Calm down.
When she’d composed herself, she looked out to see Liam was shirtless, tossing his work shirt on top of a pile of piping and going back to work with the shovel.
The sun was low but bright, and it glinted off rippling, perfect muscle that was almost too hot to be believed. His chest hair was just perfect, enough to be masculine and make her want to run her fingers through it while riding him, but not so much that it was a carpet. Those arms… What would it be like to be held by them?
And why the hell was she thinking like this?
She scolded herself as she ducked out of sight again, panting. She’d seen attractive men before. She hadn’t looked twice. She’d cared about her work, told herself she didn’t have time for a man in her life.
And she was probably just spurred on by her gratefulness for the work he’d done and the fact that it felt good not to be alone anymore. Help, even paid help, was a welcome change from how things had been since she had to make a last-minute move here to escape her ex.
She’d gotten a promotion at the time of the move, and then things had just been too busy to do anything with her house or yard or her life in general really.
But looking out at Liam as he reached out a hand to rub a happy Tank under the ears made her want to start looking for more. Work a little less; enjoy life more.
She saw him gather up the tools and head up toward the house. For one heart-stopping second, she thought he might come to the back door shirtless, but he stopped and pulled his work shirt over his head, giving her one last, tantalizing glance at his ab muscles as he did.
She bit her lip. Calm down, Kate. Come on.
Maybe they shouldn’t have these dinners anymore. She was starting to feel like she was going to seduce him. And she’d never been a wild woman like that. Curvy. Conservative. Quiet, except when she had to be assertive or bossy at work.
With him, she felt a different side of her coming out. A side that probably shouldn’t with her contractor.
He knocked, and she slid open the door, hoping her blush wasn’t as blatant as she thought it was.
“I’m done,” he said, giving her a small smile. “Sorry, I’m a bit dirty.”
“It’s no problem,” she said, gesturing for him to come in.
He rubbed his work boots on the mat and walked into the kitchen, where he looked more and more at home.
His dark hair was mussed and sticking in all directions, and he ran a hand through it, pushing it back. His dark-teal eyes were sparkling from exertion, his taut jaw dusted with stubble. But his smile said he was happy to see her, and if she wasn’t imagining it, then maybe he was starting to feel something between them, too.
But where would that even be going?
No, she wasn’t going to think like that. Always living in the future and worrying hadn’t done her any good, and she wasn’t going into that mode with him.
She would just enjoy each moment.
He sat down, and she set a sandwich stuffed with roast beef in front of him, with a side of fresh fries. He picked one up and bit into it, then smiled up at her in gratitude before continuing to eat.
She felt a warm flush as she sat down with her own food. Darn, she was going to miss moments like this when his job was done.
They ate, and she enjoyed the deep tone of his rich voice as he described the day and then asked about hers. She told him about her sales job, knowing it probably didn’t mean much to him but appreciating he cared.
He always listened as if each word that came out of her mouth were important to him, critical to understand.
It was easy to get caught up in talking to him, looking into those teal eyes, sharing food that was much better than she would ever take time to cook for herself.
“Sounds to me like they’re lucky to have you,” he said.
She’d been noticing the more they talked, the more his slightly odd way of speaking had normalized. And he rarely asked her what a word meant anymore. “I’m glad you think so. I work hard.”
“Sometimes I think too hard,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“Well, what else do I have to do?” she asked, poking the remains of her beef with a fork.
He sat up, and she looked up because there was an expression on his face that seemed meaningful. His full lips were tensed, his brows lowered in concentration. He folded his hands in front of him on the table. “You could be spending time with a mate.”
“A mate?”
“Someone just for you that you could spend time with, build a family with.”
“Oh, you mean settle down and get married.”
“Not exactly,” he said, leaning back in his chair and letting his eyes dart to the side. Then he focused on her again. “I just mean you should let someone into your life. Someone who can make it good for you and do things like this, and… make things better.”
She bit her lip. Was he calling her out for doing this stuff with someone working for her rather than a real partner? That was slightly humiliating, and she felt a blush work its way across her cheeks.
“No,” he said. “I just mean… I’m saying it all wrong.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said, standing and setting down her napkin. “I mean, you’re right. I’ve been taking advantage of you, and I should find someone—”
He crossed over to her in a second, took her in his arms, and dipped his lips to hers, covering her mouth and stopping all words. All thoughts.
Her knees weakened, but he held her up, pulling her close, gently swiping his tongue inside as she let out a little moan. It was the best kiss of her life. Gentle, slow, soft, hot.
Just this one little touch of his lips made her wetter than anything else ever had. It felt like more than a kiss. It felt like a claiming, like he was telling her how things were going to be. Like he was showing her something he couldn’t say with his words.
And she liked communicating with him like this.
She let out another moan and wrapped her arms around his back as he slowly pulled back, breaking the kiss, leaving her with a sinking sense of emptiness and disappointment.
Dammit.
She breathed heavily, looking up at him. “What was that?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do since the moment I met you,” he said, looking down and gently tracing a thumb over her lower lip, swollen from his kiss.
Then he gave her a small grin and walked to her front door, pulling it open and heading out through it.
She jogged to the door after him, wondering how he could do something like that and just run away, cool as a cucumber. That wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted—
He gave her a small wave, smiling at her where she stood. “I’ll be back at first light,” he said. His usual way of saying goodbye.
But he didn’t usually kiss her first.