"You going to knock any time soon?"
Kate whirled at the sound of the unimpressed voice directly behind her. Well, she hadn't prepared for this. He wassupposedto be in the doorway. Instead, Devin MacLaren stood there balancing a stack of lumber on his shoulder. His army beige T-shirt hugged his form and she didn't miss the way his bicep bulged as he held onto the two-by-fours. He wore khaki cargo pants, boots, and a tool belt.
He took 'hot carpenter' to a whole new level, and it took everything she had not to roll her eyes.
Dev waited for a reply, but didn't get one. He wasn't sure she'd show up today, and was kind of hoping she wouldn't. After her nude revelation in the barn, he wasn't sure he could look at her, carry on a conversation, or act normal without those images flashing through his mind at random.
Christ, she was pretty. And frowning. At him. Again.
"Let me drop these off and we can go inside." He started walking around the house. "Come on."
Dev dropped the lumber on the grass in front of the back terrace, and then led Kate into what was one day going to be a large sun room. It was just a blank slate right now, but the walls and windows were in at least. James had no idea Dev was fixing up the farmhouse as a little welcome home surprise for the youngest MacLaren. "Watch your step."
"Wow," she commented behind him. "This is nice."
He paused and turned around. Kate standing in the middle of his work and complimenting it made a sour burn creep across his chest—too many bangers at breakfast, probably. Those shorts she was wearing were too short. That T-shirt was too tight. And the way her hair was twisted off her neck like that made him want to put his mouth there…
The burn was replaced by a pounding heart. Devin shook his head and cleared his throat. "Thanks. Hildie is in here." He moved into the remodeled kitchen. It was the first thing he'd tackled. And he was damn proud of the job he'd done.
"Okay. Double wow. Did you do this?"
Dev's throat felt funny, tight and thick. He nodded, opened the fridge and pulled out a water. He took a long drink, feeling her eyes on him. "You want one?"
"Yeah. That ride was longer than I thought it'd be."
He didn't respond, got her a water, and tossed it over. Now it was his turn to stare as she opened it, tipped her head back, and guzzled. He scrubbed a hand down his face and let out a controlled breath. She finished—thank God—re-capped the bottle, and set it on the counter behind her, leaning against it as she did. Her gaze traveled around the room with admiration. She was buying time, he thought, and realized she was just as overwhelmed and jumpy as he was. Which made things worse for him. If she was feeling half of what he was, they were in for a load of trouble. And trouble was the last thing he needed.
"So we kind of got off to a weird start," she said, bringing his attention right back to where he didn't want it.
Dev crossed his arms over his chest.
"You're not a big talker are you?"
"Not really, no."
She nodded, thought a minute and finally said, "I think I should just go." She pushed of the counter.
Damn it. "Wait." She stopped. "Look," he paused, at a loss for words and quickly trying to come up with something to explain he normally wasn'tthisbad. "You're right. We got off to a weird start. A shocking start, a mind blowing—" her death glare stopped him and he revised. "Right." This was bloody torture and was so ridiculous that he felt a smile coming up from the depths of his body. A low laugh came out, one that had him shaking his head.
The way they'd met. They way he was acting. It was all nuts.
The scowl on her gorgeous face turned to mirth until she was laughing too. "Okay. I guess it is kind of funny," she admitted. "How about we just start over?"
"I canna unsee what I saw, lass," he replied with an easy grin. "But I'll try not to let it cloud our future interactions."
"Oh gee, thanks. If it's not too much trouble for you."
He shrugged. It was going to be a hell of a lot of trouble, but he was willing to try. "I'm just a man, Katie, not a robot. You left me with quite an impression. It's burned into my brain and—"
She held up a hand to stop him and went back to glaring, and Dev decided he liked causing the myriad of emotions that had crossed her face since she'd arrived. But most of all, he liked the humor. He'd forgotten the lightness it brought, the way it momentarily erased the darkness. He'd laughed with his brothers recently, too, finally able to spend some time together after months on end… And now Kate was here, knocking his socks off, and making him remember what it felt like to spar with a woman, to match wits, to feel the hot punch of attraction.
"So where is this dog of yours?"
"She's in here." He led Kate into the living room where Hildie lay curled up on her dog bed. She hadn't been herself and it was worrying him. Normally, she would have been up and alerting Devin to Kate biking down the lane. Normally, she would have stood by his side to make sure he was safe. Normally, she would have inhaled her breakfast.
"A Shepherd," Kate said, seeing Hildie. He was about to tell her to take it slow, but she stopped next to him instead of invading the dog's space. She was giving her time to get used to a new presence in the room. Smart. "Is she friendly?"
"Wary at first, but friendly."
