He gathered himself and transferred his thoughts back to the present, realizing exactly who he was. The man who was hired to watch over her, not fuck her.
Bloody hell.
4
With her legs rubbery and a permanent smile etched on her flushed face, Candace made her way back to the inn, Marc at her side. A comfortable silence fell over them as birds chirped and nestled in the huge apple trees beside the house. Juicy red apples weighed down the branches and glistened beneath the sun. Candace did a double take. She had a designer’s eye that took in everything, but she certainly couldn’t remember ever seeing those ripe trees before.
When she reached the front lawn she turned to Marc, and the heated look in his eyes had her aching to go back to the lake, to touch and kiss him all over, the way he’d touched and kissed her. Her mouth watered and liquid heat poured through her veins in anticipation.
He nodded toward the power tools. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Me too,” she said, not really interested in moving anywhere without him but knowing she needed to get the painting completed before Marc finished the bed and brought it inside. They also had to work together to install the hanging sex swing, position the love glider and Tantra chair. All devices that combined sex and exercise. Not to mention the already installed floor-to-ceiling pole, which was perfect for dancing, an excellent cardiovascular workout.
Marc leaned close and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her, then once again she saw something in his eyes before he stepped back, abruptly. Hesitation. One minute he was making crazy love to her with his hands and mouth, and the next he was pulling back, physically and emotionally. The same way he had earlier, during their first trip into the water.
A loud noise inside the house drew their attention, and Candace jumped. Marc laughed and his knuckles brushed her skin, a comforting gesture. “There seems to be quite a bit of banging going on up there.”
She wouldn’t mind doing a little banging of her own. “Must be Brad tearing down that wall.”
Marc inclined his head, and heat churned in his eyes. “Yeah, must be,” he agreed, his voice deeper, huskier. When she caught the strange look moving over his face, she followed his gaze. For a brief second she thought she caught the outline of Lindsay pressed against the window, but the image disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Marc cleared his throat, suddenly flustered, and she wondered exactly what he’d seen in that window. What was going on up there?
“You’d better get back at it,” he said. “I’m close to finishing the bedframe.”
With that they both went back to the task at hand. Candace made her way through the old house, calling out to Pamina but unable to find her anywhere. Everyone was hard at work, she supposed. She hurried up the gorgeous winding staircase, climbed into her coveralls and readied her supplies.
Now here she was, her mind wandering, thinking about how she wanted to set up the furniture and how she’d like to try out every sinful piece with Marc. God, she couldn’t believe how intimate she’d been with him, a man she barely knew but felt completely comfortable with. A man who was concerned with her needs and desires, and admitted that pleasuring her had pleasured him. Nor could she believe how he’d so easily read her, and the excitement she felt from having sex outdoors with the possibility of getting caught. A fine shiver moved down her spine and she knew she wanted to do that again.
He had to be some visiting alien, she decided.
But seriously, who was he and where had he come from? He’d only recently moved to Mason Creek. Where had he moved from, and where exactly was this shop he was setting up? Perhaps Pamina would know, since she’d hired him in the first place.
And why did he go from hot to cold so quickly, displaying passion one second and hesitation the next?
As she pondered that longer, wondering if past hurts were holding him back, Candace wiped her brow, then put the finishing touches on the back wall. She stood back to admire her work. Satisfied with the job and happy she was half-done with only two walls left, she glanced out the window and spotted Marc walking to his van. Would he be sleeping in there tonight? She noted the king-sized mattress on her floor, brand-new sheets and plush comforter beside it. Sure the room wasn’t ready yet, but even if he didn’t get the frame made, there was no reason why he couldn’t crash on that perfectly comfortable makeshift bed.
Returning to matters, Candace went to work on finishing her painting just as Abra came sauntering into the room.
“Hey, kitty.” She stopped to give him a pat.
Abra curled around her legs, brushing up against her and purring in delight. She stroked his massive underbelly and made a tsking sound.
“You know, Abra, maybe you should come on one of my runs. It wouldn’t hurt you to shed a few pounds.”
With that he hissed and hopped up onto her windowsill, where he gave her his back and proceeded to groom himself.
Candace laughed at his ornery behavior. “You really are a strange kitty.” Paying him no more attention, she went back to painting. Day bled into night as Candace completed the walls and cleaned up her supplies. The grumbling of her stomach told her it was dinnertime.
When she heard loud banging noises coming from Lindsay’s room, she thought about investigating, but Anna popped her head in, her cheeks flushed, her big blue eyes wide and glossy.
“You okay?” Candace asked and furrowed her brow in concern.
“Fine, just wanted to let you know I can’t meet up for dinner after all.
