Sultry

Lindsay forced her eyes back on him. “And you’re Mitch Rawlins.”

He gave her another mocking smile at the same time that he took several fingers and wiped a thick layer of sweat off his forehead. Besides having a billboard body, his face was easy on the eyes, though not handsome in the true sense of the word. His features were too strong and his beard too heavy, giving the impression that he needed a shave, which in itself was a bizarre turn-on.

His eyes were a dark blue, complementing his dark hair, which had a gray streak running through it, another turn-on. While his looks had certainly garnered her attention, it was the fact that he was actually working the ground himself that upped her curiosity another notch.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked, interrupting the growing silence.

His words were pointed, which boiled her blood again, but for a different reason. “I can’t think of anything,” she said, forcing a casualness to her tone that she didn’t feel.

“Well, then you won’t mind if I get back to work.”

His straight-from-the-hip directness drew both her anger and her admiration. “What are you going to plant there?”

He paused, raised his head, and though his lips twitched, she couldn’t say he was smiling.

“Do you really care?”

This time that directness hit a raw nerve. Nonetheless, she didn’t blink. “Not really.”

The corners of his sculptured lips rose in a real smile. “Didn’t think so.”

Even if she’d wanted to move, she couldn’t have. The power of that smile held her feet to the ground. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she finally managed to say.

He leaned on his shovel. “Probably will.”

She watched the sweat trickle down his belly before she lifted her eyes to his. Though the contact was brief, it was lethal.

“Have a good day, you hear?”

His drawling words broke the spell and jolted her into action. She turned and took off, her heart beating faster than her feet could possibly run.

Five

“Ouch!”

Lindsay figured Cooper and Dolly had heard her muttered groan of pain. She’d been in the small office in her bedroom suite all morning, going over her upcoming charity commitments. But every time she moved, she winced with pain, either silently or out loud.

Her shins were a mess. In fact, she had shin splints worse than she’d ever had them. She had no one to blame but herself for this predicament. Following her less than satisfying encounter with Mitch Rawlins, she had started to jog, thinking it would work off some of her frustration.

The problem was, she got carried away and took her stress management too far. She ended up jogging six miles instead of the three she normally did. Now, two days later, she was still paying for her over-industrious whim. Still, it had made her feel better, even though thoughts of Mitch Rawlins had run alongside her.

What was it going to take to strike him from her mind? Right off, she couldn’t think of anything. Disgusted, Lindsay turned back to the computer screen, to the words she’d typed. If she wanted to remove them, all she had to do was hit the delete key.

Voilà! Gone. Poof. Like magic. Too bad she couldn’t do the same with her erotic thoughts of Mitch Rawlins.

If only Peter attracted her in that way, then maybe there would be hope for them. But there was nothing about him that turned her on. The few times he’d kissed her, she’d felt nothing.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried. She had—admittedly more for her father than for herself, which in itself was wrong. Nonetheless, a future with Peter, for whatever reason, was not in the cards. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want a man in her life, though the thought of deeply caring about someone else and the responsibility that carried sent her into a panic.

She also panicked when she asked herself a hard question. After the real-life nightmares she’d lived through, could she ever sustain a lasting relationship with a man? What if… No! She wouldn’t sabotage herself like that—not when she’d been doing so well lately, especially now that she had a project in the making that she felt passionate about.

Speaking of passion… Her tummy suddenly flip-flopped as once again her mind betrayed her. She wondered if Mitch was married. She hadn’t seen a ring, but that didn’t mean anything. With luck, he would be attached, which would put the brakes on her thoughts as nothing else could.

On the other hand, if he wasn’t attached, then… Stop it! she told herself. So he had a great body? So what? She’d dated others who looked as good. Well, maybe not, but nearly. The one guy she’d been crazy about in college, had even gone to bed with, had had all the right stuff. Or so she’d thought. Obviously there had been something missing, because their relationship hadn’t endured.

Maybe it was Mitch’s eyes, she mused. They were such an unusual shade of blue, which made them seem mysterious. When he’d stared at her that last time, she had wished she could dive into those eyes and learn all his secrets.

Lindsay shivered, wondering if he thought the same thing about her. Talk about secrets—her heart was crowded with them.

Suddenly tired of this craziness, Lindsay lurched up, only to groan again, having forgotten how sore her body was. Damn, but she was more out of shape than she’d imagined. Maybe she should be the one putting in some quality time on the other end of that shovel. She would bet Mitch could run forever and not know it. He looked in perfect physical condition.

She shook her head, clearing him from her mind. He was the groundskeeper, for heaven’s sake. Even if she wanted to have sex with a man, it wouldn’t be with him.

She peered at her watch and decided now would be as good a time as any to talk to Cooper—something she’d intended to do two days ago. And though she dreaded it, postponing it wasn’t going to make it any easier.

Five minutes later, she knocked on his door. No answer. Frowning, she turned and made her way very gingerly down the stairs. She hoped he wasn’t on the golf course, for more reasons than one.

Dolly was polishing the bottom part of the banister. When she saw Lindsay, she stopped and shook her head in disapproval.

“Don’t say a word,” Lindsay warned.

Dolly rolled her black eyes high and around. “You younguns don’t have any sense. None of y’all. Just beat up on your body when there’s no call for it.”

“I know, Dolly. I’m guilty as charged.”

“You need to see a doctor.”

Lindsay tried to smile. “What I need is to stop hurting, and no doctor can remedy that.”

Dolly merely shook her head, all the while muttering to herself.

“Do you know if Daddy’s here?”

“He’s on the porch, finishing his lunch.”

“Thanks.”

Moments later, Lindsay eased onto one of the colorful plush settees that faced Cooper.

“Well, I see you’re still crippled,” he said, eyeing her up and down.

“Don’t you start. Dolly’s already put in her two cents’ worth.”

“And well she should,” Cooper responded briskly.

Lindsay took a deep breath, trying to catalog her thoughts. “Do you have a minute to spare? I’d like to talk to you.” Before Cooper could say anything, she went on. “And it’s not about Peter, either.”

“That’s all right,” Cooper said in a condescending manner. “We’ll save him for another time.”