by Lori Foster
“So, Jason, tell me about this other guy, Nathan. Is he as studly as the rest of you?”
Studly, huh? “Not sure that’s how I’d describe him.”
She pointed at him. “You need to introduce me soon.”
“I thought you were into Sullivan.”
“Mmm... Sullivan. Yes. But a girl needs options.” She transferred her attention to Honor. “I’m going to check out the rest of the house. Be right back.”
After she’d gone, Jason shook his head. “She’s so relaxed and funny.”
“In ways I can’t be.”
Those words seemed to have significant meaning for her. “I never said that.”
“You don’t have to.” Fighting off the awkwardness, she opened her arms and said, “Fine. Colt can do a few things. But don’t pressure him. I’ll talk to him myself, okay?”
“I appreciate it.”
Honor twisted her mouth at the irony, then laughed.
The sound was light and easy and real. Not giggling, not too robust. He’d like to hear her laugh more often.
“On my next day off, if the weather cooperates and...and nothing else comes up, I hope to move outside and get started on the yard. You have to hate having all these brambles and weeds bordering your property.”
“All the rain hasn’t helped.” Wanting to touch her again, he put a hand to her narrow shoulder. Though she went still, she didn’t object or move away. “Mind showing me around, too? I’d like to see the rest of the house.”
Proving she could hear every word, Lexie yelled, “Do, Honor! It all looks terrific.”
They both laughed—and at last, Jason felt like some of the walls were coming down.
Now he just had to decide how far he wanted to take things. Because with every day, it seemed more likely that being mere friendly neighbors just wasn’t going to cut it.
He wanted more. But how much more?
And where the hell did she go in the middle of the night?
* * *
Over the next week, the temps climbed into the nineties and Jason worried for Honor’s AC unit. When they got old, anything could happen.
So far, so good, though.
Toward the end of the week on her day off, she cleared away a lot of brambles, working throughout the day with only a few breaks. She wore cutoffs so short he could see the bottoms of the pockets sticking out from the frayed hem. Her loose, oversize Kid Rock T-shirt looked at least a decade old. A big brimmed hat shaded her face, while rubber boots and gardening gloves kept her hands and feet clean.
Somehow, on her, the mismatched outfit looked pretty damn hot.
In fact, no matter what she wore, the sight of her never failed to fire his blood.
She stretched to knock cobwebs off her front porch with a ragged broom, and his breath labored.
She bent to pull weeds from the yard, and his abs clenched at the sight of her small rounded ass.
She smiled and waved at him, the epitome of the friendly neighbor, and all he could think about was getting her alone, preferably with no clothes at all.
Nearly every day for the past week he’d visited with her, but only for short spells because she was forever busy in one way or another.
He always offered to lend a hand.
She always refused.
And she never complained about the work.
She knew he wanted her, had admitted her own interest, but she didn’t remark on it. Even though she kept things strictly casual, there was a new understanding in how she treated him. She watched him with big eyes and breathless awareness, making him feel possessive when no other woman had affected him that way.
Jason tried to give her room; she had a lot of remodeling ahead of her, an obviously busy job and those mysterious late-night visits.
When she wanted to move things forward, she’d let him know.
But damn, waiting wasn’t easy.
Though she wouldn’t let him fix a single thing for her, she held to their agreement a week ago and always greeted Colt’s offers with a lot of gratitude. Many times while working in the garage, Jason could hear them chatting while they did a chore.
Earlier today Colt had helped her pull out two old, dead shrubs. Backbreaking work, especially in this heat, but she’d laughed when the shrub finally came free and she fell on her ass.
Colt had looked as bemused by that as Jason.
He’d wanted to join in, but he’d been finishing up an ornate doghouse for a customer. After he’d delivered it, he got home to see Honor raking up the last of the mess.
Shaking his head, he’d gone in for dinner.
Now, with the dishes put away, he stood at the dining room window watching her stuff refuse into a big, sturdy lawn bag.
“She’s been at it all day,” Colt told him, worrying.
“Yeah.” Apparently she wanted to finish up before calling it a night.
“It looks better already with the dead shrubbery gone. She’s anxious to paint. But the house will have to be scraped first. And the shutters are a loss. Not sure even you could fix them.”
Maybe, Jason thought, he could use that as an excuse to visit. Going one further, he wouldn’t mind making her some custom shutters like he had for his own house. He could follow Lexie’s lead and present them as a housewarming gift.
Hogan crowded in next to them, drying his hands on a dish towel, since it had been his turn in the kitchen. “Has she lost weight?”
“Yeah.” She was a little thinner, but still shapely.
“The place looks better every day.”
“Yeah.”
His brother gave him a funny look. “You’ve been staring at her so long that you can only manage one-word replies?”
He shrugged.
Over his head, Hogan and Colt shared a grin that Jason ignored.
“His brain is starting to rot,” Hogan said. “There are easier women around, you know.”
Colt shifted, uncomfortable with that particular topic.
It infuriated Jason that his brother could be that callous. While going through his own ordeal, it seemed he’d forgotten how it all affected his son.
The seconds ticked by in silence, and then Colt said, “I didn’t tell her about the garbage yesterday. Did you?”
“Nope.” Honor still hadn’t gotten a lid for her can, and once more, her garbage had gone everywhere. Jason had woken early that day to see raccoons rummaging through it.
There’d been no sign of Honor or her car, so he and Colt had picked it up again. She hadn’t gotten back home until that evening, and as usual, she’d looked limp with exhaustion.
For the past few nights, though, he didn’t think she’d gone out. He was so attuned to her he’d have somehow known, no matter how she skulked about.
Sometimes he’d be working in the garage and sense her the moment she got near her house. A dozen times, occasionally during meals, once in the middle of a shower, he’d been drawn to the window and found her out there, either leaving, arriving or working.
She kept odd hours, she kept secrets—and still his hunger for her grew.
Suddenly she glanced up, saw them all clustered in the window, and she waved.
Colt waved back.
Hogan glanced at Jason. “She still rendezvousing in the middle of the night?”
Colt answered before Jason could. “Yeah, she is. But she’s getting sneakier about it. Sometimes I hear her, and sometimes I don’t.”
Well, hell. He hadn’t realized that Colt was aware of it, too. His bedroom was on the same side of the house as Jason’s, so he should have expected it. Hogan, luckily, was on the opposite end, making do in Jason’s den, sleeping on a couch and keeping his clothes on hanging racks.
“I never should have told her that we could hear her departures or arrivals.” There were a lot of things he regretted telling her. Did she work herself so hard trying to prove something...to him? He hated that idea.
“Where the hell does she go?” Hogan wondered aloud.
Colt shrug
ged. “She hasn’t said.”
Suddenly Honor lurched back from the scraggly shrubs remaining in front of her house. Screeching all the way, her expression comical, she high-stepped it toward their house, jiggling and slapping her hands all the way.
All three men headed to the front door to greet her, with Jason in the lead.
He got the door open and she barreled into him, hopped and jumped around him in a ridiculous and awkward dance, and finally managed to gasp, “Snake!”
Jason caught her shoulders and held her still. “Snake?”
“In the bushes! Over there.” She stiff-arm pointed toward her property.
Jason took in her abject horror, then his brother and nephew’s wide-eyed astonishment. His smile cracked and once it did, Colt and Hogan roared.
They laughed so hard they couldn’t stay upright. Doubling over, they fell into each other, and occasionally one of them would say in a ridiculously high pitched voice, “Snake,” while prancing in place.
Jason had to admit, it was pretty funny. And damn, he liked seeing Hogan like this. For too long it had seemed as if Hogan lost the ability to laugh when he lost his wife.
But he was laughing now.
Honor tried to shove away from him, and without thinking about it Jason folded her in close, locking his arms around her. She quickly subsided. In fact, she went stock-still.
Worked for him. The heat of the day had intensified the musk of her skin and hair. He breathed her in. Her skin was silky soft, dewy warm and damp. Against his ribs he felt the plump cushion of her breasts.
Colt got it together first, but then he was more attached to Honor since he’d been working with her all week, so he’d naturally be quicker to want to guard her feelings.
Around spontaneous chuckles, he asked, “What kind of snake was it?”
Jason felt her lips move against his chest when she said, “The kind I don’t want to see.”
“Meaning any kind?” Hogan guessed.
“Pretty much.” She snuggled in closer, turning so her cheek rested on him. “I’m sorry for bothering you with this. You told me to get a dog or a gun, and since I haven’t done either, I just...came here.”
“I’m glad.” Jason smoothed her untidy ponytail, more than a little turned on. “If you’d had a gun, would you have shot the snake?”
“No, of course not.” She tipped her face back to see him. “I don’t want it hurt.”
That got Hogan guffawing again, and Colt struggling to contain his hilarity.
All Jason could think about was kissing her. When she looked up at him like that, he was a goner.
With a sigh, Honor resettled against him. “Why are you always shirtless?”
“It’s ninety?”
“So in the winter...?”
He shrugged. He wasn’t big on bundling up unless he knew he’d be outside for a while. “Depends.”
After a few seconds more, she inhaled and levered away. “Guess I made a fool of myself.”
“Nah.” Hogan further mussed her already disheveled hair. “You just showed us your dance moves.”
She surprised everyone by reaching out to playfully punch Hogan in the shoulder while grinning. Her amusement faded and she shuddered. “Sorry, but I was using all my bravery for the bugs. Once that python showed up—”
“Python?” Colt asked.
“To me, every snake is a python.” She hugged herself. “The one I saw was just gray. And not that big. But...” She mean mugged each of them. “It looked at me.”
On another short laugh, Hogan shook his head. “Well,” he said to Colt. “Should we go slay a dragon?”
“Sure.” Colt gave Honor a crooked grin. “How about if we just relocate it?”
“Far away?” she asked hopefully.
“The woods on the other side of the creek should work.”
That intrigued her enough that she lost her jitters. “You can get to it?”
“Yeah, sure. Be right back.” He and Hogan walked off.
Leaving Jason and Honor alone.
As a reminder not to keep touching her, Jason again shoved his hands into his pockets. “Once your yard is in shape, you’ll see that just beyond that line of trees is the creek. I put in a stone path to it from my backyard and built a little bridge to get over it to the other side. With all this rain, it’s almost like a river.”
“I didn’t realize it was that accessible.” Enthusiastic, she added, “I want to see it.”
“Now?” He eyed her dirty knees and the scratches on her arms. She was certainly dressed for it.
“No, not while they’re putting a snake there.” She went back to hugging herself.
Did she think it would be snake free at some point? Jason stepped closer to her. “Could I ask a favor?”
Jumping on that, she replied fast, “Yes, of course. I’d love a way to repay you.”
“I didn’t mean... There’s nothing to repay.” He gave one shake of his head. “If you go to the creek, will you be sure to take one of us with you?” He held up a hand. “I know you’re more than competent, but it’s unfamiliar—”
Wearing a cheeky grin, she added, “And there’ll be at least one snake there.”
“—and it’d be better if you weren’t alone.”
They stared at each other.
She turned shy again. “You’d go with me?”
“Yes.” Even as he reminded himself not to pressure her, he eased a step closer.
“Okay. Thank you.”
Why did it feel like he’d just made a date for the prom? Unable to resist, he lifted a hand to her face and brushed his thumb over a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Silky, warm...would she be that soft all over? “I like your boots.”
Dimples appeared in her cheeks. “Thank you. I didn’t want my feet to get dirty.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my god, my filthy boots! I tromped into your house.” She turned a circle, looking everywhere for tracks, but then she slowed and breathed in awe, “Wow, your house.”
Proud of all the work he’d done, Jason enjoyed watching her face, seeing her admiration as she visually explored.
She did another turn, taking in the cozy family room and peeking into the formal dining room. “It’s amazing. I love your doors, and baseboards, and all the trim.”
“The millwork is original to the house. When I remodeled and expanded things, I matched the existing trim with original moldings salvaged from area teardowns.”
Eyes wide, she took in the higher ceilings and then the wide-plank wooden floors. “I’m blown away.”
Her house was similar to his but smaller and without the major renovations. “Want me to show you the rest of it?” A tour seemed like a good opportunity to advance their relationship. He’d open up to her—and maybe she’d open up to him.
“Yes, please.” Quickly she removed her boots and put them by the door. “Your place is twice the size of mine.”
Jason stared at her small bare feet with the toenails painted pink. She’d only removed her boots, but it hit him like a striptease.
He forced his gaze back to her face. “I added to the length of the kitchen, one bathroom and my bedroom.” Gesturing for her to go ahead of him, they went down the hall and started with Hogan’s room. His brother wasn’t particularly messy, but the setup—a somewhat converted den—made organizing tough.
“Hogan is camping out in here until he can make other arrangements. You can probably tell I’d turned the room into more of an office space. Things are shoved around now, mostly out of place.”
Leaning in through the doorway, Honor admired the many windows, the floor and area rugs and the heavy masculine furniture. “It’s gorgeous—and I think it’s terrific that you and your brother are close enough to rely on each other.”
“Family first,” he said. “Always.”
She beamed at him in approval, making him wonder again about her family.
Next he showed her the hall bath done in white subway tiles, dark wood and a grayish blue paint. Bec
ause Colt and Hogan tended to use the spare shower in the basement, the room remained nice and tidy.
At the other end of the house—closest to where she lived—he showed her Colt’s room, which was predictably cluttered.
She took it all in and smiled. “Typical high school kid?”
“Been a long time since I was a high schooler, so I can’t say for sure, but it seems to me he’s a hell of a lot more mature than most. Messy, yes, but mature.”
She grinned as she pulled the door shut. “He is pretty terrific.”
“Agreed.” Jason led her to the last bedroom.
His own.
“Until Hogan and Colt moved in, I’d never lived with a kid. Even at Colt’s age, I was neat, and Hogan was never exactly a slob. But Colt...” He grinned. “I swear the kid could clutter up an empty lot.”
“He’s generous with his time.” Guilt made her wince. “It seems I’m always working him now.”
“With everything that’s happened, I think he likes staying busy and being appreciated.” He cupped his hand to her neck and moved his thumb over the side of her throat. “You’re generous with your gratitude.”
She moved nearer so that with each step, their bodies brushed together. “We haven’t talked about anything too personal, but I know he misses his friends.”
“The loss of his mom, the move—it’s all disrupted his life in a big way.”
“I can imagine.”
Jason looked at her, but she kept her expression blank. “Since they moved in, a lot of the time has been transitioning here. Hogan still has business to wrap up in Columbus, and occasionally Colt can accompany him there, so he sees his old friends just enough to keep him from completely settling in here.”
“Rough.”
He nodded. “All in all, he’s handled it well. At least from what I can see.” Colt was a private kid. If he still suffered over the loss of his mom, he kept it to himself.
Honor shoulder-bumped him. “I’m glad he’s here with you.”
“Yeah, me, too.” Pushing aside his never-ending worry for his nephew, Jason opened his bedroom door and stepped in. “This is my room.”
She balked at the doorway.
“Come on in.”
She did, but instead of looking at the room, she looked at him.
“That’s not playing fair,” Jason murmured, doing his own share of looking. When he took a step toward her, she quickly got it together and jumped her gaze around the room.