Page 25 of Tucker

“First time I saw you, I noticed the way you move.”

That surprised her and her arms fell. “The way I move?”

He nodded. “You’re animated. When you talk to someone, you’re fully engaged, physically and emotionally. In a world where everyone is thinking about something else, it struck me that you cared enough to really focus. That’s pretty damned special.”

This was...interesting. She was used to men commenting on her looks, but it appeared Tucker had put more thought into it. “Go on.”

Smiling with a memory, he said, “You were chatting with your cousin Amber the first time I saw you.”

“Amber’s beautiful.” Long dark hair, shapely and a lot of attitude. Usually anyone standing near Amber faded into the background.

Nonchalantly, Tucker said, “She is, but that day I barely noticed her.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

He shrugged, saying, “You were there,” as if that explained it. “You wore one of those loose-skirted dresses that make a man think about how easy it’d be to get his hands underneath it.”

“Really?” The image of Tucker with his hands under her dress sent a rush of heat over her.

“Especially when there’s a little wind, like there was that day. It kept putting your hair in your face and blowing your skirt against your thighs, but you didn’t let it interrupt your chat with your cousin. You used one hand to hold back your hair, and the other to hold down your dress.” His smile warmed. “You laughed over something Amber said, a really big laugh, and I wasn’t the only one to look up.”

Great, so she’d drawn undue attention? “Come on.” Tucker urged her back to the steps until she started up ahead of him while he still spoke. “I have to admit, after that I noticed how pretty you are, too, and how hot your body looked. Thanks to the wind, there wasn’t much left to the imagination. It was better than a bikini, and I couldn’t get the picture out of my head.”

He’d thought about her? She started to look back, but there wasn’t much room on the narrow basement steps.

She felt the warmth of his breath when he whispered, “You have gorgeous legs.” His big, broad hand opened on her waist, slid to her hip and then drifted down her thigh—and away—when they reached the kitchen again.

The dog was there, getting a drink from the dish Tucker had moved to a corner of the room. She gave them both a dismissive glance, grabbed a few bites of crunchy food, then headed back to her babies.

Strangely dazed by all he’d said, Kady took a breath. “She’s such a sweet mother.”

“Agreed.”

“What will you name her?”

“We can discuss it tomorrow on the way to the grill out.”

We?So he wanted her to help? And what did he mean, “on the way”? “We’re going together?”

“I’d like to pick you up if you don’t mind.”

She’d come over to give him hell...but then he’d kissed her. And told her he’d noticed her laugh and her focus. Now he wanted to pick her up for a family gathering.

How could she stay mad? “I’d love that.”

“Once there, maybe we’ll let the others make suggestions on names, too. Your family does have a lot of pets.”

Kady shot him a look. “Trust me, dog names arenotwhat they’re going to talk about.”

He only smiled, apparently not at all reticent about being in the midst of her massive, pushy family.

When he opened the front door, she belatedly realized that he’d led her through the house and she hadn’t even noticed.

She turned quickly. “So you like my legs?”

Sliding the fingers of his right hand into her hair, he tipped up her face. “I more than like everything about you.”

More than like? He kept saying things that confused her. “You won’t be dodging me anymore?”

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