Page 13 of Single-Minded
As I secured the lock, my eyes strayed to the left and landed on that sheer, feminine robe again. What had she been wearing underneath it when she’d taken it off? Pajamas? A swimsuit? Had anyone been around to see?
The door to the garage opened, and I jolted guiltily, wondering what the guys had forgotten.
When I turned around, my heart double-timed, because it wasn’t the guys.
“Wow,” Presley said, taking in the open space that used to be the closed-off kitchen.
There was my glimpse, and damn was it a nice one.
She wore a little white skirt with two buttons at the waist that I couldn’t help imagining my large fingers undoing, a corset-style top in lime green that revealed a two-inch swath of tempting skin at her waist, and heels with a dainty strap across the front of each foot and another around her ankle.
I was sure she intended her outfit to be simple and summery, but the complications that image of her was going to cause in my head…
I stepped forward, unsure if she’d spotted me yet.
“Hey, Presley.” Whereas yesterday I’d struggled to break the ma’am habit, today, after a night filled with wild, erotic appearances by her in my restless dreams, her first name rolled off my tongue too easily.
“West. You’ve been busy.”
“The guys just left,” I said, snapping myself out of fuck-she-is-hot mode and into business mode. “I was locking up.”
She walked to the center of the much larger open space and spun slowly, taking in the changes, stopping when she faced the wall of windows that looked out on the lake. She smiled and nodded. “Yes,” she drew out. “This is what I was hoping for.”
My gaze got caught up on the bit of her middle that showed. I imagined gripping her slender waist and pulling her on my lap?—
Jesus.
I turned to look at the view, yanking my thoughts out of the gutter.
“What’s next?” she asked.
I cleared my throat, as I’d planned to fill her in whenever I saw her. I hadn’t planned on my thoughts going spicy.
Turning my attention to the house, I pointed out the remaining demo we’d take on tomorrow, which would center on the bathrooms.
“There’s been another delay with the flooring you chose for the living area and bedroom,” I told her. “We can still get it, but it’s going to slow everything down by at least two weeks. Do you want to wait, or would you like to pick something similar?”
“Waiting isn’t my strong point. I’ll choose something else.”
I quietly exhaled my relief. We could deal with the floor delay if we had to, but going with a different product would make our lives easier and the project smoother.
“Levi brought samples by,” I told her as I walked over to the sample boards propped against the wall.
Presley followed me, stopping next to me and watching as I spread out the four panels of samples. “Do you need my answer right now?”
“Just in the next couple of days. Check them out when it’s dark outside and in the middle of the day so you can see how they look in different light.”
“I’ll do that.” She seemed distracted as she nodded. “I have a question for you.” She turned to face me, pegged me with eyes the color of the sky on a cloudless summer day.
I swallowed and bent down to straighten the sample boards unnecessarily. I needed to build up some resistance to this woman who had such an effect on me. I knew plenty of pretty girls. I’d worked with attractive homeowners before. But something about Presley Holiday put me off-kilter from the inside out.
“Whatcha got?” I asked casually, as if my thoughts weren’t off the rails.
“Your crew is booked for a few months, right? Levi said he worked me in when someone else canceled?”
“That’s right.”
We’d been planning on a room addition for the Petersons, but now that they were divorcing, the project was off, and the house was going on the market instead.
