HowMuchYouWantToBet (5 page)

“Terms?”

She noted he hadn’t poured himself a cup. “Yes, for this work relationship.”

“Relationship.” He paused.” I like the sound of it.”

“You missed the word ‘work’ then.”

Gib shrugged. “Semantics.”

“Delusions.”

“You like me.”

Neil took another sip of the coffee. She’d told a number of lies over the years, and she wasn’t about to add to them. As Gib leaned forward in interest and she noted the way his forearms flexed, she started to feel incredibly warm for a cool spring day. She glanced back down at the cup. Definitely Spanish fly.

“You will come to my house only if it’s on fire. I’ll meet you at the site. We can talk about anything while at work.”

Gib eyes lighted. “Anything?”

She shivered at the innuendo. “Work-related.”

“The strap on your shirt fell.”

Neil froze. His question came back to her,
Are you cold?
In the process of not getting dressed, she’d forgone a bra. She closed her eyes. No wonder he didn’t want coffee. He had to be wide awake from the show.

She cleared her throat, replacing the strap. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for work.”

The smile faded. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

The fact that he noticed and apologized made her feel like a heel. The playful “I don’t have a care in the world” guy she could rebuff. Neil sighed. “Thank you for the coffee.”

He stood. “I’ll let myself out. You have a good morning.”

The silence thickened after the door closed. Neil stayed on the couch, the coffee cup still warming her hands. Her gaze went to the painting over the fireplace.

She’d have to suck it up. If it meant being nice to Gib, she’d do it. If it meant ignoring the little buzz she got whenever he was around, Neil would have to do it. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the painting anymore. The work day started in less than thirty minutes, and she didn’t have time to feel sorry for herself.

“Semantics,” she muttered.

CHAPTER 5

“Long day? How about a game?” Linny said, picking up a pool cue.

Neil tried to keep her chin from touching the floor. Linny never came into The Tavern. This took checking up on her to the next level. She blew out a breath, regretting the early morning phone call.

She stood up from the booth and met him at the table a few feet away. “Sure.”

He chalked his stick. “Ladies first.”

“Came with a sense of humor, I see.” He shrugged. She broke the rack, pocketing the nine and fifteen striped balls. Neil kept going until she scratched, two plays later. Her mind wasn’t on the game. She was worried about Linny’s reasons for being in The Tavern. The reasons were few. Gib’s house—or Gib. One she could deal with in her sleep. The other made her lose sleep at night.

She tried not to let the worry show on her face. “That would have been a beautiful shot.”

“It would have.” He sank three balls with one play. Her respect for him went up a notch. “Did you file the initial permits?”

Neil nodded. “The building permits to get the history on the land.”

“The Graysons used to live there. The reason why it’s called Grayson Road.”

“Practical.”

Linny nodded. “They moved, the house was left abandoned, the city knocked it down. The lot stayed empty up until now.”

The move was effortless. One more solid ball fell into the corner pocket. Neil was glad she hadn’t put money on the game. She stepped back as her boss rounded the table for another shot.

“Enough about work.” Linny straightened and met her eyes over the table. “What’s going on between you and Gib?”

Neil’s stomach clenched. She blamed it on someone finding the only song by Dolly Parton on the jukebox. “He’s killing me kindly with being nice.”

Linny shook his head. “You know, I taught him a few moves on the pool table. My dad used to have this Connelly billiards table in the basement. Gib and I would sneak down to watch. The usual male ritual. Cigars, liquor, and lies about women.” He sank another ball. “Good times.”

Neil shifted, watching him basically play by himself. At the rate Linny was going, the game would be over before she had another turn. “What are you getting at, Linny?”

Finally, he scratched. “Are you going to be able to do the job?”

He might as well have added “without humping him.” She really should not have called him that morning.

“I guess I’m not used to the client…”
Bringing me coffee and looking edible while sitting on my couch.
“Hovering. It’s something I’m going to have to get used to. He does have great ideas. Did you see the plans he drew up?”

“Knowing Gib, I’m sure they were impeccable. When he sets his mind to doing something, there’s no stopping him.”

Neil frowned. She could take the comment to mean several things. Gib had set his sights on her. Or, if she didn’t read too much into the words, Gib was ambitious. She shook her head and got back into the game. She set up her shot.

“I can do the job. Gib won’t be a problem. I’ll treat him like any other client. It shouldn’t be hard to do.”

“I heard you guys kissed.”

The pool stick slipped through her fingers and she scratched. Neil sighed. That would have been a beautiful shot, too. “He did it to win a game.”

Linny sank the eight-ball without breaking stride. “You played good. I can see why he had to use underhanded tactics.” He paused and reached out to shake her hand. “I doubt he needed them, though.” He let go of her hand, nodded, and left her at the table.

*****

Ding. Dong.
Neil groaned and didn’t have to look at her clock to know what time it was. Three hundred and fifty-nine more days of unwanted wake-up calls. She was going to have to build his house quickly, just to save her own sanity.

This is my life, though, and it could be worse.
She had lived worse for a very long time, before she moved to Whistle Lake. A man not hard on the eyes was trying to court her.
I should accept the normalcy, but then, I’ll never have normal, no matter what I do.
Neil brushed the thoughts aside and, this time, got dressed before opening the door. It wasn’t Gib.

“Are you Neil Sullivan?”

“Yes.” The last person she expected to wake her up was the UPS man.

“I need you to sign here.” She frowned, but signed. He picked up the package and handed it to her. Before Gib, she would have admired the fit of the ugly brown shorts as the man walked away. Now, after Gib, Neil closed the door with her foot and went into her kitchen to get a knife.

The plain cardboard box told her nothing. She broke the seal and the smell hit her first. Rich, dark and mouth-watering. The laugh bubbled up as she shook her head. She pulled out a bag of coffee beans, pressed her face to the bag and inhaled. Something caught her eye. Neil laughed again when she saw a note in Gib’s handwriting.

Spanish Fly-free. Enjoy

The smile faded. Dammit, she was in really big trouble.

*****

“What are you doing, Gib?” Linny said.

He took his feet off the porch railing and steadied them under the swing. He had watched Linny’s pickup make its way down the dirt road, had watched Linny unfold himself from the truck with a hard expression. It was a plus being friends for years—he could almost predict the conversation. This was going to be one Gib didn’t like. The odds were against him.

“Unwinding after a long day,” Gib answered. “You?”

Linny sighed as the breeze blew his hair into his eyes. Gib knew his friend would go for a cut soon because he liked his world neat and tidy. Even Linny’s hair needed to have its place. He also knew Linny wasn’t talking about what he was doing at the moment.

“You can’t go around messing with her. She’s not like the rest of the women you deal with. She doesn’t deserve you sniffing after her just because you feel like it.” Linny squinted and leaned against the rail. “Neil’s also hiding something. Everyone knows it, but she still doesn’t realize she’s not fooling anybody. I don’t care what she’s hiding. She’s a spitfire, but she’s good people.”

His friend must have been too wrapped up in his speech, because he didn’t notice when Gib’s eyes narrowed. Instead, Linny shrugged and continued. “She probably has her reasons for keeping to herself. I don’t need you messing with her. She’s a good worker. I think she likes it here. I don’t know if Neil knows it, but she’s looking for a place to settle in. Business aside, I want her to settle here.”

Gib tried to bite back the anger. He was a grown man, and he was getting lectures on behavior. Instead of butting heads with Linny, he placed his feet back on the railing.

“Come on, Gib. I just painted those.”

“I’m renting this house from you. That’s the only thing in my life you can control. I know what I’m doing. It’s not like I’m new at dating. I know how the game works. Hell, I’m not even using my moves. Even if I did, I doubt it would run her off. She’s got more backbone than that.”

“It’s not about a game with her.” Linny ran his hand through his hair. The gesture told Gib more than anything Linny could say. “She doesn’t want you.”

“I know she does.” The memory of her breathy moans as they kissed proved it. The morning before, when she’d laughed with—okay, at—him, proved it. He hadn’t been out of the game that long, to not know when a woman was attracted to him. “What I don’t understand is why you’re warning me off from her.”

“Is there beer in that ice chest under you?” Gib reached down and pulled the chest from under the swing. He got one for himself and gave the other to Linny.

“We’re at an impasse,” Gib said.

“You’re thinking with your johnson.”

Gib took a pull, letting the words settle on him. “Probably.” Even as he said it, he knew it was more.

Neil intrigued the hell out of him. When was the last time he’d wanted to spend time with a woman and not just in her bed? He thought back.

In college? No. High school? Maybe. The realization unsettled him. He drank some more.

“What’s Neil thinking with?”

“With you, I’m not sure.”

Gib met Linny’s eyes. “Why’d you have to go and ruin it? I’m having fun. Once she gets used to me being around, so will she. I don’t see the harm. Do I have to point out we’re two consenting adults,
Dad?
”

Linny took a pull from his beer. Gib relaxed. His friend was letting the subject go. “What is this stuff?”

“The good stuff.”

“It taste like yeast and feet.”

Gib snorted. “You have no palate for quality.”

Linny grunted and finished the beer in one big gulp. “Do me one favor?”

He tensed again. “Hide the beer from you?”

“Be careful with her. I like her.”

“And I don’t?”

Linny handed him the empty bottle. “Just be careful.”

Gib finished his beer as Linny drove away. He sat there a long time after the dust had settled back onto the dirt road, thinking about what Linny had said.
Be careful.

Neil didn’t have a delicate bone in her body. Did she? Gib wanted to know, possibly more than he wanted to know how she’d feel under him. He wanted to know what made her laugh, what would make her smile at him like she had on their date.

He was already chasing her like a dog with a scent, but he couldn’t stop from wanting to do that. Most of what he did wasn’t thought out. Not once had he weighed the odds to see if they were in his favor. All he could think about was Neil.

Gib reached down for another beer. He took a long pull, then said, “Well, damn.”

CHAPTER 6

No one could ever accuse Neil Sullivan of being a slouch. She hired a larger crew, received the necessary permits, checked the zoning laws for a three-story residence, and was ready to dig the foundation within a month. Gib was still reeling from the shock of her approval of his designs. She hadn’t laughed at them, nor sneered, as he’d expected. Even now, as she walked the land, she fine-tuned the details.

“Because of the way the land slopes downward over there…” Neil indicated a small dip. The long grass huddled around Gib’s ankles and dampened the legs of his trousers. He stood quietly beside her, trying to see what she was seeing, her face intent on the land he’d bought with his first paycheck as a stockbroker.

“You should put the gazebo there, so that it goes up to the back of the house, almost like a trail.”

Neil turned to him, her face flushed from the brisk wind that had replaced the rain over the past few weeks. His body reacted the way it always did—his stomach tightened, and then desire rushed, heated his blood…and something else that he didn’t know how to describe or contain.

“You don’t like the idea.” She sounded unsure.

“We can always stick to your original plans.” He ripped his gaze from her face and focused on the area where she’d been pointing. “That’s fine. I told you when we began that you’re the professional. If you see something that can be improved, then suggest away.”

She frowned at him. “You’re becoming way too agreeable for my taste.”

Gib chuckled. “Enjoy it while you can.”

She made a noncommittal noise and began walking across the landscape. Closer to Linton than Whistle Lake, Gib’s land had an incredible view of the sea, and he had planned his home to take full advantage of it.

“Have you quit being a reporter yet and enrolled in architectural school? It’s not like you don’t have the money for tuition.”

“What I drew was just something I did when I was bored.”

She pursed her lips, looking ready to argue with him. He hurriedly changed the subject. “How long is it going to take before the final nail is driven into my home?”

“The whole thing, six months to a year. The guest house should be done within two months. It’ll have its own plumbing and wiring. You can live there, if you want, until the rest is done, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Construction is noisy work.”

She blew out a breath. “So when are you going to enroll in architectural school?”

Neil was like a dog with a bone. Gib could admire her for it, if she hadn’t been asking him a question he had yet to answer for himself. She raised her eyebrows in challenge, looking over her shoulder, when he still hadn’t answered. He gazed down into her face and felt that punch of need that had been blindsiding him lately. The same need that was making him edgy. He had to do something about that.