Page 46 of Perfect

“You don’t want to know what I imagine you wearing Harlow.”

I blushed; yup, anactualblush swept across my skin, staggered by his veiled compliment. I then exhaled noisily and bit back my retort. What the hell? Talk about split personality. The guy could give Jekyll/Hyde a run for his/their money.

Connor raised his perfect eyebrows as he moved past me, lips twisted, motioning for me to follow with a flick of his head.

“Come on then, let’s see what you’ve got.”

I totally didn’t appreciatethatcomment. As far as spanner wielding went, I had very little to give. Unless I needed to throw it at his head, now that, I may be able to pull off.

His hair was mussed like he’d not long since crawled out of bed and I quickly shook off my growing contemplation of whatthatwould look like. Imagining Connor in bed? When the hell had I become such a pervert?

“So, I’ll patch the roof and you hold the ladder. I may need you to pass me stuff. I take it you’re all right with heights?”

I nodded my head without giving his question any actual thought. The number of ladders I’d climbed would be around the zero mark and so who knew right?

“You’re a bit on the scrawny side, but you should be able to stop it from sliding?”

He spoke to me like you would a five-year-old and I gave him another tight-lipped nod as we stopped beside the bottom of said scary-assed ladders. I batted his scrawny comment to one side as I peered up; they werehugeand were already extended to what surely had to be their full height. My stomach turned over. At least he didn’t expect me to go up there, or did he? I narrowed my eyes.

“I need to finish the section I was working on this morning. You put your feet here and here to hold the ladder in place and then grip it with both hands. It shouldn’t go anywhere really, the grounds fairly even, so you can lose the terrified expression.”

I almost saluted him.

‘Yes,Mein Fuhrer!’I thought, watching the display of where I should stand through squinted eyes.

Connor shot me a condescending look before twisting away and darting up the ladder with admirable speed, the muscles of his perfect backside flexing. I so wanted to bite it, either that or sink my fingernails into it. I didn’t even care if I damaged my manicure.

As he got to the top, I did as he instructed and straddled the metal with my feet, wrapping my fingers around the cold steel. I sure hoped itdidn’tslide anywhere as I seriously doubted that I’d be able to stop it anyway. Connor was right, my arms had always been on the thin side, no matter how much resistance training I did.

“OK?” he shouted down and I nodded to alleviate any concern. My tongue had decided to abandon me it appeared. I probably resembled one of those nodding dogs from the Churchill Insurance advert. It was like I couldn’t get my throat to work.

As Connor pulled tools out of his belt and started working, my eyes were creased against the sun. It was impossible not to notice how his muscles moved with each movement and the sight of his denim-encased backside was a picture that would probably be carved into my memory for a very long time. The thing could sell postcards!

I dragged my head away, disgusted with myself, and tried to concentrate on my duty, purposefully glaring at one of the rungs of the ladder.

I was still pissed off after the way he’d mugged me off in the car. He’d had the perfect opportunity to kiss me and I’d been certain that he’d wanted to. I saw that type of expression on guys all the time.

I replayed the scene in my head, wondering if I had imagined it again and that maybe I would have to deal with the fact that there was one guy that just didn’t really fancy me. It was a hard pill to swallow. It felt so strange. I’d lived through my teens with boys literally throwing themselves at me like starved animals. I’d even checked myself out naked in the mirror last night, wondering if everything was going droopy. I’d soon dragged my robe on, of course, annoyed with myself for my superficial thoughts.

I cringed thinking back to my original intention of keeping my distance from Connor whilst staying here. Look how goodthatwas going. I felt like the Queen of all failures.

The ladder suddenly vibrated with Connor’s weight as he started to climb back down, his booted feet appearing level with my face. Thank goodness whatever he’d had to do was quick. I stepped back to allow him space to climb off and he turned to face me, I noted again how my head barely reached his shoulder.

It was then that it happened. I made that foolish decision to glance up at him through my lashes; it was the oldest girlie trick in the book, but it happened on an impulse. Our eyes locked and I held my breath, again those fireworks vibrating through my chest. Connor’s face was unreadable but hehadto feel it; that pull that chemistry. Every muscle in my body screamed for attention.

He scratched his jaw before quickly unclipping the tool belt without looking away and dropping it to the floor with a clunk. I didn’t follow the movement; it felt physically impossible to avert my eyes.

“Stop it,” he cautioned in a low voice, heavy with emotion, but he didn’t move away and that gave me my answer.

Giddiness swamped me as he raised his hand and pushed a stray strand of my hair behind my ear, warmth blossoming in my belly. Our bodies were so close, but who knew who’d moved to reduce that small space between us? The sun caressed my cheeks as Connor continued to stare down at me, into me even, and my temperature soared

And then my controlsnapped.

I took advantage, pushing up onto my tiptoes and fusing my mouth against his. I heard his breath hitch, startled by my actions as I cushioned myself against him; my fingers clutching at his biceps for balance.

My pulse took off as Connor reacted instinctively and his arms slid around my waist pulling me further against him, our legs together, my chest flush against the lower part of his. I felt the muscles in his arms flex with the movement and it turned me on even more. Closing my eyes, I gently slid my tongue against his lips, unsure, hoping he’d take the lead.

And he did. His mouth opened and he took control.

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