Hunks Too Hot To Touch

by Marie Rochelle

  Shauntie never felt so stupid in her life until she showed up early that Wednesday afternoon at J.T.’s work as a surprise. She wanted to see if he could get off and have lunch with her.

  Instead, she was the one who got the surprise when she caught her supposed boyfriend in the arms of another woman. Not only was the woman wrapped up in J.T.’s arms, he was kissing the hell out of her while a three-year-old little boy, who was undeniably his child, stood beside them.

  The pain hit her so fast it sent her pulse spinning. A tumble of confused thoughts and feelings assailed her. Her mind had refused to register what was going on not ten feet from her.

  Complete and utter shock had kept her feet firmly planted on the ground instead of turning around and running away. To her it seemed like hours passed around her, but it was probably only minutes until J.T. finally sensed her staring at him and glanced over his shoulder right into her eyes.

  She had expected his eyes to show her some kind of feelings like shock, fear or remorse at being caught red-handed by her. However, sadly, there weren’t any of those feelings expressed on his face.

  What made matters worse was the lying asshole didn’t even try to act as if he wasn’t cheating on her with another woman. J.T. wrapped his arm around the woman and pulled her even closer to his side.

  Shauntie swore she would never allow herself to forget the words that came out of his mouth. They set her on the path she was going down right now.

  “Shauntie, I want to thank you for a good time, but I was never in love with you,” J.T. told her with a slight smirk on his face. “I only dated you until my girlfriend decided to take me back. Sure, dating a rich woman was fun for a while. What guys wouldn’t want to be taken care of, but after a few days I was getting bored with you. You just didn’t have what I wanted in the end. Why don’t you find someone else who will be into everything you have to offer?”

  She had been so shocked and embarrassed by J.T.’s confession she stood there and watched as he walked away with his girlfriend and son.

  Shauntie had felt the eyes of the other construction workers burning a hole in the back of her head, but she didn’t turn around and look any of them in their faces. She was trying to find the best way to get out this situation with her pride still intact, but she was woman enough to admit it was totally shredded to pieces.

  She’d wanted to tell his ass to go to hell, but she just couldn’t find the words. It was like they just lodged there in the middle of her throat like a piece of popcorn. She couldn’t get anything out.

  For six months, Shauntie allowed the image of that day to play over and over in her head. Why did she allow herself to fall for such a lowlife? She was glad; at least, they’d always used protection. Lord only knows what kind of awful souvenirs he might have given her if they hadn’t.

  Maybe her subconscious had known something back then about him that she hadn’t. After J.T. stomped on her heart and walked out of her life, Shauntie swore that she would never allow a man like J.T. into her life again.

  Several times after his betrayal, Shauntie thought about going to the construction site and flinging something heavy at the back of J.T.’s head. But she realized he was the ultimate asshole and he wasn’t worth her time or energy. Plus she didn’t want to spend the next fifteen to twenty years of her life in prison for attempted murder.

  So, instead of acting out on her first impulse Shauntie let it go and sent a silent prayer up to God thanking him she hadn’t wasted any more of her time than she had.

  Besides, he had a way of restricting her not physically but emotionally. J.T. tried on numerous occasions to tame her and it never worked. Shauntie loved having her freedom to come and go as she pleased. Independence was very important to her. She would actually call it the foundation to her overall happiness. She wasn’t about to change who she was to please any guy she might be dating to make them feel important. She had the right to her own feelings and thoughts which gave her the ability to share them anytime she wanted to with anyone who cared to listen.

  She was an adult.

  Why did he ever think she would want or need his approval about anything she did in her life? It was just plain crazy. Maybe her independence was one of the reasons her ex-boyfriend decided to run back into the arms of his old girlfriend. J.T. had the capability of handling a girl, but not a woman.

  What J.T. never understood about her the short time they were together was her nature of being flexible. He didn’t comprehend she got a thrill from taking on new challenges in her life, which is why she decided to become an eye doctor. It gave her such immense satisfaction.

  Ever since she was a little girl, she’d had a fascination about people’s eyes and how they worked. In elementary school, she used to wonder why some kids in her class wore glasses and others didn’t have a problem with their sight.

  However, her ability and drive to help others almost got tossed to the side because of a bad judgment call, but fortunately she pulled herself out of her funk. Shauntie swore that she wouldn’t allow herself to get swayed by another handsome man because he would only bring trouble.

  So, if she had to cast her attraction to Nash to the side and settle for a career-driven over-achiever who still wore suspenders with his suit, Shauntie would gladly make that sacrifice for her career, her patients...not to mention her heart.

  Shauntie didn’t want to admit it, but her degrading experience with her ex-boyfriend pushed her even further away from dating and more into her job. She avoided being around any man who couldn’t afford an expensive restaurant or a nice suit.

  She’d been quite happy with the few meaningless men she’d dated until he had to show up. Why did someone like him have to make her want everything she shouldn’t?

  Nash was tall, handsome and very dangerous on her emotions. One minute she wanted to find a way to push him away and then a spilt second later she craved the feel of his mouth on hers.

  Unfortunately, Nash wasn’t aware that he’d shown up at the wrong time in her life; a time when she wasn’t interested in anything but advancing in her career. Having a boyfriend or man in her life wasn’t her top priority at all. Besides, Nash Wentworth wasn’t the kind of man she needed in her life at the moment.

  Nothing personal would ever take place between them. He was going to fix her leaky roof, and after it was done, he would be gone.

  Truthfully, she didn’t know anything about him and he could be the nicest man in the world; but she wasn’t ever going to find that out, because their dealings with each other would only stay on the impersonal side of the scale

  He just had this restless power about him...the kind women found deliciously appealing.

  Nash had this innately captivating presence that made her want to forget everything she’d just vowed not to do and throw caution to the wind.

  Nothing good could come from her getting more involved with Nash. How could it when he was ten times better looking than J.T. had ever been on his best day?

  Chapter Eight

  Walking across Shauntie’s roof bright and early the next morning, Nash checked the horrible workmanship in the valleys, the canals that come between two sections of a pitched roof. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing up here. How in the world did this roof even pass inspection in the first place?

  The previous work must have been done by hired laborers instead of a skilled professional like himself. The end result ended up not being done properly. The roof would undoubtedly create a leak, and then a stunned homeowner might not even know when a leak occurred, but it would eventually happen. Shauntie was proof of that.

  Yesterday while he was up here Nash spotted another problem along the ridges, but that issue didn’t come from poor workmanship. Instead it came from ridge caps being exposed to the weather elements. Luckily for Shauntie, he was skilled enough to replace her roof better than the people who laid it in the first place.

  Usually, he didn’t start his second roof inspection before nine o’clock in th
e morning, but after the hot dream he’d experienced about Shauntie last night and the things he fantasized about doing to her delectable body with his hands and mouth, Nash couldn’t spend another moment in bed without losing his mind.

  Shauntie...what was it about her that was making it so hard for him to stay away? They were still practically strangers to each other but she had taken root in his mind since their first meeting by her flower garden.

  No, he needed to be honest with himself. He’d wanted her all the time she was dating his former egotistical co-worker J.T. What an idiot his former roommate had been not to realize what a perfect woman he had in Shauntie.

  Something about Shauntie’s aura was pushing him to get to know her better. Could it come from the fact that during his first encounter with her, she hadn’t tried to flirt with him or look at him like he was the main course at her dinner table? Truthfully, she hadn’t even noticed him when he worked with J.T. and that made him even more interested in learning more about her.

  Her standoffish attitude intrigued him making him wonder what was racing through that gorgeous head of hers. The last time he was here Shauntie blew him off pretty quickly, but he would make sure she didn’t get a chance for a repeat performance with him. She would take notice of him today. Nash wanted to imprint himself in Shauntie’s memory, so she would still be thinking about him even after he was gone for the day.

  For some reason, Nash didn’t like the fact Shauntie wasn’t affected by him. Sure, a majority of the time women did approach him even when he wasn’t interested in being bothered, but he couldn’t take how Shauntie acted like he was getting on her nerves.

  It wasn’t a feeling he was used to experiencing. Nash was more than determined to find out what it was about the good-looking doctor that had made his body and mind so restless last night and kept her in his head when other women hadn’t possessed the talent to do it.

  Like any red-blooded man, Nash loved the chase. He wanted to be the hunter and not the hunted. Shauntie’s lack of interest in him only fueled him even more to find out what was going on with her. Whatever it was he wouldn’t allow it to keep him at a safe distance.

  The best thing about a chase in his opinion was claiming the prize at the end.

  Shauntie may not know it yet, but she was going to be his ultimate prize. However, first he had to check the roof one last time to make sure there weren’t additional surprises waiting for him.

  Nash wanted everything he could find written down, so he would be ready for anything that might come his way. No matter how much he wanted Shauntie, his job always came first with him. He couldn’t afford to make any mistakes if he was trying to get his business to grow in this economy.

  Twenty minutes later, Nash wrote down the last of his findings on his pad and sadly, he had to let Shauntie know that his initial report was correct. She was going to need an entire new roof. The last time he told her about this situation Shauntie hadn’t taken the news very well. All Shauntie had to understand was that he was damn good at his job and everything would end up perfect if she only would have enough trust in him.

  Making his way back across the roof, Nash grabbed the ladder and descended. When both of his feet were firmly planted on the ground, he glanced over his notes one final time to make sure he hadn’t forgotten to write anything down. He hoped he would be able to catch Shauntie before she left.

  He had been really looking forward to his lunch date with her, but Shauntie had called him late yesterday evening and cancelled on him. Which didn’t surprise him in the least, he knew Shauntie wouldn’t be able to go through with it.

  Shauntie told him she didn’t think it was right for them to have lunch together. So, she took another personal day off work and he could tell her what he found on Friday morning since she would be at home anyway. Nash didn’t believe the story Shauntie had given him, but he allowed her to get away with it for now.

  All of her body language yesterday showed him how scared she was about having lunch with him. Didn’t Shauntie know he wouldn’t let her get away with avoiding him? He was a man on a mission now.

  Nash wanted a date with her even more since Shauntie decided to run in the other direction from him and he was going to get one sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, he really did need to speak with her today because he needed her to sign off on the work order.

  Removing the shingles shouldn’t take him too long but he wouldn’t be able to do anything if he didn’t get Shauntie’s permission first. Once that huge hurdle was out of the way, Nash would be free to do anything he wanted to fix the issue. Since the problem was so big for the first couple of days, he was going to bring in some of his other workers to help him.

  Sliding the pen behind his ear, Nash spun around on his heel and headed for Shauntie’s front door. Yesterday, she might have been polite enough but as soon as their meeting was over she’d tossed him out so fast that he was surprised the door didn’t hit where the sun didn’t shine.

  However, he wasn’t the kind of guy who lived in the past. Why bother doing that when he had a whole new day ahead of him?

  As much as Nash resented being pursued and chased by women at bars with everything he had in him, he wasn’t bothered in the slightest bit or ashamed he was doing the same thing to Shauntie. About ninety percent of his time would be spent on his job, but any free time he had left over, Nash already decided he would direct toward wearing down Shauntie’s defenses.

  Nash pushed the doorbell and waited patiently for Shauntie to answer it. He couldn’t get one certain thought of his head. Today was going to be the start of their working relationship and he wanted it to get off to a good start. Only when both people had their best feet forward did good things happened.

  Where was Shauntie? She’d told him that she would be at home today. Her BMW was still in the driveway, so Nash was positive that he hadn’t missed her. Nash raised his hand to knock again, but the door swung open. Shauntie stood on the other side looking beautiful as usual. Nash couldn’t shake the thought that he was meant to be with this woman.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Wentworth,” Shauntie apologized as she took a step back. “Come on in. I was getting rid of the water in my leak bucket. I can’t wait until my roof is fixed because I’m tired of emptying that stupid thing out.”

  Taking Shauntie up on her invitation Nash brushed past her body deliberately making sure his arm touched her bare smooth skin. The light contact with her body made his cock throb with need. If he got this turned on from a little touch what would it be like if he got the chance to make love to her? Without a doubt, the two of them would burn up the sheets. Nothing that was as hot as what they shared would ever cool off in the bedroom. Hell, he wouldn’t allow it to happen anyway.

  Nash wasn’t sure if he could handle the reality of it, but he sure in the hell would give it his best try. One thing was for sure, he knew how to please a woman in the bed. Even one as beautiful and strong willed as Shauntie Kane. All she had to do was give him a little opening and he would kick the door down to get the rest of the way inside.

  Spinning around, Nash watched Shauntie as she closed the front door admiring how the Indigo fabric of her dress hugged all of her curves. He couldn’t help but think about what she would look like stripped out of it. Each and every time he saw her, the pull was stronger than before.

  “Did you find something different up there this time?” Shauntie asked, coming to stand in front of him. “I was up all night concerned about what other mistakes you might uncover.”

  Hell, Nash wanted Shauntie restless at night thinking about him, but not in that way. He would have to find a way to change her nightly thoughts of him. If he was waking up in the middle of the night aroused and in the need of something, Shauntie should be the same way over here. This wasn’t a one-sided attraction. Not at all.

  “Yes, I did find something different,” Nash said, confirming Shauntie’s suspicions. “But you aren’t going to like it. I actually found more da
mage along the edges of the roof. So, it might take me longer to fix since I’m going to need help to get your roof back in order.”

  For a long moment, Shauntie stared back at him like she didn’t quite know what to say. He couldn’t tell if she was upset or just in shock. Either way, it wasn’t looking good for him. Nash didn’t like the uneasy feeling forming in the pit of his stomach.

  “How can there be more damage?” she demanded. “I thought you told me that you had found everything the other day. I can’t believe what you’re telling me now. Are you trying to pull a fast one on me or something? Sapphire told me I could trust you, but I’m not so sure now.”

  Nash couldn’t deny what she was complaining about, but she had to understand he was the best person for the job. He wasn’t going to tell her anything wrong or lie to her just to get more money in his pockets. He’d never run his business like that in the past and he wasn’t going to start now.

  Shauntie had every right to be apprehensive of him now. He did tell her one story and now was telling her a completely different one today, but he wasn’t trying to cheat her into paying him more money. Money wasn’t what he wanted from her. She had to know that...didn’t she?

  “You remember that I told you I wanted to take a second look at your roof before I quoted you a price,” Nash said. “Well, I got here early this morning and found another problem on the other side of your chimney. I don’t know how I missed it, but I did and I apologize for not seeing it yesterday. I think I caught it this time since the sun was brighter causing them to stand out more. If you sign the work order, I can have some men here later this afternoon to start taking care of the first part.” Nash handed Shauntie the work order.

  Her brown eyes scanned over the paper. “How much will this cost me?”

  Stepping closer, Nash placed his hand on Shauntie’s arm because he couldn’t fight down the urge to touch her. God, she felt so good beneath his fingers.