Cup of Sugar (15 page)

“Tell me.”

She sighed and lifted her hand from his body. “I’d love to see the thing you need an opinion about.”

Shit. Patience wasn’t his favorite thing, but he dug some up. He took a step back, giving her space, and nodded toward the rear of the house. “After you. You know where the basement stairs are.”

“I suppose I do.”

Their eighty-year-old houses had been built as mirror images. Conn had walked through Nia’s place during an open house when it was on the market. The position of the staircases was one of the few remaining similarities.

“Wow.” She hit the brakes while passing through his living room. “It’s so big.”

“Sure is.” He shrugged and winked when she tipped her head to look up at him. Not his fault his hard-on was pressed against her ass. She’s the one who’d stopped on a dime in front of him.

“The room,” she said. Yet the clarification didn’t include moving away from him—and that suited him fine. “You took out the wall to the front dining room. I hate that wall. And that useless, small room. This is so much nicer. I might borrow a sledgehammer and have at mine when I get home.”

“You can’t just knock down walls. You need a plan.” He cupped her upper arm and gave a gentle squeeze. “And possibly some extra muscle.”

He expected a protest.

Instead, he got a pink-tipped index finger trailing down his biceps after Nia turned to face him. “Are you offering yours?”

“Consider all my body parts fully at your service,” he said, and a sweet blush swept over her face. “And if you decide you want to do some remodeling at your place, I’d be glad to help with that too.”

“I might take you up on that.” The blush deepened. “The remodeling help. Not the um, full-service body parts thing.”

“Whatever you want.” He’d let her off the hook—sort of, for now. But the sparks flying between them told him Nia wanted the same thing he wanted, and that included a lot more than renovation assistance.

“I should give you my opinion on your project and let you get on with your day.”

“Good idea.” One hand on the small of her back, he ushered her through the living room. “I have plans this afternoon.”

“Oh.” Her head whipped around to the opposite direction. Not fast enough to hide the downturned lips, though. This push-and-pull dance they had going seemed to have Nia as tightly wound as it did him.

“Ignore this room, it’s still on my to-gut-the-hell-out-of list,” he said as they skimmed the edge of the kitchen to reach the basement door.

“Put mine on your list too, it’s hideous.”

“Done.”

She gave him a small smile. One that reeked of holding back.

He’d have her smiling for real soon. The trick would be keeping her smiling, preventing her from retreating behind her damn rule the minute things got interesting.

She’d had a relationship with a neighbor and that idiot had hurt her. It’d made her wary, and he got that. He really did. But everybody had a shitty relationship or messy breakup in their past. He sure did. She needed to chalk it up to a mistake and move on. The sooner the better. Today would be good.

She hit the bottom step and looked up at him. “Where to?”

“Hang a right.”

She rounded the stairwell wall and gasped. “Your basement has a walkout?” She hurried toward it, then stood with her nose nearly pressed against the glass, looking out at the concrete ramp that led to his backyard. “I’m totally jealous. My basement is unfinished, and that’s putting it nicely. It’s a dungeon, even spiders are afraid of it.”

He chuckled and joined her at the double doors he’d installed for practical purposes more than looks. “You want a walkout? Invite me over and we’ll draw up a plan.”

She looked up at him, wide-eyed. “You built this? I thought you did the pretty finishing stuff that comes at the end, like cabinet doors and crown molding.”

“I’m a man of many talents. Give your wish list. I’ll take care of every last thing on it.”

Her lips parted, then snapped closed.

“One of these times, you’re going to let yourself say it.”

She tipped her head to the side. “Say what?”

“Yes.” He added a wink to keep the mood light. “Until then,” he nodded to the area off to one side, “give me your opinion about that table.”

She turned as he’d directed. This time, when her mouth opened, an appreciative
ooh
came out. She moved to the table, further testing his patience and control by bending over to check it out. “This is the project?”

“Yeah.”

He did good work. Better than good, he could say without being a cocky ass. Twelve years in the trade, honing his skills, had made him one of the best finish carpenters in the area. He didn’t get
nervous
about his work. But now that Nia was in his workshop, running her hands over the table’s surfaces, his gut had some wave action happening. This wasn’t another knock-off from a magazine picture a client had handed over. He hadn’t just built this, he’d created it. Nia might as well be inspecting his heart.

“It’s incredible, but I think you know that.” She traced a swirling, random grain line to one of the knotholes, then stood and faced him, hands stuffed into her pockets once again. “You don’t need my opinion, you wanted me to come over and compliment your wood.”

He laughed. “Actually, I’m serious about the opinion. The table is for a female client who gave me no parameters aside from ‘different and spectacular.’ This is the first of its kind—by me, anyway—and I have no idea if it’ll appeal to a member of the fairer sex.”

“Okay, I’ll do my best to give you a relevant opinion. How old is she?”

Shit, he hated guessing ages. Especially with women. “Do you think it matters?”

She gave a small shrug. “It might.”

“Early forties. Don’t ask me to try to pin it down better than that.”

“Single or attached?”

“Recently divorced.” He did a quick inventory of the conversations he’d had with Tina Smith. No mention of a guy in the picture, ever. “Single, yeah.”

“I see. Is she attractive?”

“Sure.”

Nia’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re delivering the table today?”

Damn. Now he saw the direction of this interrogation. Nia thought the plans he’d mentioned for the day included a special kind of delivery to another woman. More jealousy. Nia didn’t like the idea of him with somebody else. That worked for him.

“Not today. Sometime next week, unless you think she’ll hate it. If so, I’ll have to lift a design from Pinterest or something and bust my ass to build it.”

The green faded with that answer. She even giggled.

“What?”

“It’s kind of funny hearing a big, manly man mention Pinterest.”

“Turn-off funny, or you’re picturing us cuddled up, cruising Pinterest together after a marathon of mind-blowing sex funny?”

“Definitely not a turn-off.”

All right. Now they were getting somewhere. He stepped closer. Close enough to smell her shampoo. To feel the electricity sparking between them for the dozenth time since she’d knocked on his front door.

Consciously or otherwise, Nia leaned toward him. “I’m sure your client will love the table. I would. It’s stunning.”

“Thanks. I appreciate the opinion. And the compliment on my wood.” He caught her hands when she gave him a halfhearted push to the chest. “But I confess to having ulterior motives in getting you over here. I have something for you. Something guaranteed to give you hours of fun.”

“Conn.”

“Not that.” He winked and she rolled her eyes. “Though you can have
that
anytime you want, same guarantee.” Every cell in his body screamed at him to kiss her when she blushed and smiled up at him. Soon. Very soon.

“So what’s the
other
something?”

“Close your eyes.”

She did, and for a couple of seconds, he stood there, admiring. Nia didn’t wear much makeup. In the motel and at her parents’ house, he’d seen her without a speck of the stuff. She didn’t need it. Right now, though, her eyelids sparkled with a thin layer of pale purple and her darkened lashes fluttered against her fair skin. Then there were the lips—he’d noticed those upstairs. Since she didn’t have a date and she had the day off, the makeup was for him. Yeah, today was the day.

He made quick tracks to the cabinet where he stowed his sports equipment. Then he stood in front of her again, heart pounding. “Ready.”

Her eyes opened. Then widened, locking on his hands. “Oh my god, Conn…you got me skates.”

“Yeah. We couldn’t go skating at your parents’ place. Now we can. Go home and bundle up. We’ll hit one of the outdoor rinks this afternoon.”

Tentatively, she reached out, slid her fingertips over the white boots, down to the pink guards he’d bought for the blades. “As friends?”

“If that’s truly what you want.” He tipped her chin up. “But I would rather call it our first real date.”

Affection, anticipation and trepidation swirled in her eyes. In the way she chewed her bottom lip.

“Come on, sweetheart. Let yourself say it.” All he could do now was hold his breath. Hope and pray he hadn’t screwed everything up by pushing too far.

A smile slowly broke across her face, shy and so damn beautiful. “Yes.”

Best single word he ever heard.

* * * * *

The skates fit perfectly. Conn had either taken note of her shoe size somewhere along the way, or he’d made an incredibly lucky guess. Nia would bet on the first one. Conn had proven several times over that he was the kind of guy who paid attention.

He’d obviously taken mental notes while they walked along the shoreline at her parents’. One of the topics—skating. He’d grown up in the city, playing hockey on groomed rinks. In contrast, she’d learned to skate on the frozen bay. She’d loved winter back then, because it meant she could lace up and head out. Stay out until her feet, face and fingers were numb. Skating on the bay was so peaceful. Nothing but the sound of her blades on the ice.

She’d told Conn those things. She’d also told him she hadn’t touched her skates since college. Yes, he’d definitely paid attention.

If all he wanted was sex, he could get it elsewhere. Easily. The past weeks had been a courtship. This afternoon was a real date. And she couldn’t stop smiling. Well…except for those first few moments she’d glided onto the King Street rink.

Nia’s legs had been a little shaky at first. Then Conn had taken her hand. One smile from him, one squeeze of his hand, and the nervousness and uncertainty had drifted away. The skates weren’t the only thing that fit perfectly.

Lots of people were using the downtown rink this afternoon. Nia had driven past it many times since moving here, but she’d never taken the time to stop and enjoy it. It’s possible she never would have if not for Conn’s gift.

What an absolute surprise that had been. Past boyfriends had given her some nice presents. Flowers, fancy lingerie, even a pair of diamond-encrusted earrings. None of those compared to the figure skates hugging her feet at this moment. Conn’s gesture was sweet and personal in a way those other items could never match. The more she got to know him, the more she liked him. For his inside as much as the exterior.

They completed another leisurely lap. Nia had no idea how many times they’d gone around or how long they’d been skating. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they glided along in comfortable silence. A couple times, Conn had flipped around, skating backwards while holding both her hands. Only the most romantic thing ever.

Every minute, every lap, the wings on her heart grew.

“Your nose looks like a little cherry on the end,” he said as they rounded a bend. “Had enough?”

A light flutter of large flakes seemed to hang in the air, the temperature being exactly right to create snow without dumping copious amounts of white stuff and chilling her to the bone. In fact, Nia didn’t feel cold at all.

She smiled at her handsome date. “Never.”

“Good. I’m not ready to give this up quite yet.”

“Me either.” Whatever the future held, or didn’t, she’d cherish the memory of this day.

“Wipeout ahead.” Conn tugged her closer, positioning her in front of him until they passed a small pileup near the edge of the rink.

Once clear of the tangled skaters, he let her drift back to his side. His gloved hand squeezed hers and another wave of warmth radiated through her body.

Overhead, the puffy clouds separated. Sunshine reflected off the glass in the City Hall building, making her squint. But she didn’t worry that she’d bump into other people—she had Conn to guide her, keep her safe. This man she’d tried to avoid for months, who she’d known for only a few weeks, made her more at ease than any long-term, serious boyfriend had.

He also excited her more than anybody else had. Her body hadn’t forgotten his expertise, and that hot little episode against the wall in Conn’s entryway had her aching to have him filling
her
entryway. With his fingers. His tongue. His cock.

“Whoa, shit—” In the time it took to blink, she landed on her ass, almost bringing Conn tumbling on top of her because she hadn’t released his hand until the last second. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You okay?” He took both her hands and pulled her to her feet, steadying her with his sturdy frame.

She nodded as he brushed the dusting of fine snow from her coat, letting his hands linger on her backside. “I must’ve snagged my toe pick on the ice.”

“Damn.” His lips curved in a smoldering smile. “I thought that was a sign that you’d officially fallen for me.”

“You need it to be official?”

“Official or unofficial, I’ll take it.”

Oh god. She might swoon like an old-fashioned movie starlet. Right here, on the ice.

Dozens of bodies skated by. A blur of colors in the background, nothing more. All she saw was Conn. Twinkling eyes that looked gray rather than blue today, his strong jaw with its subtle hint of shadow, and that mouth… God, the wonderful things that talented mouth could do to her. Would do, repeatedly, all day and night, if she stopped fighting this thing between them and just went with it.

“Conn…”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”