Fair market value, p.14
Fair Market Value, page 14
Lauren shook her head regretfully. “No, I’ve never seen him before but I’ve only lived here a month.”
James nearly choked. “Wait. You live here? Where?” He’d spent the past four months trying to figure out a non-stalkerish way of tracking her down and she’d been practically under his nose for the past month. Coincidence? Or was something or someone else at work here? A certain pushy blonde perhaps?
“Right there.” She pointed to a second floor balcony. The unit she pointed to was approximately twenty feet away from his building site.
He shook his head. “That’s not possible. Serena was supposed to sell the units on the other side first. This side is vacant.”
Lauren gave him yet another annoyed look. “I assure you. I live right there. Serena insisted that this would be the best unit for me. And it was. Until you started pounding away from dawn ‘til dusk.”
James suddenly imagined himself pounding away from dusk ‘til dawn but not with his hammer. His dick twitched in his jeans in agreement as he stared down at her flushed cheeks and slightly open lips. She was so irritated that she was practically panting.
He should have been put off by her anger but for some reason it just enflamed him. If they were alone right then, instead of in the middle of an emergency, he would have kissed that mulish expression right off her face and had her purring with pleasure in about ten seconds flat.
Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind of distractingly dirty thoughts and focus on the situation at hand. Glancing around he noticed that two fire trucks had just pulled up in front of Soleil and firefighters were moving around the scene with practised ease.
A crowd of curious onlookers gathered on the main street, watching the proceedings with rapt fascination as a police car pulled in with its lights flashing. The squad car stopped in the alleyway next to his building site, parked, and two uniformed officers stepped out of the squad car.
Jack caught the eye of the older cop and waved him over. As the pair approached he turned to James. “If you’re done interfering, then you can go back to your little Lego house. I’ve got this.” He gave a little dismissive wave with James’s hammer.
James glared at his brother but Mr. Boss-man was too busy taking command of the situation with the police to notice. Grasping Lauren by the elbow James tugged her a few steps away from his obnoxious brother. “Would you mind telling them exactly what you saw? They’ll need a description of the boy. And anything else you can think of.”
Lauren nodded. “Of course.”
“Thanks. Now, while Jack’s throwing his weight around I’m just going to run over to my site and see if there’s any sign of that kid.”
Anger forgotten, she shot him a worried glance. “Why?”
He shrugged “I want to see if he did any damage while he was shopping for tools.”
She bit her lip and looked up at him doubtfully. “Should you be doing that? I mean, alone? Why don’t you take the police with you?”
He grinned down at her, secretly thrilled that she seemed concerned for his safety. “Not necessary. He’s just a kid. I think I can handle myself.”
“You didn’t see him. He was creepy.” She shivered and pulled the giant coat tighter around her.
Unable to help himself from touching her, he rubbed her upper arms in a gesture that was meant to be comforting but was actually just an excuse to put his hands on her in any capacity. “Got it. I’ll beware of the scary-looking kid.”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t scary-looking at all. In fact, he was adorable. That was the weird part. He looked like the most clean-cut, angelic kid in the world. Until you looked into his eyes. They were dead. Like a shark’s.”
He tried to match her serious expression but a grin stole across his face at her dramatic description. “Um. Yeah. I’ll be really careful if I run into shark-boy. Now, they’ll probably shut off the alarm and give the all clear to go back inside soon. Wait here until I get back, okay?”
She looked confused. “Why? It’s getting really cold out here and I need to get Brutus back inside as soon as the noise stops.” She pointed to the twitching pink case at her feet. “He’s going to need a very small strait-jacket as it is.”
James crouched down until he could peer into the front of the case. Baleful yellow eyes stared back at him and a low growl worthy of a mountain lion emanated from the confines of the carrier. He was suddenly reminded of a certain zombie cat from that old Stephen King novel about the Indian burial ground. But he wasn’t going to tell Lauren that her cat looked and smelled like a former Pet Sematary resident.
“I’m not exactly sure what that thing is but it’s not happy. You’re definitely going to need help unloading him. So, wait for me and I’ll protect you from the hairy troll.”
She frowned at him. “He’s a cat, not a sabre-tooth tiger. I’ll manage.”
“You obviously haven’t seen your neck. Looks like you just lost a fight with Freddy Krueger.”
She touched her neck. “It’s not that bad.”
He grabbed her hand and held it up so she could see the deep scratches along the base of her thumb. “Look at this. That beast is a menace. No way should you be unloading him without a whip and a chair. Maybe a tranquilizer gun. And a paper bag.”
She scowled up at him; obviously pissed that he was insulting her cat. “He was just upset. He didn’t mean to do it. And I’ll thank you not to keep calling him a ‘thing.’ He’s sensitive about his weight.”
He sighed. “Do you at least have a first aid kit?”
She looked uncertain. “No.”
He touched the scratch on her neck with the tip of one finger. “You’re going to need one to avoid a nasty infection. And I just happen to have one at my site. I’ll bring it over and help you wrestle The Brute out of his travel cave as soon as I’m done over there. Five minutes, I swear.”
“His name is Brutus, not ‘brute’,” she hissed, slapping his hand away.
He rolled his eyes. “Just stay here, okay?”
She started to protest but he just gave her an exasperated look.
Placing his big hand on her slim shoulder he pulled her in close and spoke as gently as possible. “Listen, I abandoned you once when you obviously needed help. I’m not going to do that again, so you might as well just give in and agree to wait for me. Don’t make me climb your balcony and almost get arrested twice in one night. Okay?”
He didn’t know why, but her response meant more to him than he would ever believe possible. He held his breath, hoping she was feeling the same strong sense of connection that he had felt the moment he saw her standing in the middle of the parking garage ramp. She’d looked so small and alone, standing there in her odd outfit, like a lost child. If it hadn’t been for the womanly curves beneath the giant black coat, that is.
He’d recognized her instantly, even though he hadn’t seen her in months. For some reason, he hadn’t been all that surprised to see her. It was like a part of him knew he would see her again, and had just been dormant, waiting for the opportunity to come alive in her presence again. Was this why he’d ignored The Harem and submerged himself in work since that night? Because he’d been waiting to see her again? Nah. That wasn’t right. They’d spent less than three hours together. He couldn’t possibly have been saving himself for someone he barely knew, could he? What was he? Some kind of romantic heroine in one of those bodice-ripper novels his mom kept hidden in her room? But the fact remained that except for his right hand, he’d been celibate since that night in his truck.
Looking down at her now he was struck all over again by her unusual beauty. Had he thought she was less attractive than his Regulars? He must have been on crack. Even annoyed, her face was lovely. Those huge eyes and soft, pink lips were making it nearly impossible for him to focus on what was going on around them.
It was clear to him that his overwhelming attraction to her was more than a symptom of his missing libido returning with a vengeance. His body liked her a lot, no doubt about it. He remembered the tight fit of her body squeezing around his dick and the sweet, husky cries she’d made as he’d taken her hard and fast in the truck. Attraction he recognized. Most of his interactions with women had been solely attraction-based so he was very familiar with the concept. But when was the last time a woman made him smile like this, even under the most stressful of circumstances? Never. True, he wasn’t known for his sense of humour or ability to make others laugh, but with her he wanted to try to return the favour. To bring lightness into her life and chase away some of the shadows he saw in her eyes.
She was obviously running from him for some reason. She’d been trying to discourage his interest since they were reunited. Old insecurities came flooding to the surface and he wondered if maybe she genuinely didn’t like him. But he hadn’t done anything offensive, had he? He’d been kind of a jerk after the auction but that hadn’t stopped her from wanting him so why was she being so cold to him exactly?
Her attitude had shifted dramatically immediately after that phone call from the hospital. Was she actually pissed that he’d left her there? No, she’d insisted. If she was angry at him because he’d obeyed her command then she was looney-tunes, passive-aggressive crazy and she didn’t seem unbalanced at all. If anything, she was too in control of her emotions. Was it possible that he’d disappointed her, sexually? He felt a wave of panic wash over him at that horrific thought. No. She’d cried out in his arms. Sex wasn’t the problem. This woman had some secrets holding her back that had nothing to do with him and he was curious what they were.
More than anything he wanted to get to know her. The more time he spent around her the more things he found to like. Not only was Lauren sexy and mysterious and funny, she was obviously brave too. Why else would she have gone down to investigate the hissing noise? He kind of wanted to spank her for her lack of self-preservation instinct but he also admired the fact that she wasn’t content to stand around like the other residents of her building who just wanted the problem solved so they could hustle back to their televisions. Lauren actually wanted to solve the problem herself and he approved of that immensely.
Then there was the way she’d stood up to Jack. Watching as she’d blatantly attempted to put him in his place had shocked James to his core. Jack was a scary dude. Big, tough construction workers trembled when his brother was in a bad mood, but this little scrap of a woman had practically got in his face. It was almost comical to watch, like a toy poodle yapping at a Rottweiler.
Even the fact that she was dragging her incredibly ugly cat around with her appealed to him. Most women would have left the ornery beast to be rescued by the firefighters. But not Lauren, she’d sustained some major scratches saving her pet, even though she was probably quite aware that he wasn’t in any real danger. To James that small act of caring showed a lot of kindness and character.
Yup. He desperately wanted to figure her out but doing that required getting over his overwhelming shyness. He’d been working on becoming more verbal over the past few months and it was gradually becoming easier to communicate with others. He’d never be a huge talker and public speaking engagements were seriously not in his future, but by escaping the insulated world of Kingston Brothers Construction he’d been forced out of his comfort zone in order to run his business. As a result, he was gradually becoming more confident in his ability to say the right thing or at least not make an ass of himself every time he opened his mouth.
Like now. He needed to say the right thing, and yet his mind was a complete blank. Briefly, he considered channeling one of his brothers and saying something shocking and flirtatious, like “C’mon. I’ll tend to your scratches and any other needs you might have,” but he knew he couldn’t pull it off. It would sound smarmy and inappropriate without the right teasing tone and he really wasn’t the flirtatious type. His gut told him to be himself, so he took a chance and just said what was in his heart. “Lauren, I really want to help you. Please don’t make me feel like a jerk for another four months ok?”
She nodded her reluctant acquiescence as James shrugged out of his jean jacket and wrapped it around her shivering shoulders.
“That’s not necessary,” Lauren tried to protest again but he just squeezed her arm before walking away into the shadowy construction site to search for a little kid with really big issues.
Chapter Eleven
“So, how did Jack recognize your hammer so easily? Don’t they all look pretty much the same?” Lauren asked nervously from her perch on her granite countertop.
True to his word, James had quickly toured his site and returned to her side just as the alarm was turned off and the fire chief announced that it was safe for the residents to return to their apartments.
James had stood protectively beside her as the police asked her some questions and she related her encounter with the boy in the parking garage.
When she was done giving the police a description of the boy, James had lifted Brutus’ carrier to his broad shoulder and followed her inside to her apartment without a single word passing between them. They just stared at each other in the elevator until she wanted to either scream with frustration at his high-handed attitude or throw herself into his arms and beg him to kiss her. She’d done neither. Choosing instead to follow his lead and wait to see what he had in mind. Not that she was interested. No, not at all.
Internally she’d spent those awkward minutes trying to convince herself that she didn’t need to run from him. He was just a man and therefore only a threat to her self-imposed solitary existence if she allowed him to get close to her. And she knew better than to let that happen. So there was nothing to fear from him unless she was dumb enough to let down her guard.
Simultaneously losing her father and Mitch had demonstrated to her once again that she was better off on her own. Relationships inevitably lead to pain, loss and guilt. She had finally figured out that the best way to avoid these emotions was to keep her life very simple and uncomplicated without any messy entanglements. All she had to do was restrict her interactions with people to a very superficial level. Except for her father and Mitch, she’d been isolated from the outside world for the past ten years. So really, turning hermit was surprisingly easy for her to do. Or at least it had been until James had arrived on the scene earlier that night.
One look at him and her body had abandoned ship on the entire self-preservation strategy. It seemed ridiculous to become aroused under such bizarre circumstances but an insistent pulse had begun between her legs and for one brief, shining moment she’d been overjoyed to see him again. Everything she’d felt on the night of the auction came rushing back to her. She recalled the intense pleasure he’d given her but more than that she remembered the connection she’d felt with him. How she’d yearned for more than a brief encounter and how foolish she’d been to imagine she deserved a man like him. Or anyone for that matter.
The reality of her situation was that she needed to avoid him at all costs. She had no choice but to push him away if she wanted to preserve her new-found peace. He made her want things she couldn’t have, no matter how much she longed for them. When she looked at him she imagined herself doing all sorts of nasty, wonderful things to his body, but she also felt herself wondering about what it would be like to be part of an actual couple. To share her life with someone who wasn’t dependent on her as a caregiver or an employer.
But that was a fantasy she could never live out. The only way to avoid pain was to not become attached in the first place. James threatened her resolve to remain pain-free like no other man ever could because she was so irresistibly drawn to him. Part of that was the way he looked. Physically, she couldn’t have created a more ideal specimen. But to her he was so much more than fantasy material. To her he was exactly what a man should be – strong, masculine, decisive, commanding, yet also capable of heart-stopping gentleness and kindness. Throw all those qualities into a downright gorgeous package and it was really no wonder she was having trouble forgetting about him.
The night of the auction he’d been clean-shaven and well-groomed. Tonight he was sporting some serious five o’clock shadow. Thicker than stubble and yet not a full-blown beard, Lauren thought the lumberjack look suited him just fine. His facial hair had appeared dark under the streetlights when they were outside but now she could see that his whiskers were a mixture or dark red, copper and gold, quite beautiful in the bright light of her kitchen. She longed to reach out and run her hands along those whiskers to test their ticklish roughness against the sensitive skin of her palms. His hair was also a bit longer now, curling around the collar of his jean jacket and shining dully in the courtyard lights.
Earlier she’d been standing outside her building with the fire alarm shrieking, his brother glaring and Brutus yowling, yet she’d found her eyes wandering over his form, trying to find something negative to focus on to distract her from how much she’d like to see him naked again. She’d searched for a gross, hairy birthmark or an ugly flaw of some sort but even the numerous scars he sported added to his masculine appeal.
He`d been wearing a tuxedo the night of the auction and she`d thought then that he couldn`t possibly be more attractive but she`d been wrong. Tonight he was wearing jeans, suede work-boots and a black and white plaid shirt over a button-down, long-sleeved Henley. The jeans were smeared with grease and the shirt was badly wrinkled but to her he looked even more gorgeous than he had in formal wear. Partly because he seemed more comfortable in the casual attire but also due to the clothing giving him a more human and approachable look – tonight he looked more like a man than a god.
She’d quickly recovered from her initial delight in seeing him as she realized the danger she was in. If he noticed that she was admiring him like a schoolgirl with a crush he’d see it as an opportunity to pursue another sexual encounter with her. And she couldn`t afford to get in any deeper with him. She`d spent the last four months dreaming of a repeat performance of their intimate hour in his truck. There was no way she`d be able to walk away from him again without engaging her heart. She needed to shut this down immediately and that meant discouraging his interest by being as unpleasant as possible.
