Wet

When she opens her front door and sees me her expression is crestfallen. “What?” I hold my arms open.

“Where’s the wifebeater?”

“I don’t have one. And for the record that’s the worst name ever for a shirt.” I glance down at my T-shirt from the Gap. I wore the tight white one but I guess that doesn’t cut it. I rub my chin. “Look though, I didn’t shave.”

“But your jeans aren’t tight.”

“Elle, I can’t wear tight jeans. You know why.”

She blushes. “Oh yeah. The anaconda.”

“So are you going to invite me in? I’m here to help you, so it would be nice if I could actually come inside.”

She pulls the door open farther and gestures me in. “Sorry about that. Come in.”

I glance back at her and she’s pouting.

“Oh for God’s sake, what now?”

“No tool belt?”

“I don’t need a tool belt to change a light bulb.”

She looks serious for a second and then gives me a big smile and links her arm through mine. “Come on, let’s go to my bedroom.”

We stop in the back porch for a ladder and the bulbs. “Hey, what’s that smell?” I ask, my mouth watering.

“Lasagna. I thought I’d make you di

“Hell, yes! I’m starving.”

She stops and turns toward me. “You want to eat first?”

“If it’s ready.”

Only minutes later she’s served up the most amazing looking lasagna with salad. She pours us wine and then stops mid pour.

“I better not give you too much wine. You’re going to be on a ladder.”

“Oh, I’ll be okay. I can tolerate good wine. Besides, you can catch me if I fall.”

She winks at me and keeps pouring.

I’m on my second serving and she’s barely taken a bite.

“Hey, why aren’t you eating? This is so good. I had no idea you could cook like this.”

“I have all kinds of skills you don’t know about.”

I study her. She’s right. There’s a lot I don’t know about her.

“Well, tell me. What else are you good at?”

She runs her finger along the glass. “My career.”

“Tell me about what you do.”

“As a corporate event coordinator I oversee the pla

“Sounds like a big deal,” I say.

“I think it is. My job is to be on top of every detail so that things run smoothly both leading up to and during the event.”

“I bet you do a great job.”

She smiles at me. “Well, I do take pride in being able to charm even the most difficult client.”

“Well, you have charm in spades, so I bet you’re good with clients. As for the ru

She smiles broadly. “Thanks. I love the home I’ve created here. It’s really nice of you to notice.”

I shrug. “It would be hard to miss.”

“Oh believe me, my ex took all of that for granted.”

“And what did I say about him the first time we met?” I take a long sip of my wine while I see her expression shift from one of disappointment to glee.

“That he’s an idiot!”

“That’s right. So here’s to you, Elle. You’re an impressive woman.” I lift my glass and take in her smile.

Her eyes soften and as we click glasses I realize that she needs to hear this much more than I could’ve ever imagined. I make note. I may not be able to give her everything she wants from me, but I can give her that.

“Careful!” she calls out as I get higher on the ladder.

I regard her with an arched brow. “You drank more than I did.”

“That thing is deceptively heavy,” she warns, pointing at the hand-painted glass light fixture.

“Don’t worry, I’m pretty strong.” I hold one hand up against the glass dome as I unscrew the base with the other.

“Well if you’d dressed as I asked I would see all your muscles and how strong you are.”

“I’m plenty strong. And if this thing is that heavy, I hope you are too because I’m going to be handing it to you in a minute.”

“I’m super strong,” she replies with a grin.

When the screw is loose enough to drop into my hand I slowly pull the dome away from its base. Damn, she’s right. This sucker is heavy.

I hold it out toward her. “Ready?”

She bites her lip and reaches toward me. “Yes.” I ease the dome into her arms and she pulls it protectively to her chest before resting it on the bed, then offers a replacement bulb up to me.

“Screw it in tight,” she says with a grin.

“It’s the only way I screw.” I give her a sly smile.

While I replace the bulb I notice her step over to the side table where she’s left her glass. She takes several sips of wine. She seems a little buzzed.

“So this Stephan dude. Is he really that uptight about being clean or were you playing me?”

“No, he’s really that way.”

“So do you see a future with him?”

She scoffs. “It’s highly unlikely.”

“Then why bother?” I hand her down the burned out bulb.

“Why not?” she says. “He makes me feel great.”

I glance back up to focus on the work. Repositioning this dome back in place is much harder than it looks.

“Damn!”

“What?”

“I can’t get this heavy bastard aligned correctly.”

“I told you it was heavy.”

“You weren’t kidding. I’ve never seen a light with glass this thick. What the hell?”

“Believe me, if I could’ve done this myself I would.”

I peer down at her. I can tell she means it. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m surprised you sleep with this thing looming over you as it is. A lot of people would be in a state of terror every night. I mean what if the thing fell? It’d be certain death.”

“I like the thrill of uncertainty, and besides, I love the Venetian design.”

I roll my eyes. She loves the design. She won’t love it so much when it splits her head open.

I finally get the base screwed in and carefully pull my hands away to make sure it stays firm. I let out my breath when it remains in place, and I test it with a few attempts to jiggle it. It’s solid.

On the way back down the ladder I glance at Elle and realize I can see down her shirt. A real gentleman would turn away, but instead I lean forward to improve the angle of my view. Her breasts are noteworthy. I’d love to have my hands full of them.

I crane my neck out. My forward sway causes me to lose balance and a feeling of doom engulfs me. I’m going down.

A millisecond later she grabs me from behind. Her arms are wrapped around my thighs and her face pressed against my lower back.

“Whoa!” she exclaims.

I take a sharp breath as I grab onto the ladder and steady myself. When I’m finally down on the floor I turn toward her.

“Thanks.”

She looks up at me, and smiles. “Any time.”

I trace my finger under her chin as she gazes at me. Have I ever fully noticed how beautiful her big blue eyes are?

This woman.

“What?” She tips her head to the side.

“What do you mean what?”

“You look like you want to kiss me.”

“Hmmm.”

“So what are you waiting for?”

She wants me to cave in and break my promise to myself, but then what? I share her with Mr. Clean and the Tinder Posse? That’s not the relationship with the future mate I’ve been waiting for.

I pinch the ends of a lock of her hair between my fingers. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

“Are you sure?”

I stare at her lips. They are exquisitely, infinitely kissable. Of course I want to kiss her but I can’t tell her that.

“Yup.”

She inches closer to me, her breasts skimming my chest. I can feel the heat shimmer off her. “Really sure?”

I swallow hard. I stare at her as she waits for my response, and realize this is a defining moment between us. Am I going to surrender to my lust and accept from her what it is I really want? I can picture fucking her so vividly. I can even hear her moaning in my head. How bad would it really be for us to just own it and go at it until we’re satisfied? But would we ever really be satisfied or would it just be the begi