Except for the measuring cup.
Hopefully, she would not be forced to sell her home and flee Pine Springs in shame.
“My fault.” Even his voice sounded sexy. Just two words and her mouth went dry. He looked pale beneath his splendid tan, but this close, my goodness! What did a person say to such an attractive package of testosterone?
Roaring filled her ears, and with fingers that had suddenly gone numb, she dropped her keys. Bent over, she made three swipes to grab them before returning to an upright position.
But it was his eyes that threw the knockout punch. Nothing less than magical, they reminded her of one of Colorado’s lakes on a sunny day. As though he was laughing at her, they twinkled.
And he’d shaved.
Without the beard, she got a better look at his features. Young but hard, chiseled, with just enough humor to not be too intimidating. Nose a little crooked, as though it had been broken a time or two, and his short brown hair was just beginning to grow out from a buzz cut.
She wanted to touch it.
Stop this, Penny! For God’s sake, she was at least ten years older than him. And dressed only slightly better than a homeless person.
Still, this didn’t stop her lady parts from pulsing.
“I don’t have any kids for you to play with, if that’s why you came over.” Now why did she go and say something so stupid?
He laughed. Oh, good, he thought she was joking.
She only wished she didn’t feel so very, well, ancient.
“Nah. My mom sent me to ask if you had any milk. She’s baking a cake and, well, since I’d told her I needed to get out.” He gestured to the bandage, visible beneath his T-shirt.
“Milk?” She’d been lactose intolerant for most of her adult life. “Would dehydrated creamer work?”
Again, the laugh. A deep chuckle that reached into her stomach and stirred up all kinds of insanity. “You haven’t met my mom, have you? She says you’re new in town. I was sad to learn that Mr. Baxter passed away. He lived here forever.”
Mr. Baxter? Oh, the previous owner.
Following the context of this conversation had become nearly impossible. Her estrogen levels distracting her with a curiously uncommon happy dance.
Besides that, days had passed since she’d last conversed with another adult in person.
Let alone a masculine god.
“How long were you away?” Did this question reveal too much about what she knew of him? Well, no, she easily could have watched him pull up in a taxi, with a suitcase or something. She didn’t have to let on that she’d watched him undress the first day he’d arrived.
“Two years.” He rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly.
“Did you get shot?” She’d been wondering for some time now.
But he shook his head. “I wish.”
What did he mean by that? At her questioning look, he explained further. “Shrapnel.” By now, he was leaning heavily against the post holding her porch roof up.
“Are you in pain?” He did look pale. Albeit devastatingly handsome.
He gave her something of a half-smile. Aside from that tiny crook in his nose, which was adorable, Penny found the way one side of his mouth tugged up to be the only other imperfect thing she’d noticed about him.
It was incredibly endearing.
“Yeah, but dying of boredom.” Just then, his gaze dropped to her hands where she jiggled her keys nervously.
“You’re not heading to the store, by chance, are you?”
