No doubt, the woman had to be a distant relative of her mother’s. “Mrs. Brown-”

“I’ll double your budget,” she promised rashly.

What could be wrong with her son for double budget?

“Triple.”

Wow. One could forgive a lot for triple. Even if he had three eyes and spit when he talked, it was only one evening, right? “Well…”

“Oh, good, you won’t regret it!”

She bet she would. “Just one date,” she clarified. “Tomorrow night.”

At that, Tanner craned his neck to stare at her.

Cami heard the ripping sound of material caught on a loose nail.

Twisting, Tanner stared at the back of himself and the huge, jagged rip through his T-shirt.

At the sight of a long length of smooth, sleek skin, Cami’s mouth went desert dry.

“Come to the house the day after tomorrow then,” Mrs. Brown said into her ear. “I’ll serve us some tea and cheesecake and we can talk about the work. Do you like cheesecake?”

“I love beefcake,” Cami said, then nearly choked when Tanner whipped toward her again, surprise lighting those interesting, see-all whiskey-colored eyes of his.

“Cheesecake! I meant I love cheesecake,” she corrected frantically. “Yes, yes, I like it with tea, thank you.” Feeling heat creep up her face, Cami found her gaze locked with Tanner’s. He was very amused. “See you Sunday,” she said to her client, and hung up.

“Tea with your cheesecake,” Tanner murmured. “Good combo. But what do you like with your beefcake?”

“Very funny. Everyone makes a slip of the tongue once in awhile.”

“Yeah.” He pulled off his useless shirt. “Do you make yours on your blind dates?”

For some reason, she could hardly breathe, and told herself it was all the dust in the air. “I don’t do much with my tongue on dates.”

“No?”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she said as coolly as she could while suddenly sweating like crazy.

His gaze slid over her slowly, and she got the feeling he knew exactly what he did to her.

“So you’ve got another blind date,” he said.

“What does a woman like you need them for?”

“I don’t need them at all. Other people need me.”

“And what about what you need? Does anyone think of that?”

“I-I don’t think so, no,” she said softly, never having viewed it that way before.

“Remember that,” he said just as softly. “The next time you make a slip of the tongue.”


TWO MINUTES before Cami’s date was scheduled to arrive, Tanner came into the kitchen. He was covered in dust from head to toe.

“Demo is a messy business,” he said apologetically. “We’ve tried to keep the mess to the back portion of the place.”

And he had. He’d used plastic and tarps, always careful not to track the dirt to the usable end of the house. As one who hated to clean, Cami appreciated it. “You’ve been great,” she said, preening a little, wondering what he thought.

He wasn’t even looking at her, darn him. He’d grabbed his water jug and was chugging from it, not noticing what she’d done with herself.

Ever since puberty, which had happened unfortunately young for Cami, men had been noticing her body first, her mind a far second. Not Tanner.

She didn’t know why it mattered exactly, when she had already decided he wasn’t her type, but she wanted him to look at her, wanted some sort of appreciation. She wore a sundress and strappy sandals, both of which managed, by some miracle, to hide the fact that her scale had groaned under her just that morning.

She knew she looked good. And for once, she wanted to be noticed-by Tanner.

Slowly he lowered the water jug. “You look…”

“Dressed?” she asked with a self-deprecatory smile, referring to the towel incident.

“Well, yes. Dressed.” His brows were knit together in displeasure. “Why can’t you just back out?”

“Well…I guess I seem to have a little trouble with the word no.”


“HMM.” Tanner leaned against the counter and crossed his arms, studying her. She was a puzzle to him. One, she had trouble with no. That was interesting, especially since he’d seen her coax his workers to her slightest whim. He’d heard her on the phone with subcontractors, bulldozing her way through yards of red tape. And when it came to her opinions on paints, materials or colors, don’t get her started. Two, she wasn’t a meek woman, or a quiet, mousy one, so it was fascinating, and frustrating, to him that she let the people she cared about walk all over her. “That must be interesting,” he said casually. “At the end of all these blind dates, not being able to say no.”

As always when he baited her, her nose went to the sky. “I manage just fine then, thank you very much.”

“If you manage just fine, why can’t you-” He broke off when she suddenly let out a little cry and dropped to her hands and knees. “No, Annabel, no!”

On all fours, she chased her cat across the kitchen floor.

Tanner stared in amazement as she gathered dust and shimmied her very fine rear end from one side of the kitchen to the other. “What are you-”

“Oh, darn it!” Wriggle, wriggle. “She’s going after a poor spider.”

Annabel had made herself known as some sort of freak cannibal, loving to toy with insects. Tanner knew Cami couldn’t stand it. He had watched cat and owner battle it out before.

“Annabel, stop!” She cornered the fat, greedy cat, who’d in turn cornered her prey with a joyful growl. Just before Annabel could paw the little spider, Cami cupped her hand over it.

“Move it,” she told the cat. “Honestly.”

Reaching up, she grabbed a cup, urged the spider into it and came to her feet, dust on her hands, knees and, for some reason, her chin. Gently, she shook the spider out the back door, nudging it along as if it were her baby, and was just dusting off her hands when she realized he was staring at her.

“What?” she asked self-consciously.

Before he could answer, the doorbell rang. She went a little pale. “He’d better have all his hair,” she muttered.

“You can still say no.”

“I promised.”

He shook his head, but followed her to the front door, wondering at the woman who looked like a sexpot but wasn’t. No sexpot saved spiders at the risk of her clothes and went out on dates with dust on her chin.

“I can answer it by myself,” she said.

“What’s his name?”

“Ted.”

“Let’s see if Ted has all his hair.”

“Tanner.”

He hated the look on her face, hated knowing she didn’t want to go. Hated that he cared. “Just open the door, Cami. Open the door and tell him you changed your mind.”

“I can’t.”

“I can.”

“No.”

“Fine. But that doormat on your forehead? The one that says walk all over me?” He slid his thumb over her chin, removing the dust. “It doesn’t look so good on you.”

4

CAMI IGNORED HIM .

Tanner expected no less. But as she reached for the door, she hesitated.

“Cancel,” he whispered in her ear.

“Back off,” she said to the wood. “You’re making my knees weak.”

“Really?” In a sick sort of male way, hearing that pleased Tanner greatly.

Clearly, it didn’t please her. “I promised to go,” she said.

Tanner’s mouth was only inches away from her nape. His chest nearly brushed her back. He caught the scent of her shampoo and the scent of her as a woman. Soft, sweet. Sexy.

Incredibly, his mouth watered with the need to nibble at her, and the urge to put his hands out and hold the front door closed became incredibly strong. He took a deep breath and let the air out slowly.

In response, she shivered.

Stunned by the unexpected sexual tension shimmering between them, he stared at the back of her head. He’d been out of the world for an entire year, caring for his dad. Still, he’d managed to have casual dates here and there. Not once had he felt this need to grab a woman and hold on, and he didn’t think he liked it.

“I have to go,” she whispered, just a little shakily, assuring him he wasn’t alone in this insanity.

“Just say you’ve come down with date-itis,” he said. “That you break out in hives at restaurants, that you drool when you eat.”

Her shoulders went back. “I never drool.”

He watched the strap of her sundress slide down her arm, and before he could stop himself, he straightened it, his fingers skimming over all that creamy skin.

She shivered again, and he nearly moaned. “Say you made a mistake, you already have a date for tonight, and first come, first served.”

She looked at him, her eyes dark, so very dark. “But I don’t have another date.”

He could drown in those eyes, if she wasn’t such a pain in the ass. “I could take you out,” he heard himself say.

“What?”

He was crazy. That was the only explanation for what his mouth had just said without his brain’s approval. “Well, I was here first,” he told her. “You don’t mean it. You don’t even like me that much.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Really? What do you like about me?”

“I…” He liked the way she looked wet out of the shower without a towel, but he doubted that was the correct answer that would win him the prize he wasn’t even sure he wanted.

“That’s what I thought.” Again she reached for the door.

“Wait.”

“I can’t. I can’t go out with you, even if you liked me, which you don’t. We’re too different.”

“How?”

“You listen to obnoxiously loud music, for one.”

“And you listen to music that makes my teeth hurt. I don’t hold it against you.”

“Okay, fine. You want a better reason? You’re a morning person.”

She said this as if he was a convicted criminal, which made him laugh. “I could teach you to like the mornings,” he promised in a voice both teasing and seductive.