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“It fits.” She frowned and fingered the short silver chain around her neck. A long, milky stone hung from the center, drawing his gaze where it had no business going. He swiftly aimed his focus back on her face and wished he hadn’t. Her direct eyes were even more dangerous than the rest of her. “I’d prefer you drive to Renault to get the part. I realize that would take longer.”
Evidently his time was not her concern. Also evidently, he would not be revealing who he was anytime soon, because as soon as she realized his ties to the store that aroused so much of her ire, odd as that was, she’d likely knee him in the balls and slap him across the face. As she should. A decent, upstanding guy didn’t lie to a girl just so he could kiss her brainless.
He needed to get out of her apartment before he did something he couldn’t take back.
And damn sure wouldn’t want to.
“By the way, you never told me your name,” she said, her tone silky.
At least he could give her his name without letting the drill out of the bag. He dropped his rag into the toolbox and shut it. Then he glanced up at her sexy smile and his hand jerked on his kit. Jesus, would he ever learn not to look at what he couldn’t touch? “Dillon James.”
“Dillon James,” she repeated, her voice a purr as she rose with the grace of a dancer. Not ballet. She wasn’t that coolly antiseptic, though she tried to be. “How many tats do you have?”
“What is this, twenty questions?”
“Just curious.” She indicated his upper arm. “There’s one. Do you have more?”
“Yeah. A couple more. A skull, and a snake.”
Interest flared across her face as she darted her gaze over his body. “Where?”
Uh-uh. Tell invariably led to show, and that wasn’t happening. Even if he ached for it to. “Leave a guy some mystery, would you?”
Something dark and wicked burned in her blue eyes, riding shotgun with the pain she’d stuffed down so far she probably figured no one saw it.
He saw.
But that didn’t mean he could do a damn thing about it, assuming he hadn’t imagined what lurked in her expression. He had no right to ask questions that weren’t the usual getting-to-know-you type of fare. Certainly had no cause to try to make her laugh again, just to hear that free, happy sound. To know he’d caused it, given her that moment of pleasure, egotistical bastard that he was. He cleared his throat. “I have to go.” Now.
“You’re coming back, though, right?” she asked, fingering her choker.
He hefted his toolbox. “Yeah. I’ll be back.” When he started to move past her, she stepped forward. His breath tripped as her hand came up to his chest. God, if she touched him right now he’d lose it.
“You forgot this.” She offered him his wrench. Their gazes collided and a slow, sly smile curved her mouth. She knew exactly what he’d been thinking. “See you later, Dillon.”
“Lock up after I go,” he said, then got the hell out of there.
Chapter Two
The smell of sawdust, fresh paint, and the clean and somehow aromatic scent of new plastic hit Dillon as he stepped into Value Hardware, as it always did. He could bring back that indefinable hardware store aroma in an instant, with all the happy memories of home and concerns for the future it brought.
New concerns had crowded in, and he’d come there to satisfy some of them. Where, exactly, did Alexa’s hostility toward Value Hardware come from? Maybe it really was just because the two stores had some business overlap and therefore a rivalry, but he had his doubts.
When his brother was involved, anything was possible. If Alexa was feeling the squeeze from Value Hardware, Cory probably knew about it. Hell, he’d probably tightened the screws, especially considering they owned the building that housed her store. Cory wouldn’t tiptoe around wanting to cut out the competition. Just not his style.
Time to find out what the deal was. Maybe in the process he’d even lose the damn erection he still hadn’t been able to shake since he’d left her.
At the rate he was going, maybe he never would. He’d die hard and unfulfilled and feeling somehow cock-blocked by his shark of an older brother. Not the first time either.
He took the quickest route to his office and booted up his computer. As usual his e-mail was a hot mess, full of “urgent” things he’d already ignored for several days. They’d wait a few longer. He logged into the server and accessed his accounting program, running her name first. A genius data monkey had set up the system to cross-reference details practically down to a client’s billing preference.
He grinned. Days like today he appreciated his own genius.
Too bad his grin didn’t last.
She was in trouble, the kind that even a big night at the casino wouldn’t touch. Notices had stacked up, their language becoming increasingly more confrontational. That they’d never crossed the line beyond what was legal was a small comfort.
Not much of one, though, when he could still smell her on his clothes. Her fragrance was a palpable thing in his office, wrapping around him until he couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
