Turn Up The Heat: Love Won't Wait / Beach House Beginnings / Strong Enough to Love

His teeth locked.

“But I have a rule about these things.”

Yeah, he knew that. Jesse felt the same as he did. They shared almost everything—but never women. “Still,” he groused. “Don’t be ogling her.”

“Got it. When she talks to me, I’ll stare at the ceiling.” He used a shoulder to wipe sweat from his brow. “So what do you have for me? And it better be good since you have me working in this heat, on a Saturday night no less.”

Just then, Tonya’s husky but feminine voice joined Merrily’s in the living room. Jesse perked up, going on the alert. Brick gestured for him to come see.

Intrigued, Jesse stepped over to the doorway and peered into the other room. Awareness settled over him. With obvious appreciation, he gave Tonya a thorough once-over. In an aside to Brick, he asked, “For me?”

“Yeah.” The look on Jesse’s face was hilarious. “What do you think?”

“Damn, man, thank you.”

“All I can promise is an intro. The rest is up to you, but I figured—”

“Yeah, got it.” Done listening, Jesse unglued his feet and moved forward with single-minded purpose. “Hello.” Hand extended, voice deep, he said, “I’m Jesse.”

His sudden intrusion surprised both women.

For her part, Tonya widened her eyes with speculation. She looked at Brick, at Merrily and back at Jesse again. She accepted his hand. “Hello yourself.”

Huh. That went even better than Brick had anticipated. He filled in with more proper introductions. “Tonya is Merrily’s landlord.” To Tonya, he added, “Jesse is going to help me with the door.”

“It’ll be my pleasure,” Jesse told her.

Rolling his eyes, Brick stepped over to Merrily and slipped an arm around her lower back. Beneath the insubstantial sundress he idly explored the pronounced indentation of her waist and the firm swell of her hip.

Her curves were as appealing as everything else. He couldn’t wait to touch her bare flesh—and yeah, if he kept thinking that way, he’d embarrass himself.

Because she seemed more than a little confused by the turn of events, Brick said, “Why don’t we order a pizza? It’ll be my treat. After Jesse and I get the door switched out, we could all sit down to eat.”