LITMIR.BIZ

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two-by-four wood frame and slipped his hammer into his belt. He swiped in a deep breath of sawdust-filled air, pulled a crumpled red bandanna from the back pocket of his faded blue jeans and mopped the sweat off his forehead and the back of his neck.

      It was a brisk morning, typical of Colorado in the early fall, but the cool breeze didn’t do much for Zeke. He was pushing himself harder than usual, and every muscle in his body was groaning in protest.

      He’d been working extra time at HeartBeat lately, and consequently was behind on this project. He was quietly determined to catch up, maybe get ahead, to make up for the time he spent in volunteer work.

      There was so much need in the world, and so little hours in the day. He was compelled to do as much as he could for the pregnant women who came to HeartBeat for care and assistance. He only hoped it was enough.

      It could never be enough.

      Zeke blew out a frustrated breath and picked up his hammer, hoping to find solace in pounding nails. The familiar sound and feel of working with wood had often given him an odd sort of comfort in the past.

      Lately, though, it seemed he was more inclined to concentrate on something far more pleasant than building with his hands. The silver-toned laugh of a certain blond-haired, green-eyed angel.

      Julia Evans.

      No matter how hard he tried, she was never far from his mind. He mulled over her every word, reconsidered every look and smile.

      It wasn’t just that he was attracted to her beauty, though he certainly was. But Julia was different from the other women he knew. She seemed to know just what to do to make a hurting soul smile. She stood up to fight when everyone else was sitting down. She had strength of heart that surprised him, yet a quiet sense of vulnerability that made him long to protect her.

      Which was ridiculous. He hardly knew her.

      No. that wasn’t right. He knew her.

      She didn’t know him.

      He pounded five nails out quickly, slamming them neatly into a perfect row. The pressure of finishing the project on time only helped his strength, without marring his accuracy.

      Even without this unusual, intense emotional current rushing through him, Zeke could pound nails with his hammer faster than a man with a nail gun.

      More accurately, too, he thought, though he’d never tested his theory.

      A grin tugged at his lips as, once again, Julia’s face drifted into his thoughts. He ought to ask her out and get it over with, he thought. Once she’d turned him down, maybe he could get on with life.

      And she would turn him down. Ironically, that was one of the many things he admired most about her—her devotion to the center at whatever cost to her personal life. She must have men clamoring to take her out, yet she worked days and many evenings, not to mention weekends, helping shelter women personally, in addition to being in charge of the center’s advertising.

      But even if her evenings were free, Zeke doubted Julia would take an interest in him. He was Beast to her Beauty.

      Still, stranger things had happened.

      At least he got to see her almost every evening at the center. Not that Julia was the reason he volunteered there, he thought, a surge of electricity running through him. He put his time in to serve God and the people of the HeartBeat Center, helping people like his sister, who’d found themselves at a rough crossing.

      He prayed that was the truth.

      But now he wondered if his motivation for helping out at the clinic had become because Julia Evans was there.

      Was it true?

      She’d only just spoken to him for the first time yesterday at the pool party, and even then it was because of her friend Lakeisha. And yet he had to admit that the desire to see her again tonight ranked right up there with the desire to do good works.

      His thoughts tearing him up, he worked frantically, until suddenly he heard her voice.

      “Zeke? Zeke Taylor?”

      Now he was hallucinating. Next he’d be put in a straitjacket. He whistled a birdsong and imagined stars floating over his head.

      “Hello! May I come down there?”

      Zeke turned around to see none other than the true-to-the-flesh Julia Evans slip-sliding her way down a steep, gravel-covered driveway and onto the job site. Her arms flapped wildly as she struggled to maintain her precarious balance.

      She wasn’t dressed for visiting a construction job site. For one thing, she was wearing a dress. A pretty, soft, flowery-looking thing that Zeke thought might disintegrate underneath the touch of his rough fingertips. It was a dress that could easily be torn to shreds in a work area full of protruding nails and rough lumber.

      And then there were her shoes. High heels from the looks of them, and they were sinking into the gravel with every step she took.

      Feeling like a bumbling giant, he lumbered to her side and offered his arm for assistance.

      Her eyes widened to enormous proportions as she laid her hand upon his forearm and allowed his other arm to encircle her tiny waist, and Zeke wished for the millionth time that he wasn’t so big.

      Sure, men admired his strength, but to a delicate young woman like Julia, he knew he must come off looking and moving like a big, dumb ox.

      For Julia’s part, her lungs had simply refused to work from the moment Zeke jogged to her side to the time she stood safely at the bottom of the hill. He was so athletic, his muscles and ligaments working in perfect harmony. His autumn-blond hair shone like a gold halo over his expressive blue eyes.

      She wished she could enjoy the picture, but she had other problems, like being about to plunge head-down on the gravel driveway. Her shoes were the worst possible choice.

      Warmth flooded to her cheeks. She was mortified. She hadn’t given her attire a single thought when she came here, to this dirty, rocky job site.

      What must Zeke think of her? He was all kindness. But honestly, what kind of an idiot wore patent leather pumps to a construction site?

      Even Zeke had a hard hat on.

      As if seeing the direction of her gaze, Zeke moved to a trunk and picked up an extra hard hat. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to—” he cleared his throat “—to ask you to wear one of these guys for the length of your visit. It’s for your own safety, as well as our regulations.”

      He tacked the last part on so swiftly Julia barely understood the words.

      She thought she saw Zeke cringe slightly, as if anticipating her answer. No doubt he thought, based on the little he knew of her, that she’d criticize or whine at having to meet with safety requirements that were nothing less than good, common sense.

      Well, she’d do neither, she thought, reaching for the hat with her best smile.

      Even though she knew she’d look ridiculous. Even though the hat was two sizes too big.

      Zeke jammed his hands into his front jeans pockets and raised his eyebrows. His huge blue eyes were gleaming with mischief, and she was certain she detected the corner of his mouth twitching under his beard.

      Her dander rose quickly, and just as quickly departed. What could she say, when he was right? “Feel free to laugh out loud,” she said wryly, and with a smile.

      A bubble of deep, hearty laughter burst from his lips, though he looked like he was struggling desperately to restrain it.

      “Sorry,” he apologized when he could speak. He wiped his eyes with his thumb. “It’s just that you’re by far the cutest carpenter I’ve ever seen on a job site, this or any other.”

      “Thank you very much.” She curtsied slightly, turning her head to conceal the blush she knew clouded her cheeks. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

      “It

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