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His open shirt collar revealed the suntanned hollow at the base of his throat. She stared at it for a moment too long, then jabbed at the jump ring attached to the bracelet’s clasp. “I got a text message from Lucy today.”
“I don’t care.” He moved deeper into the room, bringing with him the nauseating scent of undiluted goodness.
“She still won’t tell me what she’s doing or exactly where she is.” The pliers slipped. She winced as she pinched her finger. “All she’ll say is that no terrorists have captured her and I shouldn’t worry.”
“Repeat. Don’t care.”
She sucked her finger. “Yes, you do, although not in the way most abandoned bridegrooms would care. Your pride’s injured, but your heart doesn’t even seem bruised, let alone broken.”
“You don’t know anything about my heart.”
The need to be disagreeable wouldn’t let go, and as she once again dragged her eyes away from that odious open shirt collar, she recalled a tidbit
she’d picked up from Haley. “Don’t you think it’s a little embarrassing for a man your age to still live with his parents?”
“I don’t live with my parents.”
“Close enough. You have a house on the same property.”
“It’s a big property, and they like having me nearby.”
Unlike her own parents, who’d booted her out the door. “How sweet,” she said. “Does Yummy Mummy tuck you in at night?”
“Not unless I ask her to. And you’re not exactly in a position to make Yummy Mummy cracks.”
“True. But I don’t live with mine.” She didn’t like him looming over her, so she uncoiled from the floor and wandered toward her only piece of living room furniture, the ugly brown upholstered chair Ted had left behind. “What do you want?”
“Nothing. Just relaxing.” He meandered over to a window and ran his thumb along one side of the frame.
She perched on the chair arm. “You have a tough life for sure. Do you actually work? I mean aside from your so-called mayor’s job.”
Her question seemed to amuse him. “Sure I work. I have a desk and a pencil sharpener and everything.”
“Where?”
“Secret location.”
“All the better to keep the women away?”
“To keep everybody away.”
She thought that over. “I know you invented some kind of whiz-bang software system that made you a gazillion dollars, but I haven’t heard much talk about it. What kind of job do you have?”
“A lucrative job.” He gave a quick, apologetic tilt of his head. “Sorry. Foreign word you wouldn’t understand.”
“That’s just mean.”
He smiled and gazed up at the ceiling fan. “I can’t believe how hot it is in here, and it’s only the first of July. Hard to imagine how much worse it’ll get.” He shook his head, his expression as guileless as a saint’s. “I was going to put in air-conditioning for Lucy, but I’m glad now that I didn’t. Adding all those fluorocarbons to the atmosphere would have kept you awake at night. Do you have any beer?”
She glowered at him. “I can barely afford milk for cereal.”
“You’re living here rent free,” he pointed out. “The least you could do is keep beer in the refrigerator for company.”
“You’re not company. You’re an infestation. What do you want?”
“This is my place, remember? I don’t have to want anything.” He pointed the toe of a scuffed, but very expensive, loafer toward the jewelry laid out on the floor. “What’s all this?”
“Some costume jewelry.” She knelt down and began to gather it up.
