She threw him another hard glare. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be covered in turn-of-the-century dust. And not the turn of the most recent century. The one before that.”
When she reached for the dustpan, Case grabbed the half-full contractor bag to hold it open for her. The act of her dumping her sweepings into it kept putting their heads close together, and each time she leaned in close enough so he could smell her hair—a little bit of fruit under the ancient dust smell—he wanted to kiss her a little bit more.
When she was done, she brushed the wisps of hair that had escaped the ponytail from her smudged face. His fingers itched to do it for her. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
She tilted her head. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
If he kissed her, he was only going to make it worse. Rather than satisfying his craving for her, he knew a kiss would only whet his appetite for more. More kissing. More touching. More Gwen.
But he might as well be honest with her and get the telling of it out of the way, for better or worse. If she wasn’t into him, things might be awkward for a while, but him staring at her mouth all the damn time wasn’t any less awkward. “Because I’m obsessed with the thought of kissing you, and I’m not sure why.”
Her cheeks reddened and she folded her arms across her chest, which only drew his attention to her breasts and did nothing to quell the urge to touch her. “That’s so flattering and yet very muchnotat the same time.”
“I’ve known you my entire life and, other than a brief time around middle school or so when I wanted to go to first base with literally every girl I laid eyes on, I never felt this way about you before. But now, there’s just something about you and it won’t let me be.”
He could tell by the way her neck and cheeks flushed that she wasn’t immune to the words, but she was shaking her head ever so slightly. “It doesn’t matter because I can’t date you, anyway. You’re my sister’s ex. That makes you off-limits to me.”
Going out with Mallory had happened so long ago and was such a nonfactor, he laughed out loud. “You can’t be serious.”
“I didn’t make the rule. It’s just a rule. Girl code and all that.”
“Girlbeing the important word there. Mallory and I were kids when we went out together. She and I have been friends for years. It’s somethingwebarely even think about anymore, but you’re going to use it as an excuse to not want to kiss me?”
“It’s not an excuse tonotwant to kiss you,” she said, her cheeks even more pink now. “Idowant to kiss you, actually. But it’s the reason I’m not going to.”
She wanted to kiss him.That was all he needed to hear because he wanted to kiss her and she wanted to kiss him and everything else was just noise. “Thinking about kissing you is costing me sleep, Gwen. I have a dangerous job.”
She almost laughed, but he could see the softening in her expression. The way her lips parted. “That’s not fair.”
“Imagine it.” He took a step closer and now she was within kissing distance. All she had to do was lean in and tip her head back. “Me, up in a tree, trying to cut a branch back from a power line, but all I can think about is how much I want to kiss you.”
“I’d hate for you to get hurt,” she said, and she sounded sincere, but the crinkling at the corners of her eyes and the lifted corners of her mouth gave away her amusement.
“I think my safety is more important than some silly rule from high school, don’t you?” She couldn’t really say no to that question, could she?
“No.”
Dammit.He stepped back, holding up his hands in anare you serious?gesture. “No?”
“You seem to forget that I’ve knownyoufor your entire life, Case Danforth, and one thing you’re not going to do is slack on safety on the job. Do you think I’ve forgotten the hour-long safety demonstration and lecture you gave me when Dad wasn’t around to show me how to use the electric hedge trimmer? An electric hedge trimmer, Case.”
“Hey, you can really hurt yourself with one of those.”
“You made me wear safety goggles. I was like fourteen. People saw me. I still kind of hate you for that.” When she paused to take a breath, he knew she wasn’t done. “And also, in keeping with the fact I know you, I also know you won’t stop at a kiss. Next will be ‘oh, Gwen, I can’t safely run the chipper while I’m thinking about touching your boobs.’”
He laughed because she wasn’t wrong, even though it did nothing to help his case. “I could touch your boobswhileI kiss you, and then that won’t be a problem.”
When she pointed her finger at him, he knew he was doomed. “There are more bases, Case. And you’ll want to round them all.”
“No sense in playing the game if you’re not looking to score.” Then he winced. “I swear, you’re turning me into a teenager again.”
“And finally,” she said, and she didn’t look as amused now. “It’s not your safety versus a silly high school rule. It’s about disrespecting my sister.”
“I’m losing this debate badly, but I do want to point out that Mallory would rather have you kiss me than me fall out of a tree. She hasn’t liked melike thatin a lot of years, but she still likes me. And I haven’t taught Jack how to run the snowblower yet.”
Gwen narrowed her eyes. “Mal probably knows how to run the snowblower.”
