again, fibbing for the second time. But he didn’t want Jared to send him back inside.
“Let’s get crackin’.”
Cody jumped down all three stairs at once. “If we finish early, do you think . . . do you think maybe I could pitch some balls to you? You know, to warm up for today?”
“You sure you don’t want to ask your aunt?”
“She throws like a girl, remember.”
“She is a girl.”
“Exactly.”
Jared laughed. “Yeah, I think we’ll have time to toss a few.”
Cody felt the hard squeeze in his chest begin to lessen. “Sweet.”
Jared had barely gotten Cody started on mowing the lawn when Jenny came barreling out the front door. The door smacked shut as she stormed across the yard, her pink robe flapping open in a V from her belted waist down.
She took his breath away. He’d never fully understood that phrase until he’d met Jenny. Oh, he’d seen a lot of gorgeous women in his day and slept with more than his fair share. But never had anyone gotten under his skin the way she had. He was a fuck ’em and forget ’em type of guy. And he made damn sure the women he slept with knew that right up front. He didn’t do relationships; hell, he barely ever spent the night. Not that he’d ever heard any complaints. He made sure everyone he left was as satisfied as a well-petted cat. Maybe that was his problem. It had been a while since he’d gotten laid. Maybe if he went back to the Sawmill and found a willing partner, he’d be able to get Jenny out of his mind. But he didn’t want just any woman; he wanted Jenny. It didn’t matter if she was yelling at him or ignoring him; he wanted her.
And that kiss. All week he’d tried to forget it, tried to erase it from his mind. But he knew he’d never be able to.
As she drew near, the morning breeze brought the scent of her to him. Her hair drifted toward him, and if he wasn’t already as hard as a rock, the smell of her would have shot him from soft to stiff in five seconds flat.
“Have you ever heard of sleeping in?”
Jared set the Weed Eater on the ground and braced his right arm on the handle. God, she was magnificent when she was angry. “Nine isn’t sleeping in. That’s comatose.”
Her hair was a mass of long, wild curls, and her blue eyes blazed. “Only in your mixed-up world.”
“You’ve obviously forgotten the conversation we had about work hours.”
She planted her hands on her waist, drawing his eyes to her hips. “And you’ve forgotten that it’s Sunday. Sunday. Even God rested on the seventh day.”
“God doesn’t pay the bills.”
“And neither does mowing the lawn.”
She had him there. But working himself to the point of exhaustion helped with all his pent-up sexual frustration.
Her brow wrinkled as she stared at the Weed Eater. “If you’re not—” Then she saw Cody. “You’re making my nephew mow the lawn?”
“I’m not making anyone do anything.”
“He’s thirteen.”
“Exactly.”
“Thirteen,” she said again, a little bit louder. No, a lot louder. “Plus, he’s wearing tennis shoes. And where are his eye protectors and earplugs?”
“It’s a lawn mower not a machine gun.” By the time Jared was thirteen, he’d been doing a heck of a lot more than just mowing lawns. If memory served him correctly, one foster family had him splitting wood with an axe before he was ten.
“He could get hurt.”
He was about to tell her he could just as easily get hurt crossing the street or riding his bike, but then he thought better of it. He was definitely no expert on the subject of kids. Hadn’t he made a mess of things with Cody the first time they’d met?
“Fine. I’ll tell him to stop.”
Just then the lawn mower shut off, and Cody yelled out to her. “Hey, Aunt Jen.” His smile was as big as the lake out in front of them. “Guess what?”
She smiled back at him. “What?”
“Jared let me mow the lawn.” His enthusiasm was hard to miss. “And guess what else?”
“What?”
“He’s gonna come to my game.”
Her gaze snapped back around, and her smile thinned. “Don’t even think about it,” she hissed under her breath, making sure Cody couldn’t hear.
SIXTEEN
“Aunt Jenny,” Cody yelled through the front door. “We gotta leave now.”
“Hold your horses. I’m coming.” Grabbing the two bags of snacks off the kitchen counter, Jenny made her way outside. She started toward the Corvette only to stop