by Cari Quinn
His breaths sawed in and out of his parted lips and he mumbled against her hair, breathing in its fragrant lavender scent before he gave into a moment of blissed-out exhaustion.
She trembled in his arms, around him. Reminding him they lolled against a door that could open at any time, on top of a public building.
A building he owned.
“Dillon?”
He cocked open one eye and blinked as it stayed dry. The rain had let up while they’d been plastered together. “Hmm?”
She shot him a grin over her shoulder. “So, was it good for you?”
He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. Probably not the usual gesture after rough door sex, but it fit. “Try spectacular.”
“Did you see lightning?”
“Affirmative.” He looked up and noted the clearing skies. A slice of moon peeked through the gap in the clouds and he couldn’t stop the grin that crossed his face. “It even stopped raining.”
“It was raining?”
Laughing, he pressed a rueful kiss to her shoulder and eased out of her. That she made a weak sound of protest went a long way to making him feel better about leaving the silken fist of her body. He wasn’t the only one who hated to see this end.
Even if it never should’ve happened in the first place.
He pulled off the condom as she tugged up her shorts and bent to adjust her shoes. Or at least that’s what he assumed until she turned and dangled the handle of his watering can from her fingertip. A sexy smile ghosted around her mouth, scarcely visible in the moonlight. “Aww, a daisy. Missing this?”
“It’s a watering can,” he muttered, snatching it out of her hand.
“I know. I’ve used them before. You know, a lot of men might be intimidated by using such a…cute item.” Another sexy smile. Damn if he didn’t find them delicious.
“If I didn’t prove my manliness a few minutes ago, then screw the daisy.”
She laughed and the sound smoothed away most of his ire. Unluckily for her, since he’d been half-tempted to “prove his manliness” by taking her against the stone railing.
“Need some help?” She had apparently noticed his full hands and pulled up his jeans and boxers for him, tucking him inside the cotton with an efficiency that got him half-hard all over again. “So did you really put this garden together?”
“It’s not just a garden,” he said through gritted teeth. “It’s an ecologically viable green roof.” Something he might’ve told her more about, had he not been much more consumed at the moment with the way her nipples beaded against her top. He could have it off and her breasts in his palms again before a moan passed her rosy lips.
“Is it part of some beautification deal? Or to save some cash?”
God, he needed to dump this condom and lose the watering can. Holding both somehow made his chest puff and his manhood shrink in disparate proportion.
He tossed the condom in the nearby garbage can and returned as Alexa was redoing her braid. Shit, he’d pulled it to pieces. “It’s not just about money.”
“Only rich people say that,” she said under her breath, wrinkling her nose in a way he guessed was supposed to convey displeasure but instead made her look freaking adorable. “Are you trying to blend in with the moneyed set?”
“I’ve been trying for years.” Definitely a true statement. “There are heating and cooling benefits for buildings with green roofs, yes, but they’re also a good move for the environment and wildlife.” He tucked the watering can under his arm and opened the door. “Come on. I have your part.”
Falling silent, she followed him downstairs and up the hall to the apartment he’d been working on earlier that evening. He set aside what he’d been carrying and grabbed the bag he’d left by the door.
“I’ll put it in now, if you want,“ he said, hating the awkwardness he could already sense building between them.
Sure, everything had been hunky-dory when they’d both been horny out of their minds, but now reality had arrived. They were near strangers, and worse, he was keeping something huge from her. Even if she hadn’t wanted to hear the truth, that didn’t diminish his guilt in holding it back.
“Where did you get that?” She stared at the part tucked under his forearm. Fuck. He’d forgotten to lose the bag.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to get the part in Renault, but the hardware store had been closed when he arrived. So he’d come back to Value Hardware just before closing and grabbed what he needed, thinking he’d ditch the evidence and she’d be none the wiser.
Yeah, not so much. Apparently that cheerful smiley face imprinted on plastic might as well have been the bell at the start of a boxing match. Any second she’d put up her dukes.
“Why do you hate Value Hardware so much?” Maybe, just maybe, he might even be able to come clean and not feel guilty as hell for digging through her financial records, then having dirty roof sex with her while she believed he was just the full-service handyman.
“Where do you want me to start?”
“At the beginning.”
She huffed out a breath. “They don’t care that they’re squashing the little guy.”
“You mean you,” he said gently.
Irritation flared on her face and she threw her braid back over her shoulder. “Not just me,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest. “They’re trying to do everything instead of what they’re good at. First they were just a hardware store. Now they’re expanding into flowers and landscaping. I even heard talk in town they want to do some snooty lifestyle magazine. It’s like they want to put everyone out of business in Haven but them.”
If Dillon knew his brother—and he did—Cory wouldn’t mind that. At all. “Diversification’s good in this economy. Besides, you can’t blame just one store if your business isn’t doing well.”
Unless there was more to it… and unless was a word practically made for his brother.
Her eyes flashed. Damn, but she was pretty when she was riled. Pretty all the time, prettier when she had a flush tingeing her skin and that fire in her eyes. “Oh, and you’re an expert now?”
“I’m just saying there has to be more behind why you hate Value Hardware so much. You don’t hate Zulo’s, I bet, and they sell plants too.” Or did she hate Zulo’s? Hope bloomed in his chest. Perhaps she had an all-encompassing retail hate, which was a little creepy and yet also would let him off the hook.
His gaze lowered from her pursed lips to that dangling necklace flirting with the vee of her tank top. Her nipples pebbled under the thin ribbed fabric, making him stiffen against his jeans.
Then they could have sex again. Soon.
“No, I don’t hate Zulo’s. I reserve my hatred strictly for Value Hardware.” She sighed and looked at her watch. “I should go. I have to be up early.”
“Me too.” He’d be talking to his brother first thing, because something still wasn’t right with this whole situation. She’d just had an incredible orgasm—thank you very much—and yet she was already strung tight again at just the mention of the hardware store. He got that she was stressed about money, but he could tell there was more. There had to be.
If he couldn’t figure out what the problem was, he couldn’t fix it. And if he couldn’t fix it, he couldn’t get another hit of Alexa. And that wasn’t an option.
“I’ll be by soon to put in the part,” he added into the silence. The air practically crackled with renewed sexual energy.
That he couldn’t take advantage of again yet. Unfortunately.
“Thank you. I appreciate you fixing my sink earlier, and getting the part.” She turned toward the door.
“You forgot to thank me for the orgasm,” he called with a grin just before the door thudded shut.
…
Alexa scrubbed the counter inside Divine, determinedly buffing out every last fingerprint from the glass. It wasn’t as if she had any customers to help. It was just past noon and she’d already been open for three hours. In that time,
she’d had two browsers and two non-buyers. There had also been a visit from her brother, who’d stayed just long enough to ascertain she was once again without help in the store. Oh, and that she basically had no customers.
The good thing was that the lack of foot traffic meant she’d have plenty of time to work on her new window display that afternoon. She’d decided to take a page out of Value Hardware’s book and do up some pretty, inexpensive displays with a fun fall theme. She glanced at the pile of paper flowers, wire, and swaths of bright red-and-yellow ribbon she’d bought at the craft store. Her inner snob wanted to sneer, but the rest of her was excited. It had been so long since she’d done arrangements that weren’t high-end, pricey affairs with the most expensive flowers and exquisite silk bows. It would be fun to really let her creativity go.
Besides, what did she have to lose? Nothing she’d done so far had worked. She’d happily content herself playing with her carnations—what the hell—and loops of bells.
Speaking of bells, the one over the door chimed and she glanced up, her heart beating faster. Nope. Not a customer. Or…anyone else she might foolishly hope to see, though she knew she shouldn’t.
“Hey, Travis,” she said to the college kid who’d been helping design Divine’s new website. “Get out of class early?”
“Yeah. Had an exam.” Travis’s sandy brows lifted toward his equally sandy thicket of unruly hair as he studied the gleaming counter. “Look at you go.”
She shrugged. So she was a bit obsessive-compulsive when it came to keeping the store clean. There were worse things she could do.
Like sleeping with your new building’s handyman after knowing him only one day?
Warmth suffused her cheeks. Yep, not going there. Though “sleeping with” seemed like a painfully inadequate term for what had occurred last night between her and Dillon.
Not that she knew how he felt about their sexcapade. She wasn’t the insecure type to need progress reports from her lovers, but for some reason she’d been tempted to ask him last night beyond her cheeky “was it good for you” bit. Then they’d fought over plastic bags and Value Hardware and she’d flounced off instead of going for round two as any sane woman would have. The arousal in his hot blue eyes had indicated he’d been more than willing to play product tester on another vertical surface, but the mention of the store had killed her libido. Beyond stupid.
Now Value Hardware was even screwing with her sex life—and her sink.
She sprayed more glass cleaner and attacked a new spot. Just as well they’d argued. At least she could now say she’d driven Dillon away and wouldn’t have to concern herself with wondering if he’d want more than a wham, bam, slam against the door.
On the roof. In the rain. With the stars just coming out in the rolling sky, while their wet, hot bodies rubbed against each other—
“Lex?”
Guiltily, she looked up at Travis’s address. “Yes?”
“I asked if you needed anything before I got to work on the site.” He gestured to the broom and dustpan tipped against the counter. “I could sweep up if you’d like.”
He was a sweet kid. Always volunteering to do chores for her. “Thanks, but I have it all under control. I’ll order out for lunch in a bit.”
“I can man the store if you’d like to get some fresh air. Or I can run down to the deli and pick you up whatever you’d like.” His eager smile coaxed out one of her own. “How about the usual? Pastrami on rye? Extra pickle on the side?”
“Such a sweetheart.” She leaned forward and patted Travis’s arm. “But thank you. I’ll just finish up and go later.”
The bell over the door dinged again and that same futile hope reared in her chest. Stupid. She and Dillon had mutually agreed to have a one-night stand—half-hour stand?—and there was no reason to second-guess that decision. If she saw him around her building, fine. She would be cordial. But there would be no more sex. Absolutely none.
She tried not to groan as Nellie and her father entered the shop, beaming. “Afternoon, sweetpea.” Her father came around to wrap her in a hug while Nellie clasped her hands and looked motherly. Not just because of the formidable baby bump, but she also had that anxious expression in her eyes that Alexa’s mother often did. The one she hid behind abundant cheer, as Nellie was right now.
Uh-oh.
“What is it?” Alexa gripped her father’s upper arms and peered over his shoulder at her best friend. “Is it the baby?”
“No, of course not.” Nellie patted her belly as if to reassure herself it hadn’t detached and rolled away. “We’re just here for a visit. We brought lunch,” she added, holding up a brown paper sack.
Double uh-oh, and now that uh-oh was directed her way. She recognized the looks on their faces. If they weren’t keyed up over the baby—thank God—someone else had set off their worry button. And that someone clearly was her.
Just great.
“I can take a short break. Hang on.” She went to the back room and aimed a grim smile at Travis, who was kicked back at her desk with her MacBook Air propped on his knees. “Just going to borrow these,” she said, snagging the two spare folding chairs.
He immediately sat up and tried to look serious. “Need help?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Okay. I’ll get back to work then.”
Did he really think she hadn’t noticed the game window he’d minimized as soon as she appeared? But he was a good kid and what he’d done so far on the site looked amazing. She wouldn’t begrudge him a couple minutes chasing birds or whatever he’d been doing. “You do that.”
Once the seating was arranged around the counter and sandwiches were open on everyone’s laps, Alexa decided to go for broke. “Since when are you two hanging out together in the middle of the workday?”
“Since Jake had a meeting and your mom was stuck in court and I needed a ride to the ob-gyn,” Nellie replied, pulling off the crust on her ham salad sandwich.
“A, I’m your best friend, why didn’t you call me? And B, what’s up with your car?”
“In the shop. Broken axle. Besides, you’re working and Pop told me I could ask him for anything.”
Alexa almost choked on her tuna on rye. “Pop?”
Nellie grinned. “Yes, what Jake calls him. He said you refuse to call him anything but Father.”
“Too true,” her father put in, busily inhaling his own turkey and Swiss.
“Not true. I call him Daddy sometimes.”
“Yeah, when you want something. Like when you begged and begged for that Miata for two years in high school.”
“And you gave it to me for graduation.” Alexa smiled fondly at the memory of her first car, a pristine white convertible. It hadn’t had a single dent when she’d sold it four years later after college.
“Your first love,” Nellie agreed.
Alexa’s smile faded. Did they really need to talk about love? She didn’t want to think about anything that had to do with men. Not when she was battling serious second thoughts about cutting-and-running when it came to Dillon. Even if it could get messy with him working in her building. Even if he had purchased a part from Value Hardware, which really wasn’t a crime at all. It was just that she’d still been suffering the sting of Patty’s defection, and he’d waved that smiley-faced bag around…
“I don’t need anything,” she said under her breath, fiddling with her sandwich. “Everything is just hunky-damn-dory.”
Her father took a swig from his soda, then set the bottle aside with a finality that made her nervous. Here it came. The real reason for their impromptu visit. “Sweetpea, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help from people who love you. Who only want the best for you.”
“I don’t need help.” Hadn’t she just said that?
Her father and Nellie exchanged knowing glances. “We disagree.”
“Oh, really.” She glanced back and forth between them, not liking this united front they were presenting against her. Nellie was s
upposed to be her best friend. On her side in all things. Even those that had yet to be discussed. “Help with what?”
“Well, let’s start with the sign in the window.”
“The sign that’s been there all of two hours?” Alexa rolled her eyes. Suddenly it all made sense. Her caped crusader of a brother had blown his bugle and spread her news all over town. “Jake called you, didn’t he?”
“He might’ve mentioned he stopped by here this morning, yes.” Her father didn’t blink. For a guy who worked in accounting, he had a steely don’t argue with me stare. “What happened to your new employee? Didn’t you just hire her?”
Alexa fiddled with the wax paper that held her mostly uneaten sandwich. Her appetite was about as consistent as her emotional landscape lately. “She found a new position at Value Hardware.” Nope, the words didn’t singe her tongue. At all.
“So you need someone to help you,” her father prompted.
“Well, yes, I’m hoping to find someone. Preferably with flower design experience, but I’m willing to train the right person.” What else did she have to do during all the hours she wasn’t helping customers? “I’ll even take part-time at this point, assuming they can start within the next couple weeks.”
“Perfect.” Nellie balled up the wax paper that no longer contained her sandwich. Apparently she’d put it away already. “I just resigned from Gamble’s this morning. I’m a free woman.”
Alexa gaped at her best friend. Nellie had worked at Gamble’s for years, and despite getting fed up with the gossip mill, Alexa had thought she liked her job. Plus there was the employee discount, which allowed her to feed her cheesy shirt fetish on the cheap. “You quit the department store? With no notice?”
“I offered to work two more weeks, but Mr. Gamble turned me down.” She shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve been ready to leave for awhile. The politics just got to be too much, and I’m tired of listening to sniping. Besides, you said the magic words. Part-time.” She grinned. “So when would you like me to start?”