“I’ll throw a bottle of it in with the water. Now let’s get outside before you distract me with your wicked ways again.”
She laughed. “My wicked ways?”
“Yes. You’re a sorceress. With your business suits and your red hair all pinned up, I was already a mess. But now”—he released one of her hands and twirled her around—“now I get long legs and your Grade A backside to distract me while I try to do charity work. How am I supposed to focus?”
She grinned and poked him in the chest. “Hey, if you’re going to objectify me, then I need to be afforded the same right. This shirt of yours? It’s coming off, mister. It’s way too hot outside for that nonsense.”
He grabbed the finger she had pressed to his chest and nipped at the tip with his teeth. “Oh, I’m all for a no-shirts car wash. I assume this applies to you as well.”
“Then we’ll get arrested.”
“No worries. I know a great lawyer. Though she’s kind of expensive and, frankly, a little bossy.”
She pulled her hand away, laughing. “All right, outside or we’ll never get this done.”
“And this is a problem, why?”
“Wes!”
“Kidding.” He leaned in and kissed her quickly. She loved the little zip of pleasure that went through her at the simple contact. “That’s fine. But know that you’ve just written your own downfall. Me with no shirt? Wet? You know I’ve been paid for my shirtlessness. You’ve got no shot at maintaining acceptable behavior in public. You will probably just throw all your clothes at me the minute we’re outside.”
She gave a droll look. “I will try to contain myself, chef.”
He laughed good-naturedly and stepped away. As he strode toward their stuff, he reached behind to tug his shirt over his head. He tossed it aside and then tucked the water bottles in a bag. “Okay, let’s do this.”
But when he turned back to her, she’d forgotten what she was supposed to be doing. Wes had been joking around with her, but now she saw exactly why someone had thought of him for a Shirtless Chef gig. Long, lean muscle spread across broad shoulders, the tattoos on his arms snaked a little bit onto his shoulders and chest, and his torso was tanned, which meant he’d been without his shirt in public at some point—and it just wasn’t fair that she hadn’t been present in that public. The man was a sight. And she was staring.
“Rebecca?”
“Huh?”
“I asked if you were ready to go.”
“Right.” Yes. Of course. They needed to go. There was work to be done. “Sure.”
He cocked his head toward the door and she followed him, still gawking and only feeling a little guilty about it. He opened a closet door in the entryway, tossed a bottle of sunscreen in the bag, and then they were on their way.
When they got down to the parking lot, Wes gathered more supplies from his truck and set up everything next to Adele. The sun had risen higher in the sky by then, creating shimmering heat off the blacktop and promising to roast them if they weren’t careful. Spring in Texas was turning out to be just a summer preview. Rebecca dug around in the bag and found the sunblock while Wes connected the hose and filled two buckets with sudsy water.
She slathered a good layer on every exposed area, making sure she didn’t miss anything. She could get sunburn on long car rides just getting sun through the window, so she didn’t mess around. When she finished rubbing some onto her legs, she glanced up and caught Wes watching her. Her first instinct was to think he was examining her scars further, but the look in his eyes held something a lot different. Her neck warmed, and it had nothing to do with the sun.
She straightened and held up the bottle. “Want some?”
“Not yet. But let me know if you see me getting red.”
“You mean watch your body very, very closely in the name of safety? I’m on it.”
He laughed. “You are such a thoughtful friend.”
“Yep.” She was thinking thoughts all right.
He strolled over and held out a bucket and the hose. “Which would you like to be in charge of first? Getting things wet or soaping them up?”
Her tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth as images of getting him wet and soaping him up were the first things that came to mind. She quickly reached for the hose. “Wet.”
She needed to turn that thing on herself and cool her damn libido.
He grinned and handed her the hose. “I knew you’d choose offense. I’m going to be soaked in about ten seconds, aren’t I?”