In slow motion, she turned to face him again. “You were in my yard looking like that?”
He took evil delight in saying, “You have some nice neighbors.”
Hot color crept up her neck to her cheeks and then to her forehead. In a barely there rasp, she asked, “You met Mrs. Simmons?”
“Yeah. She came over to talk to me.”
Glory closed her eyes. “I’m sure she did.”
Enjoying himself, Kam inched a little closer still. Already, he craved her closeness. “She has to be mid-seventies, right? Yet she was awful curious about you having a man over.”
Her throat worked when she gulped.
“Kept staring at my chest, too. Practically made me feel naked.”
Lashes lifted, and the blue of Glory’s eyes glowed like a flame. “Know why? Because you’repractically naked.”
Those last two words had ended on a high note, making him grin.
After throwing up her hands, Glory took a moment to collect herself.
It was something to see, the way she inhaled, slowly exhaled. Smoothed her already-smooth top. Shook out her hands. Flexed her neck. And finally curved her lips into a smile that conveyed mere curiosity. “Why, exactly, were you in the yard?”
Kam couldn’t imagine having that much control. She’d gone from near implosion to cool composure. “Neat trick,” he said, even while wishing he’d seen her really let go.
Without her lips moving, she said, “Kam,” and there was no missing the warning.
“I had to back out the car so I could unload your garage.”
Her eyes nearly crossed. “Why, if you don’t mind me asking, did you unload my garage?”
Funny. For a woman who could irritate the hell out of him, she suddenly seemed really... cute. Frazzled, for sure. Annoyed, absolutely. But also a little unsure, and the fact that she couldn’t keep her gaze off his body spurred him on.
“You know what, Glory? You look like a woman who could use a cup of coffee.” Opening a hand to the small of her back, he guided her past the garage door entrance to the hall that led to the kitchen. “Take a seat and I’ll serve you.”
She propped her sexy rump up on a barstool and put her head in her hands. “What did you tell Nosy Old Lady Simmons?”
Struck by that description, he paused. “That’s great. Nosy Old Lady Simmons. It suits her. She grilled me as if she’d found me using a battering ram on the door. I played nice, though—Addie would skin me if I didn’t. I explained that someone had broken your window, and I’d camped out to ensure you’d be safe in case the vandals returned.”
“Naturally, she saw you as a hero.”
“Of course. She also said another neighbor had recently had a tree papered, and someone else had eggs busted on their door.”
“A tree papered?”
“Glory, don’t tell me you’ve never indulged in knuckleheaded youth pranks? No? So you’ve never taken rolls of toilet paper and thrown them all through the branches of a neighbor’s trees?”
Fascinated, she shook her head. “Have you?”
“Ha! You think I’d chance you tattling to Addie? Even now, she’d get after me. Once, though, Tanner and I busted some assholes who were throwing eggs at the house.”
“Did you call the cops?”
“We’re not snitches.”
She leveled him with a stern look. “I won’t believe you didn’t retaliate.”
“Naturally not. We chased them down and pounded on them.”
