Katelyn was sitting by the poolside with her feet dangling in the water. Brown waves cascaded down her shoulders all the way down to her narrow waist. I never knew how long her hair was, she usually had it pulled up in a ponytail or what one would consider a birds nest. She wore nothing but a baggy T-shirt and shorts and I still thought she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

My mind drifted back to this afternoon, the look in her eyes when she told be to leave, the ice in her tone. In one swift motion Katelyn had shut me out. Maybe that was for the best because in the moments her guard fell mine crumbled as well. There was no point in denying my attraction for her but I couldn't fall into this with her. She was supposed to be my client, just another job but for some reason I couldn't seem to convince myself of that.

Katelyn's gaze shifted towards the window and I could see her squinting in the darkness before she got up and walked back to the cottage. For the next two days I did everything to stay away from her. In the morning I would be out before the sun even broke over the horizon and at night, I would be home after dinner.

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I walked into the dark house on Friday night to mom waiting for me in the foyer, "Mind telling me why you try to spend as little time at home as possible?"

"I'm just really busy, mom."

"Oh don't give me that bull! I know you better than anyone and if you think I haven't noticed what ever is going on between you and Katelyn you are surely misguided."

I rubbed the spot between my eyes, trying to stave off the growing headache there, "There is nothing going on between me and Katelyn."

Mom's lips quirked up, "Yeah sure, deny it then. Sometimes I wonder if Liam is smarter than you. Even he sees it! Whatever it is just keep in mind that girl has been through a lot."

I frowned, "Did she speak to you? Because right now it sounds like you know something I don't."

"Because it's not my place to say. If she wants to tell you she will. Just let her be apart of the build, she needs it more than you'll ever know."

I groaned, "Mom I can't do that, what if she gets hurt again? You didn't see her face at the doctor's office. She was terrified."

"Then I suggest you find common ground but let her be apart of the project."

I closed my eyes because if there was one person in this world who could get me to do anything it was my mom. She never took no for an answer and she was stubborn as hell.

"Fine, but I'm not making any promises. One more issue and I stop this whole thing?"

Mom smiled triumphantly, "Okay, sweety,"then she patted my hand and walked upstairs, "goodnight Lucy."

"Night, mom."

I trudged upstairs and started stripping my clothes as soon as I closed the door. After quick shower I walked to the window and pulled the curtain back and inch or so. As expected Katelyn was sitting next to the pool with her feet dangling in the water. A part of me ached just looking at her sitting there in the dark all alone. The water seemed to sooth something inside her and I can't recall any other moment where her face seemed as serene as now.

More than anything, I wanted to run downstairs and join her, even if I only had to sit in silence with her. Whatever was bothering Katelyn it had to be huge if even my mom knew about it. I rubbed my eyes and glanced back at the poolside to find Katelyn's face tipped towards my window.

In that moment I should have done something but instead, I pulled the curtain back, switched off the light and fell into bed. Sleep came quickly but the woman with the storm cloud eyes haunted my dreams, taunting me with something I could never have.

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I woke up Saturday morning looking forward to a nice barbecue with friend s and family and a chance to unwind. A quick shower and I was on my way downstairs, where mom's breakfast was already being set up. She was a big believer in family sharing meals together and never missed a chance at having everyone around the same table.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw that Katelyn wasn't there, neither was Liam, Olivia and Shay.

"Where is everyone?"

Mom walked up to me with a steaming plate of bacon and scrambled eggs, "You're guess is as good as mine."

Something wasn't adding up but I didn't let it bother me too much. After breakfast I drove to the shop and got a few things done, after that I stopped by Katelyn's house to check on the progress. By early afternoon, I went to the store to get a few things for the barbecue and drove to Layton's house.

The guys where already in the backyard with the grill fired up and smoke billowing into the air. Chloe was sitting on one of the deck chairs sipping from a wine glass and reading and reading a book. Even Nathan and Ryan was there. Among out group of friends Chloe was one of the only girls we allowed into our group because of her brother. Before Justin died, Chloe didn't want anything to do with us but after we all became very close. His death didn't just rock us as a group of friends but the whole town, we became a family after that and all the guys became Chloe's older brothers, stepping in for Justin.

Not that the blonde bombshell couldn't take care of herself, she was dynamite and god help whoever pissed her off. Nathan was our group caretaker and Ryan everyone's voice of reason. Although me, Liam and Layton got up to some pretty heavy shit back in high school, it was always Nathan and Ryan bailing us out.

Liam and Layton cheered as I put a f six-pack in front of them. Nathan laughed and I saw Ryan shake his head.

"If you guys get too loud today I'm not bailing you out!" Ryan said.

Liam laughed, "Since when have we needed 'baling out'"

"Literally every single time, Liam." Nathan said smacking Liam's shoulder.

Chloe walked up to me and I gave her a hug, "Hey how have you been stranger?"

"Putting out a lot of fires, starting a few too." Chloe said.

I laughed at the mischief in her voice and we all went on to talk about nothing important, with Liam making jokes and Ryan disciplining him the whole time. I couldn't help but laugh at their antics and slowly the tension coiling around my muscles started to loosen up. Whether it was from the beer or the crazy notions of my friends, I had no idea.

Chloe switched out her wine glass for a beer bottle and flopped down on the patio chair, stretching out her legs, "I'm going to lie right here, forever. So the 'do not disturb' sign is on now."

We laughed but I guess most of us knew that she needed the break from her parents. They were constantly messing up leaving Chloe to put out the fires of their destructive behavior. Things have not been all too glamorous in the William's household for a long time.

Then Olivia and Jackson walked in from the side gate at the end of the yard followed by Katelyn. Here hair was loose, hanging down her shoulders and flowing in the light breeze. The white dress she wore cinched in around her waist showing the curve of her hips, the front of the dress sloped low between her breast and a silver heart locker rested against her chest.

I forgot how to breath in that moment, staring at the vision in white. Her grey eyes flicked to mine and time stopped for a beat, throwing my whole equilibrium out of balance. Next to me Liam whistled lowly and I narrowed my eyes.

"Heaven just got a little hotter boys," Liam said.

My blood boiled and I felt the need to strangle Liam, when I made eye contact with him he winked at me.

"Jeez Liam, stop being such a man whore! The girl isn't even here ten seconds." Ryan said.

"I need another beer." I said walking away from them before I could punch Liam in the face.

The guys gave me curios glances and Liam only smirked, he knew exactly what he was doing, what i wanted to know was why. I grabbed a cold beer from the cooler and popped the top, taking a long sip hoping to calm my raging anger. For the last week Liam has been rattling my cage, trying to get a reaction out of me and it was damn scary how close I was to loosing my shit. So much for a relaxing Saturday barbecue.

I walked back to the group where Ollie was introducing Katelyn to the guys and I noticed Katelyn wringing her hands together. Every so often she would glance in my direction and quickly flick her gaze away.

"Let me introduce you to Chloe," Ollie said dragging Katelyn away from the guys.

The woman sat on the patio while the guys set up everything outside. When it came to my turn to take over at the grill, I threw the burger patties on and tuned out the conversation around me. Every now and then someone would address me and I would just nod or give short replies. My mood more than slightly darkened.

"Hey Lucas, so what's up with you and Katelyn?" Liam asked.

I balled my fists at my side but refused to let anything show on my face, why was he so adamant that there was something going on between me and Katelyn.

Ryan was the first to speak up, "Wait you know her?"

"Yeah, I'm fixing her house. Liam seems to think there's more going on but there's not."

"Then why is she staying at your house?" Liam asked with a laugh.

My whole body tensed, "My mom feels sorry for her okay and she's staying in the cottage. No big deal."

My eyes met Layton's and he sent a worried glance to Liam. "Liam, I think you should tone it down man."

"Come on! Just haggling him a bit, Katelyn's got him in all kinds of knots!"

"You know Liam," I said setting the tongs down and taking a step towards Liam, "I don't like her. I can hardly stand her, she's been a massive fucking pain in my ass for a whole week and I can hardly concentrate on my work because I'm constantly stuck babysitting her. So the only thing going on is me trying not to be a total dick!"

The guys were all stunned, Liam included. They just stared at me in shock and it took me a beat longer than necessary to notice they were looking at something behind me. My body went stock still and ice cold at the same time.

I slowly turned around to see Katelyn standing frozen behind me with a bowl clutched between her hands. The wounded expression on her face was my undoing and I wished I could shove every word back down my throat. Then her face turned to rage and her eyes sparked with fire.

"Too late, I already know your a dick but acting like one won't make it grow any bigger and if you ever pulled your head out of your fucking ass you'd be able to concentrate on you work." she took two steps forward and shoved the bowl in my hands, "Here Chloe sends this."

Katelyn turned on her heel and stomped back to the house and I remained stunned, rooted to my spot still clutching the bowl in my hands. Liam started laughing and I turned around, clenching my jaws together.

"Not cool dude," Nathan said to Liam.

"Hey, what did I do?"

"Why do you always have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong Liam?" Ryan asked.

Layton walked up to me, taking the bowl from my hands, "You okay?"

I was about to respond when Liam threw his head back and laughed, "Lucas since you pretty much messed up any chance you had with Katelyn mind if I take her out for a date."

Layton, Nathan and Ryan were all too slow to stop me as I lunged for Liam, punching him square in the jaw. He went down and I threw my body onto his pinning him to the ground. Arms kept grabbing at mine to pull me away from Liam but all I saw at that moment was a red haze. Liam, never one to go down without a fight, punched me back, his fist making contact with my cheek.

Our friends eventually pulled us apart just as Chloe and Ollie ran out of the house followed by Jackson. They stared in horror at Liam's busted lip and my black eye.

Liam smirked, "You know all you had to do was say 'I like her' and I would have backed off."

"Why the hell does it even matter to you?"

"What can I say, I have to be right."

I tried to pull away but Layton had a firm grip on my arm, "Don't, it's not worth it. You know how he gets."

I growled under my breath, "That's no excuse. Not this time."

I pulled my arm away from Layton and walked away totally shutting out Liam and the guys. When I walked by Chloe she grabbed my arm.

"What the hell Lucy?"

"Where is Katelyn?"

"I don't know what hell happened or what you said but she left here pretty pissed."

I clenched my jaw and walked through the house to my truck. Liam had pushed it too far this time but I was the one who said those things about Katelyn, not him. I regretted every single word and the look in her eyes was eating me up inside. She was all I thought about on the drive home, I thought of every possible way I could apologize to her. Then again Katelyn gave as good as she got.