Deconstructing Lila (Entangled Select) by Shannon Leigh

Author:Shannon Leigh [Leigh, Shannon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: preservationist, cowboy, reunited lovers, small town, romance, architect, Contemporary Romance, Texas
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2014-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

Jake stepped to the side, over a pile of rusty ceiling tins, making room for Lila next to him and Carrie. He watched her with what he prayed was a look of detachment and disinterest. But he boiled inside, full of base emotion.

How he made it here today, to stand next to her, smelling the clean fragrance of her shiny hair, was a testament to willpower. After the disaster of the other afternoon, he hoped she might decide to give up her ideas of restoring the building and return to Dallas.

But no, here she was. Standing strong and smiling, like the other day never happened. Her courage and spunk warmed his insides.

He could not, under any circumstances, fall in love with his wife. Again.

“Jake, Carrie says there is wonderful old plaster behind the paneling. Can we remove it and see?”

Lila was talking to him. He knew because he watched her cherry-red lips move and all he could think about were those same lips parted in passion and screaming his name in climax.

Like she did when they were first wed. Like she did two days ago.

Jesus.

Clearing his throat, he met her eyes. They were heartbreakingly beautiful, wide and innocent. He could lose himself easily in those ocean-blue depths and sail forever, ignoring reality. Living through the fantasy.

She smiled at him, waiting.

Waiting for what?

“Jake, are you okay?”

A question. Lila asked him something about the paneling.

“You want to take the paneling down?”

Both women looked at him cautiously as he repeated the question, like they were dealing with a mental patient.

Get with the here and now, Jake. The here and now.

He crossed to the north-facing wall, letting them follow behind so he could get himself together. Lila had him turned upside down and it damn near felt like she’d banged his head on the concrete.

He had to maintain focus.

Knocking on the wall with a curled index finger, he listened. “We can peel the paneling off, but you never know what you’ll find underneath. The brick could be crumbling and in bad shape, opening a new set of problems. There could be water damage, structural settlements, and other nightmares waiting behind here.”

Lila’s smile faded with each word.

The more he talked about the walls, the more he felt he talked about their relationship. “Sometimes, it’s better to leave what’s underneath, buried. You never know what problems you’ll find. It might not be worth the hassle.”

“Is that your professional opinion?”

She had heard the meaning behind his words, all right. And she was mad. Her hands came up to rest on her hips and she stood with her legs spread, her tiny white sneakers planted firmly on the dirty hardwood floor.

Carrie made some well-timed excuse about checking her mailbox at the post office and hightailed it out of their path.

“Lila, in this business, if the risk is bigger than the payoff, you’ve got to reconsider. You’ve got to be careful—”

She waved a hand, cutting him off. “I hear you. But I don’t care how much it costs. I want to see what’s under there.

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