His intent was clear. She told herself to say no, to turn her head, to step sideways. There was nothing stopping her. She was free to move and shut this down.
But she didn’t. Instead, she surrendered to nine years of fantasy and parted her lips as he closed the space between them.
Two
Before his lips even touched Jules’s, Caleb knew he was making a huge mistake. He also knew he didn’t care.
He’d lain awake half the night thinking about her, picturing her on the trail outside her house, reliving her saying she’d had a crush on him. He should have kissed her right then. Any other man would have kissed her right then.
Now her cheek was soft against his palm, warm and smooth. He edged his fingers into her silky hair, and his lips finally covered hers. He kept the kiss soft. He wanted to devour her, but he didn’t want to scare her, and he sure didn’t want her to push him away.
Her lips softened. They parted. He firmed his grip, anchoring her mouth to his, while his free hand went around her waist. Desire pulsed through his body, arousal awakening his senses. He gave in to temptation and touched his tongue to hers.
She moaned, and his arm wound around her, bringing their bodies flush together. He deepened the kiss, bending her slightly backward. His body temperature rose, and he could feel the pulse of the ocean, or maybe it was the beat of his heart.
Melissa’s voice penetrated from outside, saying something about the roof. Her footsteps sounded on the deck. A man’s voice rose in response to her question.
Jules’s hands went to Caleb’s shoulders, and she gave the slightest push.
He reacted immediately, pulling back, her flushed cheeks coming into focus, along with her swollen lips and glazed blue eyes.
He wanted it again. He wanted more. He absolutely did not want to stop.
“I’ve made it worse,” he said, half to himself.
“We can’t do that,” she said, obviously voicing her own train of thought.
“No kidding.”
“I can’t trust you.”
“You could have said no.” This wasn’t all on him.
Her smile looked self-conscious. “I know. I’m talking about more than just the kiss.”
“Tell me why?” He didn’t know why he cared, but he did.
“Why I can’t trust you?”
“Yes.”
She thought about it for a moment. “I can’t trust you, because I can’t trust you.”
He wasn’t buying it. “That’s a circular argument. You’re too smart for that.”
“Okay,” she said, drawing back against the ladder. “I can’t trust you because you’re a Watford.”
He knew he should walk away, but his feet stayed stubbornly still. “You barely know me.”
“I know your family.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I know you want me to compromise my interests.”
“Not really,” he said.
She cocked her head and sent him a frown of disbelief.
“Only a little bit,” he amended. “But it’ll work in the long run. I know it’ll work in the long run. For both of us.”
“Are you lying to yourself or just to me?”
“I’m not lying.”
“You definitely inherited it,” she said, apparently growing tired of waiting for him to back off. She slipped sideways, putting some distance between them.
“Inherited what?” He watched her go with regret.
“The gift of persuasion. Just like your father and grandfather, you’re confident in your ability to talk your way out of or into anything.”
Caleb wasn’t like his father or his grandfather. At least he didn’t want to be like them. He tried very hard to mitigate his father’s character traits in himself. For the most part, he thought he succeeded.
“That’s not fair,” he said.
“Fair?” She gave a light laugh. “A Watford talking about fair? Let me add to that. A Watford talking about fair while he tries to talk a Parker out of something?”
Caleb knew he’d lost this round. There was no way she was going to listen to reason. At least not right now. The kiss had been a colossal error.
Then again, it was a fantastic kiss. He couldn’t bring himself to regret it. If that kiss was the biggest mistake he made today, it was going to be a good day.
“No comeback?” she asked. “Come on, Caleb. You’re disappointing me.”
“Is there anything I can say to change your opinion?”
“Uh, no.”
“Then is there any chance you’ll go out with me?”
The question seemed to take her aback, and it took her a second to respond. “You mean like on a date?”
“Yeah. You and me. Dinner, dancing, whatever.” He wasn’t exactly sure how they’d separate their personal attraction from their business interests, but he was more than willing to give it a try.
“Is that a joke? Are you trying to put me off balance?”
“Yes, I’m trying to put you off balance.” He took a couple of steps toward her. “But no, it’s not a joke. There’s obviously an attraction between us.”
“We have nothing in common.”
“I like kissing you.” And he was pretty confident that she liked kissing him.
Her expression didn’t soften at all. “I bet you like kissing a whole lot of women.”
Not as much as he liked kissing her. But the accusation was fundamentally true. And he didn’t want to lie to her. “I suppose I do.”
“Then take one of them out on a date.”
“I’d rather take you.”
“You’re too much.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“Give the man a gold star.”
The answer surprised him. “You admit to being stubborn?”
“Oh, yes.” She jabbed her finger against his chest. “And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
He trapped her hand, holding it against his heart. “Fightin’ words?”
“You said it yourself. We’re both going back to our corners now to come out swinging.”
Her eyes were alight, her cheeks still flushed, her lips were still swollen from his kisses, and he could see a little pulse at the base of her neck. She was the sexiest woman on the planet.
“Don’t you dare,” she said, snatching her hand from his grip.
He couldn’t help but grin. “I’m not going to kiss you again.”
“You better not.”
“I’ll make you a deal.”
She shook her head.
“Not a business deal. A personal deal. Next time, you have to be the one to kiss me.” Even as he said the words, he feared he was making a mistake.
She might never decide to kiss him. But he had no choice. He couldn’t take the chance of misreading her signals.
Melissa bounced through the doorway, enthusiasm in her expression and in her tone. “Jules, this is Noah Glover. He’s offered to help us with the renovation.”
Jules expression immediately neutralized, erasing their kiss, their argument and everything else. Noah Glover had walked in, and she’d given him a brilliant smile that made Caleb jealous.
Noah was tall and brawny, with an unshaven face and a shaggy haircut. He looked like the kind of guy who worked all day out in the weather.
Jules smoothly closed the space between them. “Nice to meet you, Noah.”
They shook, and Caleb felt another shot of jealousy. He gave himself a ruthless shake. It was one thing to want to kiss her, even hold her, even strip her naked and make love to her—which he did. But it was something else altogether to be jealous of a man shaking her hand. He wasn’t about to let that happen.
“I hope Meli
ssa warned you we’re on a tight budget,” Jules said to Noah. “We want to do as much of the work as we can ourselves.”
“I can work with a budget,” Noah said. “And as much work as you’re willing to do is fine with me.”
“That sounds perfect.” She was still shaking his hand.
That was it? The entire interview? They were going to hire the guy right here and now? What about reference checks?
Caleb stepped up and stuck out his own hand. “Caleb Watford. I’m a neighbor.” He wanted this Noah guy to know he couldn’t simply stride in and take advantage of Jules and Melissa.
“Nice to meet you,” Noah said.
His grip was firm. Of course his grip was firm. He was a carpenter. But Caleb was no slouch. From what he could see, they were about the same height. Caleb could bench press one-eighty, but Noah had a lot more calluses.
“And our sworn enemy,” Jules said.
Caleb slid her a look of annoyance. Did she have no idea that he was trying to help?
“What happened while I was gone?” Melissa asked, glancing from one to the other.
“Nothing,” Jules said quickly. “Well, more of the same.”
“I’m happy to get started tomorrow,” Noah said to the women. “If you pull together your budget, I’ll get going on some estimates, and we can see what we have for options.”
His voice was deep. Caleb wasn’t crazy to learn that. He’d heard women liked men with deep voices. It was supposed to instill a sense of confidence. He didn’t want Jules feeling overconfident with this stranger.
Caleb had never heard of Noah Glover. Was he local to the Whiskey Bay area? Was he passing through? His truck outside was old and battered, and he wasn’t exactly a poster child for professionalism. Caleb was definitely going to check him out.
“I’m up for that,” Melissa said. “I’m excited to get started.”
Noah gave her a nod. “Until tomorrow, then.” He gave a parting smile to Jules before he left the building.
“He really seems to know what he’s doing,” Melissa said as she watched him leave.
“You just met him,” Caleb said.
Both women looked at him in surprise.
“How can you judge his competency?” Caleb doubted either Jules or Melissa had any expertise in construction.
“He seemed open and straightforward,” Melissa said. “Talked in plain language. He came highly recommended.”
“Did you check his reviews?” Caleb asked.
“Melissa has a business degree,” Jules said.
That was news to Caleb. He didn’t know why it surprised him.
“Of course I checked his reviews,” Melissa said. “I am aware of the internet.”
Caleb wasn’t sure whether to backpedal or press forward. “I only meant...”
Jules’s voice turned to a sarcastic purr. “That sweet li’l young things like us might not know how to manage in the big bad world?”
He frowned at her. “I wondered why you’d trust him in a heartbeat and be so suspicious of me.”
“Experience and good judgment,” she said.
“That’s not fair.”
“I told you before, Caleb. You’re a Watford. There isn’t a reason in the world for me to be fair to you.”
* * *
“He really is hot,” Melissa said two days later.
Jules looked up from where she was stripping varnish from the wooden bar, expecting to see Caleb walk through the door. But he wasn’t there. At least, she couldn’t see him.
Melissa was pulling down the window trim, while Noah was outside setting up a survey level on a tripod.
Jules was momentarily confused and, she hated to admit, a little disappointed. Caleb might be annoying, but he was also interesting. He energized a room.
“You mean Noah?” she asked her sister.
“Who else would I mean? Look at those shoulders and those biceps.”
“He does seem to be in good shape,” Jules agreed.
She hadn’t thought of Noah as particularly hot, although she supposed he was fairly good-looking in a rugged, earthy kind of way. He was dressed in a khaki green T-shirt and a pair of tan cargo pants. A tool belt was slung low on his hips, and his steel-toed boots were scuffed and worn. He had sandy-blond hair, thick and a little shaggy.
“I can’t stop staring at him,” Melissa said.
“I wouldn’t have pegged him as your type.”
The men Melissa had dated in college had been mostly preppy intellectuals, sometimes even poets. Occasionally, she’d talked about seeing an athlete. There was one basketball player she’d stayed with for a couple of months.
“Hot and sexy? Whose type is that not?”
Jules smiled, taking another look at Noah through her safety glasses. “So you mean as eye candy.”
Personally, she found him a bit dusty for eye candy. But if Melissa found him entertaining while she took on the drudge work of renovating, Jules was happy for her.
“Don’t let him slow you down,” Jules said.
“I can look and rip trim at the same time.”
“Make sure you don’t stab yourself with a nail.”
“They’re finishing nails, teeny-tiny finishing nails. Do you think if it gets hot enough he’ll consider taking off his shirt?”
“I think if you ask him we get sued. Sexual harassment goes both ways, you know.”
“I won’t ask him, at least, not flat out.”
“You can’t ask him at all. You can’t even hint.”
“I can hope.”
“I suppose there’s no such thing as the mind police,” Jules said.
Melissa grinned. “That’s a good thing. Because what I’m imagining is probably illegal in most states.”
“Please don’t tell me.”
“You’re such a prude.”
Jules scrunched her eyes shut, not allowing any untoward mental pictures to form. “Pink fuzzy bunnies. Pink fuzzy bunnies,” she chanted out loud, bringing the harmless image into her mind.
Melissa laughed at her antics.
“I obviously missed something.” This time it was Caleb.
Jules popped open her eyes to find him standing in the doorway again.
Talk about hot and sexy. He wore blue jeans, an open-collar white shirt and a midnight blue blazer. He looked casual and classy all at the same time, putting the rest of the male world to shame.
“Pink fuzzy bunnies?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Inside joke,” Melissa said. “It’s our mantra to keep nasty images at bay.”
Caleb glanced around. “Is there something nasty?”
“Not at all,” Melissa said, her blue eyes flashing mischief before she looked out the window again.
Jules told herself to stop ogling Caleb. “Can we help you with something?”
“I’ve been doing some research on your project,” he said as he stepped inside.
She adjusted her gloves and went determinedly back to working on the varnish removal with a paint scraper. “You’re just the Energizer Bunny, aren’t you?”
He kept moving toward her. “You’ve obviously got a rabbit theme going here.”
“Stay back,” she warned. “This stuff is dangerous.”
He stopped but frowned. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Yes.” She dug the blade into the tacky solution and scraped it off in a layer.
“Have you done this before?”
“I watched a YouTube video.” She wiped away the goo with a rag and started on another strip.
“So, your answer is no.”
“My answer is ‘it’s none of your business.’”
He seemed to find her response amusing. “Y
ou’re very prickly.”
“And you’re a cocklebur.”
“A what?”
“A prickly plant. Something that digs in and sticks to you and won’t let go.”
“Oh. Okay, my mind went to a completely different place with that.”
Jules struggled not to smile. She didn’t want to encourage him. Or maybe she did. She didn’t like that he felt so free to interfere in her life, but she’d admit he was at least as entertaining for her as Noah was for Melissa.
A low clatter sounded from the window where Melissa was working. She swore.
Jules quickly glanced up. “You okay?”
Caleb was there before Melissa could answer, removing an L-shaped piece of window trim from her hands and untangling another piece from around her feet. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Melissa said. “I just got distracted for a minute.”
“Where are you putting all this?” Caleb asked.
“There’s a disposal bin in the parking lot.”
Caleb spotted a pair of work gloves in a box by the door. He helped himself and gathered up a full armload of discarded trim.
“You’re not dressed for work,” Jules felt the need to point out to him.
“Not exactly,” he agreed. “But I might as well help a bit while we talk.”
“We’re not done talking?”
He didn’t answer, just shook his head as he left through the door.
“You’re as bad as me,” Melissa said.
Jules realized she was watching Caleb’s backside as he walked away. “Is it that obvious?”
“It is when you start drooling.”
“You’re such a comedian. I’m trying to figure out what he’s doing here.”
“That’s not what your expression says. But, okay, let’s go with that. What do you suppose he’s doing here?”
“He said he’d done some research on our project.”
“What does that mean?” Melissa asked.
“I’m assuming more on why we should remove the noncompete clause.”
“That seems likely. He’s coming back.”
“I see that.”
Caleb gave Noah a curt nod of acknowledgment as he approached the restaurant doorway.
From Temptation to Twins Page 3