Man at Work (3 page)

Only after he’d flashed his signature wink,
and turned his attention to the other customers in class, did she
allow herself to release the breath she was holding.

Toye leaned over and whispered, “Did
somebody turn up the heater or is that guy smokin’ hot?”

“
That’s him!” Candace kept
her voice low.

“
Who?”

“
The guy I told you about.
The one who paid for my stuff last week ago.”

“
Damn! He is fu-ine!” Toye
stretched that one simple word into three syllables.

Candace glared at her, but
Toye’s attention was focused on their instructor. Her eyes had that
same coveted gaze as when she found a designer item on sale at
Nordstrom Rack for half price. If Candace had known when she signed
up for this class that Toye would be adding fuel to the fire, she
would have dragged Ronnie along with her instead. Ronnie was
sensible and smart. She did not drool over men. But in all
actuality, Candace didn’t blame Toye for staring. She
agreed:
Gabe was
fu-ine
.

Something deep in the pit
of her belly stirred each time she looked at him. But after her
string of bad relationships, she’d promised herself she would not
fall into that trap again. She didn’t like the way her
thoughts had continually wandered to him over the
past week. She couldn’t get the old rugged truck or the owner out
of her mind.

She’d signed up for this tiling class
because she was determined to pull up the yellowed Formica in the
antiquated kitchen and replace it with modern black, ceramic tile.
At first, she’d been reluctant that she might run into him, but
Toye had convinced her the man would not be here. She’d called her
fears silly. Yet here he was, working at Sampson’s!

“
Toye, you told me he
wouldn’t be here. You told me I was trippin’. Now, look, he’s here
in the flesh.”

Toye didn’t take her eyes off Gabe. “And oh,
baby, what flesh it is.”

As Gabe spoke with his hands, bulging biceps
flexed beneath the white t-shirt he wore. He handed out
million-dollar smiles like candy. He had an encouraging word for
all the class participants. So far, he’d hit almost every item on
her check list.

Great body.

Great looks.

Great sense of humor.

Kindness.

The only thing missing was the money. It
appeared he had a steady job, but that wasn’t enough. For all she
knew, this could just be a part-time gig, something he did once a
week or once a month. Then what? Would he ask her to pay his rent?
Slide him a few dollars every now and then? Make her pay for their
dates? She didn’t think she was being unreasonable when it came to
men. She was tired of footing the bill for little boys who hadn’t
found the time to grow up.

“
That guy is someone worth
making an exception for,” Toye said, reading her mind.

“
Are you crazy? He’s an
instructor—at Sampson’s.”

“
So let him teach you a
few things. The man obviously knows how to use his
hands.”

Candace elbowed her. “Stop it. Did you
notice he’s wearing overalls?”

“
Yeah. He’s wearing the
hell out of them!”

Before Candace could give a snappy response,
Gabe approached. “Hello, ladies. You have the pleasure of knowing
my name, but I don’t know yours.”

Toye spoke up. “I’m Toye Reynolds, and this
is my cousin, Candace Jones.”

He shook Toye’s hand. “Pleasure to meet
you.” Then he turned to Candace and did the same. “It’s nice to
officially meet you, Candy. You won’t run away from me this time,
will you?”

Candace tried to ignore the goose bumps that
puckered along her arm when his strong fingers brushed against her
palm. She didn’t miss the intentional shortening of her name. “It’s
Candace. And I didn’t run. I was in the middle of installing
cabinets.”

“
We’re remodeling a
kitchen,” Toye explained.

“
Sweet,” he said, keeping
his chestnut gaze on Candace. “I can teach you a few
tricks.”

“
I bet you can,” Candace
offered, playing along with the double-entendre.

She watched the playful
glint in his eyes. A smirk hovered at the corners of his full lips.
Her heart thudded in her ribcage. Obviously, they were both aware
of their mutual attraction. The fact that others were watching did
not deter them.

“
We’ll start with the
trowel,” Gabe told her. “Let me show you how to work
it.”

Oh, I bet he knows how to work it,
alright!

Candace brushed the naughty thought aside as
Gabe stood directly behind her, his breath warm against the back of
her neck as he spoke. “You pick it up and hold it like this.”

He reached both of his brawny arms around
her waist and demonstrated how the flat edge of the trowel should
be held at a forty-five degree angle. He brushed up against her
backside. She was tempted to close her eyes and lay her head
against his chest. How the hell could she concentrate with his body
mere inches from hers? His deep voice stroking her like velvet? His
manly scent teasing her nostrils?

“
The back of the tile has
already been coated with a mixture of gunk called thinset mortar,”
he continued. “It’s about the consistency of mayonnaise. Make sure
to spread the thinset using broad, curved strokes.”

He put too much emphasis on the word
‘strokes.’ He was doing this on purpose. He had to be. No man was
this sexy by accident.

She took the trowel from him, ready to have
anything to focus on besides his nearness. “Like this?” she asked,
copying his technique.

“
Perfect. Apply firm
pressure. Not too hard, not too soft.” He whispered in her ear,
“Like a lover’s caress.”

Her heartbeat went into overdrive as Gabe’s
erotic words played havoc with her senses. She willed herself to
focus as she smeared the white mortar into the back of the tile.
She focused on the grooved patterns the trowel produced.

“
The final step,” he said,
“is to turn the tile over and carefully place it along the chalk
lines. Take your time. If you put one in crooked, it’ll mess up all
the other tiles.”

He’d already drawn the chalk lines. Candace
took her time and slowly placed the tile along the chalk edges. If
she could master this step, she could tile the entire kitchen
floor.

Thirty seconds later, she had it in place
perfectly. “Yes!” she exclaimed.

His sexy chuckle filtered the air. “Good
job. When you’re a veteran like me, you can push it firmly in place
using just your fingers. Since you’re new to this, you can tap it
into place with this rubber mallet. Ever so gently. Then you’re on
to the next tile.”

“
How’s this?” She tapped
the tile with the mallet, setting it securely into
place.

“
That’s it
Candy.”

“
Candace,” she
corrected.

“
I’m sorry,” he whispered
against her ear again. “You just seem like candy to me, the kind
that’s sweet and chewy, and melts in my mouth.”

Ooh
! She had a monster on her hands.
She battled back, “If you must compare me to candy, think of
me as hard and sour, like a jaw breaker.”

“
Hmm…somehow, I don’t
think I’d break my jaw tasting you, but I’m willing to test the
theory if you are.”

Her knees practically buckled at that
comment. She would never be able to look at tile again without damn
near having an orgasm. She inched away from him, putting some
distance between her and his chiseled chest. She had to put an end
to this right now. “I’m sure there are other folks in here who need
your help,” she told him. Her tone was strictly business.

“
But you looked like the
one most in need of being rescued.”

“
Like I told you last week
when you tracked me down in the parking lot like a blood hound, I
got this.”

Her tone failed to put him off. In fact, he
looked amused by her change of attitude. “That’s no way to treat
someone who rescued you.”

Her hands flew to her hips. “You think
because you spent thirteen dollars on me that I owe you?”

“
Oh, no.” He held his
hands up in mock surrender. “I don’t think you owe me anything. You
made it quite clear that you had plans that night for
dinner.”

“
Good. I’m glad you
understand.”

“
So how about
tonight?”

She looked at him incredulously. “What?”

“
Have dinner with me
tonight.”

“
I’ll give you points for
persistence.”

“
I’m not asking for
points. I’m asking for dinner.”

“
You don’t know when to
give up do you?”

“
Not when I see something
I want.”

Their eyes challenged each other, electric
currents of excitement swirled in the air around them. Candace felt
a rush of heat between her legs. “Well, I guess nobody ever told
you that we don’t always get what we want in life.”

“
Nope. That’s never
happened to me before.”

Toye whispered under her breath, “You two
need to get a room, and release some of that sexual tension.”

Gabe turned on his mega-watt smile. “Works
for me.”

Candace’s mouth dropped open. This guy was
too cocky for his own good. Yet, even as she silently cursed him,
an image of them rolling around on satin sheets flickered through
her mind. When she imagined her legs wrapped around his strong
back, her nipples strained against the thin material of her halter
top. She hoped to God he didn’t notice.

“
Yoo hoo, Gabe,” an
elderly, blue-haired lady called out from across the room. “I got
my mallet stuck in my gunk.” She waved him over, the multi-colored
bracelets on her wrist tinkling as she moved.

The diversion helped Candace regain her
composure. No longer taken off guard, she burst out laughing, ready
to verbally spar. “Looks like you’re needed elsewhere, Gabe. Maybe
you’ll have better luck with the cougar.”

Gabe chuckled before walking away to see
what the woman wanted. Candace was glad for the reprieve. He’d left
without saying a word, but there was no mistaking the hungry look
in his eyes. It was too hard to think when he was around. The man
oozed sex appeal like a hive dripping honey. Lord knows she wanted
some of it, but she’d been stung too many times in the past.

“
Girl, what are you going
to do about him?” Toye prodded.

Candace shook her head. “Believe it or not,
I was wondering the same thing.”

After class, the blue-haired lady had Gabe
hemmed up. Candace used the distraction to her advantage, gathering
her supplies and rushing from the room. She didn’t want to have any
more erotic conversations with Gabe. Worse yet, she didn’t want to
end up accepting his dinner invitation and then regretting it
later. Besides, she had a renovation to take care of. She had no
time for playing games with a hunky carpenter.

With Toye hot on her
heels, Candace quickly shopped for the items on the recommended
shopping list that Gabe had given them when class started. “Whoever
coined the saying
money slipping through
my pockets
wasn’t lying. At this rate,
I’ll end up emptying my savings account within the
month.”

It was worth practically going bankrupt. If
she could secure Zion Realty as a client, she would be sitting
pretty.

“
You need these supplies
to finish the remodel,” Toye said. “And if you ever find that
motherfucker who ran off with your money, it’s on and
poppin’!”

Candace laughed at her cousin’s crude
language. “As much as I’d like to strangle him, we are not
gangstas. Let’s just get these supplies and get the hell out of
here.”

The pair giggled as they approached the
counter and set their purchases on the conveyor belt.

“
Oh, hi there,” the
cashier greeted Candace. “You’re back.”

Candace recognized the same cashier that had
checked her out last time she was short of money. She swallowed the
embarrassment perched at the tip of her tongue. “Don’t worry, this
time I can pay.”

Nose Ring smiled as she dragged each item
across the scanner. “Thinset. Tiles. Bucket. You ladies must be
working on a massive project.”

“
Our class instructor told
us to buy this,” Candace explained.

“
Oh, you must be taking
Mr. Hunt’s class.”

“
No, our teacher’s name is
Gabe.”

She nodded. “Yeah, Gabriel Hunt. He likes
everyone to call him Gabe; no formalities. He’s the coolest owner
I’ve ever met.”

“
What?” Candace thought
maybe Nose Ring had been sniffing paint on lunch break. “Did you
say he’s an owner? Of what?”

“
He’s so down to earth. He
walks around like a normal guy. You would never guess he owns
Sampson’s.”

Toye interjected, “Hold on. Are you saying
Gabe owns this store?”

“
Not just this store. The
whole chain. Twelve stores in six states.”

“
Wow!”

“
Yeah, wow,” Candace
echoed.

“
Of course, the corporate
office is here,” Nose Ring explained. “Mr. Hunt likes teaching
classes. He says it helps him stay in practice.”

Candace was dumfounded. Gabe didn’t look
like some uptight professional. She would have never thought he
owned anything except that raggedy truck.