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“Bedrooms are upstairs.” He hesitated, watching her reaction.
Was Mike nervous? Naw. If he wanted to go upstairs, he’d just pick her up and carry her. Maybe he was waiting for a signal from her. He could be such a gentleman. No matter how appealing falling into bed seemed right now, she was dying to see his garage.
“Hmm. And outside?” she hinted.
He chuckled. A deep rumble in his chest that made her rethink her decision of going upstairs.
“Come on,” he said, leading her back to the kitchen and a set of glass doors. “I don’t like sliding glass doors, so I put in a hinged patio door for my dad.”
Which basically looked like one French door, only bigger. Stained and polished to a beautiful shine.
Wood porch, wood table that looked better than the quality found in furniture stores—a talented carpenter?
She stepped onto a huge deck the length of the house, stained in a beautiful shade of caramel. Sun glinted off a stainless-steel grill sitting at one corner. An ironwork table and chairs sat to the right. Railing surrounded the entire deck and down three steps to the ground.
“Did you build this?”
“Yep. Used to be a screened in porch. I ripped it out and built this deck. Dad and I sat out here as often as we could. Now, it’s just me.”
Bingo.
“It’s perfect,” she said. He smiled with pride, giving her a fuzzy feeling in her tummy. She pointed to the barbeque. “You like to grill?”
“I do,” he said, then gave a shrug. “Not home enough to do it. The guys go to Shep’s for cookouts.” He pointed to the houses lining his backyard. “The Berry Farm used to be there. I had hoped to save money and one day buy a section of land, but the old woman died and her son, who lives in Texas, sold it to a developer. Now I’m surrounded by a subdivision with neighbors backed right up to my garage.”
Cassie noticed a building at the edge of his driveway, but she’d heard the wistfulness in Mike’s voice. He didn’t like having people on top of him. She imagined him in a country setting, maybe even a farm.
“Okay. I know you’re anxious. Come on.” Mike headed down the steps and toward a building that had to be the garage.
Her feet danced along the grass in anticipation. He threw open the door and she stepped from bright sunshine to a darkened room, slits of light gleaming through high windows. Mike flipped a switch and florescent bulbs flickered to life, illuminating the entire space.
She blinked. Then tried to take everything in at once.
“Told you. It isn’t much.”
Cassie took a quick scan of the interior. Lots of tools and equipment to the left, some type of machines, an engine hoist and metal racks. Two cars were parked right in the middle of the building, each covered with a canvas. A tall wooden work bench, probably built to suit Mike’s height, lined the right wall from the door to the back of the room.
“Are you kidding? This is awesome.” She took a step forward. “I want to see everything. But first, I want to know what’s under those.” She pointed directly to the canvas in front of her.
He rolled one of the covers back. The Mustang. “Is this what’s had you acting like a jumping bean?”
“Wow.” She breathed in awe, just like the first time she’d seen it. Under the ceiling lights, the black paint shined, luring her like a homing beacon. “It looks just as spectacular as the day you took me for a ride.” She couldn’t wait to see what hid under the other cloth. “Do you have another one?”
Mike’s leering grin reminded her of the cliché about the cat that swallowed the canary. Damn the man was handsome. Hot with a capital H. Before he could remove the cloth, she slipped up behind him and slid her hands around his middle. He froze.
Then he slowly turned and wrapped her in his arms for a perfect hug.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was on her mind. The same as him. Entirely too much time had passed without Cassie in his arms. From the moment he stepped into the house, he thought of taking her upstairs to his bedroom. For Christ’s sake, he didn’t want to pounce on her first thing. But now? All bets were off.
“You feel so good. I love being all snuggled up to you.”
He loved the way her voice got all throaty. He slid his hand up the center of her back and welcomed the delicious surge of arousal. “I can’t go five seconds without touching you.”
He leaned back and tilted her face for his kiss. Warm lips pressed against his. He cradled the back of her head, buried his fingers in her hair and kissed her slow and deep. He couldn’t touch her without wanting to possess her. She brought out every urge, every desire to own her. Before his passion took control, he slowed the hunger in his kiss.
When they broke apart, he ran his nose along her jaw and behind her ear, enjoying the feel of her skin. “I love the way you melt into me,” he murmured.
Her ragged breathing matched his. Her fingers tugged at the waist of his jeans. “Are you going to show me what’s under there?”
