mesmerizing. The longer I stare, the more aware I am of the dry patch in my mouth that refuses to moisten. Heat swirls in a lazy circle into my chest, growing and expanding. My cock pulses as I walk closer, taking in her appearance: the daisy dukes and a creamy orange t-shirt. I want to slip my hands up those white thighs and grope her firm ass. I part my lips as she raises one of those haughty eyebrows even higher and looks at me. I want to tell her to get the fuck inside and take off her clothes.
“What are you doing to my barbecue?”
“Cooking.” She scowls.
“Not like that, you’re not. Move aside. Let me show you how the pros do it.”
“I can do it myself!”
She huffs as I step onto the porch and approach her, but doesn’t protest when I grab the spatula. Our fingers graze when I take it, and her cheeks color with the slightest blush.
She wants me.
The realization of it hits me like a sledgehammer in the chest. She parts her lips, the glow in her face brightening the longer she meets my gaze.
Kiss me, she seems to say. Fucking kiss me.
Then she breaks eye contact, letting out a shaky sigh. “What am I doing wrong?”
Chuckling, I glance at the grill. “First of all, you’ve got this way too fucking high. Do you want to char the steaks to death? No, you don’t. Lower the temperature a little and then close the hood to let it heat up. But first you should clear off all the grease.”
“All right. Fine.”
She reaches for the tools, and then a stab of pity hits me. I haven’t told her about her jackass fiancé.
“Drink your glass of wine and relax. I’ll cook us lunch.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. There’s no way I’m letting you ruin sixty dollars worth of steak.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “I know how to grill a filet mignon.”
I point the spatula at her. “Sit your ass down and drink.”
“You know what? You’re not the boss of me. I’ve spent all afternoon picking those damn weeds—”
“Yeah, I saw you throw them in the neighbor’s garden. Naughty.”
Busted.
“Fine. I’m a jerk. But you’re a jerk for making a paying customer do this.”
“Why don’t you just admit that you like getting down and dirty?”
Her eyes roll up and then fall to the side as she takes a deep drink from her glass. “Is everything about sex to you?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. It seems like it’s everything to you, since you’re the one who keeps bringing it up.”
“Good God. Maybe I should just answer work emails.”
The grill hisses with wonderful steak steam as I drop the first one onto the grates.
“Wait,” I tell her, sighing. “Mark showed up at the garage looking for you.”
A red flush crawls up her chest, her eyes going wide with fear. Nausea grips my stomach at the sight of it.
Her hand flies to her neck. “Mark is here?”
“Yeah. Your fiancé a piece of work.”
“He’s not my fiancé anymore,” she continues in the same high-pitched tone. “We’re done. Why the hell did he come here?”
Suddenly, I’m curious about what he did to earn the wrath of a beautiful woman like her. None of your goddamn business, Gage.
“I may have lost my temper with him.”
“What?” she says, her voice almost shrill.
“I fucked with his head a little and implied that we…”
Her eyes round with understanding. “Oh my God! Are you insane?”
“He was being a total asshole.”
“So that gives you the right to tell him that? He could get me fired!”
Oh, shit. “Shit. Really?”
“Yes, really,” she says in a miserable tone. “Damn it, Gage!”
“I’m sorry! I was trying to get him to fuck off.”
“I didn’t ask you to swoop in my life and save me from my stupid ex. I’m perfectly capable of handling him.”
Yeah, well. “When he comes into my auto shop, screaming his head off, it becomes my business.”
The grip around her wine glass turns white. “I didn’t think he’d have the nerve to show up after what he did.”
I close the lid on the grill after pushing the corn to the back, and then I glance at her. Her lips are pale, almost shaking with fury, and her eyes glaze with hurt. I don’t even know this woman, but I want to find that prick and rip him in half for that look on her face.