“Odd jobs.Nothing special.”
“Name one.”
She moistened her lips, hesitant.“I worked at a funeral home once.”
“Doing what?”
“Hair and makeup.”
He examined her with narrowed eyes, as if taking her measure.“It didn’t bother you, working with dead people?”
She returned his gaze.“Does it bother you?”
His expression became somber.“Yes.It does.”
Meredith didn’t ask him to elaborate.Their conversation had become too interesting—and too intimate—to continue.Sitting with him by candlelight, sharing confidences, felt dangerous.She was about to clear the plates when he did it himself.He washed his own dishes, like a man who was accustomed to living alone.She doubted he did it to please her.She got the impression that he considered her an obstacle, even an interloper.
“Where are you going to sleep tonight?”she asked.
“In the guest room.”
“Wynona converted it to an office.”
He swore, shoving a hand through his hair.
“You can have my room,” Meredith offered.
“I’ll take the couch.”
“You won’t fit on the couch.You’re too tall.”
“Then I’ll sleep on the floor,” he said, and stood abruptly.“I’m going to shower.”
Meredith watched him leave.He took the candle with him but returned it a moment later.Wynona had mystic healing candles in every room, including the bathroom.While he showered, she brought up the extra blankets from the basement.She stacked several thick layers next to the couch to form a sleeping pad for Wade.Then she added fresh sheets and a pillow.
That done, she tidied up the kitchen.She’d have to clear out the fridge tomorrow.Hopefully the power would come back on, or they could get the generator running.She’d seen one in the shed.
When Wade emerged from the shower, he smelled of Wynona’s all-natural soap.Meredith was finished with the dishes, but she didn’t glance at him as he walked past.Covered with dirt and debris, he was an attractive man.Freshly scrubbed, he would be dazzling.One look at him might turn her brain into mush.
She took her own shower next, noting that he’d left the bathroom tidy.There was no hot water, so she didn’t linger.She rinsed off quickly and donned her usual sleepwear, an oversized T-shirt.She emerged and almost collided with Wynona, who was stumbling into her bedroom.The older woman slammed the door with emphasis.
Meredith knew she wouldn’t eat until after she’d slept it off, so she brought Wynona a bottle of water and left her in peace.Then she went to check on the dogs, which she’d forgotten to put away.When she walked outside, she found King and Daisy in the dog run.She squinted in the moonlight, but she didn’t see Chico.She returned to the house to search for him.
“He’s over here,” Wade said.
She couldn’t avoid Wade now.She stepped closer to the couch, aware of her bare legs beneath the T-shirt.Wade was stretched out on the sleeping pad with a pillow tucked beneath his head.He was shirtless, as feared.He tugged down the sheet to reveal Chico.The dog had curled up next to Wade’s taut midsection.
Meredith tried to ignore the visual appeal of Wade Hendricks’s torso.She hadn’t brought the candle with her, and she was thankful for it, because the darkness obscured his male beauty.It softened the well-defined planes and edges of his sculpted chest.Chico, of course, couldn’t be coaxed from this perfect burrow.
“He growled at me when I tried to move him,” Wade mumbled.
Meredith knelt on the floor to scoop Chico up.Her knuckles brushed Wade’s flat abdomen.She froze at the feel of heat, hard muscles, and body hair.The last detail threw her.He had a trail of hair on his stomach, and she’dtouched it.Her skin tingled at the contact, and her pulse jumped.
Flustered by her reaction, she scooped Chico into her arms.The dog weighed only six pounds, but he wasn’t as easy to lift as expected.Chico boomeranged straight back to Wade, as if attached by an invisible thread.She didn’t have a free hand to stop her forward progress.With a keening sound, she tumbled toward him.
Wade grunted in pain as she landed on top of man and dog.Chico snarled in protest and wiggled free.He snapped at Wade, quite unfairly, and fled the scene.His claws clicked on the wooden floor as he scampered away.
Meredith could feel every inch of Wade’s hard body, flush against hers.She attempted to right herself by planting one hand underneath her.Big mistake.Her palm landed in the worst possible location, right between his legs.His male parts filled her hand, bulky and substantial.To her horror, sheflexed her fingers.
