Kaydee blinked and tried her hardest to keep from sayingme. Not only was it inappropriate, it was improbable. And as much as she’d love to let him take over her to-do list, she still didn’t feel right about making him work on his time off. “Thanks, but I’ll manage.”
“Nonsense,” her grandfather muttered. “Let Leo fix the place. I’ll spring for the material, and you can make him dinner or give him a years’ worth of free haircuts or something. How’s that sound to you, Leo?”
He smiled. “Great.”
Her grandfather smiled. “Excellent. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to wash up before we head over to Ava’s. I hope you don’t mind, but she’s invited us over for dinner, too.”
Leo’s grin widened. “Nope. That’s fine.”
She bit her lip to keep from smirking. It was so cute how eager her grandfather was to spend time with their neighbor.
After the smitten senior disappeared into his house, Leo turned to her. “You don’t need to cook for me or cut my hair, Kaydee. I’m happy to help out.”
More of that warmth funneled through her chest. “Thanks. That’s sweet, but I can’t let you work without getting paid. So, this railing.” She grasped it and tugged. No wobbling. It didn’t budge. “Just tell me what you want for fixing it.”
A brow quirked above his devilish gaze.
“I-I didn’t mean that like it sounded.” Heat rushed into her cheeks. And damn, she couldn’t stop a brief vision of them naked and rolling in her sheets from flashing through her mind.
A sexy grin tugged his lips. He knew.
Dammit.
“Tell you what.” He picked up their drinks and handed hers to her. “How about we enjoy our beers and call it good?”
“Okay. This time.” She returned his smile, but when she reached for her beer, her fingers brushed his palm. Their gazes meet, and the universe disappeared again.
What was with that? Unsure what to do, especially since he didn’t act on the heat flaring in his eyes, she broke contact and sipped her beer.
Getting involved with him was playing with fire.
Trouble was, her life lacked fire.
…
Later that night, Leo returned to the ranch with several things on his mind. First and foremost was Kaydee. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the damn woman out of his mind. And the more time he spent with her the more she lingered in his head. Good or bad? The jury was still out on that one. But he did know he liked touching her. A lot. Too much. He found that out when he screwed up that afternoon and caused her to hurt herself.
Getting out of his truck, he muttered a curse and slammed the door. He hadn’t meant to startle her today. Hell, he hadn’t exactly been quiet, and yet when he’d spoken, the poor woman jumped and whacked her thumb with a hammer. Leo knew firsthand that hurt like a son of a bitch. He hated that he caused her so much pain.
She insisted she was fine, but he could tell by her dilated eyes and tight lips that she was hurting. Overcome with the urge to erase that look from her face, he’d unthinkingly grasped her hand and kissed her thumb. The act—which felt as natural as breathing—was so out of character for him. He didn’t recognize himself, but hedidrecognize how his body reacted to the feel of her skin. She was soft and warm and smelled like raspberries. His whole body immediately sprang to life. It was an awakening of sorts, and again, he wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.
The image of her gorgeous brown eyes and how they widened with the same damn awareness rushing through him flashed through his head. He always knew Kaydee was special, so of course touching her would be, too. If Nate hadn’t come out of the house when he had, Leo would’ve discovered how she tasted as well. He’d wondered about it for several damn months now. The interruption was probably for the best, though.
“Are you going to stand in the driveway all night?” Stone asked from his perch on one of the porch chairs.
Leo hadn’t even seen him sitting there, or Vince. Hell, either the porch light was too dim…or he was.
Probably the latter.
“My guess is the answer’s yes,” Vince said, lopsided grin on his face. “He’s too busy smiling to move.”
He was smiling? With a shake of his head, he stepped onto the porch, leaned against a post, and folded his arms. “You two done yet?”
“Hmm.” Stone rubbed his jaw. “Wonder who put that smile there?” he asked as if Leo hadn’t spoken.
He cocked his chin. “Hey, I smile.”
Stone snorted. “Yeah, if you have gas.”
