by Lee Kilraine
“If you aren’t looking for a permanent residence, maybe you’d like to think about a vacation home.” Barbara was definitely enthusiastic about her work. “We’ve got the cutest little cottages going up over on Lake Bastian. There’s an old stone house off Parker’s Creek with some acreage. Some people like that so they can keep a few goats and chickens.”
“Darn, I don’t have goats or chickens either.” Lu shook her head and swiveled in her seat, ready to exit the booth. “You know, I’m not really looking to invest in property right now, but thanks.”
“My goodness! I hope I didn’t give you the impression all the properties around here are expensive. No, we’ve got some rock-bottom deals.” She leaned forward over the table and lowered her voice, like she had a secret only for Lu. “There’s a cabin over in Pine Bluff Woods, next to Yadkin’s State Park, that’s a steal. In fact, a little bird told me your boss made an offer on the place through the other Realtor in town.”
That tidbit of information perked Lu’s ears right up, and she swiveled her legs back under the table, giving Barbara her full attention. “A cabin in the woods? Now that one does interest me. But if Tynan’s already made an offer, it sounds like it’s too late.”
“Goodness no. The way I hear it, Tynan and the seller have been dickering back and forth so long, it’s turned into a pissing contest. I’d be surprised if Tynan is really even interested. He’s got a place in town already, and his brother—you know, the famous movie star?”
Sure Lu knew about Tynan’s brother, the megastar movie action hero. “Yes.”
“Well, Sijan’s got a beautiful cabin farther up the mountain, much nicer than that little cabin. That’s where all those Cates brothers usually go for vacations. I don’t think the man is serious. Besides, Tynan’s having a few problems pulling the trigger lately, if you know what I mean. And if he isn’t going to make a real, viable offer, then why shouldn’t you? Right?”
There were so few times in life when the very thing she needed, the thing she was struggling to find, just fell from the sky and into her lap. But this was one of those times.
This had to be the cabin Tynan had been talking about last week. She remembered the extra light in his eyes when he described vacationing at that cabin. A bright enough light to think that if she bought the cabin instead, it would be like ripping something out of his life he cared about. His voice had warmed up when he’d talked about his plans to renovate it. Just warm enough for her to think if she stole it out from under him, he’d be pissed.
She’d get what she needed—a way to make Tynan feel a small fraction of the pain and loss she felt, but not in any evil or truly hurtful way. The small trust from her grandmother—the one she and Joe had been planning to use for their first house—was sitting untouched, so this was totally doable.
She inhaled and noticed the tightness was gone from her chest. Even just the idea of this plan had her anger falling to DEFCON 4. Squeezing the business card tight in her hand, she gave it a final thought. Could she? It’s hard to live knowing Joe’s dead because of me.
“Barbara, I believe you just sold me on a cabin in the woods.”
“I knew it! I can sense when people are in the market. I have an uncanny way of matching up people and the perfect properties.” She poufed her hair and pushed out her generous bust with pride. “Why don’t we head on down to my office right now and talk about it?”
“Absolutely. I’m anxious to set the wheels in motion.” Lu mentally rewrote her to-do list on the way to Barbara’s office.
New to-do list:
Chapter Eleven
Lu slept like a rock that night and woke up eager to get to work. She honestly thought, with the offer she’d placed on the cabin yesterday afternoon, she’d feel victorious around Tynan today.
That didn’t happen. After working next to him all day, what she felt was confused and frustrated. Every time she’d glanced over at Tynan, it felt like he was looking at her too. Only differently than normal—like in a hot, I-want-to-touch-your-body way.
She’d swear those piercing, luminous eyes of his had stripped her naked and had their way with her at least six times that day. Although there was the outside possibility: that the erotic romance book, which she’d stayed up late reading last night, was affecting her judgment. Either way, what it meant was even as bloody pissed off as she was at him, she couldn’t stop the melty-knee feeling or the buzzing in her bloodstream when he touched her.
“Can we be done now?” She needed to get out of his orbit. “I’m pretty sure I heard all the other guys leave half an hour ago.”
“Oh hell, sorry. I lost track of the time.” Tynan lowered his tools and stepped back from the wall. “I just wanted to make sure we had this framing finished up here so we’re ready for the electric in case they finish their other job early.”
“Well, whatever. I mean, we’ll be back here bright and early tomorrow, right?” She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Without air conditioning and not enough open windows, it was hot up on the third floor even in November. “I can’t think, I’m so sweaty.”
Tynan’s head whipped around to her, his gaze running from her face down to where the beads of sweat had slid along her neck and between her breasts. He cleared his throat and pulled his gaze away. “Right. Yeah, let’s, um, go. We’ll need to take the elevator since Juan and Cash just laid the tile on the staircase and it won’t be set for hours.”
“Wait. There’s an elevator?” Lu raised her eyebrows. “Then why have I been lugging stuff up and down the stairs all this time?”
“Because it’s small and slow.”
Tynan led the way down a small hallway to the elevator. It was an awkward wait for the elevator as it slowly worked its way from the first floor. The grinding and metal-on-metal squeaking didn’t inspire confidence.
“You know, maybe I’ll just camp out up here while the tile dries.”
“It was just inspected two weeks ago.” Tynan stared straight ahead at the closed doors. “The elevator inspector certified it for another year, although the town council is deciding if they want to spend the money on an upgrade.”
“Why do they need to upgrade it if it’s fine?” The elevator groaned to a stop. Lu stared at the elevator doors, more than a little worried at the sluggish, shaky slide of them.
“Relax. It’s just that it might be cheaper to go ahead and replace it than try to track down parts for a model this old, that’s all.” Ty waved his arm toward it. “After you.”
“It’s pretty dark in here.” Lu stepped in and moved to look at the light panel. “And stuffy. And why are none of the lights on the panel working?”
“Relax, Tink. We only have to go two floors.”
She pushed the button for the first floor and leaned back against the side wall, watching the doors creep closed. The elevator groaned and squeaked as it started the trip down. Darn, it was moving in slow motion. She’d never been claustrophobic in her life, but the space felt like the inside of a tin can.
The shiny walls of the elevator reflected Tynan’s big body like carnival funhouse mirrors until it felt as if she was surrounded on all sides by the man and his muscles. His wide, flannel shirt–covered shoulders took up more than his fair share of the small space. Oh heck. Her eyes narrowed and she glanced up at him. Bet his big lungs were going to suck up more than his share of the oxygen too. She stared back at their reflections in the door and willed the elevator to move faster before her supply was gone.
“Breathe, Tink. We’re almost there. This elevator has been working for fifty years. What are the odds that it’ll break down right now?”
Lu sucked in her breath. “You shouldn’t have said that. Why did you say that? Oh my heck, you know you just jinxed us, right?”
“I did not just—”
There was a clunk and a clank and the elevator ground to a halt. Halfway between the first and second floors. They both froze, listening for any more movement. Nothing.
“ ‘It’
s fine’ he says. ‘What are the odds?’ he says.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “Go ahead. Do your stuff, big guy.”
Tynan leaned forward and pushed the button for the first floor again. Nothing happened. “Huh. Looks like we’re stuck.”
“Wait, what? No. You were in the military. Can’t you just Mac-Gyver us out of here?”
He raised an eyebrow at her.
She pointed at him. “I know I’ve seen your brother escape from an elevator.”
“My brother Sijan, the Hollywood actor, who has a script, a stunt double, and special effects? That brother?”
“That’s the one. Just my luck. I’m stuck in an elevator with the wrong brother.”
He leaned into her space until she could smell his pine soap and laundry softener. She sucked in air as her body reacted to his heat and power. He had the nerve to grin at her as he reached over her shoulder and around her back. Oh my Lord, was he making a move on her?
“I thought I’d just do what MacRealLifeGuy would do and call for help.” He opened the red box labeled “911 Emergency Call Box.”
“Hey there, Candy. This is Tynan Cates. I’m over at the library and I’m stuck in the elevator with one other person.”
Lu needed to pull herself together. Because, duh, the phone was pretty hard to miss. Unless you were distracted by a six-foot-four-inch mountain man. In her heart and brain, this man was the enemy. But every other cell in her body was trying to be all United Nations with him.
“What? He did? He’s a smart dog. Okay, thanks. How long did Quinn say that would take? Great. What’s that, Candy? One bowl of leek soup and I’ll be back to driving Miss Daisy? You don’t say. I’ll be sure to give it a try. Uh-huh. Sure. Well, we’ll be here waiting. ’Bye now, Candy.” He hung up the phone casually, as if they weren’t stuck in an elevator that felt like it was shrinking by the minute.
They were Leia and Han in the garbage compactor while he was busy turning a 911 call into phone sex. Well, heck, that actually made sense. She really was stuck with Han.
“So in between your discussion of your dog and swapping recipes, did you happen to ask them to send out the rescue squad?”
“Houdini got their attention by standing out on the sidewalk barking. Quinn just pulled up a few minutes ago. They’re going to call Philip Mehta, the guy who fixed the elevator two years ago. He should have us out in under an hour.”
“An hour? I might pass out from the heat. Why is it so hot in here?”
“Cash must have already disconnected the air conditioning in preparation for the HVAC guys. The building’s getting a whole new modern unit.”
“Swell. Too bad I won’t be alive to see that.” Unbuckling her tool belt, she let it drop next to her on the floor. She could feel the panic rising in her chest but couldn’t get a lid on it and started hyperventilating.
“Lu, look at me right now.”
Her eyes whipped up to his. “What?”
His lips slid into a slow, sexy grin and his hands moved to the top button of his shirt. He slid the button from the buttonhole and moved on to the next one and the next . . . and the next. The shirt came off, and there was all that warm, golden skin she hadn’t seen since book club night. Only he didn’t stop with the flannel shirt. Oh heck no. He lifted his tank undershirt up his stomach.
And oh Holy Mother, the man had been hiding an eight pack of ab muscles under his shirt all this time. When he whisked the shirt off over his head, she not only forgot where she was, she’d be lucky if she knew her own name.
“Lulubelle Swan.”
Right. That sounded familiar. She tried to pull her gaze from his body and up to his face, but she really couldn’t.
His chest glistened with diamonds of sweat that tracked from his neck down his chest, over the ridges of his abs. He brushed them off with his big, strong hands and ran his hands down his jeans-clad thighs to dry them. “Take off your shirt.”
“Sure, whatever.” Wait, what? She shook her head and finally looked up at Tynan’s face. “Why?”
He smiled a knowing smile at her, probably reading her mind again, dammit. “Because you’re getting too hot.”
Oh boy, was she. What the heck; she had an athletic jog bra on under her long-sleeved T-shirt, and that was no worse than wearing a bikini top. She whipped her T-shirt off over her head, using the shirt to wipe the sweat off her face and neck. It helped, getting a bit of air on her skin.
“Feel free to take off your jeans if you need to.” Tynan slid down the wall until he was sitting with his long legs stretched out in front of him. He couldn’t actually straighten his knees completely without his feet hitting the doors.
“I think I’ll keep them on for now, but don’t think I won’t if it heats up anymore.”
“And now I suddenly wish I had the power of the sun at my disposal.” He grinned up at her and then patted the floor next to him. “Come sit down and tell me about that first kiss of yours again.”
She slid down the wall, leaving a foot of space between them. “I don’t think so. Why don’t you tell me about your fist kiss?”
“Well, I’ve had a lot of first kisses. That could take a while.”
“You can only have one first kiss.” Her gaze sliced sideways at him, but all that bronzed, bulging muscle was too distracting, so she stared down at a hole in her jeans.
“Not true. I’ve got my first kiss in kindergarten, my first kiss in first grade—well, all the grades—my first kiss with a redhead, my first kiss under the stars in the bed of my truck, my first kiss with an older woman, my first naked kiss—”
“Okay, okay, I get the idea. You’ve kissed a lot of women.” Maybe those rumors she’d heard about him were due to exhaustion from overuse. “So when you aren’t kissing, what do you like to do for fun?”
She saw him cock his head in their reflection on the doors in front of them.
He squinted one eye and scratched the side of his neck. “I work out. Build furniture. Go hiking and fishing. You know, guy stuff.”
“Guy stuff? Who said that was guy stuff? Women can build furniture, hike, and fish, too, you know.”
“Well, I meant do it well.”
She turned her head toward him ready to lay into him when she saw the humor in his eyes. “I bet I could out hike and fish you seven days a week.”
He raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Ha! Do you hike and fish the same way you know construction?”
Thankfully, he couldn’t see her blush because her face was already flushed from the heat. “Whatever. Oh hey, do you hear that high-pitched sound from the fluorescent light? That usually happens right before it dies.”
“I hear it, but what are the—”
“Don’t say it.” She slapped her hand over his lips before he could finish the sentence. “Remember what happened last time you said that?”
His lips curved under her fingers. She pulled her hand away, but he grabbed it back and held it in his. Their gazes tangled together and she felt like he could see her innermost thoughts with those eyes of his. “You have the most amazing eyes.”
“You have the most amazing smell. Today you smell like cinnamon and citrus.”
She pulled at the hand he still held, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he moved his thumb in a caress over her hand and up on her wrist. There it rubbed once, twice over her skin, sending goose bumps down her spine.
“You’re so hot.”
Oh God, she really was. Her breasts felt tight, her stomach swirled, and the top of her head prickled. She hadn’t reacted like this to a man . . . since Joe.
She shook her head, cutting that thought stream off. That was when she realized Tynan hadn’t been flirting. He meant literally hot—as in overheated—and had pulled her forgotten hair elastic off her wrist and sat holding it in front of her to see. Duh.
He grinned, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to her, then dropped her hand and made a small twirling motion with his finger. “Turn around. I’ll p
ull your hair up for you.”
Lu flipped around quickly so she could stop looking at him, but of course she’d forgotten about the mirrored walls. Tynan was everywhere she looked. She slammed her eyelids shut to stop the 3D Tynan torture. Except he started combing his fingers through her hair, cutting through the tangles and smoothing it back. She pressed her lips together to stifle the moan that formed when his fingers ran along her scalp and neck.
When his hands tugged lightly as he gathered her long hair, her mind failed her completely and she imagined Tynan wrapping her hair around his wrist and moving his lips up her bare, exposed neck. Tugging on her hair from behind while he pressed his hard body up against her—oh, good lord, her mind was taking her places she shouldn’t want to go.
“Never mind. I’ll do it.” She whipped around to put a stop to this craziness, only now she was looking up into Tynan’s face, only inches away. They both sat, frozen in their spots, close enough for their breaths to mingle. Tynan moved forward until his lips hovered just above hers. She only had to tilt her chin up to touch their lips together. His heat wrapped around her, drawing her in. She wanted to feel his lips hard against hers while she ran her hands over his wide, powerful shoulders. I want to kiss you.
His gaze stared steadily, as if he’d read her mind and was willing her to do it.
Raising her face up, her lips brushed his softly, tentatively. He wrapped one hand around her waist and the other slid through her finger-combed hair to caress the nape of her neck. The firm press of his lips against hers shook her world.
“It looks like we’ve been rescued, Tink.”
She pulled back and blinked. The elevator was moving again. Right. She knew that. Pfft. Like Tynan’s kiss could shake her world. “In the nick of time too. Just goes to show you, people do the stupidest things when they’re bored.”
“Ha! You did not kiss me out of boredom.” He slid his arms into his shirt sleeves.
