Lane Assignments

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Christian rolls the panel of the shed back along its track, revealing the its interior. We step in and he reaches to the side of the opening, flipping on the lights. It's quite spacious, and actually... cozy. The air is cool up here on the ridge, so he quickly slides the panel shut behind us There are two main areas inside the shed. The larger area, to our right, has a white gravel floor. There's a black SUV parked here, and beyond it is a large pile of logs.

I step around the SUV and examine the first log. It's long and straight, bark still clinging to it in places. There's a metal tag nailed into the end of it, No. 102. I run my fingers across the tag, and then across the girth of the tree, noting the rings. "Are these from here? From your property?" I ask.

I can feel him standing just behind me, and he reaches around, putting his hand on top of mine. "Yes, and they'll stay here. They're... part of a little project."

I laugh at this and then duck past him, walking along the length of the log pile. There must be well over a hundred logs here. "Wow... so you're going to build a house with these? A log home?"

"Yes... of sorts. But not with raw logs and chinking and a stovepipe," he laughs. "I'm no Abraham Lincoln. I'm building it... with a little help. A little help in the form of a crew of workers, insulated panels, and modern conveniences."

"Tell me about it... I mean, do you have plans drawn up?" I ask.

"Yes, it's an open plan below... stone fireplace and lots of windows, a large deck on the front. And three bedrooms above... modern kitchen and two bathrooms... a hot tub and an outdoor shower in the back." While talking about these last two features, he runs his fingers up the length of my back, making me shiver in anticipation. Yep, a hot tub and an outdoor shower... I can definitely work with that.

"So you're going to be building soon? This summer?"

"Yes, the logs have been sitting in here aging for the past year. The crew is lined up, and we're due to break ground in a couple of weeks," He says.

I wander back along the logs, toward the other, smaller, section of the shed. It's raised slightly, with a wooden floor. "And in the meantime..." I begin.

"And in the meantime, I'm living... here."

'Here' is an area of maybe four hundred feet. There's a bed covered in a colorful patchwork quilt against one wall, a dresser, a couch and TV, a recliner, and then a galley kitchen. There's a door at the other end, which I assume leads to a bathroom. Thank goodness there's a door! It's simple, but it's adequate and not at all bad.

"So what do you think?" He asks, for the second time since we arrived here. "Ready to call the hotel and see if you can get your room back?" He's joking, but I can sense a hint of insecurity in his voice. He's on a crazy adventure here, and he's not taking it for granted that I want to be along for the ride, even for the weekend.

"I think... that I want to be where you are, and that the bed looks pretty comfortable." I say. "What more could a girl ask for?"

He grins at my answer and reaches forward to cup my face, then starts to walk me backwards, urging me along with his body. "Oh baby... I can show you more." He says, as I feel the bed against the backs of my legs. He pulls off his shirt, then unbuttons his khaki pants and pulls them off along with his socks and shoes. Holy shit... he went commando. I guess he didn't have any clean underwear.

"These jeans are nice... not too unlike the ones..." he says, but the tone of his voice says something different, a low growl in his throat. It's obvious that he thinks what's underneath is even nicer, because undresses me with as much speed as himself. He starts to push me back onto the bed, but I duck and spin around.