Hunks Too Hot To Touch (4 page)

Titling her head to the side, Shauntie watched him for a few minutes. “Is that really your name?” she asked, surprised.

What was wrong with his name
? Actually, he was quite fond of it.

“Yes, why?”

“With a name like Nash Wentworth, it seems like you should be playing golf at a country club instead of working on a leaking roof in the hot sun. At least, you should be the star in an old black and white Hollywood movie.”

Laughing at Shauntie’s comment, Nash realized she was actually right. He did have one of those names, but he wasn’t part of that crowd of people and truthfully, their lifestyles weren’t for him. Instead of getting close to all of those self-absorbed people, he only had his mind on learning about
one woman
...and she was standing directly in front of him.

“I do get that comment a lot,” Nash admitted. “How about you show me where your leak is? I’ll see what I can do for you. Hopefully, it will be an easy fix.”

“You’re right,” Shauntie agreed. “I should have shown you sooner. I hope you’re ready for the worst leak you might have ever laid your eyes on.”

“I’m ready for anything you have to show me,” Nash said. He liked how Shauntie’s eyebrow arched over her gorgeous eyes, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she walked around him and headed towards her front door.

Smiling to himself, Nash followed behind Shauntie loving how the jeans hugged her full ass even more when she moved. Oh....this job was going to be very exciting. The view of her flawless body was even better than he recalled from the past. He only hoped the leak would take a while to fix, so he could be around Shauntie longer than she expected.

Chapter Three

Shauntie hurried towards the front porch of her house trying to ignore the feel of Nash Wentworth’s jade eyes on her ass. When she looked up and saw him towering over her, all muscular and sizzling hot, she almost fell backwards in the dirt and all over her precious flowers. Why did he have to come to her house? She thought men like him didn’t exist in the world anymore. He was ideal in all the places a man should be.

Did Sapphire send Nash over here to prove a point to her? He was the type of guy she loved dating years ago when she hadn’t known any better. However, she had matured over the years and so had her taste in men. They had gotten better.

Or at least she thought her judgment might have progressed until she saw Nash Wentworth standing not twenty feet from her...looking so
fine
with the sun shining down on his dark hair and rippling muscles.

Over the years, Shauntie made a point to stop dating men who got her body going just from one sexy come hither look. Why should she still give them a chance with her? Nothing good ever came from it. So, Sapphire and Emerald’s plan seemed a little ridiculous to her. They might be intrigued by seeing their little brainstorm to the end, but she already knew the ending to this particular story so there was no need for her to reread the book.

Shauntie wasn’t about to allow her friends to force her into taking a step back in her life. Her interest in dating a man not in the same social circle as her ended the second she had her heart ripped out by her ex-boyfriend. The bitter pill she’d had to swallow was hard and painful. All the time they had spent together wasn’t because he was falling in love with her, but because he loved her money.

Shauntie knew one thing for sure. She wouldn’t dare allow herself to go down the same slippery road with this Nash Wentworth guy.

Sure, keep telling yourself that lie
, her mind taunted. Shauntie pushed the wayward thought to the back of her head and refocused her attention on Nash. He was here to take care of her problem. He didn’t come all the way to her house for her to lose her cool and drool all over him. No matter how smoking hot
he
looked in those tight jeans and the black shirt.

“Come on in,” Shauntie said, holding open the door for Nash.

“Thank you.” As Nash placed his hand on the door, his hand accidentally brushed hers.

The second their hands touched Shauntie instantly felt a jolt of awareness shoot through her body. The shock was so powerful that it almost stole her breath away, but she decided to pretend it never happened. She wasn’t looking for a man and especially not one named Nash Wentworth. What was going on with her? She had been around good-looking men before and not had that kind of reaction to any of them.

“Mr. Wentworth, why don’t you follow me so I can show you where my problem is?”
God, why did his name have to be as appealing as the rest of his rippling package?

“I’ll be more than happy to follow you,” Nash replied, smiling at her making his eyes light up.

Shit! Nash’s sex appeal was powerful. Shauntie knew right then and there she would have to stay on her toes so as not to fall under his charismatic spell.

“The leak is inside my kitchen,” Shauntie said as she went around Nash’s large body. “I thought it had stopped, but the leak came back stronger than before during the huge rainstorm we had the other day. I was going to put off calling a roofer and having the issue checked out for a little longer until Sapphire told me she knew an excellent roofer that she could recommend coming over and checking it out for me.”

“I’m glad Sapphire told you about me,” Nash said, behind her, his voice sending jolts of awareness down her spine. “I hope I can take care of your needs.”

“Here’s the problem.” Shauntie stopped by the half-full bucket on the kitchen table. Turning around, she ran into the middle of Nash’s hard chest not realizing how close he was behind her.

Instantly, his strong hands gripped her upper arms holding her in place. “Are you okay?” his rich voice asked as his hypnotic green eyes searched her face. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have been so close to you.”

Shauntie could barely pay attention to any of the words coming out of Nash’s mouth. She was too caught up in how
good
it felt to be this close to a real man. Most of the men she had been dating in the past spent too much time behind a desk to even think about walking through the doors of a gym.

Honestly, her ex-boyfriends wouldn’t be able to find the local YMCA if she gave them a map and circled the area with a red pen. Nash probably got in this amazing shape from working with his hands that he never bothered filling out a gym membership. Why should Nash bother when his physique was more perfect than a seasoned body builder? She’d heard of men having zero body fat, but this was the first time she had ever been lucky enough to be this close to someone it applied to. A body like his came from hard manual labor and not pumping air at the gym. There was a difference.

“I’m fine,” Shauntie answered when she finally got herself together. Placing her hands on Nash’s chest, she eased away from him trying not to get lost and moan at how incredible he felt beneath her hands.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Nash eyed her like he didn’t quite believe her, but he let it go.

“What do you think could be wrong with my roof?” Water continued to drip into the bucket as Shauntie stood next to Nash. She had hoped the leak might have stopped overnight but it was still going at it when she came downstairs this morning.

“Dr. Kane─”

“Shauntie,” she quickly corrected.

“Shauntie,” Nash repeated in his
do me voice
sending another pool of moisture into her already damp panties.

Whoa! Shauntie fought down the temptation that Nash was throwing in her face. She didn’t have time for this and certainly not with him. What woman in her right mind would be this attracted to a man she had just met?

“Do you think my leak will be an easy fix?” Shauntie questioned, trying to get the subject back on track.

“Truthfully, a leaking roof can become a homeowner’s worst nightmare. A number of things can be wrong from flashing problems, gutters and lastly flaws in the roofing material itself.

“With a slate or tile roof if either one is missing or broken, it will easily lead to a leak. Now, with a tile roof if the underlayment is old or just worn out a leak could pop up. Also, storm damage is another thing that might make a leak happen over time.”

Shauntie hoped the leak would be a simple fix, but now after hearing Nash explain it to her, it might be a number of problems causing the damn leak. Shit! She hated this had happened to her right now. She was already overbooked with patients and wasn’t in the mood to deal with this personal problem.

“How long do you think it might take to determine the cause?” she asked, wondering if she would have to take some time off from work to get this figured out.

“I don’t want to give you a time frame until I get up there and look around. Give me about forty-five minutes and I’ll tell you what I found,” Nash told her.

Shauntie was beginning to get worried about how long it might take Nash to get the job completed. After hearing all the different causes it might be, she knew the drip couldn’t stay. Or it would definitely end up ruining the rest of her house. So, now all she was concerned about was the time frame and of course cost.

“Alright, you can take a look at the situation and then I can meet you outside.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Let me get my ladder off the back of my truck and I’ll go up there and poke around. Hopefully, it will be an easy fix like you want.” Nash smiled at her then turned around and headed for the front door. A few minutes later Shauntie heard as it opened and closed behind him.

Taking the sunhat off her head, Shauntie tossed it on the counter and ran her fingers through her hair. She wasn’t only worried about the cost of fixing the roof. Another concern was heavy on her mind too that involved her new roofer...her surprise attraction to him. Nash had this pull about him that was hard for her to pretend wasn’t there.

Could she be around Nash for a long period of time without becoming more fascinated by him than she already was? Shauntie knew Sapphire sent Nash to her house on purpose and she was going to call her on it, but after she had a chance to change out of these gardening clothes.

Why should she and Nash both smell like sweat?

Chapter Four

“Sapphire, I know you sent him over here just to rile me up,” Shauntie accused as she peeked at Nash Wentworth outside her kitchen window. “Don’t you dare lie and tell me that you didn’t!” Damn, she didn’t know a man could have that many muscles on his body.

“Shauntie, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. You wanted a roofer to check out your leak and I found one for you. Nash comes highly recommended and I’m friends with his sister. He knows his job. I wouldn’t have sent him to your house if he didn’t. Why are you so upset?” Sapphire questioned, innocently.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know that he’s hot!” Shauntie tossed back not falling for Sapphire’s pitiful denial. “I have eyes. I can’t deny Nash is very, and I mean
very,
good-looking.”

Shauntie cringed when Sapphire’s soft laugh touched her ear. “So, you’re saying that you could date a man like him again after the way J.T. treated you? I always thought you were too good for that loser. He just seemed a little over eager to me. I should have spoken up sooner about him. If Nash was my type I would be after him in a heartbeat, but you know I like my men to be a little less muscular.”

Of course, Nash wasn’t the kind of guy Sapphire would date. He was way too big for her best friend, but Sapphire knew he would turn her head and get her panties wet.

“I don’t blame you for not telling me about J.T. If you had, I probably wouldn’t have listened to you in the first place. However, I’m not going to fall for your trick. I have better things to do with my time than go along with Emerald’s crazy plan,” Shauntie tossed back. “I can’t believe you’re actually a part of it.”

Sure, you do. Stop lying to yourself and admit you find Nash hotter than a summer day,
her mind taunted
.

Sapphire’s soft voice laughed at her again making her regret even calling her best friend in the first place. “Sweetie, I only sent Nash over to your house to fix your roof. I swear I had no ulterior motive. Yet, you seem like you’re interested in Nash fixing something more than your roof. If I remember correctly you haven’t had a boyfriend or a serious relationship since your favorite show ‘Will & Grace’ went off the air.

Sapphire was wrong! She’d been out on dates. They just hadn’t been worth telling her girlfriends about.

“Sapphire─”

“Sorry girl, I have to go. I’m meeting Emerald for lunch, but have fun with Nash. He comes across like a real nice guy, so don’t do anything to scare him off. You know how stubborn and judgmental you can be sometimes. Bye.”

The dial tone hummed in Shauntie’s ear as Sapphire quickly hung up on the other end. Shit! Sapphire knew how much she hated when she did that to her. She was the one who liked to get the last word in when they talked on the telephone.

Snapping the phone shut, Shauntie slid it into the back pocket of her jeans as she watched Nash load the ladder into the back of his work truck.

The heat from outside had dampened his black hair causing it to cling against his forehead. Her eyes were drawn to how chiseled his features were in contrast to the pretty boys who asked her out on dates in the past.

With the sun gleaming down on him plastering his already damp shirt against his skin, Shauntie couldn’t tear her eyes away from Nash Wentworth if she wanted. She ran an appreciative eye over Nash’s form from his broad shoulders, all the way down to his toned tight ass. She was acutely conscious of how his movements were swift and filled with virility.

Seeing him look this
hot
was only going to cement him in her mind, making him appear in her bed tonight, if only in her dreams.

As much as she hated to admit to the truth, Sapphire was right. Nash captured her complete attention with his arresting good looks. He had a ruggedness and commanding manner to make any woman do a double take in his direction.