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“Let me change.”
I live in a three-bed, one-bath house that I bought when I was thirty-one, intending to fix it up. I haven’t gotten very far. In the three years I’ve owned it, I’ve managed to rip the tiles off the kitchen backsplash and fix up the office. My mattress in the bedroom is still on the floor.
In those three years, however, I’ve managed to sell countless properties and grow my real estate business to the point that I have a comfortable lifestyle, look after my grandmother without making it obvious that I’ve been looking after her, and work part-time at the bookstore. I’m not lazy; I just haven’t quite cared about my house enough to finish fixing it up.
When I make my way upstairs and enter my bedroom, my stomach clenches. I can’t bring Lily here. A woman like her? A woman who knows what she wants, who’s seen more of the world than most flight attendants? She’d take one look at my place and think I’m a permanent bachelor.
She wouldn’t be wrong.
Throwing on some work clothes, I bound back down the steps and find Lee leaning against the wall next to the front door. He jerks his head at me. “I rode my bike here, so I’ll meet you in town.”
I grunt in agreement and listen for the roar of his motorcycle as I slip on some old steel-toed work boots I’ve had since the days I worked as a construction laborer in my teens. They’re stiff, with gray concrete stains splattered over the tan material, but they still fit.
Locking the door behind me, I exit my old house and make my way into town.
Maybe this is exactly what I need. A bit of physical labor to get me away from my computer screen—and away from thoughts of Lily.
CHAPTER 6
Lily
Sneakers on my feet and sun hat firmly stuffed over my head, I make my way down Cove Boulevard, the main street that runs through the center of Heart’s Cove. It’s lined with quaint shops and full-grown trees, the leaves bright green and rustling in the warm summer breeze.
I walk past the hardware store and take a quick peek at the bookstore, quickening my steps as I reach the Four Cups Café. I wave at Allie, Candice’s daughter, who’s busy behind the till. It’s only another block and a half to the hotel, and just beyond it is the new community garden.
Wes’s pickup truck is parked on the street along with a large trailer full of supplies. The whole area is abuzz with activity and people and that pleasant, energetic feeling of people who are doing a good thing.
Margaret is the first one to spot me. Dorothy’s twin is the more refined, elegant of the two, with her favorite hairstyle being a French twist and her neck almost always adorned with pearls. Today, she’s managed to look dignified in dirt-stained gardening clothes.
She gives me a broad smile and a tight hug. “Thank you for coming, Iliana.”
“Of course.” I reach into my bag and pull out a pair of stiff, brand-new gardening gloves of my own. “I came prepared.”
“Good, good.” She ushers me onto the lot, which has been flattened and cleared of the building that used to stand here. On the back of the lot, Grant—Fiona’s husband—and Wes are halfway through building a row of raised planters. The leftmost wall is already done, with an army of people filling up the timber boxes with rich, dark earth. Jen, the resident baker, is standing with a clipboard, barking orders at people along the line. Fallon, the chef who stole Jen’s heart, has a little grin on his face as he walks by with a bag of potting mix slung over his shoulder. He pauses beside Jen and leans down to bite the space between her shoulder and her neck. Jen immediately stops talking and her face takes on a dreamy look. She closes her eyes and leans into him, turning her head to accept a gentle kiss.
I glance away, feeling like I’m intruding on a private moment. My attention snags on the right side of the long, narrowish lot. Rudy is here, and he’s not wearing a shirt. He has his back to me, and I can’t quite tear my eyes away from the bronzed, glistening skin. Even from a distance, I can see the sweat dappling his shoulder blades, the writhing of his muscles as he moves.
Can I blame pregnancy hormones for the rush of lust that nearly knocks me over? My stomach tightens as I watch his beautiful, strong body move in the sunlight.
He’s using this large tool that looks like a combination of scissors and a scoop to create a post hole in the ground. I stand entranced as he lifts his arms above his head and brings the post hole digger down into the hard earth, only to lift it out again and dump earth onto a small mound at his side. There’s a row of posts already secured into their holes, where more helpers are pouring quick-set concrete into the bases.
Rudy pauses, wiping his forehead on his arm.
Movement snaps me out of my stupor as Simone appears at my side, dabbing at my face with a tissue. “You’ve got a bit of drool there, Lily,” she says. “Let me get it for you.”
I give her a flat stare and bat her hand away, and Simone just cackles.
The noise draws Rudy’s attention. He turns to look over his shoulder and pauses when he sees me, then turns the whole way around. I freeze, caught in his stare—and in the tractor beam created by the honed masculine perfection of his chest.
He’s lean and muscular, with a sprinkling of golden hair over his chest. He has abs—real, visible abs. Eight of them that lead my eyes down to the carved Adonis belt that disappears into his low-slung khakis. I get a good, long look at that trail of hair I noticed yesterday.
Oh dear.
Suddenly, my lips are tingling, as if my body wants to remind me what it felt like to kiss him. I fell asleep thinking of the growls and the rough timbre of his voice when he pulled away from me. Would his voice go gravelly and harsh if I used my tongue to follow that happy trail all the way to its destination?
Somehow, I manage to drag my eyes up to Rudy’s face when he comes to a stop in front of me, leaning on his shovel-thingy.
“Hey, Lily,” he says, and those two words send heat rushing through my core.
