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“Speaking of which, you haven’t been around much.”
“I temp during the slow season to make some extra money.”
He frowned. She shouldn’t have to do extra jobs. He jammed his hand into his pocket so he didn’t do something stupid like grab her and make her realize that. “But not today?”
“No, it’s decorating day. First we have to clean all the rooms.”
“Your mother keeps every room sparkling.”
“Agreed, but Christmas is her deal, so I have to do what I’m told.” She held up deep-green-and-white towels. “Christmas towels. But I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
He stood in front of her and flicked a blonde curl over her shoulder. He was playing with fire, but she was there in front of him, and he couldn’t stop himself. Not when her apple scent rolled through his room—his former room—and reminded him of just what he’d been missing for the last few weeks.
She closed her eyes. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” He stroked his thumb under her chin and along her jawline until he felt her pulse flutter wildly.
“Don’t make me want you again.”
“You stopped?”
She swallowed, and he could feel the muscles of her throat work. He lowered his mouth to her temple. Her orchard flavor mixed with the fresh linens in her arms. It made him think of Sunday-morning sunshine when he caught her hanging the laundry.
He stepped back, even as his cock screamed at him to move forward instead. To lay claim to her mouth, to stretch her out on his bed and lift her arms above her head and watch her break apart in the diffused winter sun.
He wanted it way too much. And he couldn’t invite that back into his life. Not when he was working so hard to separate himself.
* * *
KENDALL WATCHED HIM walk away. Her chest ached with the need to call him back. Already the room was empty without him. The little toiletries that dotted his dresser, the clothes hanging in the closet, his extra pair of work boots—all of them were gone.
Just how long before he’d be gone too?
Resolutely she put the towels in the bathroom and stripped his bed. The lingering wisp of cedar chips ripped into her. She sat on the bed and pulled his pillow forward and buried her face in his scent.
No. Not again. She stood and shook out the pillowcase until the feather pillow landed in the chair with a thud. When the bed was stripped, she snapped out fresh sheets.
The last three weeks had been a lesson in self-control. She decided she pretty much sucked at it. The nights were the worst. Even working twelve hours a day wasn’t enough to banish him.
She appreciated the new water heater, but she was still taking cold showers out of necessity. She woke with his name on her lips, his phantom hands on her body, and an orgasm teasing the edges of her sanity.
Even a hot shower and taking care of herself didn’t do the job.
She was going to go mad if she didn’t figure out a way to make him see that she hadn’t lied to him on purpose. She finished making the bed and tossed the dirty sheets in the laundry chute. Before she could talk herself out of it, she hit the stairs at a dead run.
The cold December air slapped her in the face. She stormed across the driveway to the barn. Shane’s lathe was on, and a pile of sawdust sprinkled over his boots. A spindle took shape as he worked his chisel up and down the length.
That wasn’t helping.
She waited at the door for him to turn it off, and he tossed his glasses on the workbench. She crossed the room before she could talk herself out of it, then hooked her arms around his neck. She laid her lips on his. At first there was no response.
Shane stood there as still as one of the carvings he had on his shelf.
Then his fingers fisted into the back of her shirt, and he dragged her against him. She gave a sighing moan as the hard length of him pressed into her belly. He lifted her and dropped her on a metal workbench on the far side of the room.
His mouth was relentless on her neck and collarbone. He peeled up the bottom of her shirt, his teeth capturing her nipple on the reveal of her plum-colored bra.
He moaned around the stiff tip and flipped her cups up with the sweater until both were hanging around her neck. He went from one breast to the other, taking care to suck both of her nipples into aching points.
