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Ally stared a little longer, before collecting her purse and rushing toward the back door in long, lolloping steps.
Blaine shifted sideways, blocking her exit. “What are you doing?”
“Just getting on with my day.” She gave an overenthusiastic grin; one no one in the room bought. “Got a problem with that, Mr. Callaghan?”
“You bet I do.” He frowned down at her, unmistakable fire in his eyes. “Whatever you think you know, you better not breathe a word to anyone else.”
She craned her neck and squinted up at him. “And what makes you think I’d do something like that?”
“The fact that I know you, maybe?” He lifted a brow, then stuck his arm out, catching her as she tried to sneak past. “If I hear rumors of Emilia and me being anything more than friends, I’ll know exactly who started them.”
Ally turned to Emilia, her mouth open in mock surprise. “Do you hear that? Not very trusting, is he?” She swung back to Blaine, lifting onto her toes and giving him a solid kiss on the cheek. The two seemed strangely similar to a couple of squabbling teenage siblings. “Don’t worry, honey, Emilia’s been my friend about five minutes longer than she’s been your… well, whatever you two are. Your secret’s safe with me.”
She spun and gave Emilia an excited wave goodbye, then swerved around Blaine and out the door. He turned to Emilia, eyes exuding an amused light. “Do you think she’ll keep our secret?”
She squeezed her lips together, holding back a giggle, only to burst into a much louder laugh. “Not a chance. Though she did seem to think she’s known me longer, so we did fool her there.”
He let loose with a soft chuckle and shrugged, his easy steps toward her sending a soft dart of electricity through her body. “I see myself soon becoming the victim of a lot of bribery to keep that girl quiet.”
He pulled her up and out of her chair, leaning in until his lips met hers. She melted into his commanding embrace and sighed, his hands raking her hair, his mouth demanding far more than a sweet welcome kiss.
Before she knew it, he’d hiked her feet off the floor, and he wrapped her legs around his waist. Need burned her from the inside out as she locked her arms around his broad shoulders. And still, he was the one to break the kiss, his stare tangling with hers in a long, silent moment.
“Counters.” His lips plucked with a new smile. “If I let my body call all the shots here, I swear this cottage is more likely to topple over from old age before I get this job finished.”
She caught his lips one last time before resting her forehead on his and offering a reluctant nod. Even as he lowered her, the slide down his body proved a searing kind of hell made of pure yearning.
He drew back, his gaze snagging on her a moment too long, like maybe he wanted to renege on his vow to get to work. But then he shook his head, turning for his toolbox. “Later. Maybe later.”
She laughed as he pulled on a set of work gloves, and her sense of duty seeped in. “Can I help?”
He pointed to her still-healing shoulder. “You think that broken wing will keep up?”
“Maybe if you don’t ask me to swing a sledgehammer or something.”
He smiled and grabbed a crowbar and a second pair of gloves from the toolbox. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. You take on the easier tasks and stop if anything hurts.”
She reached for the gloves and the crowbar at the same time. He let her have the gloves but snatched the crowbar back, making it clear that particular tool was not what he considered easy.
“Fine.” She slunk back, pulling on the gloves. “And after we’re done, you stay for dinner.”
