Page 5

When he turned around, the roller dropped to the floor. The sound bounce checking off the plastic covered floor echoing off the walls. I’d never seen Lars look startled before. His jaw had also dropped, and he was staring at me as if I’d sprouted an extra head.

The shorts I’d chosen to wear had seen better days, but by his reaction, I knew the cutoffs were the perfect. And my confidence grew when his gaze settled on my bare legs.

Wait until he saw my backside. I gave him a flirty smile, stepped forward, picked up the paint roller, and handed it to him. “Something wrong?”

Slow blinks were followed by a slow, upward scan of my legs, before his gaze settled on my face. Lars cleared his throat, thenwith the speed of a wildfire, he blanked his face and froze me out once again. “Thanks. You’re late.” He took the roller, dipped it into the paint tray and turned back to the wall.

Oh no, he didn’t. “According to your schedule, maybe. I seem to remember agreeing to nine a.m. Besides, it’s Sunday. Don’t you sleep in, like you know, the rest of humanity?” I made sure to put a lightness into my tone, less snark. I didn’t want to poke the bear too much today. Just enough to get us both naked.

I didn’t expect an answer, so I looked around for the rest of the supplies and spied them in the corner and headed that way. “I can help you in here or in the bedroom. Which one?” I hadn’t even meant to make my question provocative, and yet I did.

I bent to grab the other roller and…oh, yes.Quicker than I’d hoped.

“Jesus Christ, what are you….” The rest of his sentence faded, and all I heard was heavy breathing. I turned around to face the man who, hopefully, was going to take the huge hint and take me in his arms and kiss me until next Sunday.

I thought I was brave, but I found myself suddenly unsure, shy even. No longer was he hiding his reaction from me. I’d noticed he had an, um, bigger package than most because yeah, I’m a red-blooded woman with needs and I can appreciate the male form. Lars was a big man, so that meant he’d be big—everywhere. But now he’d become noticeably bigger. His erection tenting the front of his work pants to the point of imminent exposure.

But it was his eyes that struck me the most. They were narrowed like always, but the heat was near nuclear level, and I may have sighed. Okay, definitely. Sighed. Loudly.

One sigh turned into a gasp as he tossed down the roller. In two long strides, he stopped short, inches from me. At a loss for words, I simply soaked in his attention. However, I couldn’t miss the way he was opening and closing his hands. The muscles inhis forearms flexed. The veins pulsing. And the strain on his face as he fought, then losing an inner fight, finally reached for me.Oh, my.

“Hey, guys. Great news. I’m free to help knock this project out. Addy had an emergency call in town, so, uh, yeah. I’m interrupting, I’ll just go—” Ridge backpedaled toward the open front door.

Shoot, I should have locked it.

“Stop. You’re not.” Lars growled. He didn’t need to finish the sentence for the deeper meaning to be crystal clear. His arms fell back to his sides, and he turned away from his friend, sucking in great gulps of air before he turned back around.

“I’ve got another roller in the shop. I’ll be right back. You two can start in the bedroom. I’m almost finished in here, then I’ll start on the bathroom.” Lars nodded at me. The heat now banked to a low simmer, but I knew better. Now I knew for sure just how I affected him.

And wow. That was more words strung together than he’s said to me in the last week. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but dammit. He couldn’t have made it clearer. His reaction said he wanted me. My elation vanished by his words because he would do nothing about it.

We watched as Lars moved like his heels were on fire out of the apartment. The sound of his pounding boots thundered as he descended the stairs.

Ridge at least had the decency to look apologetic.

On the flip side, with the warm weather, the paint should be dry by tomorrow and I can finally move in. And then I was going to have a heart-to-heart with my mountain man.

No more teasing.

No more tempting outfits.

No more hoping he’d make the first move.

I’d simply tell him how I felt. And accept whatever decision he made. I was going to need to stock up on some pistachio ice cream, just in case.

FOUR

LARS

I hadn’t beenproud of much in my life. Pride had not been allowed in my crowded childhood home. The oldest of six, four boys and two girls. My mother had been pregnant with me when they’d had moved to the states from the Netherlands. And in our house, service was prized above everything else.

Yet today, as we moved Dylan into the apartment, all I could think about was how close she’d be to my cabin. To my empty bed inside my cabin.

Feet instead of miles, Dylan would become even more of an obsession.

I’d survived last Sunday, barely, as she painted in those damn cutoff shorts that rode, barely, just under her ass cheeks. Her flesh had me excusing myself more times than I could count and had been the hardest, literally, since the day she’d swept into my life.

“Bro, you need to stop staring and tell Dylan how you feel about her before one of our guests discovers how great she is and makes a move on her.” Kane said under his breath. He’d recentlymoved to Pineville after attending Ridge and Addison’s wedding, reuniting our tight-knit group and joined our new venture.