Page 14 of Housebroke

“I had noticed the guesthouse getting warmer throughout the afternoon, and I hadn’t been baking at all so I knew it wasn’t that.”

She tried not to peer over Linc’s shoulder as he checked out all the components of the guesthouse’s air-conditioning system. Not that she knew anything at all about air-conditioning units, but she could tell from the irritated look on his face as he made his way from the electrical box to the main unit that he wasn’t happy.

“Electrical is fine, but you’re right that it’s not cooling. Thermostat is climbing in here. You should grab your stuff and move over to the main house where it’s cooler.”

“Oh, we’ll be fine in here.”

“It’s eighty-six outside with ninety-five percent humidity, Hazel. You’re not fine in here. We’ll move you to one of the guest rooms in the house until I can get this fixed.”

She nibbled on her lower lip, hating to be a burden. “Okay. I can set up my air mattress—”

“Absolutely not. I’ll move your bed.”

She shook her head. “No. That’s way too heavy, plus the mattress and all.”

“The bed comes apart. And, fine. You can help me move the mattress if it’ll make you feel better.”

Not entirely better, but it was at least something she could do to help. “Okay. Thank you.”

She had roughed it in hot weather before. She actually enjoyed camping and didn’t mind sweating a little. But it was hot and humid, and being inside the guesthouse with temperatures climbing was going to be pretty uncomfortable. She figured she and the dogs would just sleep outside tonight by the pool. The pool area was covered, so she wouldn’t have to worry about bugs, and there were nice, comfy lounges.

But if Linc insisted she and the dogs move inside to one of the bedrooms, who was she to argue?

She packed up their things, which included the dogs’ beds and crates and all her stuff—which wasn’t much—and carted it over to the main house. Except he hadn’t told her which room to occupy. There were four bedrooms in the house including the master, and she figured he’d taken that room, so she chose one of the bedrooms down the hall that had an attached bathroom.

She’d left the dogs out back so she could start bringing linens and bed things into the house. She’d brought up the towels and blankets and sheets and had straightened everything up in the bathroom and was about to go check on the dogs when Linc appeared in the bedroom carrying part of the bed frame, those impressive muscles of his bulging with the effort and sweat pouring down the sides of his face.

Never once had she found a sweaty guy attractive—until now. She followed him outside and into the guesthouse and helped him carry the rest of the bed frame into the main house. Then they went back for the mattress. Penelope decided to follow them this time, and Lilith came, too. The rest of the dogs were in late-afternoon snooze mode and couldn’t be bothered.

“It’s okay,” he said as he started to put the frame together. “You don’t need to stay for this.”

She gave him a look that told him she was anything but useless. He shrugged and they put the bed together, then laid the mattress on top. She grabbed the sheets and blanket, figuring he’d go back to work, but instead, he stayed and helped her make the bed, something that felt decidedly intimate, especially when he ran his hand over the flat sheet to smooth out any wrinkles. It made her shiver, imagining his hand sliding over her body like that. What would it feel like to have him touch her? Would his hand be calloused when he rubbed his palm across her nipple?

“Is that good?”

She looked up. “Is what good?”

“The bed.”

She realized she’d been all in her fantasies and hadn’t noticed they’d put the blanket on. “Oh, right. Yes, it’s fine. Perfect, in fact.”

“Uh-huh. I’m going to go do something about that AC.”

“Yes, you do that. I’ll rearrange dinner plans and prepare something on the grill.”

Mentally rolling her eyes at herself, she followed him down the stairs, Penelope and Lilith on her heels. He headed toward the back of the guesthouse, while she went into the guesthouse andgrabbed her notebook and pen, then opened the fridge, took a few seconds to glance at the contents, and headed outside.

She slid her bare legs into the shaded part of the pool and started to redo tonight’s menu, hoping for some focus now that she wasn’t in the same vicinity as Linc.

What had that been all about? That weird fantasy about Linc putting his hands on her? Because she so did not have any desire for him in the least.

Except she so did, and lying to herself about it wasn’t going to make it go away. She already knew nothing was going to happen between them, so what was the harm in indulging in a little fantasy foreplay?

She paused as she made her menu, realizing again how ridiculous she was. She wasn’t the only one making decisions here, and as far as she knew, Linc wasn’t the least bit interested in her. So her fantasy about being stretched out on the bed and fondled by Linc was going to remain just that—a fantasy.

He was here to work on the house, not play with her. And that’s how things were going to stay.

Besides, technically, she was his employee, and the two of them sleeping with each other would be a terrible idea. What if he immediately regretted it and fired her? Then she’d end up out on the streets, and she needed to focus on the pups and their welfare. Right now she had a great thing going on, and she needed to remember that.

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