She wasn't used to such straightforward, fully mercenary tactics from anyone. Let alone a man.
She watched him thoughtfully.
He wanted the bread; she wanted a shed. Okay, maybe they could trade. Not what she had expected, but she was willing to roll with the opportunity being presented.
"Can you use a hammer any better than you can a weedeater?" She needed that shed.
His lips thinned. He glanced at the bread again with a faint expression of regret.
"I could lie to you and say yes." He tilted his head and offered her a tentative smile. "I'm very tempted to do so." Great. He couldn't use a hammer, either.
She stared back at the muscular condition of his finely honed body. A man didn't look like that as a result of the gym. It was natural muscle and grace, not the heavy, packed-on appearance guys got from the gym. But if he couldn't cut his own lawn or swing a hammer, how the hell did he manage it?
She shook her head. Obviously nature really, really liked him, because Tarek Jordan was so not an outdoor sort of person.
"Let me guess. You're really good on the computer?" She sighed at the thought. Why did she attract the techies instead of the real men?
"Well, I am actually." He offered her a hopeful smile. "Does yours need work?"
At least he was honest—in some things. She guessed that deserved some compensation, though she fully admitted she was just too nice sometimes.
"Look, promise to keep your machines away from my property line, and I'll give you some coffee and a slice of bread," she offered.
"Just a slice?" His expression fell, rather like a child whose favorite treat had been jerked from his hands.
Men.
She looked over at the counter. Hell, she had baked too much anyway.
"Fine. A loaf."
"Of each kind?" Hope sprang in those golden eyes, and for a moment it made her wonder… No, of course he had eaten freshbaked bread. Hadn't everyone? But there was a curious glimmer of vulnerability there. One she hadn't expected.
She glanced at the counter again. She had four loaves of each kind and plenty of the cinnamon rolls. It wasn't like she didn't have enough.
"Come on in." She turned to get an extra coffee cup when she stopped and stared at him in surprise.
He was taking his boots off? He did it naturally, toeing at the heels until the leather slid from his feet, and then pulling them off to sit them neatly at the door.
His socks were white. A pure, pretty white against the dark maroon of her ceramic tiles as he walked to the table. He waited expectantly.
What the hell was he? An alien? No man she knew had white socks. And they sure as hell didn't care if they took their shoes off at the door, no matter how grimy or muddy they often were. Her brothers were the worst.
She poured the coffee and set it in front of him before turning to get the sugar and creamer from the counter. As she turned back, she frowned as she watched him take a long sip of the dark liquid.
Ecstasy transformed his face.
The expression on his face made her thighs clench as her sex spasmed in interest. Which only pissed her off. She was not going to get any more turned on by this man than she already was. She was doing perfectly fine without a man in her life right now. She did not, repeat, did not need the complication. But if that was how the man looked when he had sex, then her virginity could be in serious danger. Strangely predatory, savage, filled with pleasure, his face carried a primal, intense look of satisfaction and growing hunger.
For a moment, her chest tightened in surprising
disappointment. She wanted him to look at her like that, not at her bread.
Just her luck. Someone else to harass her for her bread instead of for her body. Not that she wanted him to harass her for her body, but it would be nice if someone would. Taking out a bread knife, she sliced into a loaf of the banana nut bread and then into the white bread. The white bread was still warm enough to melt the fresh, creamy butter she spread atop it.
Fine. Maybe she could bribe him into hiring someone to cut and trim his lawn so he would leave hers alone. Stranger things had happened.
The coffee was rich, dark, and exquisite. The bread fairly melted in his mouth. But that wasn't what was keeping his dick painfully engorged as he savored the treats. It was the smell of this woman, hot and sweet and aroused.