He forgot about the waterfall as they locked gazes, very aware of her touch. “I know for a fact you would get very bored of laurel-sitting. Besides, I know what your secret weapon is,” she said. “Do you?”
He laughed. “I could use a secret weapon about now.”
“You have a natural ease with people.” She eyed him closely. There wasn’t any pity in her voice, which, for better or for worse, made him believe her. “You may not want to go near a football field right now, but you’d be an amazing example, say, for high school boys. And girls, for that matter. Everyone respects and likes you. You can do a lot of good with a personality like that.”
“Do you like me?” he asked, his pulse beating strong and heavy. He suddenly realized he hadn’t moved his hand.
A moment passed between them, charged with electricity. Every hair on his body felt like it was on end, as if he was touching one of those energy balls in a science museum.
Hadley finally moved her hand, breaking the spell. “Your cell phone’s ringing,” she said.
Cam wrenched his gaze away, reaching into his pocket. “Nick. Hi,” he said, putting the phone to his ear. “Bring the big one. I’ll meet you in a minute.”
“Where are you going?” Hadley asked as he headed to the back room. “It’s still pouring out.”
“Nick and I are going to toss a tarp over the weak spot on the roof. It’ll save a lot more headaches if we do it now.”
“You’re going up on the roof with a ladder now?” Concern laced her voice.
Maybe she didn’t hate him that much. “It won’t take long,” he said.
“But it’s dark. And really wet. Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty dangerous.” He bit down on his lip to keep from grinning. “I might not even come back.” He had to admit, knowing she was worried pleased him in a weird way. “I’m kidding,” he said when she’d failed to crack a smile. “We do it all the time. Trust me. It will prevent a lot more damage.” He grabbed his phone from the counter and headed for the back room.
“Tony.” He turned around at her summons. And at the fact that she’d called him by his given name. “Be careful, okay?”
He flashed her a grin. “Aw, so you do care.”
Hadley rolled her eyes as she reached for a mop and bucket. “That was an accident. I just don’t want any broken bones on my conscience.”
As she ran from one drip to another, shifting various containers, an unwelcome thought struck him. She looked…hot. Drenched but definitely hot.
The truth was, she’d be sexy any hour of the day.
Her weird combination of earnestness and total obliviousness about her appearance made her sort of…adorable.
“Don’t slip on that floor,” he called as he tore his gaze away and got to work.
It took all of ten minutes for Cam and his brother to set the tarp, and when Cam came back in, he was soaked to the skin. Hadley was mopping and tossing huge chunks of tile into a garbage can. He made sure not to let his gaze linger—especially on how her wet sweatshirt clung to her curves or on her shapely behind as she bent to work.
Nope. No more rain porn for him.
She handed him two full buckets. “Would you mind dumping these?” she asked. “I’ve made about a hundred trips outside.”
“No problem.” Their fingers grazed during the handoff, and hers were ice-cold. “You should get out of those wet clothes.”
She stared at him.
Oh, geez. “I mean, when you get home. Because you don’t want to get sick.” He emphasized his intention, then turned to go dump the bucket before he said something else equally stupid.
Suddenly, another enormous chunk of the cheap, soaked ceiling cracked open. Instinctively, Cam dropped the buckets and grabbed Hadley by the arm, pushing her—and himself—out of the way. But he overshot, driving a little too hard to get them clear and lost his footing on the slippery tile.
He managed to cushion her fall as they went down, so Hadley landed on top of him. His arms were suddenly full of warm, soft woman, and the pure pleasure of being next to her—touching her, their limbs intertwined—took away all his sense. He started to untangle himself, but then he made the terrible mistake of looking up.
One glance at Hadley, soaked to the bone, a little dazed and stunned, made something turn over in his chest.
Maybe it was the primal memory of being like this with her a long, long time ago. Or the shock of being thrown together suddenly, against their will.
He meant to let go, but in her pretty, expressive eyes he saw…something. A flash of feeling. A spark of heat. A challenge. He couldn’t move his hands or look away. And he knew, sure as the electricity coursing hot and quick between them, that she felt it too.
He wanted her, as loud and demanding as his pulse throbbing at his temples, as certain as the fire coursing through his veins.
“Hadley, I—” He stopped, unable to put into words all that he was feeling. Finally, he forced himself to look up at the terrible mess of a ceiling.
“Please don’t tell me there’s another leak,” she whispered.
“No, I…I mean, I don’t know. It’s a wreck.” He was a wreck. A wreck of desire for her. Yet he was paralyzed in place, holding on to her soft arms, one heartbeat away from dragging her lips to his.
Another waterfall suddenly burst down from a new hole, close enough to splatter them thoroughly.
And then she laughed. A slow giggle at first—and then the unladylike one he remembered so well.
It was just as ridiculous and incongruous and—okay, snorty—as before. And then he laughed too.
“Had, that laugh,” he said softly, shaking his head. His voice sounded too quiet, too tense. Unnatural. “It’s…exactly the same.”
“Hey, I owned my laugh a long time ago,” she said, starting to roll off of him.
“No, I—” He held on to her arms, preventing her from leaving. “I wasn’t being critical,” he hurried to say. Her eyes, bright and assessing, were wary. But was her heart beating as his was, fast and steady in his chest, like his entire body was on alert? “I missed it,” he blurted out.
“Oh.” She looked puzzled. Surprised.
A slow, aching heat rose up inside him, and suddenly he knew the truth. He’d missed more than her laugh. He’d missed…her.
His gaze dropped to her lips, full and lush and open in surprise. And then he bent his head and kissed her.
* * *
Oh, holy moly.
She hadn’t expected this.
One minute they were arguing and then…and then in a flash, everything had changed.
Yeah, clearly no arguing going on now.
His lips met hers, purposefully, smoothly, and they were warm and soft, and she was…lost. Completely lost, wrapped up in the familiar, clean scent of him.
He wrapped his big arms around her and pulled her closer. She clung to his hard, wet body like he was a life raft in a stormy sea.
The cold, wet floor was forgotten with the heat flashing through her, igniting her into flames.
Then his mouth shifted, and his tongue met hers.
Behind her closed eyelids, stars and fireworks exploded, and whatever other sparkly things you were supposed to see when you were kissing someone who could really kiss. That’s when she realized that in all the years since Tony Cammareri, in all the kisses and the other loves, in all of the very full life she’d led, no one had kissed her like this.