Page 3 of Say Yes

Her stomach took a free fall and her heart shot into her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, he was still there, still watching her. “A pet. I most definitely need a pet.”

Gavin raised his brows, his dark eyes glinting in the shadows, his tone amicable. “Hey, I hadn’t planned on anything so forward, at least not this soon, but petting’s good. I’m into petting if that’s what you really—”

“No!” Sara dodged his outstretched hand and ground her teeth together, feeling foolish. “I meant a pet, as in a dog that might have barked and let me know someone was here.”

His gaze slid from her face to her towel-wrapped body. “Then I’m glad you don’t have a dog.”

With a gasp, she ducked into the house and shielded herself behind the front door. After a long, silent moment, she began to realize he wouldn’t just go away, and that she’d once again made herself look ridiculous. She poked her head around the door.

Gavin chuckled. “I’m getting soaked standing here, babe. You going to ask me in or what?”

“Ah…No. Not a good idea.” She knew her tone lacked conviction. She’d wanted him, really wanted him, for the longest time, but not now, not at this precise moment.

Not dressed only in a towel.

He looked down at his feet, as if considering the situation, then pulled the screen open and stepped inside. “Sara.” His tone was chiding. “I’ve given you plenty of time. I hoped you’d be willing to talk to me now.”

She couldn’t hold his direct gaze, so she glanced at the bottle of wine in his hand. “What do you want, Gavin?”

“You.”

Oh wow. Heat washed over her in undulating waves, and she took a hasty, nervous step back, bumping into the wall. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, look at him. Gavin cupped her cheek with a rough palm and lifted her face. His smile gentle, his voice low, he murmured with a good dose of sincerity, “I like you, Sara. I always have. From the very first day you looked at this house and proclaimed me a master planner and the best builder you’d ever come across, I knew we were destined to be very good…friends.”

Teasing, she thought. Only teasing. But he was a talented builder, putting that little extra into a house to make it special. Gavin Blake was, at only thirty-three years of age, an extremely successful man.

Sara could still remember the first time she’d laid eyes on him. He’d shown her around the house himself because he’d been inside, adding some touches to the existing kitchen. He’d been enthusiastic, speaking about his work with the intensity of an artist, while looking every inch the rugged male in his ragged jeans and work boots. There had been a healthy sweat dampening his T-shirt, and he’d smelled so good. The cocky way he walked kept grabbing her attention. He was confident of his abilities, and with good reason. What he did was exceptional; he expected the same of the men who worked for him. He’d shown her all the perks his housing offered, all the ways he’d improved on the average plans to make his creations special.

And she’d fallen instantly in love…with the house. But she’d also felt a very real attraction for the man. Gavin had the sensitive hands of an artist, and her fertile mind had imagined those hands everywhere they shouldn’t be.

Though she’d been engaged then, and he’d had a relationship of his own, it hadn’t taken her long to realize she was planning to marry the wrong man.

But once she’d become free of Ted—the cheating slime—it had been too late. Gavin had witnessed the worst of her, and she was too embarrassed to see him again. And too realistic to keep trying for a romantic future that would only elude her.

But now Gavin was here, in the flesh.

“You used to come and talk to me while I worked.” He leaned closer, his gaze drifting over her face. “I’ve missed you, Sara.”

His suggestive tone shook her. She shifted from one bare foot to the other, her naked knees pressed together as she remembered their easy camaraderie, the swell of excitement she always felt whenever he was near.

Gavin watched her, his gaze straying over her shoulders and across the tops of her breasts. She knew her blush had spread, and that it was visible even in the dim light. Then his hand lifted from her cheek and he slid a rough fingertip over her lips. Her breath caught somewhere in the bottom of her lungs, making her dizzy.

“You never used to blush so much.”

She thought she should move, but she didn’t. She swallowed, then stated the obvious. “I never had good reason before.”

“Ah.” He turned to look outside, his hands propped on his lean hips, the wine bottle still held securely. “I assume we’re talking about the…incident?”

Sara swallowed. It had been a fiasco and the most humiliating moment of her life. It wouldn’t have been quite so horrendous, catching Ted with Karen, if she’d handled the situation with a modicum of grace, a little poise. But no. She’d had to go and do her impression of a berserk gardener, grabbing the closest weapon, which happened to be a plastic rake, and chasing a near-naked woman up the middle of the street!

Catching her bottom lip in her teeth, she groaned. The memory was not a humorous one for her, and now here she was, cowering behind a door, making a total fool of herself once again. She would have straightened her shoulders if it wouldn’t have caused her towel to slip. “Just why are you here, Gavin?”

He stared at her, or more precisely her mouth, watching as her teeth worried her bottom lip. He was so tall—over six feet, making her five foot five seem very diminutive. And his wet T-shirt had turned transparent, clinging to his wide shoulders, taunting her with what it both hid and revealed. She could see the dark hair on his chest, appearing so very soft in stark contrast to his hard body.

She knew she didn’t want to see what the rain had done to his cutoffs. She felt flustered enough as it was.

His tone was gentle, insistent. “It’s been six weeks, Sara. I figured that was plenty of time for you to get over whatever ails you and get friendly again. You’ve been snubbing me ever since that day.”

Her brow puckered at the misunderstanding. “I wasn’t snubbing you. I…I wasn’t at all sure, after the damage I did, if you’d want to talk to me again.” That was a partial truth, because she’d sent him a note of apology and asked for the amount of the damages. She’d found the note stuck inside her screen door, with the message, Paid In Full, scrawled across it. It was sheer embarrassment that kept her away now.

He sighed, then shook his head. “Why don’t we sit down and talk? I’m going to set you straight on a few things.”

Without waiting for her agreement, he kicked off his wet tennis shoes and headed for her kitchen, giving her the perfect opportunity to make a fast break for the bedroom. She did, back-stepping the whole way just in case he turned. And with every foot that separated them, she pondered the possibilities of why he was here. A tiny flare of excitement stirred, but she ruthlessly snuffed it out. Gavin wasn’t for her, and he never would be.

---