Vicki Thompson – Thunderstruck (страница 7)
She smiled. “I doubt that’s your style. I picture you getting a woman alone and then charming her until she jumps
“That’s not my plan, either.” Damn, but she looked good with the porch light gleaming on her red hair. “Believe it or not, I have something important to discuss, and I don’t want to do it where someone might come out and interrupt what I have to say.”
“Everyone in the kitchen thinks something is going on between us.”
“Well, it’s not, and if I have anything to say about it, it won’t.”
“Oh, really? When did you—”
“Let’s walk. We can go see Ringo.” He gestured toward the porch steps, and to his relief, she started down them.
“I’ve met Ringo a couple of times. He really is a great cat.”
“And a smart cat, too. He stowed away in the truck when Cade left Colorado to drive up here. He knew who to hook up with for a better life.”
“Cade’s a good guy. I wasn’t sure I’d like him after hearing how he’d run out on Lexi, but now that he’s back it looks like they’re resolving that situation.”
“I hope so. Those two belong together.”
“Seems like it.” She stopped and turned to him. “Okay, nobody can hear us unless we start shouting. Do you really want to pay Ringo a visit or can we just settle whatever’s bugging you right here?”
“I guess we can talk here.” He reached for his hat to tug the brim down, but he’d left it in the living room. Instead he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and that was where they were going to stay. “We need to find you a replacement.”
“Is that right?” She tucked her hands in her hip pockets and rocked back on her heels to look at him. The gesture emphasized the swell of her breasts under her blue shirt. “And may I ask why?”
“You don’t know?” Even now, with his plan foremost in his mind, he wanted to grab her and find out what that tempting mouth of hers tasted like.
“Not for sure. Spell it out for me.”
“I’ve tried to imagine us working together, and it always turns out the same way in my mind.”
“Which is?” A couple of dusk-to-dawn lights kept the inky darkness at bay, but didn’t make the area bright enough to see faces clearly.
That was just as well, in his estimation. He didn’t need to look into her eyes and discover they were hot with desire. “We end up having sex.”
“You could be right.”
He couldn’t see it in her eyes, but he sure as hell heard it in her voice. His fingers curled inside his pockets, and his groin tightened. In any other scenario, he’d haul her into his arms and the game would be on. “We can’t do that.”
“I can’t speak for you, but I’m fully capable of doing that.”
He blew out an impatient breath. “I didn’t mean we
She chuckled.
“I didn’t mean that, either, damn it! Let me just say this. Rosie set us up.”
“I figured.”
“So we agree on that. Good. The thing is, in Rosie’s world, people fall in love and get married. If she figures out we’re seeing each other, then that’s what she’ll expect, but that’s not what I’m prepared to deliver, so the best plan is to find your replacement.”
“Whoa there, cowboy. Back up the forklift. How did we get from
He thought through what he’d said. She was right that he’d skipped over the embarrassing part, which was that he didn’t trust himself to work with her, especially knowing that she’d be fine with getting horizontal. “I don’t...” He paused to scrub a hand over his face. “I don’t think I can resist you.”
She didn’t respond.
“Did you hear me?”
“Oh, yes, I heard you. I’m just savoring that last comment. I may have aroused uncontrollable lust in a man before, but he’s never admitted it. I’m having a Cleopatra moment, a Helen of Troy moment, a Marilyn Monroe moment, a—”
“Okay, okay. Let’s get back to the heart of the matter. Who can we call in to take over for you?”
“Nobody.”
“Oh, come on, Phil. There has to be some guy who won’t charge a fortune and can do the job.”
“Not really. We need to be familiar with his or her work, because we can’t be bringing some unknown person in on this deal. It’s too important. That leaves the guy who built the original cabins and is now retired, you, me and Gerald Stiffle.”
Damon groaned. “Stiffle would be a disaster. He was incompetent when I left, and I doubt he’s turned into a master builder since I’ve been gone.”
“He hasn’t. I told Rosie he wasn’t an option when she asked whether you and I could get along and accomplish the job. She was ready to take him on if necessary.”
Damon watched his options disappear. “I can’t work with Stiffle. I’d have to go behind him and check everything he did. He’s okay for changing washers on faucets and junk like that, but even then, I’d worry.”
“Which leaves you with me.”
“Damn it.” He couldn’t keep watching the way her breasts swelled under her shirt with each breath, so he stared into the darkness. “Sure as the world I’m going to end up in trouble with Rosie.”
“Would you like me to talk to her, woman-to-woman, and explain the predicament we’re in?”
“No!”
“So you’ll talk to her?”
“I... No. Not about us, anyway. I was planning to explain to her sometime during this visit that flipping houses suits me, especially the way I do it. I live in the house until it’s done and then move to the next one, which isn’t a good lifestyle for a wife and family. I want her to give up on that idea because I like how I run my business and don’t intend to change.”
“So you could start with that discussion and segue into our particular circumstance. Then she’ll know in advance that if we sleep together it doesn’t mean anything.”
That hit him wrong. “Wait a minute. It would mean
“Okay, bad choice of words. It wouldn’t lead to love and marriage. Is that better?”
“It’s better, but I have trouble picturing me having such a conversation with Rosie. For one thing, she won’t believe me. I’m sure she’s convinced that if the right woman comes along, I’ll change my ways.”
“She may think that, but I don’t.”
He stared at her. “You don’t?”
“Why does that surprise you?”
His mind stumbled. “Don’t most women think a guy just needs the love of a good woman to turn his life around?”
“I have no idea. Maybe. I grew up surrounded by my dad’s working buddies. Some of them will never change, no matter what women get ahold of them.”
“You should try telling that to Rosie. I guarantee she’d argue with you about it. Sure, she might give up on the really bad apples, like the SOBs who beat their kids or abandon their families, but if a man’s decent, she wants to find him a soul mate.”
“Like I said, that’s her prerogative. But I don’t believe it. If you tell me you’re happy with your life as it is, I will believe you. I won’t harbor some secret plan to convert you to domesticity.”
“Huh. You’re even more unusual than I thought.”
“Probably. And now that we’ve had this deep discussion, I’m heading home. See you at dawn at the building site.” She turned and started toward her truck.
“Wait.” He followed her. “We haven’t settled anything.”
She turned back to him. “What’s to settle? We have to work together unless you want to trade me for Stiffle.”
“God, no.”
“Then I’ll be here at sunrise, and we’ll see what happens.”
He groaned. “Phil...”
“Look, I want to get this cabin built as much as you do. I love Rosie and Herb, and if Thunder Mountain Academy means they can live out their lives here, I want to do what I can to make that happen.”
“So do I.”
“Then man up, Harrison. We’ll work our tails off during the day, and if the close proximity leaves us frustrated at quitting time, then we’ll figure out what to do about that.”