painting supplies in the front foyer.

Struck with a moment of boldness, Jo teased him. "So if this is a date, does that mean I get to comment on how sexy a hardworking man is?"

"You can tell me how sexy I am anytime," Ryker said, peering around the door to shoot her a wide smile.

Jo's heart thumped at his smile. Before she could get ahead of herself and push things too quickly, she dashed back into her comfort zone with him. Good ol' bantering. "Who said anything about you?"

"I'm the only hardworking man here."

"Or you're hardly working."

"Hah." Ryker glanced back over his shoulder at her and then lifted the screwdriver he had been expertly wielding. "You want me to just leave the lock like this?"

Jo smirked. She popped the lid off one of the eggshell paint cans and grabbed a wooden paint stirrer. "See, that's not even a real threat," she said, "Because since you're the one who brought the lock, without being asked, you're the one who's really worried about the door." The thick paint swirled gently. "So I'm not scared by that."

Ryker's eyes narrowed. "You're not worried about the door?"

"Who's going to want to break in here?" she asked. Picking up the paint can, she poured some of it into one of the plastic pans. It was still flecked with white paint from a previous project. "Everyone thinks it's haunted, and if they did get in, they'd see there was nothing to steal and get out."

Ryker began working on the lock again, this time with more rattling and energy. He had turned his frown from her to the lock. "What if they weren't after things? What if they just see there's a woman here alone?"

Jo looked around for one of the roller brushes and clean rollers. Ah, there they were, still in a plastic bag. "I'm the last house on the road, Ryker. I don't think any creeps are going to come all the way up here."

"You better use this lock."

"I will," she said, not looking up as she shoved one of the clean rollers onto the paintbrush. She gave it a spin and then walked over to push the paint cloth closer to the wall.

"Jo." Ryker's voice was low and gruff.

"I said I would," she said, rolling her eyes. Wasn't this a small town? Didn't people leave their doors unlocked in small towns, anyways? She was more afraid of a bear trying to get in than a random stranger attempting to break in. And besides, she was somewhat equipped to handle the problem, judging by what had happened with that Jake guy the other day. And what had happened back in Charlotte.

If anyone knew what had happened in Charlotte, it would be enough to keep them out of this house forever. Probably including Ryker.

"What's wrong?"