Breathless (13 page)

“No.” Gabe shook his head and lifted his hammer from his tool belt, focusing on the buckled and rusted roofing beneath his feet. “I’m not.”

“But the way you look at her sometimes… Are you sure?”

The tick and pop of the roof in the hot sun was the only sound around them. Gabe looked up to see Ryan staring at him, waiting for an answer. Sighing, he held his friend’s gaze and kept the image of Ryan and Emma when he’d walked up the drive firmly in his mind.

And lied through his teeth.

“No, I’m not interested. She’s Darby’s friend and will probably end up being mine as well. Satisfied?”

Ryan twisted his lips into a semblance of a smile. “I’m not sure. Should I be?”

Gabe growled in frustration. “What do you want me to say, Ryan? Don’t ask her out? Let me have a chance?
What?
I have no intention of going through all that again. Sami was a lesson learned the hard way. I’m not going back there ever again. You have my permission to chase her as long as she’ll let you.”

He kept his gaze on the roof, trying to see where he’d start. He didn’t want to look up and see the compassion on Ryan’s face.

“Sami’s lies can’t be excused, but you shouldn’t use that as an excuse to live half a life, Gabe. Everyone’s been hurt at some stage. You’re not the only one to have a girl use you.”

Gabe raised flat eyes to stare at Ryan. “I am not going to discuss this. Not now, not ever again. It’s over, in the past. I’m done with it. Move on.”

Ryan’s expression softened. His brown eyes turned sad. “I have, buddy. Have you?” Ryan threw his hammer in the air, letting it spin so that he caught it by the handle. “Don’t let something special pass you by because you’re scared of the consequences.” He pointed the hammer at Gabe. “Because the consequences of
that
are even worse.”

Emma looked up and wiped her forearm over her brow. Her hat had a wide brim, but it didn’t stop the heat from getting to her.

Mmm. Nice. Very nice indeed.

She licked her lips, unaware of the involuntary reaction to the display of pure male yumminess gracing her new porch roof.

Both Gabe and Ryan had shed their shirts over an hour earlier, her comments about sun care and sunburn eliciting a saucy grin from both men and a cheeky suggestion from Ryan about applying sunscreen.

Emma had shaken her head in mock disgust and carried on pulling weeds. Letting them get burned could be their penance for being all macho. It didn’t stop her from having a good look when they were too busy to notice though.

She could see why Millie had a thing for Gabe, right down to the hard, defined slabs of muscle that were his stomach. The way the muscles moved and flexed as he worked, twisting and hammering in the hot sun, clenched her whole body into a mass of yearning so intense it stole her breath. He had a body to die for. Sweat had lent it a sparkling sheen, which was undeniably sexy in the midafternoon heat.

Tight, well-worn jeans molded to his lean hips, the waistband firm and low. The denim outlined the shape of his incredible butt and thighs, almost looking as if it had been painted on by one of the Masters.

He’d give Michelangelo’s
David
a run for his money, in her opinion.

Ryan was no slouch either—his firm body proudly on display up there as well—but it wasn’t
his
chest and stomach that had her fanning her face at regular intervals.

It’s just this heat.

Yes, that was it. Just the early summer heat taking its toll on her.

Gabe held up his hand and let out a whoop of satisfaction as Ryan high-fived him. Their laughter reached her, washing over her, calming her jangled nerves and tilting her mouth in a smile. They were finished.

Emma stood upright, pressing her hand to her back to get the kinks out and called up to them. “Hey! You guys want something to drink? I have beer in the fridge.”

Both turned at once, their combined grins and sheer presence enough to fell her on the spot.

I should’ve moved to America years ago.

“You said the magic word, baby!”

Gabe let out a loud chuckle at Ryan’s comment. “You should never mention the word
beer
around this guy. He’d fall over himself to get to it.”

Gabe swung over the edge of the roof and onto the ladder, tool belt firmly around his hips, jeans even firmer. He jumped the last few steps to the ground and spun around to face her as she walked up.

“Do you think I could use your bathroom? I’m a little sweaty.”

Emma made a show of looking him up and down, a fake grimace of disgust curling her lip. “You bet. You’re not exactly man-of-the-year material like this.” She pinched her nose between two fingers. “Phew. Get into that shower, boy.”

Light sparkled and reflected in the stormy grey depths looking back at her. Gabe’s husky laughter rang out around her, enveloping her in a promise of sun, sin and long, hot afternoons of sex.

Stomach muscles clenched tight in awareness, Emma pasted a grin on her face so that he wouldn’t notice her reaction.

“Thanks. Towels are in the linen closet in the bathroom?”

Emma nodded, consumed with the effort it took to keep her composure around him while he was half-naked. “Yes. I guess it’s the least I can do, considering you were instrumental in rebuilding my broken bathroom.”

Shrugging a shoulder, he walked up the steps with her, stopping to remove his work boots before entering the house. “Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?”

His cheeky comment belied the dark look in his eyes. She stepped closer, not even realizing she’d done so, drawn to his magnetic gaze.

Gabe sucked in an audible breath, his eyes narrowing and dropping to her mouth.

Is he going to kiss me? For real this time?

Emma’s breath caught in her throat, her chest constricting and refusing to let anything either in or out until he did.

“So, where’s my beer?”

The taunt came from behind her. Emma jerked back. Embarrassment flooded her from head to toe. “I was just on my way to get it.”

She sidestepped Gabe and hurried down the hall, her canvas shoes tapping rapidly on the bare floorboards.

Ryan stopped on the top step to the porch, eyes wide in surprise. Gabe avoided his friend’s gaze. He knew what was coming. Ryan moved up beside him and toed off his shoes. Gabe risked a glance in Ryan’s direction.

One eyebrow curved upwards toward Ryan’s wavy, blond hair as he walked past Gabe. “Not interested, huh? Liar.”

Chapter Fifteen

Emma opened the fridge door and stood with her head pressed to the freezer. Frigid air washed over her traitorous body as she tried to calm her breathing.

What was it about the man that ratcheted her body temperature up twenty degrees whenever she was in his presence? The man was off limits. She had to make her brain connect with her body and realize this.

Surely it couldn’t be sex. Lust had never been a part of her makeup. She’d always been too busy to worry about chasing down men for one-night flings. Sex with Alex had always been good, until she found out what he’d done. It had never been a priority. She’d never thought she was the lusty type.

Maybe she was wrong.

Why did it have to be Gabe who’d awakened her instincts like this? Ryan would’ve been a far wiser choice. No strings, no consequences. Just fun. With someone like Ryan, you knew what you were getting.

She had baggage, and from all indications, so did Gabe. Starting something with him wasn’t a good idea from any standpoint. Not when she knew she would want more than one hot night between the sheets if it was as good as she’d dreamed. Emma wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. Gabe was an amazing man. She would start to care and she didn’t want that. It would put her right back where she didn’t want to be. It simply couldn’t happen.

Wouldn’t
happen.

Emma grabbed three beers, slammed the fridge door and banged them down on her counter, anger at her body’s stupid reactions washing over her. She scraped a shaking hand through her bangs and into her hair, swearing under her breath when her fingers caught in her hairband.

“If I were to guess, I’d say you’re not happy with me.”

Ryan’s smooth voice had her spinning around to face him.

“Why would you think that?”

He raised an eyebrow and leaned on the doorjamb. “Because I interrupted something out there, and now you’re all flustered.”

Emma handed him his beer and stepped back to the relative safety near her island counter, twisting the top off hers.

“You must have imagined it. I’m
flustered
because it’s hot.” She waved a hand at his semidressed state. “As you realize.”

Ryan took a long, cooling drink and watched her. He tapped a finger against the condensation appearing on the side of his bottle, then wiped a line down through it, rubbing the resulting moisture between his fingers.

“You know, Gabe said something similar. Him, I can understand being cautious and guarded. He went through a particularly nasty episode a while back. But you? What’s holding you back from accepting any advances? You’re easy to talk to. Friendly. You’re not attached. And you’re sure as hell good to look at.” He shoved off the doorjamb and moved purposely toward her. “What is it, Emma? What are you scared of?”

Dread washed all heat from her body, running icy fingers over her skin and into her heart. A ragged breath pulled into her lungs as she scrambled for an answer he would believe.

A simple Internet search would tell him all he needed to know. She had to give him something that sounded plausible. Something convincing.

Something to stop him from searching for an answer.

Pete.

She pasted as bright a smile on her mouth as she could and took a sip of her beer. It tasted like acid in her mouth, but she forced herself to swallow it.

So Gabe had a messed-up relationship behind him. What she was concealing was far worse than that. She like it here, liked the people. She didn’t want to lose what little progress she’d made. If they found out, it would be like Matheson all over again. The looks would start, the under the breath comments. Then the accusations.

“You’ll be pleased to know I’m quite normal. You want to know why I haven’t encouraged anyone? I’m new here. I haven’t been here long enough to warrant getting involved. As for not accepting any advances, what advances? Some guys, including you, have been really nice to me. Friendly. But no one has asked me out or wanted to spend time with me. At least, not until the other day.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. So, he hadn’t heard about the date. Amusement bubbled up and dispersed the anxiety. Emma bit her bottom lip to stop a grin. That was interesting. She thought Gabe would’ve said something.

“I’ve accepted a dinner date.”

He blinked. His mouth fell open in shock. “No way. When?”

“Sunday morning.”

Ryan turned his head as Gabe walked into the kitchen. His dark hair gleamed with moisture from the shower.

“Emma has a date.”

Gabe scratched at his jaw, the beginnings of stubble rasping under his hand. “I know.”

The glare Ryan sent Gabe made Emma bite her lip. Ryan wasn’t impressed. Ryan looked back at her and took another swallow from his drink. “Who is it?”

Emma turned and busied herself at the sink, rinsing her breakfast plate. There was a lot to be said about avoidance.

“Just a guy.”

Silence greeted her statement. She looked around, noting the sudden stillness in the room.

“Am I allowed to ask when this auspicious occasion is happening, or is that a secret too?”

Emma chuckled and turned, leaning back against the sink to face them.

“Certainly. Tomorrow night, at the Spotted Cow. Seven o’clock, to be precise. Apparently I’m being treated to a full-service date. Dinner, wine. Who knows what else.” She deliberately tacked the last sentence on, just to see what reaction she would get.

Both men’s faces darkened at her words. Their expressions were so similar it was almost comical.

“Really. You know, I actually came here today to ask you out myself. I don’t suppose I could entice you to change your mind?” Ryan’s grin didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Emma wagged a finger at him. “Now, Ryan, that’s not nice. I’ve already agreed to a date with this fellow. I’m not going to do that to him, not when he at least had the courage to ask me.”

The dark look in Ryan’s eyes deepened. Arms crossed over his chest, he nodded. “I just did, didn’t I?”

The more Ryan pouted, the more Emma’s amusement grew. “Oh come on! You only asked me because someone else did. You all would’ve kept this stupid wager going until there was a ridiculous amount in that pot. I hope you didn’t lose too much money on my account.”

Gabe’s slow grin unwinding in the background made it awfully hard to keep her composure. So he thought Ryan’s reaction was funny too?

Ryan stepped forward, concern radiating from his face. Emma had to give him credit, he wasn’t just here to further his own interests.