“Are you sure I couldn’t persuade you back into bed instead?”
She glanced down his body and noticed the bulge in his jeans. “Do you ever tire?”
“A pretty blond princess is standing in front of me naked. As it happens that’s a sight guaranteed to make my dick really happy.”
She propped her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I will use my knee if I have to.”
He grimaced and handed her the camisole.
Dressed several minutes later, Roni watched through her living room window as Jake backed out of her driveway. She looked down at the sticky note in her hand. He’d given her his phone number and she’d given him hers. But that wasn’t what had her heart nearly beating out of her chest. The crooked heart he’d drawn around the number tore at her defenses. A woman didn’t have a leg to stand on around a man like Jake. She held the sticky note to her chest and slumped against the wall.
The ringing of the phone tore Roni out of her romantic haze. When she moved through the kitchen she realized it was clean. “Damn, he did my dishes.”
Roni couldn’t remember a single time when a man had cleaned and cooked for her. As her gaze snagged on the spot on the counter where Jake had spread her legs and licked her to orgasm, her clit throbbed in awareness. She inhaled and wondered if it were just her imagination or if she really could smell his musky male scent. The phone rang again and Roni grabbed it off the counter.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Roni, it’s Lydia. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No, I was up.” God, was she ever. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a sale at the mall today. Jeannette and I are going. Want to come?”
Normally she loved shopping with her two closest friends. It was their favorite weekend hobby. Today Roni only wanted to be left alone. She needed to get a handle on her feelings for Jake. Put things into perspective.
“I’m going to skip it this time. I have a lot of housework and bills to work on.” Which was nothing short of the truth. “You two have fun.”
“Are you sure?”
Lydia sounded worried and Roni hated it. Considering it was the first time Roni had ever opted to clean instead of shop, however, Lydia had good reason to worry. “Yeah, I’m good. If you see anything I might like though, get it for me and I’ll pay you back.”
“No problem. Talk to you later?”
“Yeah.”
They ended the call and Roni looked back down at the wrinkled sticky note. “He just had to go and be all sweet. Damn it.”
8
Jake didn’t even remember driving to his brother’s house, but as he pulled the keys out of the ignition and stared at Spencer under the hood of Lisa’s car, he knew he couldn’t leave without at least saying hello. When he opened the car door, Spencer stood and turned, his grease-streaked face holding a grimace. Lisa’s piece of crap Jeep tended to put Spencer in a foul mood.
Jake walked up the drive and called out a greeting. “Hey, bro. What’s wrong with it this time?”
Spencer moved to a workbench and picked up a rag, then swiped it over his face. “Damn thing’s burning oil,” he gritted out.
“You need to talk her into buying a new car. This thing isn’t worth the trouble.”
“She thinks the red’s cute.” He rolled his eyes and tossed the rag on top of a pile of tools. “Stubborn girl.”
Speaking of stubborn. “Hey, you got a minute?”
Spencer looked him over. Jake had to force himself to stand still. He still had on last night’s clothes and he hadn’t shaved. It was obvious as hell he’d been out all night. The grin that came over his brother’s face gave him no amount of comfort either.
“I could be persuaded to take a break.”
Jake sighed. Hell, he should’ve known it’d cost him. “What’s your price?”
Spencer pointed to the red pile of metal. “Help me fix it and I’ll be yours.”