Her gaze kept drifting back to them.Two silhouettes against the sun.Their movements were purposeful and despite the noise from their work, she also heard something else.The men were silent.
No jovial laughter.No voices.Nothing.
A knot formed in her stomach.The silence between them was wrong.They were always talking, teasing, laughing.
Her chest tightened.The last thing she wanted was to come between them.
Her stomach flipped.How did she look either of them in the eye after what had happened?
The truth pulsed through her.She wanted Axel again, wanted Nick too, wanted the connection she’d glimpsed between them.
She swallowed hard.Whatever happened next would change everything between the three of them.
Whew.She was seriously getting hot.
* * * * *
Axel saw Jenna approaching the ranch house long before Nick clued in.
His breath hitched.She was a sexy lady.Had always been.At least to him.
She moved with that easy confidence he’d always loved, and sunlight was catching in her hair like a lure he couldn’t look away from.
But there was something different about her since he had last seen her before he’d gone to prison.A softness, a glow?He just couldn't put a finger on it, but he suspected something.Maybe evenknew, but his mind just wasn’t wrapping around it quite yet.
As she neared, she caught him watching her and he swore her cheeks went bright red.The flush on her cheeks sent a bolt of heat straight through him.She wasn’t as unaffected as she pretended.
Involuntarily he licked his lips.He could still taste her.Woman.Pure woman.
“I'll make lunch.How do sausages on a bun, fries, and a salad sound?”she called up, acting as if nothing had happened between them.But her voice gave away the truth.She sounded husky.
Oh yeah, he’d gotten her revved up.She wanted more from him.
“Sounds good!”Axel called down.
“What about you, Nick?”she shouted.
At the sound of Jenna's voice being directed at him, he noted Nick’s whole body go rigid, like someone had yanked a wire tight inside him.He had a funny, surprised look on his face that made Axel feel like teasing the crap out of him.Nick also suddenly seemed clumsy as he dropped the tool he'd been using to pry up the shingles.He scrambled for it and swore as it landed in the eaves.
Axel bit back a grin.Nick never fumbled unless he was rattled, and Jenna had clearly rattled him.
“Um, yeah sure.Sounds good,” Nick mumbled, averting her gaze.
Axel noticed a slight smile on Jenna’s lips.The tiny curve of her lips told him everything.She wasn’t angry, just flustered…and maybe a little entertained.
He was glad she wasn't pissed at him for quickly breaking the professional code he had promised to abide by.
“You guys be down in thirty minutes and lunch will be served,” she said firmly.
She gave Axel a curt nod.The nod was brisk, almost businesslike, but her eyes flicked over him with a heat she couldn’t hide.Then she slipped into the ranch house.
“Ha, you see, she's back to professional mode so quickly, you must be losing your touch, my man,” Nick said with a wink.
The familiar spark of mischief lit in Axel’s chest.Teasing was their language, their way of smoothing rough edges.
Nick picked up his tool and hoofed it back to the area he’d been working and returned to ripping up the next layer of shingles.
“I'll show you my touch tonight, and I bet I'll hear no complaints,” Axel replied in a low voice knowing one of the kitchen windows was just beneath them.The words came out threaded with a promise he knew Nick would hear beneath the humor.
