Page 4 of Arbor

A slight smile grew on her face. “Just you, huh? Is that yoursubtleway of letting me know you’re available?”

He grinned. “Nah, but you can take it that way… if you’d like.”

She chuckled. “Well, if you’re looking for a girlfriend, I’m not on the market.”

Arbor lifted a brow but didn’t stop grinning. “You’re taken?”

“Nah, but you can take it that way… if you’d like.”

Humming an acknowledgement of her reply, Arbor straightened and motioned toward his house with his hand. “Want a tour or even just to hang out… you know where I’ll be.” After giving her a wink, he turned and headed back for his house. She may not be on the market at the moment, but he was a patient man. He could wait for that to change. In the meantime, he’d get to know her and see if he could find a way to speed up that process.

THREE

MEGAN

WhenshemetEwanthe day before, she was shocked by the fact that a grown man would live in a treehouse and struck by how handsome he was. The man had dark brown hair that was thick and long, hanging down past his shoulders. The stubble on his jaw and cheeks just added to the allure, especially when he smiled and flashed those pearly whites. The loose jeans didn’t do anything to hide the male perfection under his clothes. His shirt was a bit tighter than his jeans, clinging to his shoulders and chest but looser around his waist. She couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like without it.

She had a brief thought about how he was wearing only a long-sleeved Henley in the chilled weather of late March in Michigan, but he wasn’t the only one she saw in Manistique that had been underdressed in her opinion. Those observations didn’t last long, though, before her thoughts shifted back to his hair and what it would be like to slide her fingers into it.

Yes, the man was beautiful and charming. From what she could tell, Ewan was the man parents warned about. He was pretty to look at, no doubt capable of giving plenty of orgasms, and would probably make a woman feel like a queen for however long he hung around. However, her situation didn’t afford her the luxury of being careless or creating attachments. She needed to keep her distance.

It wasn’t that she was afraid to trust another man after the crap her ex put her through. She knew not all men were the same and there were plenty of men out there who would never treat her the way he did. Her reluctance wasn’t about Ewan or his character. No, it was about not knowing how long she could hang around.

If she suddenly had to bolt, she didn’t want to leave broken hearts or hurt feelings in her path. She didn’t want to give anyone the impression that her presence was a guarantee, because it most definitely was not.

Whether Ewan was capable of a relationship was irrelevant when she wasn’t sure she could commit herself. It was better to just keep any encounters with the opposite sex to merely scratching an itch.

If Ewan didn’t work with her and live so close, she might have considered giving him a slot on her temporary roster, but she couldn’t stop picturing him watching from his house as she brought another man home. How awkward would that be after they hooked up? Yeah… It was best if she kept him in the coworker and neighbor categories.

“Are you listening or daydreaming?” His low voice in her ear snapped Megan out of her thoughts and brought her back to the present.

She was sitting in her chair at her desk at work, and Ewan was behind her. He had needed to show her something on the laptop, so he stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and was looking at the screen from over her shoulder.

She cleared her throat and slowly exhaled. “I was listening.”

His quiet chuckle told her he didn’t believe her. “Great. So you know everything there is to know about updating the website? I don’t need to run through all of that again?”

“Wait. Website?”

He chuckled again. “Kidding. I barely know how tofinda website.” When he turned his head a fraction to get closer to her ear, her hair caught on his stubble and shot images of him taking her from behind into her brain. She barely contained the moan that bubbled up her throat as he whispered, “I was showing you where to find the files for the regular customers and lists of discounts we offer for them. I’m pretty sure you could find that on your own. I really just wanted to get close enough to better smell your perfume or shampoo or whatever it is. It’s intoxicating.”

Yeah, so is your breath in my ear, she thought as she forced herself to take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. “It’s shampoo, and the bottle saidVanilla Dream.”

The vibration from his low chuckle traveled down to her clit. “You’re a dream all right.”

“Isn’t this inappropriate for a workplace?”

“Report it to HR, then,” he countered. “They’ll dole out punishment.”

She rolled her eyes. “I basicallyamHR.”

“If you want to spank me, Megan, all you have to do is ask.”

When she turned to look him in the eye as she gave him her retort, she was struck speechless at how close he was. If she leaned toward him maybe an inch, her lips would be pressed to Ewan’s. Her eyes locked on his ocean blue ones and mesmerized her.

Instead of telling him off like she intended, she opened her mouth and said, “I can’t take you up on what you’re offering because I can’t promise I’ll be here for long. It’s not right to give you the impression something can grow between us.”

His dark brows pulled together. “We’ll get back to why you might be taking off later. Megan, the only impressions you’ve given me is that you are someone I want to know better and that you feel the pull between us the way I do. Now, that pull may end with a few nights of fun and a friendship… or it might not end at all.Thatis up to you.”

---