Man at Work (7 page)

A deep chuckled rumbled from his throat that
warmed her insides. “Did you need me to put it on for you? These
things can be tricky.”

She grinned. “I don’t know you well enough
to let you dress me.”

“
Good point.” Playful
sparks of hunger danced in his eyes as he brazenly scanned her snug
t-shirt and form-fitting warm-up pants. “Besides,” he added, “I’d
rather spend my time
undressing
you.”

Candace’s mouth dropped open. Before she
could think of a saucy reply, Candace heard a collective gasp
behind her. Her sisters and Toye rushed toward her.

“
Girl,” Toye exclaimed,
“this house is overrun with men. What’s going on?”

“
Gabe brought
reinforcements.”

“
This is for us?” Toye
asked Gabe.

“
Yep,” Gabe answered.
“Candace told me about her deadline and I figured you guys could
use a few extra hands.”

“
Yes!” Ronnie and Marlowe
gave each other fist pumps.

“
Thanks, Gabe,” Toye
offered. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“
You’re welcome.” He
clapped his hands once. “Ladies, shall we get started?”

Ronnie and Marlowe walked away, but Toye
lingered, staring at the tool belt in Candace’s hands. “What’s
that?”

“
Gabe’s gift to
me.”

“
I wanted to make sure
Candace had everything she needed,” Gabe told Toye. Then, he made
eye contact with Candace, and licked his lips. The action gave her
goose bumps. Gabe smiled before heading toward the kitchen and
leaving the two women alone.

“
Yeah, looks like you have
what you need all right,” Toye quipped under her breath.

Candace watched the firm lines of Gabe’s
butt wrapped in worn denim jeans. “I don’t know if I need it, but I
sure as hell want it!”

“
Why do I get the feeling
we’re not talking about the tool belt anymore?”

The two looked at each other and burst out
laughing.

# # #

Okay, maybe it was overkill. Candace’s house
had more men walking through it than a locker room at halftime.
Gabe divided the group into two crews. One to tackle the repairs
upstairs and one to complete the projects downstairs. Candace told
him she had plans to tear up the hideous shag carpet and install a
durable Berber throughout the home. That was a good plan,
especially if the family moving in had young kids. He knew Candace
had her heart set on hardwood floors, but even with Gabe’s army of
men, it would be pushing it to try to install wood floors upstairs
and downstairs in this eighteen hundred square foot house.

Together, the two of them
started pulling up the carpet in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The
moment Gabe raised the rubber padding,
his
heart sped up. He turned to Candace. “Jackpot.” He pointed to the
wood floors peeking from beneath the carpet. “Some idiot actually
covered up the hardwood with carpet.”

Candace gasped. “Can you restore them?”

“
It would be my
pleasure.”

“
Oh, Gabe!” She threw her
arms around his neck and hugged him. “Now, I can have the wood
floors I wanted. Thank you.”

Surprised by her display of affection, he
held her in his arms, not wanting to let her go. His hands slid
down her slender waist to cup her backside. He buried his nose in
her hair and inhaled her mix of perfume and shampoo. Even her hair
smelled good.

Abruptly, she pulled back. “I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to—”

It was too late. She’d uncorked the dam. All
the pent-up desire he felt came bursting through. He placed his
forefinger over her soft lips. Then, he did what he’d wanted to do
since she’d opened the door four hours ago. He tilted her chin up
and claimed her lips with a kiss. Whereas yesterday’s kiss was
urgent, this one was unhurried and intense. Their tongues performed
a slow mating dance that he wished his body could duplicate.

The whir of a drill was tuned out by the
sound of Gabe’s heartbeat thumping in his ears. Candace was all
woman. Soft and round with a swell of curves. He pulled her on top
of him and ground his hips slowly against hers. He took his time,
savoring her mouth with slow, languid strokes. His reaction to her
was instant. A warm fire began to smolder deep in his belly.
Candace had an effect on him he couldn’t put into words. If her
kisses were this good, he could only imagine what she would be like
in bed.

He tugged on her bottom
lip, nibbling the corners of her mouth and trailing a path of
kisses to her earlobe. She moaned when he darted his tongue inside
her ear and licked the delicate flesh. “You taste
so good,” he whispered in her ear. “I wanna
devour every inch of you.” He continued his erotic assault,
pressing kisses along the long column of her throat.

“
Oh God,” she
moaned.

He pinched
her nipples through the thin camp shirt she wore.
The buds immediately hardened beneath his touch. Emboldened, he
slipped his hands beneath her shirt and under her bra to fondle her
bare breasts. Christ, she felt good. He imagined himself taking
each nipple into his mouth and rolling it between his teeth before
feasting on it.

“
You
like my hands on you?” he
growled
as she arched her back,
giving him full access to her breasts. “Damn, woman. I could fuck
you right here. You want me to fuck you?”

Candace pulled back, pressing her palms
against the chest of his denim shirt. She glanced over her shoulder
as if looking for witnesses to their erotic encounter. “We have to
stop.” Her face was flushed with spots of scarlet staining her
cheeks. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she gasped.

“
Did what?
Kissed?”

One of her sculpted eyebrows shot up as she
adjusted her shirt. “That was more than just a kiss, Gabe. And with
a houseful of people. Anybody could have walked in on us.”

Gabe smiled. “You’re right. I got carried
away.”

“
And you lied to
me.”

Damn, she must have found out he owned
Sampson’s. But how? He ran a palm over his shaved head. “I’m sorry,
Candy. I never meant—”

“
Yesterday, you promised
me you would not be a distraction. Yet, here you are clearly
distracting me.”

Relief flooded his body. He sat upright and
stroked the satiny skin of her cheek. All last night he couldn’t
stop thinking about her and the kiss they’d shared. A small part of
him felt guilty. After all, she’d warned him he would be a
distraction, and he’d promised to be on his best behavior. That was
easier said than done. Candace was just too damn fine for her own
good. But she needed his assistance, and he was in a position to
help her meet her deadline. And not only was he helping her, he was
helping a family in need. He had to remember to keep his priorities
straight.

“
I promise, it will not
happen again.”

She nodded and then quickly stood, wobbling
slightly in the process.

“
You okay?” he
asked.

“
Yes. I felt light-headed
for a moment. Must be all these paint fumes.”

“
No, sweetheart. That was
just me sweeping you off your feet.”

She shot him a warning glance that had more
smile than smirk. “Remember, no distractions.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” he agreed.
She turned away, and reached for a nearby hammer. “Let me help,” he
offered. They both touched the hammer at the same time, their
fingers creating a spark when they accidentally brushed against
each other. Candace jumped from the contact.

Gabe grinned. “You’re more skittish than a
lion cub around a hyena. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of my
touch.”

She caught his gaze, her dark eyes flashing
beneath the long sweep of her lashes. “No,” she shook her head.
“Just the opposite. Maybe we need to work in separate rooms
today.”

He watched the sway of her hips as she
walked from the room. The air was thick with sexual tension. Gabe
was glad he wasn’t the only one feeling it. He promised Candace he
wouldn’t be a distraction. It was a promise he knew he would never
be able to keep. He picked up his toolbox and tried not to focus on
the hard muscle between his legs. One thing was certain: Now that
he’d tasted Candace Jones, he wanted more.

By the end of the second week, Gabe and his
crew had made significant progress on the flip. The kitchen was
complete, the plumbing was repaired, the walls had been
sheet-rocked and painted, and to Candace’s relief, all of the
hardwood floors had been exposed and polished to perfection. To
celebrate, one Saturday night, Gabe took Candace, Toye, Marlowe,
and Ronnie to dinner at the Cabana Beach Club restaurant at the
Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach. With its breathtaking ocean views,
the luxury resort was known for its live entertainment and
mouth-watering menu. Warm winds and the salty smell of the ocean
wafted up to the diners as they sat on the outdoor patio a mere
twenty feet from the sandy beach.

For almost two hours, Gabe entertained the
four ladies with his stories and jokes. Impeccably dressed in black
slacks and a black short sleeved shirt, he looked damned good.
Candace was impressed with not only his carpentry skills, but his
people skills as well. Over the past two weeks, he’d handled his
crew and her family with compassion and warmth. Since the day they
practically fornicated in the upstairs bedroom, he hadn’t made any
other overtures. But each day it became increasingly harder to
ignore his sculpted body as he worked in the house. Or to hear his
deep chuckle of laughter that vibrated through her. Or to stop the
rush of warmth she felt between her legs when she caught him
staring at her from the other side of the room. She didn’t know
whether to be disappointed or happy that he’d remained a perfect
gentleman. He still hadn’t divulged the fact he was the owner of
Sampson’s, and she wasn’t going to let on that she knew.

After a scrumptious dinner
of
Florida Snapper
with coconut curry sauce, grilled asparagus, and jasmine
rice
, Candace was too stuffed to eat
dessert. Instead, she watched Gabe devour his
guava cheesecake and coffee. He made the simple act of eating
look sinfully erotic. The way his lips wrapped around his fork made
her squirm in her seat.

Toye and Candace’s sisters were all full of
rum Mojitos. The liquor mixed with tropical fruits loosened their
tongues. The more they drank, the more they talked.

Toye, who sat on one side of Gabe, leaned
over and playfully squeezed his bicep. “Thank you for coming to our
rescue,” she told Gabe. “You shaved fifty percent off our
time.”

“
Yes,” Ronnie agreed.
“Thanks to you, Candace has a chance of meeting her
deadline.”

“
It’s been my pleasure,”
Gabe answered. “If I have anything to do with it, she’ll complete
that flip on time, meet her contract obligations, and
be
profiled on
Flip It or Forget It
.”

“
We are in your debt,”
Marlowe added. “You’re our knight in shining armor.”

Toye nodded. “I can’t believe a good guy
like you hasn’t been taken. You never married?”

Candace almost choked at the question. Toye
was so forward. But four pairs of eyeballs focused on Gabe, waiting
for his answer.

“
Nope,” he said, fixing
his eyes on Candace. “I’ve never been married. I never found the
right woman, but I have a feeling my luck is about to
change.”

The mental undressing he gave Candace made
her panties melt. It was almost as intimate as the day they met in
line at Sampson’s. Only this gaze was more possessive. He’d tasted
her. Had his hands on her. Claimed her with his kiss. She shivered
involuntarily. She wanted to believe it was the breeze tiptoeing
across her bare shoulders (She’d worn a strapless A-line dress with
a pair of peep-toe pumps). But she knew those goose bumps were from
him.

She boldly stared back, challenging him.
“So, there is a special someone?” she asked.

“
Coulda been.
Unfortunately, she said I’m too much of a distraction for
her.”

Candace’s heart pirouetted in her chest. Oh
God! She hoped her family didn’t make the connection.

“
So, you’re ready to
settle down?” Marlowe asked.

Gabe swallowed the last bite of his
cheesecake. “A man can only sow his oats for so long. Then, it’s
time to grow up.”

Candace smirked. “Have you sowed many oats,
Mr. Hunt?”

Their gazes locked again. “Let’s just say I
know how to keep a woman happy.”

“
Ooh!” Ronnie burst out,
“This conversation is taking a turn for the worse.”

Marlowe smiled. “Or the better, depending on
how you look at it.”

They all laughed,
including Candace, despite the throbbing between her legs. She’d
been the recipient of Gabe’s kisses. She knew exactly how
happy
he could make
someone.

Toye saved the day when she replied, “Well,
I think I speak for all of us when I say you’ve made us happy by
turning tragedy into triumph, Gabe. And I know you’ll make some
needy family happy when they’re able to move in.”

Gabe flashed a devastating smile. “Yes,
indeed. I’ll toast to that.” He held up his glass of water and
clinked it against the raised glasses of the ladies at the
table.

“
Sorry, guys,” Ronnie
said, glancing at her wristwatch. “I’ve gotta run. Jovan is with
the babysitter. I told her I’d only be gone a few
hours.”