Page 19 of Nailing Studs
I reached out my hand to shake Nathan’s as Dominic made the introductions. “I just moved to town,” I explained. “I inherited my Aunt Tabitha’s place. Taylor and Dominic came by to give me an estimate on some things the house needs.” Some things. Boy, what an understatement.
“The Fix-It Guys,” Nathan said with a twang in his voice, imitating what I guessed was a TV commercial. “And Tabitha, huh?” The old man’s eyes took on a twinkle.
“Hmm…sounds like you may have some history with my aunt. Good or bad?” I ventured, cocking my head.
He burst into laughter. “You come back here when it’s a little less busy, and I’ll tell you some stories about Tabitha Vanderzee.”
I grinned. Tabitha had told me many of her own wild stories and so far, everyone who’d mentioned her seemed to genuinely love her. “So, what do you recommend?”
“Anything with waffles,” he replied at once.
“Give me anything with waffles, then.” I smiled. “As long as there’s coffee on the side.”
“Will do. Nice meeting you, miss. The usual, Dom?” After Dom nodded, Nathan ducked back into the kitchen. A young waitress stopped by with two coffee cups and expertly poured for Dom and myself.
Dom wrapped his long, suntanned fingers around his coffee cup and stared into the hot steam swirling up from it. Every few seconds his eyes flickered to mine, only to catch me looking, then he’d glance away. I could tell he wanted to say something, but I couldn’t tell what. What did he want from me? What could I possibly give him?
As I grabbed my coffee cup, he suddenly moved, and our fingers brushed. I didn’t pull away and neither did he. When I looked up at him, the look on his face made me catch my breath.
“Listen, Kayla,” he finally said. “Taylor and I were talking about the house, how you don’t have the money to do the repairs right now. And we wanted to run something by you—”
He stopped when the sound of a cell phone ring filled the air. Wincing, he dug into his back pocket and said, “Sorry. I’ve been expecting an important business call. Mind if I take this outside?”
I nodded even though I was anxious for him to finish what he’d been saying. After he got up and walked out, phone at his ear, my gaze firmly locked on his tight ass, I blew out a breath. What had he and Taylor talked about exactly? What did they—
“I don’t remember every face I see, but I know for a fact I wouldn’t have forgotten yours.”
A man’s throaty voice pulled me out of my reverie. I jerked my head around, ready to reply to whoever this irritating flirt was—had he not noticed I was on a date with one of the sexiest men in town?
The reply of,“not interested, sorry-not-sorry,” froze in my throat when I caught sight ofa drop-dead, insanely gorgeous magazine model giving me a dazzling white smile. The blond man looked like he was in his mid-thirties, in a suit that fit him like perfection. He was shamelessly and obviously undressing me with his bright green eyes. He tore my T-shirt in two with his gaze and feasted on my naked breasts with his widened pupils. I shivered as if I was actually standing exposed in front of all these strangers.
“New around here, or just passing through?” he asked.
“Umm…”
Why couldn’t I form words?
“If you’re passing through, I just need fifteen minutes to pack my bags,” he continued, a joking grin on his face. “I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Don’t worry, my passport is current.”
I made a show of rolling my eyes, but damn, it was hard to play it cool. Mister Tall Dark and Handsome’s flirtation was a little on the strong side, but his suit fit him like perfection.
“So,” the man said, “could I buy you lunch?”
“Um, sorry, I’m actually with someone right now. He’s taking a phone call, outside,” I said, pointing to the door. I could see Dom outside, intent on his conversation. He glanced up right as I was pointing, and the line over his brow furrowed even deeper when he saw my new companion. I had a naughty, childish desire for him to feel jealous. Dom snapped something into his phone, then shoved it in his pocket and headed back to the diner.
“Of course you’d be with Dom,” the man in front of me said, drawing my attention back to him. “Too bad. He’s not one to share. Not anymore, at least,” he added, winking.
While I was gaping at that statement, Dom strode up, all quintessentially dark and broody but with a slight smile on his face, and the new guy cheerfully called out, “Dom, my man!” The two guys gave each other a quick hug, showing me another side of Dominic in the flash of an eye. He could be sweet, affectionate when he wanted to, even though he was still warily eyeing the other guy.
“Haven’t seen much of you lately, Dom,” the suited hunk said. “How the hell are you?”
“I’ve been out of it for a while, but getting back in,” Dominic said. “Kayla, this is my and Taylor’s friend, Logan. We all grew up here in Fosterman.”
“Nice to meet you, Kayla.” Logan stuck out his hand as Dom slid back into the booth. Logan’s gaze traveled down my face and caressed the swell of my breasts, appreciating the vee my cleavage made. I went wet at the intensity of his gaze. If I’d felt attracted to him the moment I first laid eyes on him, that attraction had now intensified a hundredfold.
And for the third time in twenty-four hours, I had the pleasure of sliding my hand into yet another gorgeous man’s hand. Strong, soft, hands that I knew could satiateme if given the chance. “Logan…” I narrowed my eyes.
“Raider,” he said.