Because all she had left of him was his memory, and she wanted to honor it. To make him proud.
And, well, she also had to start making some money.
Soon.
Putting everything else aside, making a living was her chief concern at the moment. That’s a little thing called reality. She’d put everything she had into the store, and it was all she had left. It had all been planned out, right down to the exact day her savings would dry up even if she was frugal with her spending.
Her contractor quitting wasn’t something she’d accounted for. And that put a major crimp in said plan.
If she didn’t have a store, that meant she didn’t have any food, or a roof over her head, or any means of survival. And no way was she crawling back to her stepmother and stepbrother, admitting they’d been right about her all along.
Because they weren’t right. She wasn’t useless. Or weak. Or talentless.
But at this point, she was desperate. If this jerkface contractor quit on her, she didn’t know what she would do. Rob a bank, maybe?
She spotted an office building with a modest sign that read Coastline Construction and pulled into one of the parking spots. Schooling herself for an epic showdown wherein she would assert herself and tell the guy what was what, she climbed from the car and walked through the door with extra pep in her step.
There was no desk or reception area at the front. Just a few chairs, a water station, and no people. She looked down the hallway, peered around a corner, but saw no one. Then a door opened, and a young guy wearing a hard hat and mud-covered boots entered the room.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Do you know where I can find Hunter Sparks?”
His eyes briefly took her in, his expression turning quizzical, and he jerked this thumb toward the room he just came out of. “Boss is in there.”
He walked off before she could ask if it was okay to go in. Once again steeling her shoulders, she made her way to the door but slowed when she heard a voice on the other side. Whoever it was, it sounded like he was on the phone.
The voice was definitely male and it was definitely deep.
It reminded her of her beautiful, perfect stranger from last night. In fact, his accent even sounded similar.
A lot of people have Southern accents down here.
But the more she listened to his muffled voice as she stood outside the door, the more it reminded her of Bob’s smooth baritone, and the way he’d growled at her as they burned up the sheets all night long.
“Shit,” he’d said in those smooth Southern tones when he first entered her. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in anything so tight. I don’t know how long I’m going to last, here.”
“I’ve got all night,” she’d whispered.
“Good,” he’d said, low and sexy. “Because I don’t think once is going to satisfy me.”
It hadn’t.
They’d done it two more times after that, each time feeling even better than the last.
And in that time, she’d discovered that plural was possible.
Of course, she’d had to bail this morning before he woke up. More out of self-preservation than to avoid an awkward encounter. She’d been afraid that, if she’d allowed herself to really take in how good he looked sleeping in that bed, she would have started imagining things. Wishing for things.
She could have stayed and gotten Bob’s number. His real name. Found out where he lived and—if he’d wanted to—arranged to see him again.
Soon.
But that was such a dangerous road to venture down.
That road led to feelings, which then turned into commitments. Commitments eventually merged into relationships. And relationships…well…
They often intersected with pain. Disappointment.
And since she didn’t want to wind up tangled in the resulting emotional wreckage—again—she couldn’t stay.
She mentally shook herself and came back to the present. She had to forget about Bob and his magical dick. Her life was in Shell Grove now, with her swimsuit shop. That was her dream.
A dream this asshat of a contractor wanted to destroy.
Not happening.
Without knocking, she pushed through the door—
And came to an abrupt halt.
The man’s back was to her, but— Those shoulders. That hair. That body.
It couldn’t be.
She had to be hallucinating.
She managed to get out, “A-are you Hunter Sparks?”
Please don’t be. Please, for the love of God, do not be—
His head whipped around, and he immediately dropped his phone.
No. Fucking. Way.
“What the— Red?”
Chapter Four
What fresh hell was this?
Jade’s one-night stand was her contractor?
No, no, no!
Did that mean he lived in Shell Grove? Because, what the hell?
There had to be some sort of mistake. She hadn’t kicked a puppy. And she often gave money to the homeless. She didn’t deserve karma this messed up.
“Red?” Hunter—not Bob—repeated. “You’re Jade Hollingsworth?”
So this was what going into shock felt like. She had always wondered.
She thought she nodded, but there was no way to be sure. “You’re Coastline Construction?”
He looked just as flabbergasted about the situation as she did, which made her feel a teensy bit better.
“Uh, yeah. I own the company.”
Well, he hadn’t lied. Technically, he was in construction.
Un-freaking-believable.
“Why were you in Harperville yesterday?” she asked, still trying to make sense of everything.
“A meeting. It got out late,” he said. “I didn’t feel like driving home last night.”
But her life would have been a whole lot less complicated if he had.
Then again, without him she never would have visited The Land of Multiple Orgasms. It was a lovely place she wouldn’t mind vacationing in for a while.
Whoa. What the hell was she saying?
This, right here, was exactly why she didn’t do one-night stands.
She rubbed her temples, and for a brief second, she thought she might faint. That would have been ridiculous, though. So debutante. She fought to steady her feet. Get ahold of yourself.
So she’d slept with her contractor. Ex-contractor. So she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him all morning. Big deal. The world was not ending.
“You’re from here?” she demanded.
He grinned, looking more and more pleased at her frazzled state. She wanted to throttle him. She was reeling at this wildly unexpected turn of events, and he looked almost tickled about it.
“I am,” he said. “Lived here my whole life, aside from the few years I lived in Charleston after high school.”
She nodded several times—probably looking like a deranged bobble head. “Well, I would say it’s nice to officially meet you, but we kind of have a problem here.”
His top lip curled and he raised an eyebrow. “Do we, Red? How do you figure?”
The way he crossed his thick arms across his body caused images of the night before to flicker through her mind. How powerful his body had been. How easily he had dominated her in bed.
Stop it.
She was not going to think about last night. From here on out, she was putting it behind her and moving on with her life.
Then again, maybe she could use the situation to her advantage. After their night together, he surely wasn’t still going to turn down the job. Was he?
“It’s Jade,” she said through gritted teeth. “And yes, we do have a problem, because I hired you to do a job and you quit on me.”
His smug expression was wiped from his face and his jaw clenched. “I explained in my email my reason for having to back out. I’m sorry, I just don’t have time to work on your store renovations. But I can help you find someone else.”
He wears those jeans really well.
“I need to be open for summer business, and we had already created a floor plan,” she snapped. “I don’t have time to start from scratch with someone else. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“I’ll pass everything along to whoever you choose for the job,” he said easily, like none of this fazed him.
Of course it didn’t.
It wasn’t his life going haywire.
“Well, that’s comforting,” she said curtly. “You know, bailing on someone the day before they get into town—through an email, no less—is a pretty crappy thing to do, and certainly not very professional.”
He looked away and did the chin-rubbing thing that had driven her crazy last night. Don’t think about it.
“Again, I’m really sorry,” he said in a low voice. “Believe me, any other time I’d be happy to help you out. I just— I can’t.”
“Save your breath, Hunter.” She pivoted and headed for the door at a brisk pace. She was so mad she was afraid steam was going to start coming out of her ears. “I’ll figure it out without your help.”
Crap, crap, crap.
If only she knew how.
Chapter Five
It took Hunter a good ten seconds to react to Jade stomping out of his office.
What the hell had just happened?
He was still trying to process the fact that his redheaded dream girl was the woman he’d just quit on…with a callous email, no less. She was right. It had been a pretty shitty thing to do.
But damn. He couldn’t stop picturing the woman naked.
Remembering what she’d looked like last night as she came with him inside her.
If that made him an even bigger asshole, he could live with that.
This surprising turn of events was either the best…or possibly the worst…thing that had ever happened to him.
Too soon to tell.
Time to go find out.
He stampeded out the door of his building and spotted her marching toward a BMW. Of course she drove a BMW. It just figured his dream girl would be from the city and apparently had money.
Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off her gorgeous red hair as he approached her. “Jade, wait.”
When she jerked around, she pierced him with a glare that only she could have made look sexy. Fuck. He was hard already. He shifted around on his feet in an effort to hide his reaction from her, knowing his aroused state wouldn’t exactly win him any points.
“Unless you’re about to tell me you’re taking the job, you can kiss my ass,” she bit out.
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Didn’t get enough of that last night, huh?”
Good line, asshole.
Because that wouldn’t make her want to claw his eyes out.
He switched gears before she could say anything. “What I’m curious about is why you stopped in Harperville last night instead of driving all the way through.” He put a hint of challenge in his voice. “It wasn’t that late when you got to the hotel.”
She avoided eye contact.
Interesting.
She lifted her shoulder. “I was tired. Just felt like having a drink. My moving truck didn’t get here until this morning, anyway. Not that it’s any of your business.”
He took a small step toward her, and she held her ground. He swallowed a smile. The woman had fire, no doubt.
“I don’t think that’s why,” he said.
Her shoulders straightened, but a shadow of vulnerability flitted through her eyes.
So he pushed. “Were you having doubts about moving here?” he asked. “Maybe a little scared?”
“No,” she said defensively. A strong gust of wind blew a lock of her hair across her face. She pushed it behind an ear. “But there’s nothing wrong with being a little nervous. Moving to a new place by yourself is a big step. I just needed a breather.”
He stopped advancing on her, satisfied and a little surprised that he’d gotten the truth. Then again, he supposed there wasn’t much point in them feigning any kind of pretense.
They had seen each other naked, after all.
“Is that why you bailed this morning?” he asked. “Because you were too nervous to face me?”
Those amazing green eyes shot daggers in his direction.
He smiled. Yes, he did just bring that up.
“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “But what was there to say? Thanks for the sex? Catch you on the flip side?”
He tried to ignore how those words affected him. Physically. “For starters. Then you could have followed it up with, ‘You were so amazing last night,’” he said in a dramatic, high-pitched tone. “‘I’ll never forget you as long as I live. Take me again right here so I can remember exactly how you feel inside me.’”
“Is that supposed to sound like me?”
He released a soft groan. “Trust me, baby. Your sex voice is much hotter than that. I just wish I could have heard it again before you left that hotel room.”
She rolled her eyes. “Guess you’ll have to settle for the memories.” Her eyes widened, filling with panic, and she rushed to add, “Actually, don’t think about me at all. In any way. And don’t call me baby.”
He chuckled. “Everyone calls everyone baby. It’s a Southern thing.” He ignored her sigh. “For what it’s worth, this is a great town. I think you’ll like it here.”
She let out a mirthless laugh. “Yeah. If everyone here is as friendly as you, I doubt I’ll ever get bored.”
His grin faded, and he felt his expression harden. He ground his teeth together as he imagined any of the male pricks in town hitting on her, trying to get into her pants. Because he absolutely knew they would. How could they not? She was a vision of perfection.
But hell, he didn’t even want to consider her doing anything with them like what she had done with him last night.
Because if that happened, he would go apeshit.
Abruptly, he took a mental step back. Where the hell was this coming from?
He’d had sex with her…a few times. But that didn’t make her his. Plus, he wasn’t interested in a relationship, or even a casual involvement, with anyone.
Regardless, he still found himself saying, “I would use caution making new friends if I were you.”
Her brow furrowed. “What is that supposed to mean? You just said Shell Grove is a great place.”
He pursed his lips. “Just that new people in this town garner a lot of attention. Some folks will be curious, and some of them will only be after gossip. So just…”—don’t screw anyone but me—“remember that.”
She huffed. “You throw one hell of a welcome party, I’ll give you that.”
He laughed and lowered his voice. “I thought I did a pretty good job of making you feel welcome last night,” he said pointedly. “We can have an after-party tonight, if you’d like.”
God. He loved that he could make her blush.
She swallowed, clearly trying to hide her reaction to his words. “Can we not talk about last night? Like, ever again?”
“That might be a little hard for me, Red,” he replied. “But I’ll work on it.”
“For the last time, it’s Jade.”
“My apologies,” he said. “Jade.” He slid his gaze over her bright red hair that was piled on top of her head, then down to her stunning green eyes. Yeah, she did remind him of a rare and beautiful gem. Something unique that should be treasured for eternity. “It suits you.”
Her eyes lowered to his mouth as he slowly licked his lips. Then she averted them to the ground and kicked at the cracked asphalt beneath her feet.
“Yeah, well. Hunter is a lot better than Bob, too.”
He let out a part grunt, part cough. The way she’d kept moaning his fake name last night…oh, Bob…had been more than torturous.
He wanted a do-over, with her whispering his real name as he got her of
f with his tongue.
He cleared his throat. “I’d like to think so. Anyway. Are we going to be able to move past me having to pull out of your job? Or are you going to bite my head off every time I see you from now on?”
Her lips thinned at that. “Well, I’ll try to be on my best behavior—”
“Oh, I hope not.”
A muscle in her jaw ticked. “But this conversation isn’t over. I need that work done.”
Once again, regret slammed into him. “I’ll do whatever I can to help,” he said softly. “I just wish I could do more.”
Looking impatient, she turned for her car but stopped to glance back at him uncertainly. “Just do me a favor and don’t tell anyone about last night, okay?”
He hadn’t planned to. But it stung, nonetheless. Sure, he wanted to tell the whole damn town about what they did, but that was more so all the single men would know to keep their distance from her. “Why? Ashamed of me?”
“Of course not. I just…” She paused. “I need to start things off here on the right foot. I don’t want to deal with any awkwardness. If everyone found out that the first thing the new girl did when she got into town was crawl into bed with the first guy she saw, things could get…weird.”
For some reason, that annoyed him even more.
“First of all, don’t belittle what we did last night,” he growled. “Second of all, I would never gossip about our time together. Despite what you think of me, I’m not a total asshole.”
She didn’t respond for several moments. They just stood there, watching each other in silence.
“I should go,” she finally said, but she didn’t move.
He slowly nodded. “Right. By the way, I thought you were a baker.”
Last night in the bar, he’d actually fantasized about her being covered in icing and cake mix, and so many other delicious treats…which he would then lick off her naked body.
“Yes, I was a baker. I never said I owned a bakery, though.”
“I guess that’s true.”
He stepped forward and brought their faces closer together. He watched in fascination as her eyes glazed over. He was so tempted to close the scant distance between their mouths and remind her how good it was between them. Instead, he reached over her shoulder and opened her car door.
Sweet Attraction Page 4