AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shaking his head at his own disturbing thought, he turned back to the shelf unit.
“I’ve got a few more projects hitting the market in the next couple months,” he said.
“Like what?”
One thing he gave Naom
i, she’d always been interested in his inventions. Wanting to know what they did, how they worked and how he’d come up with them.
“There’s a self-leveling measuring cup—” He glanced at her as she came closer. “My mom loves to bake and complains that there are different kinds of cups. For dry or liquid. This cup does both and levels itself so you know you’re always right.”
She gave him a smile, and it lit up her eyes. Toby looked away fast, but not fast enough. The pit of his stomach jittered, and a little lower, his body went rock hard. Damn it.
“Your mom’ll be happy. What else?”
She picked up a wood dowel and twirled it in her fingers. Those long, slender fingers with the deep red polish on the nails. He looked away again.
“Something Scarlett wanted,” he said and made a minor tweak to the hydraulic system. Anything to keep his brain focused. “She keeps her vet tools in the trunk of her car and had one of those flimsy trunk organizers. The one I designed is heavy acrylic, with a hinged lid and compartments that slide out with a button push.” He checked the mechanism on the back of the piece again. “I figure it’ll be a hit with carpenters, plumbers, artists, even fishermen. They’ll be able to keep their stuff handy and safe.”
“Wow.” She dropped the dowel onto the workbench. “Okay. Made your mom and Scarlett—not to mention millions of others—happy. What’ve you got for me?”
He looked at her in time to see a wide smile flash across her face. What did he have for her? Well, now, that was a loaded question, wasn’t it? Rather than face it, he asked, “What do you need?”
She propped one hip against the workbench, threw her amazing long copper-streaked brown hair back behind her shoulders and said, “Surprise me.”
Damn. Everything she said now tempted him, and he knew she hadn’t meant it that way. “I’ll do that.”
“So, what’re you working on now?”
“This? It’s a prototype for a new piece of furniture,” he said, relieved to shift his thoughts back to safe territory. He stood back, folded his arms over his chest and said, “Look at it. Tell me what you see.”
Frowning a little, she moved to get a better look. Sadly, she moved closer to him, and her scent wrapped itself around him.
After a second or two, she shrugged. “It looks like a bookcase. At least the top half does. The bottom half looks like it’s a cabinet door, but you don’t have any pulls on it yet.”
He grinned. “Don’t need them. See that switch on the side there? Give it a turn.”
She did, and the machinery inside hummed into life. Naomi moved out of the way and watched, a smile on her face, as the cabinet door swung out and up until it was horizontal, jutting out from the bookcase itself. “Cool. It converts to a table.”
“There’s more,” Toby said and, stepping forward, reached under the table and pushed another switch to one side. Instantly, hidden benches lowered from beneath the table and took their places, one on each side.
She laughed. “I love it. Table and chairs in a bookcase.”
He liked that approving smile and took a seat on one of the benches as he waved her toward the other one. “In a small place? Buy this bookcase, and you have a table when you want one and it’s gone when you don’t.”
She propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her joined hands. “For a man with a gigantic house, you’re really into space-saving mode, aren’t you?”
He ran his hand over the table surface. “I like coming up with things that can be multifunctional.”
“It’s brilliant. I love it.” She looked at the top half. “And the bookcase stays in place so you don’t have to unload it before using the table. Very cool.”
“Thanks.” He looked at the piece again. “There are some products like this on the market, but none that include benches along with the table and none that use hydraulics like I’m using them.”
“Another patent for the boy inventor.”
“Haven’t been a boy inventor for a long time,” he said, shifting his gaze back to hers.
For one long, humming second, the air between them nearly bristled. Toby stared into her eyes and wondered if she could read the hunger no doubt shining in his. She licked her lips, huffed out a breath and opened her mouth to speak. But whatever she might have said was lost, and the mood between them shattered, when another voice called from the doorway.
