His face flushed a shade of red but he held her gaze.
She glanced over at A.J. a good twenty feet away. Marc and Larry were across the floor. “This private enough?”
“Not for me.”
“It is for me. I want to know why you said that kiss was nothing. That hurt.”
Boston’s dark eyes averted to the floor. He set his hands on his hips and let out a quiet sigh before looking at her again. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t…it was all I could think of to say at the moment.”
“I was going off your cue, for your information,”
Mandy lowered her voice even though frustration rode it.
“I thought that’s what you wanted—to make her jealous.”
Boston took a deep breath, studying her. “Yeah.
That’s what I thought I wanted.”
“So what’s wrong? Nothing was compromised.
You’re still clean—”
“—It’s not about the bet.”
“Well then, I’m pretty sure Diva Alexis got the message. In fact, she was green when she left, I saw her skin turn, I swear.” Mandy let out a laugh hoping Boston would smile—laugh—anything, but his stoic expression remained, in fact, he looked ridden with guilt.
“I’ve never done anything like that before,” he said, voice quiet. “I’m not a game player. I hate it, in fact.”
He’d told her that before. Mandy hated that she’d helped him do something he found distasteful. What was worse, she wasn’t one to engage in games either.
“Why did you want to make her jealous? I thought you said you’d moved on.”
He seemed to try to figure out the answer right there on the spot, and he shifted with discomfort. “I don’t know.
I saw her climb all over him and…it got under my skin. I was angry. It was like all of her crap came back at me, like I was being used like some toy again. I hated it.”
“So you played right back…with your own toy. Me.”
His gaze met hers. Mandy’s heart was dangerously close to bruising. Suddenly, A.J. was standing next to them. His cough startled them both. Mandy was frustrated at the interruption. Boston hadn’t answered her and she wanted to know if he still had feelings for that woman.
A.J. rocked back on his heels, looked from Boston to her with an expression of curiosity mixed with what Mandy was sure was annoyance. “I need you now, baby doll.”
Mandy gave him a nod. “Sure.” In her tender heart, she wished Boston would whisper along her cheek that she was who he wanted. Alexis was over. He’d wanted that kiss.
Mandy kicked at some fallen wood scraps as she crossed to where A.J. worked. The space of the shower/
tub was getting more cramped as wood filled in. A.J.
pointed out what he’d left for her: the arched framing around the door.
His shoulder brushed hers as he instructed how to install the small pieces of wood that would secure the archway in place. Because the wood was curved and large, the job would be easier with two sets of hands rather than one, he said.
She held an end up over her head and realized she’d need the small step ladder so she could hold it in place.
“It’s over there, baby doll.” With a nod, A.J. gestured in the direction of where a small step ladder sat propped against the framing. Mandy jogged over to it, stealing a glance at Boston who was framing and didn’t look at her.
Because he didn’t, she felt a pinch inside.
She didn’t know if he cared about her that way. His heart was probably still beating for that Alexis chick, so some jealous play would be a waste of time. She had just told him she didn’t play those games, so why would she start now?
She wondered if this was just the way of it in the adult world. She set the ladder down and climbed. A.J.
handed her one end of the arched wood while he held the other.
“Hold it steady there.” A.J. placed his end flush with the wood pieces trimmed for support. “What’s on your mind, Mandy?”
He so rarely used her name, and Mandy couldn’t help but look at him. He hammered in a nail, then met her curious gaze.
“How did you know I was thinking about something?”
“You had that look about you.”
So what if A.J. had chosen not to sit behind a desk, he was smart in the human ways that count. “You’ve been trained well, A.J.”
He chuckled, hammered in another nail, and moved onto the next spot. “Four sisters will do that to a guy. Talk to me,” A.J. said.
She wondered at the wisdom of sharing her thoughts about what had happened at lunch and her subsequent discussion with Boston. One glance at Boston, ignoring her, and her pride prickled. “I don’t know…I just thought I was helping him out, you know? Showing that witch he was over her. But…he…” Mandy swallowed a hard lump in her throat. “I guess it didn’t do what I thought it would.”
A.J. let the hammer fly again, hard enough that Mandy jolted. He stood back and his steely green eyes met hers. “You’re wrong about that, baby doll.”
“What…” Mandy’s heart fluttered. “You think it worked?”
“Oh, I think it worked just fine.” A.J. moved closer, as he focused on the center of the arch. “Hold it up.
Steady.”
Mandy’s arms began to ache but she held the piece fast. A.J. positioned a nail and the muscles in his arms and shoulders turned to rock as he pounded it in. A slow coil wound tight in Mandy’s stomach watching his strong arms.
“How do you know?” she asked, her voice low so their conversation stayed between them. Boston, she noticed, finally glanced over. A thread of satisfaction dangled inside of her when his gaze lingered.
“I know men.” A.J. positioned another nail, this one in the very center of the arch. Musky sweat mixed with dirt and wood, and snuck into her nose but she didn’t mind. In fact, she couldn’t deny the calm feeling that had settled in her just talking to A.J. He was so wise, so much older, she appreciated that she could tell him anything and he understood.
“I bet you don’t play games, do you?” she asked.
He plucked another nail from the leather bag hanging on his tool belt and moved closer. Mandy looked into his aqua green eyes, so clear, so…mesmerizing.
Warmth spread through her as his lips lifted into a grin.
He’d kissed her with those lips, and she’d liked it. Liked the way his hands had expertly framed her face, the way his masculinity had made her feel so feminine.
A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Games? I suppose we’ve all been guilty of playing games.”
“Even you?”
“Sure. There’s a time when you think that’s what a woman expects and playing a part is easier than being who you are.”
“Is that time between the ages of fourteen and twenty nine?”
“I’m not sure when it ends.” He laughed. “For some, I don’t think it ever does.” He looked over at Larry and Mandy followed his gaze, then gave a quick nod.
“Yeah, I gotcha there.”
His gaze was sober. “You don’t like playing, do you?”
“No. Is it obvious?”
“Not if you asked me at lunch. You looked like a pro at lunch. But I can tell now—here—games aren’t for you.”
“So…” How lame to ask a man for advice about another man. She was old enough to figure this out for herself.
“So now you don’t know what move to make next.”
A.J. observed. He seemed to stare into her soul. Mandy took a deep breath. He stepped closer. Mandy’s heart banged against her ribs. The last time he’d been this close, he’d kissed her. Of course he wouldn’t do that now, not here, but the fantasy flashed anyway, complete with Boston storming over and ripping them apart.
Heat flushed Mandy’s skin, and a smile crept onto her face. A.J.’s gaze fell to her lips. Then he reached out and light as a gentle breeze, his calloused fingers skimmed her cheek. “You’re something special, baby doll. Don’t forget that.”
>
His touch sent an electric current through her. Her insides nearly melted. Why did her body respond to his words, his touch, like a kitten to its master? She wanted to rub against him and curl up in his arms in total safety.
But she wasn’t a kitten, she wasn’t a baby, and since she couldn’t understand why she was so drawn to him when her heart was also drawn to Boston. She tried to ignore the oozy way A.J. made her feel.
Movement out the corner of her eye took her attention to Boston. He stood eight feet away, his arms folded, brows knit tight over narrowed eyes.
A long quiet strung the three of them together and the slanted rays of the afternoon sun beating through the framed house heated the moment. Mandy was still standing on the step ladder, so she slowly descended.
A.J. stuck out his hand to help her and she instinctively took hold of it.
“You ready for me now?” she asked Boston. He didn’t say anything for what dragged out as another long moment, but held her gaze as if considering her words metaphorically.
A.J. touched her shoulder. Mandy watched Boston’s gaze jerk there for the second the contact lasted. “We’re done with the arch. It looks great, baby doll.”
“Thanks, A.J.”
With a light whistle, A.J. sauntered back to work on his own.
Mandy lifted her chin. “So…are you ready for me now?”
“Yeah, I am,” Boston turned and headed back to the closet they’d been framing.
He pushed a two-by-four her direction and she took it, but he didn’t let it go. He stood close, his eyes burning into hers like the fire of the sun. “He’s too old for you,” he whispered.
“Excuse me?”
“How—why—what are you doing with him, anyway?”
“I’m sure that’s not any of your business.”
His fingers were whitening around the two-by-four.
“You’re right, it’s not. I’m—Can’t you see what he’s doing?”
“See what?” Mandy’s spine prickled. “He’s a gentleman. He’s mature. He doesn’t play games.”
Boston let out a sneer. “Yeah, uh-huh. He’s playing right now, Mandy. He’s playing with you.”
“And that makes him worse than you who played with me, what, just a couple of hours ago?”
Boston stepped back, silenced. His tongue swept his lips in an itchy gesture that seemed to course through the rest of his body. “I said I was sorry about that.”
“But you never explained yourself.”
“I told you, I didn’t—I couldn’t—Seeing her set me back. That’s all.”
“You never answered my question.”
His gaze averted as if he was uncomfortable, hated the question, and didn’t want to answer her. A.J.’s soft whistle muddled the air, mixing with the far off boom of Guns ‘n Roses coming from Larry’s CD player.
Boston closed the distance between them. Mandy blinked. Her breath quickened in her chest. “I don’t feel that way about her anymore.” His gaze skimmed her face, finally stopping at her lips. “If that’s what you want to know.”
The hard knot in Mandy’s throat went down with a swallow. “Oh. Well. That’s good. Good for you.”
“Yeah.” Why she still saw stress drawing his fine features taut, Mandy couldn’t fathom.
chapter twelve
There was only one place that could suck out the stress lodged in Mandy’s stomach, and that was the book store. After work, she hurried home, showered, ate and changed.
All the while her mind was troubled with Boston.
He’d been quiet but not cold. He’d said goodbye when they had all parted ways at the main office. She’d even caught him watching her as she got into the truck with Marc to head home.
A.J. had watched her too. In fact, he’d more than watched, he’d walked with her to the truck, opened the door for her, and given her another one of his you’re-the-most-special-girl-on-the-face-of-the-planet looks.
Mandy’s heart pulled in two directions.
She bowled into Barnes and Noble on a deep, cleansing breath and the scent of paper and coffee unwound her twisted image of Boston and A.J. This was just what she needed, to clear her head with a mocha freeze and stuff her nose into some architecture books.
She went directly to the lounge area, her heart beating fast anticipating seeing Boston’s dark mop of hair somewhere but the area was surprisingly empty. Only the kissing couple was there, sharing the LoveSac. She scanned the couch, saw Cam’s backpack and smiled.
She found him hunkered down in the romance aisle, engrossed in a book with four others stacked at his side where he sat.
Quietly she approached, nearly bursting into a fit of giggles that he was so intense he didn’t notice her.
“Whatcha reading, big guy?”
He almost jumped to his feet. “Crap, you scared me.
And you interrupted a very hot scene.”
“Sorry, just wanted you to know I was here.” Mandy’s gaze skimmed the lurid titles surrounding her.
Cam rose to his feet, stuffing the stack under one arm while he held open the other book and continued to devour the contents. Mandy looked at the title of the book .
“Three for the Money?”
Cam nodded, his eyes locked on the page. “Can you imagine the plot?”
“Do I want to?”
“Yeah babe.”
“Want a drink?” she asked, guiding him out of the way of an oncoming woman who was also searching the aisle.
“Uh, yeah. My usual. You go get them. That guy’s working the counter and I can’t deal with it.”
“You go save our couch.” With that she gave him a light shove in the direction of the lounge and watched him narrowly escape walking head on into a bookshelf and another patron before he finally looked to see where he was going.
Mandy felt better already. She headed for the café, her mouth watering for the specialty drink. She ordered, then headed back to the lounge area, frosty drinks in hand.
She stopped dead when her eyes lit on the tall, lean frame she’d spent the last few hours with. Boston stood browsing the new non-fiction titles, his back facing her. His legs looked even tanner against the baggy, ecru shorts he wore. She liked the pink and green striped polo shirt he had on, the color set his bronzed skin to an inviting, warm shade. A man who wore pink was a man she admired for self-confidence.
The turmoil she’d dumped at the door was back and wound tight in her stomach now. She didn’t want to see him, didn’t want him to see her. She wanted this bookstore night to be relaxing and fun, so she slid around the new arrivals display and ducked out of sight behind the bargain books shelves on her way back to the lounge area.
With a sigh, she plopped down next to Cam. Without taking his eyes from the pages before him, he reached out. Mandy laughed and set the drink in his outstretched hand. “Nice to see you, too.”
“I’m sorry, what?” He finally looked up. “Man that was intense. Phew.” He closed the book and drank the entire sixteen ounce drink in one long slurp. He clutched his head with his hands, his face puckering. “Brain freeze.”
When it was over, he let out a pleasurable sigh. “Better than a cold shower.”
“Don’t be getting yourself all worked up now, big guy.” Mandy sipped her drink, enjoying the flavors. But her gaze darted behind the couch, out into the store, sure she’d see Boston.
Cam eyed her, then twisted around for a look. “Who are we seeing? That guy from work?”
“Boston.”
“The look on your face tells me whatever is going on between you and him is far more interesting than any of my books.” He set the novel aside. “What’s up?”
“He’s here. I saw him up front.”
“Did he see you?”
Mandy shook her head, sipped.
“And you don’t want him to?”
Mandy paused, then shrugged. “I don’t know. Things have just been too random, you know?”
“No, I don’t. Tell me. Is the
triangle still in place?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Or it was until today at lunch.
Now, it’s more like a square.”
“A square? That would indicate there are four people involved and that means coupling. Who’s the fourth corner?”
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