As she raked the yard and filled lawn trash bags with debris, she found herself stealing glances next door. More trucks and bodies than she’d ever seen before rambled over the property, apparently trying to make up for the day lost to rain. She saw Chev moving among the men in his work clothes, a red bandanna tied over his jet-black hair. Just watching him interact with the other men made her midsection pulse and her breathing accelerate. He looked in her direction once, but she couldn’t tell if it was accidental or if he was seeking her out.
But why would he? She’d made it clear that she didn’t want to sleep with him again. She should be relieved that he had indicated he would respect her wishes.
Wait for her to make the next move.
Her body felt heavy and stiff with tension, feeling at war with herself. Part of her ached to feel Chev’s touch, part of her was convinced it would only lead to heartache. She should have insisted that they keep things at a distance. Now things were complicated. Now her heart was involved, and it made her feel exposed in a way that performing for him at the window never had.
She dragged the bags of lawn debris to the curb. Gemma removed her hat and used a glove to wipe away the perspiration on her hairline. She stared at her mailbox, wavering. Jason and Gemma White.
A shadow appeared overhead, then a loud yelp sounded. Gemma cried out and covered her head with her arms. The wide-winged peacock landed gracefully on the mailbox with a sound like a heavy blanket being shaken over a bed. The blue bird tucked in his wings and stared at her, his long train of tail feathers hanging to the ground, his head bobbing. The precise crown of feathers on its head gave the appearance of a Medieval war helmet topped with a colorful brush. Indeed, he didn’t look particularly friendly at the moment. He thrust his regal head forward and unleashed a series of high-pitched cries.
Gemma stumbled backward and fell hard on her tailbone, then put up her arm to ward off the bird in case he decided she looked…mountable. “Go away!” she shouted, flailing to get to her feet.
A strong arm hauled her up. “Are you okay?” Chev asked, his face creased in concern.
“I’m fine,” she said, feeling foolish. And feeling something else at the familiarity of his touch.
He waved his arms at the bird until it flew up in the trees.
“I was hoping I’d seen the last of him,” she muttered.
“He’s stubborn,” Chev admitted. “It might take more to get rid of him than you planned.”
His words resonated with double meaning, but if his words sounded menacing, the mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes took the sting out of them.
“Thank you for rescuing me,” she said. “Again.”
“You’re welcome. I also came over to tell you that the thermostat for your HVAC unit arrived. I have my hands full right now, but I was thinking I could come over tomorrow and install it for you.”
She knew that his simply being in her house again would be a dangerous temptation. Gemma moistened her dry lips. “I have to work. Could you come over when I get home?”
His regard swept over her, grazing every nerve ending. “I’ll be watching.” Then he turned and walked away.
16
GEMMA’S PHONE RANG as she slid behind the wheel of her car for the commute home from the museum. It was Sue—again. Since yesterday morning her friend had left two messages to call, but Gemma hadn’t yet because she didn’t want to be grilled about Chev.
Yet at the third insistent ring she conceded with a sigh that she was only putting off the inevitable.
“Hello?”
“Well, it’s about freaking time. I was ready to come see you in person to make sure you were okay.”
“I’ve been busy,” Gemma hedged, starting her car.
“Good. With the neighbor?”
Damn…just the mention of Chev made her heart beat faster. “Sue, you’re making way too much out of this.”
“Humor me, okay? There’s nothing this juicy going on in my life.”
“He’s coming over to fix my air conditioner tonight. I wouldn’t call that juicy.”
“That depends on which tool he pulls out of his belt.”
Gemma couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s silliness. “When did you get so bawdy?”
“I’m envious. You have a sexy job and a hot new boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“So you don’t deny that he’s hot?”
“No comment.”
Sue laughed. “You don’t have to tell me. I can hear it. When you talk about this guy, your voice gets all low and husky. You never sounded that way when you talked about Jason.”
Gemma swallowed. The last thing she needed to be told was that her lust for Chev was so obvious. If Sue could pick it up over a phone line, Chev would certainly be able to tell when he came over tonight. After all, the man was so observant. The perfect audience…
“Congratulations, Gemma. I think you’ve officially turned the page.”
Her friend’s words conjured up an image of the fantasies letter folded on the dresser in her bedroom, the one she still hadn’t been able to finish reading. But she felt its presence, waiting for her.
“Thanks for the support. I’m getting ready to head home, so I’ll call you later, okay?”
They said goodbye and Gemma pulled out of the museum parking lot while digesting her friend’s words. After a day of tours, her body was primed for passion. She’d thought of little more than Chev all day, and the intensity with which he’d made love to her. It was a safe bet that if Chev was in her house this evening, proximity alone would set carnal things in motion.
By the time she arrived home, the bikini panties she wore underneath a pair of black short shorts were soaked. One crew was leaving Chev’s property, and another one seemed to be packing up. He turned his head as she drove by and she felt his gaze on her skin like a full-body caress. A shiver skittered over her shoulders as she pulled her Volvo into the garage.
She entered the house and had barely set her purse and black mask on the kitchen counter when the doorbell rang. She tightened the belt of the thin coat that covered the costume of shorts and sleeveless white tuxedo blouse and made her way to the entrance, her pulse going haywire. When she opened the door, she was taken back to the first time she saw Chev standing on her threshold. Was it possible that it had been little more than a week ago?
His clothes were dusty, but his big brown hands and muscular arms were clean. His expression was friendly but guarded, his eyes slightly hooded as he glanced at her legs, clad in fishnet stockings. The bandanna covering his head and the tiny gold earring in his ear made him look like a pirate bent on plundering. His sheer maleness nearly took her breath away.
“Hi,” he said, holding a toolbox in one hand, lifting a small cardboard box in the other. “One thermostat.”
Considering how stifling the air had suddenly become, it had apparently arrived just in time.
“Are you ready for me?” he prompted.
“Oh…yes,” she managed to answer past a tight throat. She stepped aside to allow him entry, but she nearly tripped over a box of Jason’s things that she still hadn’t gotten around to moving to the garage. The sight of the golf towel that he had asked about gave her pause.
Chev cleared his throat and pointed to the stairs. “Why don’t I go ahead and get started?”
She nodded. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thanks. It shouldn’t take too long to make the repair.”
He was already walking up the stairs, his broad body nearly spanning the entire width of the staircase. She followed him and squeezed past him in the hallway, then headed to her bedroom to change. Being so close to him conjured up visions of being even closer to him. “How’s the house coming along?”
“Ahead of schedule,” he said, concentrating on the HVAC unit exposed by the folding door. “The electric and plumbing is finished, and most of the woodwork is ready to stain.”
He went to the breaker box and flipped switches to cut the power. Without the white hum of appliances, the house was hushed and echoey. Chev turned a flashlight on the work area and began to install the new thermostat. Beneath his gray T-shirt, the muscles in his shoulders bunched as he worked, giving her snatches of the tree tattoo that she had traced with her tongue between bouts of making love.
“Wh-what about the pool?” Gemma asked, struck by the awkward juxtaposition of the domesticity of the situation and the underlying sexual current sizzling in the thick, warm air.
“I’m still trying to settle on a design for the mosaic, but I’m close. I’d like to finish it before my family gets here in—what?” He squinted. “Three days. I thought my sister and cousin might like to break it in with a swim.”
Warmth spread through her. He was obviously an adoring brother and cousin. “The mural is almost dry.”
“Great.” He removed a wrench from the toolbox and glanced over his shoulder. “You’re still welcome to come to the party.”
She smiled and nodded, but didn’t commit. She barely knew him. Meeting his family was too…familiar. There was no point. All that existed between them was physical. And fleeting.
From the way Chev’s jaw tightened, she had a feeling he had read her mind. He looked as if he might say something, but changed his mind and turned back to the job.