Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
AJ looked unconvinced. “And if she suddenly rips all her clothes off and begs you to do nasty things to her?”
Caleb swallowed harder, forcing himself not to imagine the ridiculously tempting scenario AJ had just described. “Then I say no,” he maintained. “I’m serious, man. I’m not going to sleep with her.”
“And if she unrolls the yoga mat and starts doing naked pelvic thrusts…”
He gritted his teeth. “I’m not going to sleep with her.”
But oh, how he wanted to.
Not gonna happen, man.
No, he wouldn’t let it happen. The weeklong attraction he’d felt for Marley might have culminated in an explosive kiss, but he was determined not to let it go further.
He just hoped he had the strength.
Scratch that—he prayed he had the strength.
* * *
MARLEY WAS WIDE AWAKE and dressed for manual labor when the doorbell rang the next afternoon. She’d taken a power nap when she got home from the hospital, and her alert state was actually a bit of a surprise. There had been a massive car accident on Interstate 5 and half the nurses from the respiratory unit where Marley usually worked had been reassigned to the E.R. for a couple of days to tend to the onslaught of victims. Marley was one of them, and she’d been running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the past nine hours. Yet here she was, bright-eyed and ready to paint her kitchen. Figure that one out.
Okay, well, maybe it wasn’t that hard to comprehend, considering who she would be painting the kitchen with.
She opened the door and there he was, wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt. The shirt clung to his muscular chest, a sight that made Marley’s heart race like a Formula One car. Darn it, why did he have to be so attractive?
And why had she let him kiss her? They’d only just met, for Pete’s sake. Only a couple days ago she’d been telling Gwen she wanted to take things slow when it came to her love life, that getting intimate with a stranger scared her. And what had she done? Gotten intimate with a stranger.
“Hey,” Caleb greeted her. His deep voice had a sexy rasp that brought a rush of heat to Marley’s belly. “Ready to paint?”
She gestured for him to come in. “Ready, yes. Excited about it, no.”
His lips quirked and she instantly focused on his sensual mouth. Her legs trembled as she thought about the kiss they’d shared. The memory of Caleb’s warm mouth and skillful tongue ignited a charge of heat through her body, hot little flames that licked at her skin.
“Tough day at work?” he asked as he followed her inside.
“Very tough,” she admitted. “I was assigned to the E.R. because there was a huge accident this morning. A tour bus taking twenty people to a casino collided with an eighteen-wheeler.”
“I saw it on the news. Was it as bad as it looked?” Caleb asked.
“Worse. Seven dead, twelve injured.” She led him into the kitchen, where she’d already set up all the paint trays and rollers they’d need.
“How do you do it?” His voice was low and laced with awe. “How can you look at so much death and carnage day in and day out?”
“I like helping people,” she said simply.
He didn’t respond, and when she looked over, she noticed him watching her with some expression she couldn’t quite decipher. Admiration? Or was it curiosity?
She cleared her throat and picked up the large paint can labeled Morning Sunshine. “Um, so, you can start on that wall,” she said, pointing to the wall opposite the back door. She moved her hand toward the adjacent wall, adding, “I still need to get rid of the rest of the wallpaper on this one, and then we can prime it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” A glint of humor filled his eyes, but his face remained as stoic as usual.
She wondered why he smiled so rarely. Difficult childhood, or was he just serious by nature? She didn’t mind, though. She’d faked enough smiles these past few months that it was refreshing not having to put on a happy face to avoid being on the receiving end of the sympathetic smiles she’d grown used to.
It was even more refreshing not having to make awkward small talk, which she discovered ten minutes later as they worked in comfortable silence. Caleb didn’t say much, except for the occasional work-related remark, as he rolled bright-yellow paint on her kitchen wall.
She found herself sneaking sidelong glances in his direction, admiring his perfect profile, the strength of his jaw, the confident way he moved. Her pulse sped up each time he lifted his arms, which made his powerful muscles bunch and flex. His body was incredible, hard and lean without an ounce of fat. And she loved how focused he was on his task, his head bent in concentration. As he painted, a rogue lock of dark hair fell onto his forehead. She wanted to walk over and brush it away, but kept her hands on the scraper she was using. Just because every nerve ending in her body crackled with the need to touch him didn’t mean she’d give in to temptation.