LITMIR.BIZ

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not angry with you.”

      He needed her to know that. It wasn’t her fault she was stuck here with a guy who couldn’t handle a door closing and who had the social skills of a wooden spoon.

      Hayes remained in the doorway as she crossed the room. The way those curves moved beneath his clothes was so ridiculously hot. He hadn’t been with a woman since his ex, but he hadn’t been looking, either.

      Yet here Alexa stood, all barefoot in his kitchen with her black hair down and those dark eyes showing way too much.

      The woman couldn’t hide her emotions and she wavered from vulnerable to turned on to unsure. And damn if all of those crystal clear emotions didn’t make him want to pick her up and drag her to his room. He wanted to protect her, to figure out why she went from sassy to insecure in the span of seconds, and he wanted to kiss the hell out of those unpainted lips.

      Damn her for calling him on that earlier. She’d pegged him...which only made him want her all the more.

      “What are your plans for the kitchen?” she asked, stopping just in front of him.

      Her random question threw him off. “My plans?”

      “You said you’re renovating,” she reminded him. “And someone with that coffee setup surely has a grand idea of what he wants done in here.”

      Hayes pushed off the door and eased around her. How pathetic to be running from a curvaceous woman who was utterly harmless. Well, she wasn’t exactly harmless or he wouldn’t be so anxious. She made him achy and needy and he sure as hell did not like this unfamiliar emotional place he was in. Not one bit.

      Hayes went to the coffee station he’d temporarily set up and poured himself a steaming mug. “I have plenty of plans, but everything takes time.”

      “What have you done so far in the rest of the house?” she asked as she turned to face him.

      “Master bedroom and bath.”

      He was pretty proud of how the work had turned out. He’d done everything himself, often at night when he couldn’t sleep.

      “What are you working on next?” she asked.

      Hayes shrugged. “You planning on pitching in?”

      A ghost of a smile danced around her lips. “If that rain doesn’t let up, it could be a long night. Might as well find something to occupy our time.”

      The words were completely true, but now that she said them and they were hovering in the air between them, Hayes was having a hard time remembering why he was keeping his hands to himself.

      If Alexa ended up being an overnight guest, he better find a project real soon to get started on or he’d have those clothes stripped off her before midnight.

      “I plan on doing every room and then starting on the outside,” he told her. “I have no timeline.”

      It wasn’t like he was going anywhere. He’d come back to heal, in his own time, and to assist with the dude ranch. Renovating was simply a much needed distraction.

      He’d had surgery on his leg in Germany before he came back to the States. Since then he’d done some in-home therapy, but he was stuck with this damn limp, a physical reminder of that horrendous day. So that portion of his healing had gone as far as possible. He wasn’t too sure if the mental healing would make any better progress.

      “You’re doing all the work yourself?” she asked, tipping her head to the side.

      “Why would I hire for it when I’m perfectly capable?”

      Alexa shrugged and crossed to the kitchen table. She took a seat and rested her elbows on the scarred wooden top. “Because you’re loaded.”

      Hayes stared for another minute before he let out a bark of laughter. He didn’t remember the last time he’d actually laughed, but his temporary roommate was seriously getting through the wall he’d been hiding behind.

      Maybe that was most of her appeal. She clearly knew about the PTSD, she hadn’t offered apologies and she didn’t back down from what she wanted to say. All of that added up to one sexy package.

      “There goes that honest mouth again.”

      One dainty fingertip traced a scarred pattern over the tabletop. “I mean, I love manual labor, but most people would rather just have someone else do the grunt work. Especially when they could afford to just tear this place down and build from scratch and make it five times the size.”

      He met her gaze. “I’m not like anyone you’ve ever met.”

      Dark eyes widened at his declaration. The whisky color called to him, but he knew that was just hormones talking. The electricity flickered, pulling him from the trance.

      “Are you kidding me?” she muttered beneath her breath, her eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

      “Eager to leave?”

      Her eyes snapped back to his. “Aren’t you just as eager to see me go?”

      There were two ways he could answer that and both of them were honest. Yes, he wanted her to go because he hated visitors.

      On the other hand, no. He wanted her to stay so he could watch her body move beneath his clothes a little longer. Masochism clearly had settled in deep here because at this point he’d rather be tormented by her snarky comments and her tempting curves than to see her walk away.

      “No,” he said, earning him another surprised face.

      Her mouth dropped open and he was moving before he even realized it. Hayes came to stand beside her chair. With one hand on the back of the chair, and one hand on the table, he caged her in and leaned down slightly. “I like how you tried to protect me from the big bad slamming door.”

      “If you’re just going to mock me—”

      “I’m not,” he clarified. “I haven’t been attracted to a woman in a long time.”

      She blinked, those long, dark lashes briefly shaded her doe eyes. “And what do you expect me to do with that information?”

      Damn she had a mouth on her. He liked it.

      “I don’t expect anything, but just as you are up-front and honest, so am I.”

      Her eyes studied him, more his mouth than anything. She was tempted, that much was obvious. She’d been tempted the moment she’d turned to greet him in the stables, but she’d been too ladylike to not keep her thoughts to herself.

      Hayes was excellent at reading people. Well, not his ex-fiancée. He hadn’t seen that coming.

      “Well, Hayes,” she drawled out and made every nerve ending in his body stand up and beg for attention. “As much as I’d love for you to rip your clothes off me and have your wicked way, I’m afraid I live in the real world and that’s just not something I do.”

      Even though she delivered an impressive verbal punch, he had to give her credit. She managed to say that and sound sexy at the same time.

      “I don’t either, darlin’, but there’s always a first time for everything. Isn’t that the old saying?”

      Alexa pushed to her feet, forcing him to step back slightly. But he didn’t move too far. Her body slid against his. He fisted his hands and willed all of his control to step up and assist a brother out. He couldn’t resist this woman and her sarcasm and the way she called him on everything.

      “I recognize PTSD.”

      And there went the arousal he’d had since meeting her.

      Hayes turned away and headed to the kitchen window above the sink. He’d rather watch the rain come down in sheets than address the proverbial elephant in the room that his brothers had badgered him about for weeks.

      “My grandfather had—”

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