and Sutton’s basement.
He was in boxer briefs and his morning wood was obvious. Well, whoever was out there would be getting a big surprise because he would be heading directly back to bed, and he didn’t give a shit if the postman saw his junk.
Rubbing his hand over his day-old stubble, Brian opened the door a fraction to see who his morning wake-up call was.
“Hi!”
A beautiful redhead was peering around the door. Her perky freckles were calling to him, and that damn deputy uniform hugged her curves like nobody’s business.
“Really?”
Katie frowned, “Is this a bad time?”
Brian blinked. Did she not see his bare chest and underwear? He opened the door, thinking it was kind of a sarcastic asshole move, but he didn’t care.
“Sure, come on in. I’m obviously not doing anything.”
Katie dimpled up at him, “Perfect! Thank you so much for seeing me. Some people just really aren’t morning people. I don’t get it. I mean, I feel refreshed and ready to go. Do you have any coffee? It’s okay if you don’t, I really shouldn’t drink it. But a nice latte, how can I turn something like that down? I really miss Starbucks, don’t you?”
Brian grunted something and shut the door, giving Katie a fantastic view of his ass in the boxer briefs. She had no idea that a back could be so sexy, but the muscles and ridges on Brian were panty-dropping delicious.
She knew she was babbling and really didn’t mean to. But the man was in his underwear, for goodness sake, underwear! She had made sure she didn’t look down at his man parts because that would be totally inappropriate, and she was in her uniform.
Brian turned and motioned for her to sit on the couch.
Damn, there was a massive bulge in those boxer briefs… Katie shook her head. No, she wasn’t looking at her neighbor that way. She had learned her lesson falling off the cabinet. Fortifying herself, Katie sat primly on the couch.
“I’m here on official business.”
Brian yawned, the movement causing muscles all over his body to contract. For a moment, Katie caught herself staring again.
“Are you here to arrest me?” he asked, scratching those washboard abs.
“Do you have any clothes you could put on?” Katie blurted out the question and then cringed at how young and naive she sounded. Worldly women didn’t care about naked bodies. He probably had women over here all the time.
The thought didn’t help her.
Brian’s lip tilted up. “I was sleeping, and I intend to go back to sleep after your official business is conducted. So it seems to me clothes would be a waste of time.”
“Right,” Katie nodded vigorously, “Of course, very practical, and I prefer you this way.”
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
“I meant, I prefer you to be comfortable,” she stammered as Brian’s smile grew legs and spread clear across his face.
“Katie is there something you needed?” he asked gently.
He loved watching her get all worked up. The woman truly had no idea how lovely she was. Her eyes sparkled, and her mouth was quick to draw into a smile.
“It’s that stalker,” Katie’s words wiped the smile off of his face.
“The gardener who took pity on your plants?” he countered.
Katie frowned, “My shutters were painted last night! Brian, that’s a dangerous situation. I’ve decided I need to put in a security system.”
Brian nodded. “Why not?”
After all, he reasoned, there wasn’t a system out there he hadn’t gotten through.
“But I’m not really that handy,” Katie twisted her hands. “So, I ordered it online, and I was hoping that you might be able to help put it in?”
She bit her bottom lip and looked so damn adorable that Brian had to suppress a groan.
“Sure,” he nodded and then motioned to the door, “Was there anything else?”
Katie nodded, “Yes, it’s that official business that we talked about earlier?”
“Okay,” he prompted, “Go ahead.”
Katie took a deep breath and then blurted out her request.
“I know I’m a trained deputy, but I just think maybe I need a refresher in self-defense, and I was talking to Sutton, and she said that you had taught her some things. I was wondering if maybe you’d be willing to teach me, one on one?”
Brian made a mental note to thank Sutton personally for bringing him into this hellish state. Not only was he her nighttime gardener/stalker, but it appeared he was about to be her security system installer and personal self-defense trainer.
“You don’t look happy,” Katie rambled on. “I am sorry; please just forget about it. I overstepped, here, let me