“Air conditioning,” Paige said, strolling into the kitchen while simultaneously sucking the air from the room. “The best invention ever.”
All the blood in my head ran south at the sight of her. Sweat drenched her face and plastered her flowery top to every dip and curve of her chest. She had a single button undone at the top, and slick, almost silvery skin shined underneath it. Better than gorgeous.
She ignored me on her way to the freezer, and she stuck her whole head inside the open door.
“Rough day?” I asked and took another swig of beer.
“No,” she said into the freezer.
In that single word, her voice sounded harder than I’d ever heard her, as if she was trying to convince herself more than me.
“I met some interesting people and practiced surface cleaning on the pages of a book from the 1700s,” she continued.
“Cool.”
Her curvy ass strained against her black skirt as she stood on tiptoe to lean in farther. I gripped the edge of the island to root myself exactly where I stood. It was too easy to imagine sliding up behind her, easing her skirt up her thighs, biting off her panties. Unless she wasn’t wearing any. Sweet Jesus, did she ever go commando? I took another drink so I wouldn’t groan my approval.
She shut the freezer door and turned with a heavy sigh. “I’ve done it before, but today we learned how to do it therightway. Without gloves.”
“Without gloves?” I asked to keep my mind occupied with something other than her ass.
“Well, with my hands, it’s okay to touch a book that old. But yours...”
I glanced down at my scabbed knuckles and grease stains that matched the prints all over my Auto Tech shirt. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
“Speaking of surface cleaning.”
Now that the sweat had dried from her face, her full lips were locked in a frown, like something other than the heat was bothering her. What was she not telling me? Was she thinking about last night when she’d come at the thought of me?
“I can take a hint,” I said and started for the hallway. “I’ll take a shower.”
She started after me. “Me too.”
I turned. “Is that an invitation?”
Her dark gaze slid down the buttons of my open shirt, then finally met my eyes for the first time since she got home, as if she’d been trying her hardest to avoid looking directly at me. Now, though, her eyes brightened and her full lips opened a fraction.
Something raw and powerful passed between us. My dick throbbed at how close she stood, at how close she was to revealing everything she wanted. And I would give it to her the second those walls she’d built around herself fell.
She blushed and shook her head. I took that as a not yet. Couldn’t blame a guy for trying, though.
The steps were wide enough for us to climb together, each swing of her right hip nudging mine. She glanced at me from underneath her long eyelashes and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. When she didn’t, we separated, her to her bedroom and me to the hallway bathroom, but that turbocharge between us could combust the whole house.
I could make her say yes, make her beg me to fuck her, but the timing had to be just right. She had to be sure she wanted me. Her shaking her head was a sure sign she still had doubts.
I turned to see her with her forehead pressed against the bedroom door, maybe fighting the same urges I did. But then she opened it and disappeared inside.
Taking a deep breath, I cranked on the water for an ice-cold shower.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, I FOUNDPaige kneeling on the countertop in the kitchen. Wet hair waved down the back of her gray tank top and teased the waistband of her shorts. Spices that had once been inside the cupboard in front of her lay scattered on top of the island. Armed with a sponge, she scoured the shelves clean.
“Just leave me alone,” she mumbled.
“What did the cupboards do this time?” I asked.
She whipped around, and when she did, her knees, which had been balanced on the countertop, wobbled and tipped. Without thinking, I leaped forward and slipped my arms around her waist to steady her before she crashed to the floor.
