“Exactly.” She smacked his thigh, and both of their eyes dropped to her hand.
He lifted his eyes to hers, and she swallowed hard. In the short time they’d been talking, he’d seen a handful of looks pass through her eyes: embarrassment, arousal, worry. She had to feel the way the air zapped between them. Her eyes darkened, and her lips parted.
Oh yeah, she feels it.
She licked her lips, and it just about killed him.
“What about you?” she asked, visibly more relaxed now as she leaned back on one hand and turned her body toward him. “Where do you live? What do you do?”
Her question made him think a little deeper about the two of them. A sexy architect into green building. Figures. It had been his experience that tree huggers rarely held much respect for demolition experts. He sucked down his wine and went with an evasive answer in hopes of postponing any negative discussion.
“Depends on the week. I don’t like to be tied to one place for too long. I get itchy.” He’d always been that way. Spending too much time alone in any one of the houses he owned made him edgy. He’d never met anyone he’d liked enough to spend a few weeks with, much less settle down with.
Emily’s finely manicured brows furrowed. Clearly he wasn’t going to get off that easily.
“So…”
“I’m into construction. I go where the jobs take me.”
“Oh. I thought construction workers usually worked around where they lived.”
“Some do. I work with larger projects, which means that I travel a lot.” He didn’t want to talk about his job. Especially not the demolition job he was assessing there in Tuscany. He was enjoying spending time with Emily, and the last thing he wanted to do was talk about why he blew up buildings for a living.
“How long are you here?” His feeble attempt at changing the subject.
“Ten days, and I have every day planned so I don’t miss a thing.” She held up her empty glass.
“No longer worried about me carrying you to your bedroom?” Their eyes locked, and he couldn’t help but think, Or mine, as he filled her glass. Although he knew it was just his ego talking. He’d stopped having flings a few years ago—but they were still fun to think about.
“I can think of worse things.” Her voice was quiet, seductive. She mindlessly twirled her finger in her hair and lowered her eyes. When she raised them again, she said more confidently, “Besides, you have sisters. I think you’ll take care of me.”
“That’s a lot of trust in a guy you’ve known for only a little while.” He refilled their glasses.
“If you were a serial killer, you’d have stabbed me and hidden my body by now. And if you were going to make a move, I think you’d have done more than talk about family.” She moved her fingers over so they were touching his. “Like I said, you have sisters. I think the big brother in you will keep me safe.”
Damn. Talk about conflicting signals. The hand. The brother talk. A guy could get whiplash trying to keep up.
An hour and an empty bottle of wine later, they were standing in front of the door to Emily’s room. She was tucked beneath his arm, her cheeks flushed, her eyes glassy, and her head nestled against his chest.
Lightweight indeed. Cute-as-hell lightweight. Dae took a step back and leaned his hip against the doorframe and crossed his arms. Debating. He wanted to kiss her, to feel the soft press of her lips against his and taste the sweet wine on that sassy tongue of hers. I think the big brother in you will keep me safe.
“These five overprotective brothers of yours, would they mind if we spent tomorrow together?”
She took a step back and raked her eyes down his body. “That depends. Do serial killers ask women on dates?”
He laughed. “I don’t have enough experience with serial killers to answer that.”
Emily’s phone vibrated in her pocket.
“Maybe that’s one of them. You can ask.”
Emily pulled her phone out of her pocket and read a text. She trapped her lower lip between her teeth and raised her eyes to his, then held up her index finger before responding.
“Christ, you’re not really asking your brother—are you?”
She shook her head, and her hair tumbled forward. “Soon-to-be sister-in-law. Daisy. She’s marrying my brother Luke the weekend after I go home.”
Dae scrubbed his hand down his face at the prospect of her asking her soon-to-be sister-in-law about going on a date with him. “Great.” He didn’t even try to mask his sarcasm.
Her phone vibrated again, and her long lashes fluttered as she read the text.
“Well? What does Daisy say?”
“Um…” She lowered the phone and held it behind her back with a coy smile.
Dae rolled his eyes. So much for their date. The words stranger danger came to mind. “It was nice getting to know you tonight, Emily.”
Her smile was replaced with tight lips and a wrinkled brow as he took a step away. “What? That’s it? I haven’t answered you yet.”
He closed the distance between them, so their thighs touched. Their lips were a breath apart, and her eyes held a seductive challenge. It took all of his focus for him not to lean down and wipe that smug look off her face with a kiss.
“I assumed…”
“Assumed?” Her voice turned low and sexy. “What happened to Mr. Hand or Arm? Wow, you’re not quite the man I thought you were if you give up that easy.” She touched his chest, nearly doing him in.
Dae clenched his jaw at the challenge. “I’m trying to be respectful. You’re the one who gave me the big-brother lecture earlier.”
“Oh, yeah.” She wrinkled her nose, and her eyes held a hint of regret.
She was so damn cute that he wanted to take care of her as much as he wanted to kiss her. “Yeah.” He leaned down and pressed his cheek to hers, then wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her against him. “I honestly don’t give a rat’s ass what Daisy said,” he whispered.
Emily nibbled on her lower lip.
Their bedrooms were located on more of a balcony than a hallway, with wrought-iron railings overlooking the great room below. The villa was silent, save for the sound of their heavy breathing.
“It’s your answer I want, not hers.”
He leaned back and gazed into her eyes, hoping she’d take a chance on the desire he could see lingering in them.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Great, and just for the record, I’d have kept you safe even if I didn’t have sisters, but I can assure you that my feelings toward you are not brotherly.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“And I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t act sisterly toward me, either.”
“I—”
“Good night, Emily.”
(End of Sneak Peek)
To continue reading, be sure to pick up the next
LOVE IN BLOOM release:
DREAMING OF LOVE, The Bradens
Please enjoy a preview of the next
Love in Bloom novel
Seaside
Sunsets
Seaside Summers, Book Three
Love in Bloom Series
Melissa Foster
Seaside Summers Excerpt - Chapter One
JESSICA AYERS COULD hold a note on her cello for thirty-eight seconds without ever breaking a sweat, but staring at the eBay auction on her iPhone as the last forty seconds ticked away had her hands sweating and her heart racing. She never knew seconds could pass so slowly. She’d been pacing the deck of her rented apartment in the Seaside cottage community in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, for forty-five minutes. This was her first time—and she was certain her last time—using the online auction site. She was the high bidder on a baseball that she was fairly certain was her father’s from when he was a boy.
“Come on. Come on. Come on.” Fifteen seconds. She clenched her eyes shut and squeezed the phone, as if she could will the win. It was only seven thirty in the morning, and already the sun had blazed a path throu
gh the trees. She was hot and frustrated, and after fighting with her orchestra manager for two weeks about taking a hiatus, and her mother for even longer about everything under the sun, she was ready to blow. She’d come to the Cape for a respite from playing in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, hoping to figure out if she was living her life to the fullest, or missing out on it altogether. Finding her father’s baseball autographed by Mickey Mantle was her self-imposed distraction to keep her mind off picking up the cello. She’d never imagined she’d find it a week into her vacation.
She opened her eyes and stared at the phone.
Five seconds. Four. Three.
A message flashed on the screen. You have been outbid by another bidder.
“What? No. No, no, no.” She pressed the bid icon, and nothing happened. She pressed it again, and again, her muscles tightening with each attempt. Another message flashed on the screen. Bidding for this item has ended.
No!
She stared at the phone, unable to believe she’d been seconds away from winning what she was sure was her father’s baseball and had lost it. She hated phones. She hated eBay. She hated bidding against nonexistent people in tiny little stupid phones. She hated the whole thing so much she turned and hurled the phone over the deck.
Wow.
That felt really, really good.
“Ouch! What the…” A deep male voice rose up to her.
Jessica crouched and peered between the balusters. Standing on the gravel road just a few feet from her building, in a pair of black running shorts and no shirt, was the nicest butt she’d ever seen, attached to a tanned back that was glistening with sweat and rippled with muscles. Holy moly, they didn’t make orchestra musicians with bodies like that. Not that she’d know, considering that they were always properly covered in black suits and white shirts, but could a body like that even be hidden?
He turned, one hand rubbing his unruly black hair as he looked up at the pitch pine trees.
Yeah, you won’t find the culprit there.
His eyes passed by her deck, and she cringed. At least he hadn’t seen her phone, which she spotted a few feet away, where it must have fallen after conking him on the head. His eyes dropped to the ground…and traveled directly to it.
Jessica ducked lower, watching his brows knit together, giving him a brooding, sexy look.
Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me.
He looked at the cottages to his left, then to the pool off to his right, and just as Jessica sighed with relief, he crossed the road toward the steps to her apartment. His eyes locked on her. He shaded them with his hand and looked back down at the phone, then back up at her, and lifted the phone in the air.
“Is this yours?”
She debated staying there, crouched and peering between the railings like a child playing hide-and-seek, hoping he really couldn’t see her.
I’ve been seen.
Darn it! She rose slowly to her feet. “My what?” She had no idea what she was going to say or do as the words flew from her mouth.
He laughed. God, he had a sexy laugh. “Your phone?”
He stood there looking amused and so damn sexy that Jessica couldn’t take her eyes off of him. “Why would that be mine? I don’t even have a phone.” Great. Now I’m a phone assaulter and a liar. She had no idea that being incredibly attracted to a man could couple with embarrassment and make her spew lies, as if she lied every day.
He looked back down at the phone and scratched his head. She wondered what he was thinking. That it fell from the sky? No one was that stupid, but she couldn’t own up to it now. She was in too deep. As he mounted the stairs, she got a good look at his chest, covered with a light dusting of hair, over muscles that bunched and rippled down his stomach, forming a V between his hips.
He stepped onto the deck and raked his hazel eyes down her body with the kind of smile that should have made her feel at ease and instead made her feel very naked. And hot. Definitely hot. Oh wait, he was hot. She was just bothered. Hot and bothered. Jesus, up close he was even more handsome than she imagined, with at least three days’ scruff peppering his strong chin and eyes that played hues of green and brown like a melody.
“Hi. I’m Jamie Reed.”
“Hi. Jessica…Ayers.”
“How long are you renting?” He used his forearm to wipe his brow. She never knew sweating could look so sexy.
“For the summer.” She shifted her eyes to her phone. “What will you do with that phone?”
He looked down at it. “I guess that depends, doesn’t it?” The side of his mouth quirked up, making his handsome, rugged face look playful and sending her stomach into a tailspin.
Jessica needed and wanted playful in her too prim and proper life, but she needed her phone even more, in case her orchestra manager called.
“Let’s say it was my phone. Let’s say it slipped from my hand and fell over the deck, purely by accident.”
He stepped closer, and suddenly playful turned serious. His eyes went dark and seductive, in a way that bored right through her, both turning her on and calling her on her shit. He placed one big hand on the railing beside her and peered over the side. His brows lifted, and he stepped closer again. She inched backward until her back met the wooden rail. He smelled of power and sweat and something musky that made her insides quiver.
“That’s a hell of an accident.” His voice whispered over her skin.
Jessica could barely breathe, barely think with his eyes looking through her, and his crazy, sexy body so close made her sweat even more. The truth poured out like water from a faucet.
“Okay. I’m sorry. I did throw it, but it’s not my fault. Not really. It’s that stupid eBay site.” Her voice rose, and her frustration bubbled forth. “I don’t know how I could lose an auction in the last ten seconds. My bid held strong for forty-five minutes, and then out of the blue I lost it for five lousy dollars? And it was all because the stupid bid button was broken.” She sank down to a chair. “I’m sorry. I’m just upset.”
“So, let me get this straight. You lost a bid on eBay, so you threw your phone?” He lowered himself to the chair beside her, brow wrinkled in confusion, or maybe amusement. She couldn’t tell which.
“Yeah, I know. I know. I threw my phone. But it must be broken. I hate technology.”
“Technology is awesome. It’s not the phone’s fault you lost your bid. It’s called sniping, and lots of people do it.”
“Sniping?” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I know I sound whiny and bitchy, but I’m really not like this normally.”
He arched a brow and smiled, which made her smile, because of course he didn’t believe her. Who would? He didn’t know she was usually Miss Prim and Proper. He couldn’t know she never used words like stupid or even visited the eBay website until today.
“I swear I’m not. I’m just frustrated. I’ve been trying to find the baseball my father had as a kid. It was signed by Mickey Mantle, and somewhere along the line, his parents lost it. His sister had colored in the autograph with red ink, and I think I finally found it…and then lost it.”
“That’s a bummer. I can see why you’re upset. I’m sorry.”
“How can you be so nice after I beaned you with my phone?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been hit by worse. Here, let me show you some eBay tricks.” He scrolled through her apps, of which she had none other than what came with the phone. He drew his brows together. “Do you want me to download the eBay app?”
“The eBay app? I guess.”
He fiddled with her phone, then moved his chair closer to hers. “When you’re bidding on eBay, and other people are bidding at the same time, you need to refresh your screen because bids don’t refresh quickly on all phones.” He continued explaining and showing her how to refresh her screen.
She only half listened. She simply didn’t get technology, and she was used to sitting next to men in suits and tuxedos, not half-naked men with Adonis-like bodies wearing nothing but a pair
of shorts with all their masculinity on display. She could barely concentrate.
JAMIE COULD TELL by the look in Jessica’s eyes that she wasn’t paying attention. As the developer of OneClick, the second-largest search engine rivaling Google, he’d been in his fair share of meetings with foggy-eyed people who zoned out when he started with technical talk. But refreshing a screen was hardly technical, which meant that either beautiful Jessica was really a novice and had lived in a cave for the past ten years or she was playing him like a cheap guitar. She sure as hell didn’t look like she’d been living in a cave. She was about the hottest chick he’d seen in forever, sitting beside him in a canary-yellow bikini like it was the most comfortable thing in the world. Maybe she was a fashion model with handlers that did these kinds of things for her.
Her light brown hair brushed her thighs when she leaned forward, and her bright blue eyes, although looking a little lost at the moment, were strikingly sexy. She had a hot bod, with perfect, perky breasts, a trim waist, curvaceous hips, and legs that went on forever, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d tried to avoid admitting that the phone was hers. The last thing Jamie needed this summer was to be played, even by a beautiful woman like Jessica. This was his first summer off in eight years, and he intended to relax and spend time with his grandmother, Vera, who was in her mideighties and wasn’t getting any younger. If the right woman came along, and he had the time and interest, he’d enjoy her company, but he had no patience for games.
“Either your phone is new, or you don’t use many apps.”
“No. To be honest, I don’t even text very often. I’ve been kind of out of the swing of things in that arena for a while. And after this I’m not sure that I really want to dive in.”
Flirting with Love Page 27