the shower. A clean pair of jeans covers what I imagine are toned, muscular legs. Damn. If he wasn’t hot half-naked with the oil running down his chiseled pecs as though I unwittingly strolled onto a porn set, he sure as hell is now. He runs a hand through his hair, his smile widening.
I am not happy to see him. “Did you come down here to lecture me about something else wrong with my car?”
“No—”
“Then save it. I’m in no mood to talk to you.”
A deep sound rumbles from the back of his throat. “That’s no way to speak to your new landlord.”
Landlord? “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I own the place,” he says, eyes glittering. “And I came here, San Francisco, to invite you to the town. Give you a tour of the amenities. The wifi password. I know you definitely want that.”
Oh God. He’s the owner. I’ll see him every day. Heat runs up my back. The more I look at him, the more it smolders.
I’m trembling. I don’t get nervous around men. When I open my mouth, my words stumble over themselves. “My name is Olivia. I’d appreciate it if you called me by my name.”
“Look, sweetheart—”
“Olivia.”
“I’m not some pushover, all right? If you wanted the five-star treatment, you should have booked another place.”
“There literally was no other place! You think I wanted to come here? You have more one-stars than that new Twilight book!”
His brows furrow. “What the fuck is twilight?”
“It’s a book about—oh God—why am I even talking to you about this?”
“I know for a fact you need a place to stay for a few weeks.”
“Might need.”
The smile he gives me sends my heart flipping. “Whatever. You’re in no hurry to head home, for whatever reason. And like you said, I’m the only available option.”
“Why do I get the feeling this is leading up to something bad?”
The grin turns feral. “‘Cause you have a nasty mind. You help me, and I’ll let you stay here.”
“With what?”
“I have a job for you, but if it blows…” he lifts his shoulder in a shrug.
My chest tightens at the word. “Blows?”
“Yeah, if you suck at the job.” A small smile plays on his lips.
Then it clicks into place. “You’re disgusting.”
The bastard leans on the side of the threshold, the picture of calm. “Careful, sweetheart. Your voice is carrying into the street.”
“You can blow yourself.”
I start closing the door, but Gage lets out a roar of laughter so loud that I take a step back in shock. The floor trembles with his voice, and he even drags a knuckle under his eyes to wipe away tears of mirth.
“That is not what I meant. Jesus.”
“It so is. Do not deny it!” My face starts to burn.
He shakes his head, still chuckling. “Damn, girl. When was the last time you got laid?”
The air freezes inside my chest as Gage takes one giant step inside. My heart hammers as his swaggering presence fills the small studio. Then my knees are knocked out from under me as I back into the bed, sitting down. The heat from humiliation smolders into a different sort of burn as Gage approaches, close enough for me to smell him. Irish Spring.
He touches my shoulders, fingers grinding into my skin to lift me up. Even though it’s a violation, a stunning bolt hits my brain, and I’m unable to think. I can’t look away from his eyes, as blue as the ocean at night. How long has it been?
“That’s none of your—”
“Has it been so long that you’re starting to see cocks everywhere? I say blow, and you think about oral.”
“Shut up.”
I try shoving him, but he’s like solid rock. He retreats back a step, smiling. “I was saying that you could do a few things for me. Like de-weed the garden.”
I glance through one of the windows. There’s no garden. It’s a giant lawn. “Are you kidding me?”
He gazes at his fingernails, suddenly looking bored. “Or I could, you know, just throw you out. With everything booked, you’d have no place to stay.”
“You really are a jerk.”
“So I’ve been told,” he drawls.
“No wonder people in town warned me about you.”
Gage turns his back on me as he walks toward the door. “You’re going to have to get your hands dirty, city girl.” Then he gives me a look over his shoulder. “Not in the way you want.”
Bastard.
Two
Gage
Music pounds through the garage and rattles the windows. A sheet of metal digs into my glove as I pound