They said men made women soft… or was it the other way around? I couldn’t remember. I spent too much of my time working and staying away from those of the other sex, I wasn’t sure what they were or weren’t.
Didn’t matter. I wasn’t hooking up with anyone, anytime soon.
I clutched my bag to my side and kept my keys in my hand, just in case.
In case of what, I wasn’t sure. But that was my instinctual reaction as a small female in a town with unknown men.
Movement caught my eye and I turned to see the guys next door stepping out onto their front porch.
The effect on my body was embarrassing.
I couldn’t breathe, my heart began to gallop, pounding against my rib cage in an unending way.
What was wrong with me?
I locked eyes with the largest one of the three and heat poured through my belly and worse, lower still.
The other two turned to stare at me and my knees buckled and I stumbled forward.
No. No. This wasn’t happening.
I ran for the front door of Claire’s house and banged on the wooden panels.
I could feel the men next door still staring at me, their gaze making the hairs on my neck stand up.
I couldn’t stop myself from looking across to them once again. Standing in their jeans and tank tops, their muscles bulging out of their arms and shoulders.
Not my sort of men… not at all.
Fear skittled along my spine and I called out.
“Claire!”
The front door swung open and Claire was standing in the doorway, her arm still in a full cast past her elbow.
“Nevaeh! You made it.”
I launched myself at my friend and shut the door behind me.
My heart was still pounding and I couldn’t quite catch my breath, but I was finally safe inside Claire’s home.
“Nevaeh, are you okay?”
“Yes, yes. Just ran here from the car.”
To get away from the sexy trio next door.
I looked at my friend and was blinded by the glow of good health surrounding the woman who had once worked a hundred hours a week.
Whatever she was doing out here certainly agreed with her.
“Doctor Claire Monaghan. What are you doing this far out of town?”
She grinned. “Enjoying the fresh air.”
I glanced around the well-made house, the carved staircase and hand-made table drawing my eye. I could see Claire’s touch everywhere too. From the colourful pillows on the sofa, to the lemons arranged in a glass bowl on the kitchen bench.
“Wow. This is a really beautiful house, Claire. It must be nice to have so much space.”