Lovell, Cooper - Tessa's Highlander (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

She fired back, “First of all, I wasn’t aware that I need to be here to oversee you at all times. If that’s the case, we have a problem here because I am not a construction foreman. And second, I was not with
another
man, I was with
a
man, who happens to be my best friend since we were five.
Not
that it’s any of your business, you big, giant, arrogant pain in my ass.”

* * * *

Hoo
!
It felt good to get that out, but he was overwhelming her with his nearness, his energy stirring her insides so that she couldn’t think straight. She turned on her heels to get away from him.

Gavan chased after her, grabbed her upper arm, and spun her around to face him holding both her arms tightly in his firm grip so she couldn’t move. But stronger than his hands on her arms was his gaze, its intensity arresting. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried in vain to form words to take control of the situation when he dipped his head and captured her mouth with his.

Initially, she protested, the sounds of her struggle swallowed by his mouth. He released her to wrap his arms around her and pull her body against his. She softened then, rose to her tiptoes, and curved into him. She slid her hands up to press her palms against his strong, warm chest. He moved one hand from her waist, grasped her jaw, and tilted her head back to better receive his kiss. She returned it fervently, parting her lips to allow him entrance when his tongue stroked them. A moan rose in her throat as he explored her mouth, swiping across her teeth and teasing her tongue, encouraging it to join his. She responded, and his tongue slid against hers, velvet stroking velvet. His hand moved from her jaw and his fingers threaded into her hair at the nape of her neck.

An awareness of every inch of her body was accompanied by a fuzziness that blocked out everything but the two of them. Her skin was alight wherever he touched her and she was completely intoxicated by his strong, soft lips. She drifted into the pleasant haze surrounding them and threaded her fingers into his hair to pull him closer.

He broke the kiss and drew back from her. Her lids lifted and she looked into his eyes to find them ablaze with desire. His gaze searched her face, seemingly imploring her to urge him on. She licked her tingling lips and a low growl rumbled from deep in his chest. Her breathing was ragged, her womb tightened in pulses, a wave of need for him emanated from her very core. The force of her reaction to him was unfamiliar and it frightened her. What she felt now was different, more than the fantasies about him she’d been entertaining since they first met. This was not merely lust, this was a desire to be completely taken and possessed by this man.

As suddenly as he’d initiated the kiss, he released her and stepped back as though she’d stung him. Confusion filled her.

He looked down at the floor, pushed the heel of his right hand to his eye, and stammered, “I-I’m sorry, lass. I
doona
’ know what came over me. I
shouln’a
done that.
G’night
.” And he strode quickly to the door to leave.

Infuriated and confused beyond comprehension, Tessa ran to catch the door before it could shut and stepped out, the cold air slapping her out of the warm, sultry mist he had wrapped around her with his kiss.

“Mr. Murdoch?” she said more firmly than she’d intended. He stopped in his tracks and turned his face, not back to her, but only to the side, signaling that he was listening. “I think this isn’t working out. Please send me a bill for the work you’ve done so far and I’ll see that you’re paid immediately. Good night.”

She didn’t wait for him to respond before she slammed the door.

* * * *

The innocent steering wheel was the recipient of his displaced frustration, his hands banging on it with each angry syllable he yelled.

“Damn-bollocks-damn-fuck-
shite
-damn! What in hell were you
thinkin
’, man?” Gavan shouted into the cab of the truck.

The angst he’d endured over the thought of her spending the day with that European-sports-car-driving snake had built over the hours until he completely lost his senses. What was it about this woman that rendered him incapable of maintaining even a modicum of the self-preserving control he’d relied upon for so long? He swore, while standing alone at the altar that day years before, that he would allow no woman to be in the position to put him through hell, to be able to wrench the life out of his heart. But this tiny little lass had not only gotten under his skin, she’d invaded his mind and wiggled her way right into his heart in only a few days. How could this have happened?

It took only one second for him to answer his own question.
She’s intelligent, fiery, beautiful, and sweet.

“Aye, she’s sweet when she’s no’ giving you hell, Murdoch,” he said with a wry grin, rubbing his hand across his face.

It was a long, cold, miserable drive home.

Chapter Four

Gavan pushed his hand through his hair, resisting the urge to turn the F-250 around, go home, and avoid the woman all together. That would be the smart thing to do. She was definitely the last thing he needed. He should just go home and never set eyes on her luscious little body and beautiful face again, but Jaime had asked him to do this favor, and he felt he owed him at least that.

Jaime had provided him with enough work to keep him busy from dawn until dusk every day and quickly became a good friend when Gavan arrived in America. Now, thanks to professional referrals and several collaborations on various jobs, Gavan had become one of the most elite, sought-after craftsmen in the area, creating custom-order masterpieces for those who could afford his talent.

Tessa’s career was a source of pride for Jaime, so whenever the guys were sharing a couple of beers after work, it was a frequent topic of conversation when her books started to sell. Out of curiosity, Gavan picked up a copy of Tessa’s first book when it released, even though he was more of a biography and nonfiction fan. The story was not only full of startlingly descriptive horror, replete with blood and gore, but the horror was interwoven with, and in many cases dependent upon, mind-bending, sometimes perverse, erotic passages. Jaime’s young sister wrote expertly about twisted sex of all kinds. In the single book he read, humans had sex with monsters, murderers, and demons. The details of those vivid scenes had led him to believe that the girl was writing from some amount of sexual experience. After that, whenever Jaime referred to his younger sister as a “handful” or a “spitfire,” Gavan assumed he was referring to Tessa’s wild lifestyle. He had no problem at all with anyone having a full and exciting sex life, but his experience with a free-spirited woman had ended very badly for him.

And that was precisely why he had to get these overwhelming thoughts he was having for the little hellfire under control. He’d simply go in, do the work that had to be done, and get out. Interaction with her would be kept to an absolute minimum, and everything would be fine. Even as he repeated that mantra to himself, he was unable to stop the image of his cock driving deep into her hot little cunt, his balls slapping against her ass with every inward thrust. He had to shift in his seat to adjust his growing erection to a less uncomfortable position. He’d put that out of his mind and stick to business. Business and nothing more.

Aye.

* * * *

He rang the doorbell and could hear Tessa approaching, loudly speaking in a tone full of mock chastisement that he realized was meant for her brother.

“Oh, so you decided to come and mooch some breakfast off of me instead of just returning my call about that big, arrogant ass you sent to my house.”

Unable to suppress it, he grinned when he heard this, but quickly replaced it with a scowl when she opened the door and stood before him in nothing but a man’s button-down oxford shirt, bunny slippers, and a smile.

“
Wha
—what are
you
doing here? I thought you were Jaime. I mean, I just assumed. I—Why did you come back here?” Tessa demanded, left bunny stomping on the floor, whiskers twitching.

“I’ve come back tae finish the renovations. I
doona
’ work for you, I was contracted by
Jaimeson
Danvers, so only he can fire me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, lass, I’ll be getting back tae what I started,” he explained with what he hoped was a finality that wouldn’t invite argument from her and the storm clouds he could already see gathering in her eyes.

Without waiting for her to respond, he stepped around her and moved into the kitchen to pick up where he had left off the day before. He heard her sigh and begin muttering what he knew had to be a string of curses directed at him under her breath.

He surreptitiously watched her storm up the stairs. Was it his imagination or did those bunnies, their little ears quivering with each stomp, now look kind of angry? When his gaze caught the tail of the button-down, he wondered whose fucking shirt she was prancing around in. Was it Mr. European’s button-down shirt? There was nothing sexier to him than a woman in a man’s shirt, but the shirt had to be
his
, not some other man’s.
Goddammit
.
He was supposed to be keeping these thoughts out of his head, not letting them run rampant through his mind. He pushed his hand through his hair in frustration for about the twentieth time in an hour and tried to focus on work.

* * * *

While pulling off what had become her favorite nightshirt that she’d gotten in college as part of a
Men in Black
Halloween costume, Tessa couldn’t stop ranting to herself through clenched teeth.

“God, the arrogance of that man! ‘I was contracted by
Jaimeson
Danvers so only he can fire me,’” she said in a snarky, mocking
neener-neener-neener
voice. “Who does he think he is? This is my house! As soon as I get showered and dressed, he is so
outta
here.”

Twenty minutes later, freshly showered, she descended the stairs, organizing her thoughts in order to dismiss Gavan Murdoch, Master Carpenter and part-time Golden God, once and for all. Unfortunately, she was detoured by the ringing phone in her office. Knowing that it had to be either her editor or her publicist on that line, she had no choice but to take the call. But as soon as she was finished…

Before Tessa realized it, she’d been working for over three hours without looking up. It had been necessary to boot up her computer while talking to her editor to check on some e-mails, and she’d gotten absorbed in what she was doing. She’d been so focused that she didn’t notice right away when Gavan opened the door and walked in.

The metallic snap of the tape measure startled her from the
workland
inside her computer and back into the room. After several minutes of diligently trying to ignore him as he squatted and bent, muscles flexing, the worn, faded denim hugging that glorious ass, Tessa snapped.

“Excuse me, but could you wait till later to measure in this room?” she asked with marked irritation, tapping her fingers on the desk. At this point, she was hoping sheer meanness would drive him away.

“No I
canno
’,” Gavan mumbled distractedly without meeting her gaze. God, that was infuriating. The least he could do was look at her when he was
dissing
her.

“Yes, but you see, the problem here is that I don’t
want
you to be working here at all. And by here, I mean in my home. Like I said last night, your services are no longer required. Since you obviously hate being here, I would think that moving on to your next job and leaving me wouldn’t be a problem for you.”

While once again keeping his face turned away from her, he replied, “And like
I
said, Jaime contracted me for this job as a favor and I intend tae see it through tae its finish. I only need a bit o’ time in here tae check a couple of measurements, and I’ll be leaving for the lumber mill. You’ll have your precious quiet then.”

Oh, that did it. Now he was going to get snarky with her? Tessa sprung from her chair and stomped around the desk with her arms crossed over her chest, stood directly in front of where Gavan was kneeling, and tapped her little, white,
Keds
-clad foot on the carved wool rug.

“Okay, if you insist on continuing to work until I can speak to Jaime and put an end to this, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. But until then, you could at least do me the courtesy of turning in my general direction when you speak to me. For whatever reason, you find me so reprehensible you can’t even look at me.”