Good with His Hands(17)

In the lot next to the model home was a trailer sporting the building  company logo. A familiar looking blonde was coming down the steps. Dani  recognized her as Lydia Reynolds, who worked for another brokerage. The  two women had done deals together before, but Lydia rarely concentrated  on brand-new subdivisions. She was considered quite the expert on  foreclosures.

Dani waved as Lydia approached. "Nice to see you."

Lydia air-kissed her. "Here to register clients? The builder's agent  called in sick today, but the site supervisor gave me a walk-through of  the prototype." She lowered her voice to a confidential whisper.  "Between you and me, it was hard to concentrate on the features of the  house instead of looking at him. Nice."

Laughing, Dani told the other woman they should meet for drinks soon.  Just not at the bar near my place. It was going to be a long while  before Dani could go in there without remembering her night with Sean,  which was neither fair nor logical. She'd been to that bar dozens of  times. Why should an isolated night stand out more starkly than any of  the instances that had come before it?

As Lydia climbed into her car, Dani strode toward the trailer, her  newest pair of open-toed pumps clicking on the sidewalk. She'd bought  them yesterday; the buckles at the ankle and studs on the T-strap made  her feel like a bad-ass. In her mind, she wore them with black jeans, a  leather jacket and a shirt that said "Mess with Me at Your Peril"  instead of a fitted jersey dress. "Danica?"

She whipped her head around, sure she must be imagining his voice.  Maybe it was another real-estate agent she knew, one who happened to  sound like Sean. But, no, there he was. In the flesh. He was right  behind her, at the bottom of the trailer stairs.

It took her a moment to find her voice. "Wh-what are you doing here?"  But she'd already noticed the logo on the chambray button-down he wore  with the sleeves rolled up.

"I work here." A smile spread across his face. "I'm the lead builder for Magnolia Grove."

She blinked, her thoughts a chaotic jumble. At least now she knew what he did for a living.





      8

DANI'S TONGUE SEEMED stuck to the roof of her mouth. Be a professional.  You've dealt with builders before. Dealt with, yes. Slept with, no.                       
       
           



       

"I, uh... The Andersens." She was relieved she remembered the name of  the couple interested in upgrading to a larger house. "I wanted to take a  look around and, if the neighborhood meets their criteria, schedule a  showing."

"Absolutely." He crossed his arms across his chest, and she was annoyed  that her gaze went to the tanned muscles displayed. "I realize I'm  biased, but Magnolia Grove is shaping up to be a very nice place to  live. You look fantastic."

The compliment caught her off guard. It was difficult to remind herself  that their exchange was strictly professional when his expression was  so personal.

He gestured toward the trailer door. "After you."

Considering the temptation of being alone with him in her office  Monday, going into the trailer now seemed like a bad idea. "I think I'd  rather do a walk-through of the house."

He smirked but said nothing as he retreated down the steps. The  sunlight glinted off his hair, highlighting a few golden strands, and  she cursed the general unfairness of the universe. As tough as it had  been to resist him on Monday while staring into those earnest blue eyes,  she'd risen to the challenge. Test passed, level cleared. She was free  to move forward.

Yet here he was again.

You withstood his charm last time, you will again. It would only get easier with time, right?

Could he see her tension, her rigid posture as she matched his stride?  He opened the front door of the model home, and a static charge ran down  her body as she passed him.

She took a deep breath, willing herself to relax. It didn't work. Maybe  I should join Meg for one of those yoga classes she's always trying to  drag me to. A list of standard questions ran through her head, their  familiarity comforting. This wouldn't be like the awkward confrontation  in her office. She didn't have to flounder with what to say; she had a  script. Fighting for composure, she turned to face him.

His mouth was curled into a satisfied grin that made him look entirely too smug. And sexy.

She huffed out a breath. "What?"

"I was just taking a moment to thank her."

Oh, fun. Mind games. "Her, who?"

His grin widened, humor gleaming in his eyes. "The fairy godmother I obviously have, since here you are."

"Guys don't get fairy godmothers. It isn't manly."

"Sexist."

"I'm here to talk about the subdivision," she said. "Not us."

"At least you're acknowledging the possibility of us. That's progress."

"No, I-"

"So this is a six-bedroom house," he began, walking from the foyer  toward the back of the house, leaving her little choice but to follow.  "Three and a half baths."

"Actually, would you mind if I look around by myself for a little bit  and make some notes? Then I'll have a better idea of what I want from  you. I mean," she amended quickly, "what questions I want to ask."

"Sure." His smiling, self-assured air faded into something more solemn  but no less alluring. "If you need some time and space, I can give you  that. But you know where to find me when you're ready."

* * *

FOR THE MOST PART, Dani felt as if she left Magnolia Grove with her  dignity intact. When she'd finished her cursory inspection of the house  and asked Sean a couple of questions about amenities, she'd sounded  poised. Hopefully, he would accept that she'd put their passionate night  behind her.

It would be nice if at least one of them could believe she had.

Truthfully, seeing him had unbalanced her. Work was her sanctuary. The  last thing she'd expected was to interact with him on the job. It left  her vaguely off-kilter for the next couple of hours.

When she joined Spencer and Judy for lunch in one of their meeting  rooms, she kept losing her place in the conversation, her thoughts  reverting to Sean. How was it fair that he looked equally sexy when he  was being playful or sincere? And she felt as though she'd seen him in  his element now. He'd spoken about the subdivision with genuine pride.  It was obvious he cared about his work as much as she did hers.

"Danica?" Spencer's tone was quizzical. "Don't you have a closing today?"

Her gaze shot to the clock on the wall. "Oh, hell. That's the time  already?" It was still theoretically possible that she wouldn't be late,  but she liked to allow plenty of time for unpredictable traffic.

Moving like a whirling dervish, she cleaned up her fast-food debris,  gathered some files from her office, hoisted her purse onto her shoulder  and darted through the reception area. At the far end of the hallway,  the elevator doors were starting to slide closed.                       
       
           



       

"Hold the elevator, please!" She liked her strappy pumps slightly less  at the moment-they weren't optimal for jogging. But, check mark in the  lucky column, someone in the elevator had heard her. The doors reversed  direction. And she found herself face-to-face with Bryce Grayson.

She smothered a groan.

His eyes widened. "You." He took a reflexive step farther away, looking  even less eager to be in her presence than he had the morning she'd  almost caused him to spill his coffee. At the moment, he didn't really  live up to his moniker. He was more Wary Architect.

"I'm guessing your brother mentioned me, then?" She glanced at the  ceiling, wishing she'd ignored the opportunity to jump on the elevator  and had stuck to her usual custom of taking the stairs. How much had  Sean revealed? Did Bryce know that she'd slept with his brother  believing it was him?

"Yes, he did." He cleared his throat. "Skimmed over the details, but I,  uh, got the idea. I was shocked-no one ever confuses the two of us."

Because her mistake was somehow more shocking than a guy seducing her  under a false identity? "Well, you are identical." Sort of. "I mean,  until someone gets to know you."

"But you and I don't know each other. So why would you believe..." He  paused, looking as if he found this entire exchange distasteful. "Have I  ever done anything that would lead you to think-"

Ding.

Oh, thank the sweet Lord. They'd reached the ground floor.

"I don't make a habit of going home with women I don't know," he blurted as the doors parted.

She was torn between wanting to defend herself-explaining that it had  been atypical behavior for her, too-and vehemently telling herself she  didn't owe the judgmental guy any explanation at all.