Jaded (5 page)

“I can’t turn the shower on.”

It took her a moment to find her voice. “Oh.” She cautiously approached him, as though being in his mere presence meant she was breaking her vow of aloofness. She reached into the stand-up shower stall and pulled some knobs and lifted a plug. “There you go.”

He looked deep into her eyes for a long time and then said, “Thanks” and dropped his towel.

He stared at her, daring her to look below his waistline. She executed amazing self-control and kept his gaze.

“You’re welcome to join me,” he said softly, a sexy edge to his voice. “I wouldn’t be against that.”

Time shuddered to a stop and she couldn’t force herself to think, to break his gaze, to do anything but concentrate on not looking down. “Thanks, but...” As soon as the words came out of her mouth, her eyes fell below his waistline. Her cheeks instantly flushed, but she couldn’t stay angry. No wonder he was so comfortable with showing himself to a near-stranger. “No thanks.”

He half-smiled. “What a shame.” He stepped inside and closed the shower door.

Isabella staggered into the bedroom and leaned against the bathroom door, mind ablaze and completely unable to see anything but the image of his dick burning in her mind’s eye. What a deliberate act. Apparently, she had underestimated his determination in seducing her. She stumbled to the bed, legs as weak as though she’d just jogged for three hours straight, and turned the TV on. Despite the high volume of the television, all she could hear was the running water of the shower.

It was impossible to ignore the heat searing between her legs and she briefly contemplated giving in. Not to
him
, of course, but to her very real and very persistent physical reaction. It wouldn’t be so bad after all... She shook her head, as though this would rid her mind of such naughty thoughts. Her resolution would not be swayed by the incredible gorgeousness of Luke Peterson. She was turning over a new leaf, and in doing so it meant learning new behaviors. She just hadn’t thought resisting the advances of a true hunk would be included in her new skill set.

The water stopped and her body went into overdrive. She tried her best to look casual and unaffected lying on her bed, when she was everything but.

The door opened. The scent of her shampoo wafted through the air. She heard soft, bare-footed steps toward her and she focused on remaining glued to the television.

“Watcha watching?” He lay on the bed next to her, resting his neck on his hands behind his head.

She affected a look of surprise, as though she hadn’t been logging his every movement since the water stopped running. “Oh, just this late-afternoon judge show.”

“Highly educational.”

She dared to look over at him. The towel was back on, wrapped around his waist. Little tiny water droplets still clung to his chest; his hair was damp and tousled. The image of him jogging across the shore of a beach came into mind again, except this time he was naked.

“Do you need anything...?” she asked, wondering if he was planning on doing more than just taking a shower at her house.

“I’m good,” he said, crossing his ankles. “You’ve got a nice shower. Nice shampoo.”

“Yeah, I like it.”

“You use it too. I smelled it earlier today.”

She set her mouth into a thin line. “You have a way of invading a woman’s personal life.”

“You’ve got a huge box of condoms in there too,” he said, eyes widening. “Either you have a lot of sex, or you’re just stocking up for the next millennium.”

“Neither. There was a sale, so I thought I might save some money.” She paused. “Those are beneath my sink—you were looking through my stuff!”

“No, I was looking for your brush. I have to take care of my hair.” He dramatically flipped his hair over his shoulder.

“Whatever.”

He rolled onto his side, propping up on one elbow. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out on a date with me?”

“Positive.”

“And you won’t budge on that at all?”

“Nope. And once again, I cannot believe you are saying this to me. I’m your client, Luke.”

“It’s after five, sweet cakes.” He grinned devilishly, but it soon fell from his face as he continued watching her. “What happened to you? Who hurt you so bad?”

“It’s none of your business.”

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “Excuse me for trying to get to know you.” He stood up, leaving the towel on her bed, and strutted into the bathroom. He didn’t look back at her so she took the chance to check out his backside. His muscular butt flexed with every step and dark hair was sprinkled down his legs.

She suddenly detested him, hated how he was stealing her energy when she could be doing more productive things with her time at home, like reading books or digging out her old poetry. He was singlehandedly robbing her of her faculties, making her crazy-eyed and ravenously horny. His looks were the sole culprit, she reasoned, and it didn’t mean that she was actually attracted to a rude, pushy construction worker. He was just so damn hot.

When he exited the bathroom again he was fully clothed, wearing black pants and a tight, black button-up shirt. He crossed his arms and stared hard at her. She looked him up and down a few times and got even angrier at him. He looked like a model. She wanted to scream.

“One last chance.”

“For what?”

“Let’s go out tonight.”

She rolled her eyes. “Dream on.”

He sighed and sat on her bed again. This time, instead of berries, a faint scent of cologne lingered. “We can do anything you want to,” he said casually as he examined his nails. “Dance, eat, go golfing, go swimming, rock climbing...”

“You have a lot of options, there. Maybe you can find some other girl a little bit more interested in you. If you’d like, I can draw up a spreadsheet of your available services for you to pass out during your next trip to the bar.”

Her words made him pause. His eyes flashed and she knew she was pushing his buttons, throwing him off. “I’m not an escort, you know.”

“It’s just semantics though, isn’t it?” She grinned at him.

This time his eyes darkened. “That was rude.”

“Good to see that you’re keeping up, though.”

“What, just because I work in construction you think I can’t understand big words, or that all I care about is women and sex?”

“Well, those things had occurred to me, but I hadn’t decided on them yet.”

He exhaled sharply. “Well maybe it’s not like this in
your
world but where I come from, if I see something I like I go after it. You have no idea what you’re missing.” He gave her a cool stare that topped off the pile of annoyances.

She scoffed. “Luke, drop the act. You can’t possibly be so cocky
all
the time!” She looked at him for confirmation. He tilted his head and waited for her to continue. “I mean, you have to realize how ridiculous this is. I’m your customer; you’re doing a renovation at my house. I don’t want to go out on a date with you. Or are you really that dense?”

He looked amused, but not at all ruffled. He was impossible. “Come out with me and find out.”

She groaned. “Forget it.”

“All right, all right...you got me. You don’t want to go out and that’s fine.” He rolled his eyes as he gathered his things and prepared to leave. “I’m not an unprofessional asshole, I swear. I just think you’re pretty and I had to try. I apologize.”

She watched him skeptically.

“Now where are
your
manners, Miss Isabella?” He looked at her with an exaggerated sense of offense. “I apologized to you.”

“Fine. Apology accepted.”

He left the room with a final wink in her direction, leaving her mind racing. Once the front door opened and then shut again, she let out a frustrated shout. What was it with that guy? She thought back to his nakedness, to his come-ons, to her insane arousal, and concluded that he was cockier than hell but totally aware of everything he was doing. There had to be something in it for him. She didn’t think she looked like his type; she imagined a woman much skinnier and blonder than she, but maybe he was just the standard womanizer, unable to differentiate facial features as long as a pair of breasts was attached.

She turned off the TV, opting for another jog around the neighborhood and a cold shower. She hated how he’d made her consider breaking her vow, hated how fiercely her body had responded to him, and hated even more how quickly he might be able to make her secret fantasies with him become a reality. She didn’t trust him, but more than that, she wasn’t quite sure if she could trust herself.

Chapter Three

“How’s the bet coming?” Jimmy asked in a whisper as they installed a piece of insulation in the kitchen.

“Not very good.”

Jimmy nodded, smiling. “I knew it! I knew this would be the first bet you’d ever lose!”

“Hey, I never said I’d lose. It’ll just take some more finesse.”

“You think you’re smooth, but you ain’t
that
smooth.”

“You’re underestimating my talents, Jimmy.”

“Maybe so. But she’s a pistol. This morning she almost punched Mark in the face for knocking over a lamp.”

“Did it break?”

“No! And it was ugly to begin with!”

Luke grimaced. “I’ve honestly never met anyone like her. She is so different from other girls.”

“I can tell. But she looks like she needs a little fun.” Jimmy nudged him. “That’s where you come in.”

“She’s hot, a lot hotter than I bargained for.”

“Yeah, if I weren’t married, I’d consider it.”

A scream pierced the air—it was Isabella’s scream. Luke leaped up and ran upstairs toward her bedroom. The door was ajar and he pushed it open. Isabella turned to him with a gasp, towel clutched around her.

“What’s wrong? I heard you scream.”

She gritted her teeth and expelled an angry groan. “Tell your stupid workers not to
spy
on me when I’m changing!” She pointed to the window across from her closet. “Perverts!”

“Hey, I’m sorry. I had no way of knowing. I would have stopped it if I’d seen it.”

She glared at him. But Luke could hardly sympathize—if he’d been outside, he would have peeked in on her too.

“I’ll punch them the minute I see them,” she said through gritted teeth, knotting the towel more tightly around her chest.

“You won’t have to—I’ll do it for you.”

She didn’t say anything and turned away from him. Her long, dark hair hung limply down her back, and her breasts rounded nicely under the towel. In all her angry glory, she was irresistible. A few silent moments passed before she huffed and said, “Luke, this isn’t a peep show, you know!”

The soft curve of her calf caught his eye and Luke had to blink hard. A dense fog was rapidly descending over his brain, and he could hardly think with her in front of him. He opened his mouth to respond but couldn’t find any words. She turned and walked toward him, eyes blazing.

“You men are so predictable,” she spat out. “Where is the respect? Like I want to be spied on in my own house.”

Luke tried to respond again but all he could do was lamely open and close his mouth. She was inching closer to him now and he feared momentarily that she might hit him or otherwise lash out. He caught a whiff of her shampoo and he gulped. It was all he could do to keep his hands off her now that she was so close to him.

“Don’t you have anything to say, Luke?”

His eyes slid up and down her body, despite how hard he was trying to avoid looking. In her state, that slip of willpower might cost him a limb or two. She seemed ready to pounce. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a slow breath, trying to get words—any words—to come out.

“Sorry,” was all he could muster. “I feel like you, uh...”

“I what?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’re totally right,” he said, looking anywhere but at the line formed by her breasts pushed together by the towel. “Like I said, I’ll take care of it for you.”

She paused, watching him with hands on hips. He could have sworn she was getting even closer to him, but he didn’t know if his sexual excitement was just causing the air between them to shrink. He had a semi hard-on already and the woman hadn’t even touched him. His mind was spinning and he had to get out of the bathroom before he did something he regretted.

“You sure as hell better,” she said. “Luke, fucking kiss me.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. He looked at her with wide eyes, brain struggling to match the words with the woman in front of him. He was dreaming this...he had to be.

“Seriously?”

“Do it now before I change my mind.”

It wasn’t the line he normally got but, he’d take it. He grabbed her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers in a greedy, passionate kiss. She received him eagerly. He suspected she’d wanted this since the beginning, but was too much of a hard-ass to admit it to herself. Pinpricks of pleasure erupted all throughout his body as they kissed deeply and urgently, and he actually felt his knees get a little weak. This woman completely intoxicated him.

They broke for air and stood panting, looking at each other.

“Just one more,” she said, looking thoroughly frazzled. “But then you never bring this up or come near me again.”

“Oh, so this is just a taste test?” He ran his hand down from her cheek to the dip in her neck; her eyes fluttered shut.

“Call it what you want,” she said. “But this is it. Then I’m done.”

He leaned in to kiss her again but she dodged it, looking him in the eye. “Deal?

“Anything you want, babe.” If that was the case, he’d do it right. He guided her back toward the countertop and pinned her against it. She was watching him with eager eyes, lapping up all of it. She inhaled sharply as he took her into his arms. His heart tightened, catching him off-guard. He wanted this more than he’d thought.

Her lips were soft and just as eager to receive him; they kissed again, their kiss melting into more kisses and even more kisses. When they broke, Luke knew without a doubt that there was no way in hell he’d be satisfied with this one encounter.

“I said one kiss, not eighty,” she said breathlessly.