Page 24

My eyes took in a tight white t-shirt that showed off a ripped abdomen and shoulders that I’d only seen in movies. Male legs encased in black bicycle shorts showed off thick, muscular thighs.

He chuckled again, and I realized I was staring.

Oh God. I’d never objectified a man like I had just now. I felt the heat climbing up my cheeks.

I looked up at his face and saw that he had a twinkle in his eye, and he was coming toward me.

His eyes.

His face.

“Beau? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe?”

He stopped in his tracks.

“Beau’s in Europe?”

“What are you talking about?” I shook my head. “I talked to you six weeks ago. You said you would never be coming back here. Why are you here?”

“You talked to Beau?”

I shook my head again.

“Beau, what are you talking about?”

He walked closer, and was soon a foot away from me. He’d looked good ten yards away, but three feet away from me, he was overwhelming.

“Beau’s my brother,” he said softly.

“Your brother?” My voice was just as quiet as his had been. “Why didn’t Beau tell me that he had a brother living here?”

He tilted his head and bit his lip and I thought I might melt into a puddle, and not because of the heat.

“Beau didn’t know I’d be here. Are you the woman renting Beau’s house?”

I nodded. It took more than a moment for me to find words. “What’s your name?”

“Kai Davies.”

“Hi.” I took a deep breath. Enough of the breathy shit. “I’m Marlowe Jones.” I thrust out my hand.

He took my hand, and I felt electricity spark. Honest-to-God electricity, like I had touched a live wire. I looked into his eyes and he looked as surprised as I was.

“Hello, Marlowe.”

He let go of my hand and I sighed. I would have been fine having him hold my hand all day.

“Why wouldn’t Beau have known you were here?”

“I grew up in Alaska. We didn’t know about each other.”

I tilted my head and frowned.

“It’s complicated.”

“Oh. I didn’t mean to pry. Really, I didn’t.”

This left side of his mouth kicked up a bit, the same as his brother’s. I remembered that was the best smile I ever got out of Beau, too. And I had worked hard to get him to smile.