Over the top of the crystal display case, she watched him dip his putty knife into the tub of spackle and wondered what type of woman attracted the interest of a man like Joe. Beautiful athletic women with hard bodies, or soft women who baked bread and worried about dust bunnies? She was neither.
By ten o'clock, her nerves had calmed to a manageable level. The holes where filled, and she had to think up another job for Joe. They decided on shelves in the back storage room. Nothing complicated. Just three-quarter-inch plywood held in place with heavy L joints.
Since there weren't any customers to worry about, she showed Joe the storage room, which was hardly bigger than the bathroom and had a single sixty-watt bulb hanging from the ceiling. If a customer entered the front of the store, a bell would ring in the back and let her know.
The two of them slid packing boxes and Styrofoam peanuts to one side of the small room. Joe strapped his tool belt low on his hips and handed her one end of the metal tape measure. She knelt down and held it to the corner of the wall.
'Can I ask you a personal question, Joe?'
He knelt on one knee and found the opposite corner with his end of the measure, then he glanced over at her. His gaze never reached her face. It slid up her arm to her breasts and stayed there. Gabrielle looked down at the front of her dress where the bodice fell forward, giving Joe an abundant view of her white cleavage and black lace bra. She placed her free hand on the bodice and straightened.
Without a hint of shame, Joe finally raised his gaze to her face. 'You can ask, doesn't mean I'll answer you, though' he said, then wrote something in pencil on the wall.
Gabrielle had caught men staring at her in the past, but at least they'd had the sense to look embarrassed. Not Joe. 'Have you ever been married?'
'Nope. I was close once.'
'You were engaged?'
'No, but I came close to thinking about it.'
She didn't believe
'I got a good look at her mother and ran like hell.' He looked over at her again and smiled like he was really funny. 'You can let go now,' he said, and the measuring tape zipped across the wall, flipped up, and snapped his thumb. 'Shit!'
'Oops.'
'You did that on purpose.'
'You're mistaken. I'm a pacifist, but I did come close to thinking about it.' She stood, leaned one shoulder into the wall, and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. 'I bet you're one of those really picky guys who wants his wife to cook like Betty Crocker and look like a supermodel.'
'She doesn't have to look like a supermodel, just reasonably attractive. And no really long fingernails. Women with those really long fingernails scare me.' Again, he smiled at her, this time slow and sexy. 'Nothing scarier than seeing those long daggers anywhere near the jewels.'
She didn't ask if he was speaking from experience. She really didn't want to know. 'But I'm right about the Betty Crocker part, aren't I?'
He shrugged and slid the metal tape up the wall to the ceiling. 'It's important to me. I don't like to cook.' He paused to read the measurement and wrote it next to the first. 'I don't like to shop or clean house or do laundry. The things women don't mind doing.'
'Are you serious?' He looked so normal, yet at some point in his life, he'd been mentally stunted. 'What makes you think women don't mind doing laundry and cleaning a house? It may surprise you to know that we aren't born with a biological predisposition to wash socks and scrub toilets.'
The tape measure slid smoothly back into the metal case, and he hooked it to his belt. 'Maybe. All I know is that women don't seem to mind cleaning and laundry as much as men do. Just like men don't mind changing the oil in the car, and women will drive ten miles out of the way to go to a Jiffy Lube.'
Of course women went to Jiffy Lube. What kind of weirdo changed his own oil? She shook her head. 'I predict you'll be single for a while yet.'
'What, are you my psychic friend?'
'No, I don't need to be psychic to know that no woman wants to be your maid for life. Unless there is something in it for her,' she amended, thinking of a desperate homeless woman.
'There is something in it for her.' With two long strides he closed the distance between them. 'Me.'
'I was thinking something good.'
'I'm good. Real good,' he said low enough so he wouldn't be overheard outside the room. 'Do you want me to show you how good?'
'No.' She straightened away from the wall, and he stood so dose she could see the black rims of his irises.
Joe raised his hand and pushed one side of her hair behind her ear; his thumb brushed her cheek. 'Your turn.'
She shook her head, afraid that if he decided to show her how good, she wouldn't try all that hard to stop him. 'No, really. I'll take your word for it.'
His quiet laughter filled the small room. 'I meant it's your turn to answer a question.'
'Oh,' she said and didn't know why she should feel so disappointed.
'Why is a girl like you still single?'
She wondered what he meant and tried to summon a bit of indignation, but her response came out more breathy than offended. 'Like me?'
He slid his thumb across her jaw to her chin, then brushed her bottom lip. 'With your wild just-got-laid hair, and those big green eyes, you can make a man forget everything.'
The heat of his words settled in the pit of her stomach and weakened her knees. 'Like what?'
'Like why it isn't a good idea if I kiss you,' he said and slowly lowered his mouth to hers. 'All over.' His hand caressed her hip, and he pulled her close. The leather pockets of his tool belt pressed into her abdomen. 'like why I'm really here, and why we can't spend the day like we would if you really were my girlfriend.' His lips brushed across hers and she opened to him, unable to resist the pull of desire curling her toes. The tip of his tongue touched her own, then he drew it inside his warm mouth. He took his time kissing her, drawing out the pleasure with the slow, lingering caress of his lips and tongue. Even as he pushed her back against the wall, entwined their fingers, and pinned her hands by the side of her head, her moist lips clung to his and his tongue gently plunged inside, then retreated.
Teasing even as he soothed her with his mouth. Her position against the wall arched her back and thrust her breasts into his hard chest. Her nipples drew tight, and when he deepened the kiss, Gabrielle got all squishy inside. Hot liquid pooled low in her abdomen and dragged a moan from deep within her chest. She heard it but barely recognized it as coming from her.
Then she heard something like Joe clearing his throat, but standing within the hypnotic influence of his deep red aura, she wondered how he could clear his throat when his tongue was in her mouth.
'When you get done with the handyman, Gabe, I need you to look over those invoices for that damaged shipment of sushi plates.'
Joe pulled back and looked as dazed as she felt. She realized he hadn't spoken at all, and she turned her head just in time to see Kevin walk from the back room toward the front of the store. The bell signaling a customer rang, and if Kevin had a doubt in his mind that Joe was really her boyfriend, he wouldn't now.
Joe stepped back and ran his fingers through the sides of his hair. He let out a breath, and his hands dropped to his sides, his gaze still a bit glazed and bewildered as if he'd been hit over the head by some unseen force. 'Maybe you shouldn't wear stuff like that to work.'
With desire still rushing through her veins, Gabrielle rocked back on her heels and cast a puzzled glimpse downward at her dress. The hem reached her calves, and the loose bodice showed very little. 'This? What's wrong with this?'
He shifted his weight to one foot and crossed his arm over his chest. 'It's too sexy.'
Astonishment kept her silent for a moment, but when she looked into his eyes and realized he was serious, she burst into laughter. She couldn't help it.
'What's so funny?'
