Chapter 4: Watching Him Work

Sally sipped her drink, watching him work. His muscles bunched and strained as he nailed new boards to her porch. Would he look like that if he was nailing her? She flushed with the idea. She must go do some chores. She couldn't sit her and stare at him. She was getting all the wrong ideas.

Looking out over her property, she tried not to look back at Sebastian. She liked the sight of him. It woke up her lady parts. Oh, they were alive and humming. If he looked at her the right way, her pants would fall off.

She shook herself.

"You okay?" he said.

He'd paused, with a board in his hand. Sweat rolled down his chest that had just the right amount of hair on it. Not too much. Not too little. None on his back. "I'm fine. I'm just making a mental list of all that I have to get done."

"I understand that. I do that every morning before I get out of bed."

Oh, crap. Now she had a picture of him in bed. Shirtless. Under the covers. His hair rumpled. His eyes a little sleepy. She'd bet his voice was even lower. It would vibrate through her if she lay next to him.

She had to stop thinking of him that way. He was her worker. He was here to do a job. Not do her. No matter how long it had been since she had sex, she couldn't seduce the carpenter. She stood, grabbing his empty glass. "You need more?"

"I'm good for now," he said.

He was more than good in her eyes. "I'll be upstairs. If you need any more of it, it'll be in the fridge. Help yourself."

Because she wasn't coming back down until he was gone. Chicken. Yes, she was a chicken, but she refused to give into her baser desires. She'd done that last time and her heart had been broken when he hadn't fallen in love with her.

A man like Sebastian wouldn't need to fall in love. Nor would he need a woman who was just okay looking like she was. He'd have his pick if he wanted it.

Best to get thoughts of his naked body on hers out of her mind. She chugged some lemonade before she went upstairs to finish making beds in the rooms that were done. She wanted to make sure that the sheets looked good in there.

***

Sebastian was finished for the day. He could do no more without buying some more boards. He'd left it safe enough for her to walk on it at least from the door to the steps. She couldn't sit on her swing, but he'd fix that tomorrow. He'd hit the lumber yard before he came to work.

Tonight he'd let the beast fly. He had to. Having had to smell Sally all day, knowing that she was his mate, he had to let it out. It had been fighting with him the whole time he'd been here. He'd resisted the urge to sniff her up and down.

Then it hit him. He'd have to ask her out. Woo her. Court her if he had any chance of her actually marrying him. Which was what would have to happen. He was an old-fashioned guy. He couldn't just get her pregnant and demand that she marry him. No, it had to be her choice.

Then he envisioned what she would look like pregnant with his child. Oh how sexy.

He had to stop thinking of her that way until he was allowed to. He might go crazy until then.

Sebastian packed up his truck then entered the house to find Sally. She was upstairs.

"Sally?"

She didn't respond. He could hear her moving around in the room above the living room. Parlor? He didn't know. He lived with his brothers in a large house in the woods. They didn't have fancy names for their rooms.

He took a deep breath then climbed the stairs. Sally was singing while she struggled with a fitted sheet on a queen-sized bed. He cleared his throat. She jumped and the one corner of the sheet fell off and wrapped around her head. He extricated her from it, tucking it under the mattress.

"Sorry to startle you," he said.

Her hair was now mussed. Probably what she'd look like during sex. Damn. He had to stop thinking like that. Okay, he didn't. She'd be his. He'd figure out how to get her in bed. Get her in his life.

That would take more finesse than just getting her in bed.

"You didn't, but thank you for saving me from the attack of the sheet," she said.

He smiled at her. "No problem. I'm done. Uh, I was wondering if you're free for dinner tonight."

She bit her lip. Even that was sexy. Did she have no idea what she was doing to him? "Uh, I don't think that's a good idea."

"No?"

"You're doing work for me. We shouldn't cross that line."

Oh, they should and they would. He'd put money on it. She was delicious and he was going to taste as much of her as possible. His mouth watered at the thought.

"It's just dinner."

She shook her head. "I have a lot to do to get this place up and running."

"You have to eat. What would it hurt to eat across the table from me?"

She sighed. "You're sweet, Sebastian, I just don't see it working out."

He nodded, but he wasn't going to give up this easily. He'd wear her down. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

***

A few minutes later, when Sally was just beginning to think about dinner, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to find a sheepish-looking Sebastian.

"Problem?"