And that’s when Gwen saw the stacks of books on the counter. All three of her books were represented, butA Quaking of Aspensdefinitely dominated the piles. “Why are these here?”
“Rather than having people trying to chase you down individually or putting extra work on the library staff, Mom put the word out that donations of your book could be dropped off here and you’d sign them all.”
“So here’s a question,” Gwen said, staring at the books. “If everybody donated their copies to the sale, who’s going to buy copiesfromthe sale?”
Mallory laughed. “Anybody who wants a signed copy, I guess. But I did tell the librarian to pull any signed copies that don’t sell and give them to me. I’ll sell them online and split the money with the summer reading program. Get to signing.”
Gwen was going to point out she usually didn’t sign books with a Sharpie and had a special gel pen she preferred to use, but she didn’t think that particular fact would endear her to her sister at all. “Fine, but I’m using the bathroom first.”
She didn’t take long since she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible and get back to her book, but when she stepped out of the bathroom, she almost collided with Case.
“What areyoudoing here?” she asked, and then—when he took a step back and frowned slightly—she immediately regretted the question. And the unnecessarily harsh way she’d asked it. “I’m sorry. I was just surprised to see you. I guess you’re here for the same reason everybody else comes here.”
“Probably not.”
“No?” It was her turn to frown, even as she did her best to look anywhere but at his mouth. That wasn’t easy since all she seemed to do anymore was think about kissing him again.
“Not unless everybody else comes here because they saw your car parked outside and thought it might be a good time to stop in and see if your mom has anything we can snag to use for some kind of Old Home Day booth.” He grinned. “I get to see you and possibly find a folding table at the same time. I’m efficient that way.”
“You see me every day,” she pointed out, but she could feel her cheeks flush. She liked that he wanted to see her, even if it did nothing to cool that ember of desire that would be better off doused in cold water. “The outdoor stuff’s in the back.”
“You’re not going to help me shop?”
“I don’t work here,” she reminded him. “You already know where everything is, and I have to sign books for the library sale.”
Then she walked away before he could talk her into it. She had a hard time resisting him, but the last thing she wanted to do was have her mother and sister watching the two of them together—especially after her mom saw her checking out his butt the other day. It would put ideas in their heads, and she was having a hard enough time dealing with the ideas Case put in herownhead. She absolutely did not want either of her sisters, but especially Mallory, to guess how she felt about Case. Or find out they’d been kissing in the carriage house.
Gwen signed the stack of books faster than she’d ever signed books before and then, after promising her mother she’d come in again if they took in any more, she drove back to the house so she could get more words in before everybody gathered for dinner.
She didn’t see Case again until she got up to find the end of the cord so she could plug her laptop back in and movement in the window caught her eye. Movement inhiswindow.
His bedroom window, to be precise.
As she watched, unable to tear her gaze away, he peeled off the hooded D&T Tree Service T-shirt he’d been wearing at the thrift store and flung it. Even if he had a bigger window, she wouldn’t have seen where it landed because she couldn’t look away from his broad chest and taut abs. Hard work definitely did a body good.
She could only see him from the waist up, but when his arms made a downward pushing motion and then he bent over, she realized he was taking off his pants. A squeaky sound escaped her lips and she spun around so her back was to the window. What waswrongwith her?
With deliberate concentration, she found the end of her charger cord and plugged it into the port on her laptop before carefully setting the computer on the table next to her rocker. But before she stepped away, she couldn’t resist just one more quick peek out the window.
For a few seconds she thought he’d pulled a blind down and he was a little late with that, but then she realized she was looking at a big piece of cardboard with words printed across it.
He’d written the words so large, she didn’t even have to squint to read them.
Hi peeping Gwen.
Her cheeks flamed and she jerked away from the window, hoping he wasn’t watching to see her reaction.
Peeping Gwen?
No way was she letting that stand. She could look out her window whenever she wanted. If a person was planning to strip, that person bore the responsibility of closing his damn curtains and giving himself privacy.
She hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she found Mallory pulling a lasagna out of the oven and didn’t manage a U-turn before her sister saw her.
“Oh, Gwen. Want to start setting the table?”
“Definitely, but I need like five minutes first. That has to sit before you can cut it anyway, right?” Mal frowned, but this was too important to wait untilafterdinner. “Do you have any poster board kicking around? Like from the boys’ science fair projects or something?”
Mallory frowned. “I’m not sure. Why do you need poster board?”
