He walked away before she could thank him, so she closed her mouth and pushed up the glasses a little, grateful for the dark lenses. She tried to remember the last time anyone had done such a thing for her without anything expected in return-and couldn’t.
“Also going on the list,” he said when she’d run to catch up with his long-legged stride. “Making sure no more trees are in danger of killing you in the next wind storm. We’ll chop that up for firewood.”
She stared at the massive tree bisecting the yard. “Where I come from, firewood comes in a small bundle at the grocery store, and you set it in your fireplace to give off ambience.”
“Trust me, ambience is the last thing you’ll want this tree to give you. It’s going to keep your fingers and feet warm.”
She hugged his jacket to her and not because it smelled heavenly. Okay, because it smelled heavenly. And did he never get cold? She looked at him in that slightly oversized hoodie and sexy jeans and boots, carrying that clipboard. She wished she had a clipboard. Instead, she pulled out her Blackberry to make notes, too. “Do I need to call a tree guy?”
“I can do it. Those two trees there…” He pointed across the yard to the left of the marina building. “They’re going to need to be seriously cut back. I’m sure there’s others.”
They walked the rest of the property and outlined all the obvious problems. There were many. After discussing them in detail over the next half hour, they were back in the center of the yard, next to the fallen tree.
“So,” he said. “Your sisters want out.”
“Yesterday,” she agreed.
“I think your mom hoped you three would stick around and take care of this place the way she always intended to. You know how she was.”
“Actually, I don’t,” she said. “I didn’t know her very well. I was raised by my father in Los Angeles. She sent postcards from wherever the Grateful Dead were playing, and we had the occasional whirlwind visit. But she never mentioned this place, not once.” She realized how detached that sounded and just how much she’d revealed about their lack of a relationship, and it both embarrassed and saddened her. Having bared herself enough for one day, she turned away.
“Some kids might resent their parent in this situation,” he said quietly.
“There’s some of that.”
She felt a big, warm hand settle at her back, and he led her to his Jeep. The huge brown dog in the passenger seat sat up and gave a single, joyous
Jax opened the door and the lab mix leapt out, all long, gawky limbs and happy tongue. Two huge front paws hit Maddie in the chest, making her stagger back.
Jax’s hands settled on her arms from behind, steadying her. Leaning over her shoulder, he gave the dog a friendly push. “Down, you big lug. You okay?” He turned Maddie around to face him, eyeing the two dusty paw prints on her chest.
She backed away and brushed herself off before he got any notions about helping. “She’s very pretty.”
“Pretty
Maddie bent for a stick and threw it. Izzy craned her neck, took in the stick’s flight through the air, and yawned.
“She’s not much for chasing sticks,” Jax said dryly. “She’ll chase her tail, though, all day long. She’s a rescue. She didn’t get the Labrador handbook.”
Izzy nudged her head to Jax’s thigh, and Jax crouched to give her a hug and a full-body rub, and Maddie felt a moment of jealousy as Izzy slid bonelessly to the ground in clear ecstasy, groaning loudly.
“She likes that,” Maddie managed.
“I have a way with my hands.”
She bit her lower lip to keep the words “show me” inside.
He laughed again, soft and sexy, as he straightened and apparently read her mind. “We don’t have chemistry, remember?”
She closed her eyes. “Okay, here’s the thing. We have
“Some? Or supernova?”
“Supernova.
“Forever?”
“My gut says yes, but that might be PMS talking. Let’s just say I’m giving up men for a very long time.”
“You going to try out women?”
He was teasing her. She pushed him back a step, knowing damn well he only went because it suited him. No one pushed him around unless he wanted to go-something she wished she could say about herself. “I’m trying to say I’m not cut out for this, for the casual-sex thing.”
“But you’ve given up men,” he pointed out, still teasing her. “Sounds like there’s going to be no sex, period.”
“None.”
He merely arched a brow. “Aren’t you going to miss it?”
“No.”
“Not at all?”
“Not even a little.”
He shot her a look of blatant disbelief. “How is that even possible, not missing sex? That’s like saying you wouldn’t miss having a cold beer on a hot summer night or the sound of the ocean pounding the surf while you run, or… air in your lungs.”
She had to laugh at his adamancy. “Maybe sex isn’t all that important to me.”
“Then you’ve been doing it wrong.”
His voice dripped with innuendo, and her body tightened involuntarily while the meaning behind his words thrummed through her veins. It was a foregone conclusion that the man knew how to use his muscular body and talented hands to make a living. She figured it wasn’t a stretch to imagine he could also use those things to make a woman very happy.
“Still with me?” he murmured.
A warm flush spread through her body, and she lost her ability to speak.
His mouth was serious, but his eyes were laughing. With a quick playful tug on a lock of her wild hair, he walked off, heading toward the inn in that long-limbed, confident stride of his.
She stared after him, a little flummoxed by the funny something still happening very low in her belly, something she was pretty sure meant her body was
Not even close.
Chapter 9
PHOEBE TRAEGER
By the time Maddie gathered her wits enough to follow Jax to the inn, he’d opened the front door. “Did your mom have a set of blueprints for this place?” he asked.
“I don’t know. It looks like she kept all paperwork in the office in the marina. We could check there.”
“You’ll need it for the escrow contract, because anyone who buys this place is going to need to make sure the
