LITMIR.BIZ

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to give her any input.”

      “I can’t see Max hanging around, waiting to be ‘allowed’ to do anything.” If Max was on the sidelines, it was because he wanted to be there. “My brother’s quiet, but he’s not the kind of man who lets himself be steamrolled over.” June tilted her head to the side, as if seeing him for the first time. Or at least exploring a new notion for the first time. “You kind of remind me of him. Except that you’re a lot handier than Max ever was.” Max didn’t know his way around cars beyond the basics and, as far as carpentry went, she wouldn’t have wanted to live in a house that he had single-handedly restored.

      “I remind everyone of their big brother,” Kevin told her.

      “I didn’t mean that.” June looked at him pointedly. “I don’t think of you as a big brother.”

      His eyes held hers. Desire raised its head. “You should.”

      There were only inches between them. She wanted there to be less. “Why?”

      He took the first step. And it was to back away. The moment evaporated. “Because otherwise you’ve got a half-naked man running around your property with a paintbrush. People’ll talk.”

      She laughed shortly. “People around here always talk. It’s their biggest hobby. Cable finally came in a couple of years ago, but it’s not all that reliable and besides—” she gestured around “—this is the longest running story in the area.”

      He thought she meant the farm. Which brought the circle back to her. “You?”

      She shook her head. “The town.” She thought about what people had said about her when she was younger. “I’m just the no-account’s youngest daughter.” Some hadn’t known what to make of her when she grew older and preferred motor oil to perfume. “The odd one who liked to tinker with engines instead of men.” She shrugged. “It’s a lot safer that way. For the most part, you can figure your way around an engine.” Humor curved her mouth, but only partially so as she looked at him. “Men now are a whole different story.”

      He combed the flecks of paint off his chest with his fingers, aware that she was watching his every move. In a moment of truth, he admitted something he didn’t generally talk about. “Funny, I always felt that way about women. Lot more mysteries there than what it take to make an engine purr.”

      His choice of words caught her attention. “You’ve tried your hand at making women purr?”

      He’d only meant it as an expression. “Not me. Until he got married, that was always Jimmy’s department. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

      She didn’t know whether he was being coy, or completely unaware of the effect he had on women. On her. “Seems to me, kissing would be a good place for you to start. The way you kiss, you could knock the socks off a barefoot woman.”

      “Really?” He looked at her quizzically.

      “Really,” she affirmed.

      “I had no idea that you were that experienced.”

      She shrugged loftily. “I’ve had my share.” It was a lie, but not one she’d admit readily. “Besides, you don’t have to live in a major city to know a skyscraper when you come across one.”

      He was flattered despite himself and laughed. “You’re something else again, June.”

      “Am I?” She was playing with fire and she knew it, but she couldn’t seem to shake herself loose of the heat that was taking hold of her. Drawing her in. “Just what else would you say I was?”

      A temptress. A temptress in blue jeans. He tore himself away from the thought and the pervading feeling it generated.

      “Well, under those baggy overalls and that shapeless work shirt, and that smudge on your nose—” he paused to wipe it away with his thumb “—is a beautiful woman just waiting to happen.”

      Because there were still traces of the smudge left, he wiped at it again, more slowly this time, and succeeded in arousing himself even more.

      He could feel his heart beating harder, far harder than when he’d been on the roof, in danger of sliding off and splitting his head open. There the danger had been one-sided. Here it came at him from many fronts.

      She cocked her head, her eyes never leaving his mouth. “Maybe I’ve already happened,” she said softly.

      “Maybe,” he agreed, just before he brought his lips down to hers.

      And very nearly sealed both their fates.

      Like the numbers on the Richter scale, which increased by a thousandfold with each numeric elevation, each kiss seemed to be a thousandfold more potent, more powerful than its predecessor. He felt as if his very world was being rocked.

      And in a way it was, because he began entertaining thoughts on a regular basis that would have had no place in his life a few months ago.

      That shouldn’t have a place in his life now, not when it came to June.

      With a few more years between them, she could have easily been his daughter. He wasn’t supposed to be having sexual thoughts about someone like that. What the hell was wrong with him?

      Putting his hands on her shoulders, Kevin physically moved her back away from him. Surprised entered her face as her eyes slowly focused on him. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

      June sighed, not wanting to let go of the moment. Feeling it slip away nonetheless. “Kevin, can’t you just do something without debating it? It happened, so it was supposed to happen. And I’m not sorry it did.” She looked down at the paint can by his feet. “Is that your last one?”

      “What?”

      She grinned. “I meant paint can, not kiss.” She jerked her thumb in the direction of her vehicle. “Because I can run into town and get more. Paint,” she clarified.

      He’d already decided to go into town. And now the need was more urgent than before. He needed to put space between them. A whole lot of space. “I’ll get the paint. I could use a break right now.”

      “From the work, or from something else?” She looked at him knowingly. For a brave man, he certainly didn’t act it all the time.

      His expression was the soul of innocence. “You’re the one who told me not to overcomplicate things, remember?” Kevin picked up his shirt from the railing he’d painted two days ago. Despite the humidity that hung oppressively all around them, the railing had eventually dried.

      She knew she shouldn’t stare at him like that, but she couldn’t help herself. He was one magnificent specimen of manhood. “If you go to the emporium without your shirt on, I guarantee you that Mrs. Kellogg will sell you the paint at cost. Maybe even make you a present of it.”

      He slipped on the shirt and began rebuttoning it. “And why would she do that?”

      “Have you seen Mr. Kellogg?”

      He laughed, tucking his shirt in. “You really are good for a man’s ego.”

      “I don’t say that to every man,” she informed him. I don’t say that to any man. Only you.

      He wanted to kiss her again before he left. But if he did, he knew he wasn’t going to leave. Not for a very long time.

      So, in self-preservation, Kevin merely nodded at her and walked to Alison’s Jeep. “I’ll be back in a little while,” he promised.

      She pressed her lips together. Maybe he was right, maybe they needed some space, some perspective. Every time she was around him, she lost it.

      “I might not be here when you get back.” June pointed toward the horizon, to where the property continued. “I’ve got some work waiting for me in the south field.”

      “I could do that when I come back.”

      She

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