She ignored the fact that his shoulder-length hair was down this morning, making him look even sexier. Usually, he kept it tied back while he worked. And there was no doubt about it. Levi was a man of action. If not for him, she’d still be working on the building instead of opening the doors on her new business.

“Excited and scared.” She laughed and motioned to the coffee pot, which had just finished perking. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Sure.”

Turning her back to him, she struggled to regain her composure. He was one hot guy, no doubt about it, but she wasn’t looking for that kind of complication in her life right now.

Not that he’d come on to her in any way since she’d hired him. The arrangement they’d worked out helped them both. When she’d bought the building that housed Past Promises, it had needed a lot of sweat and elbow grease to make it livable. Which wasn’t a problem. Linda wasn’t afraid of hard labor.

The building was almost a hundred years old, three stories high and built of brick. The main floor was the retail space, but some time in the nineteen-seventies someone had converted the two upper floors into apartments. Linda had revamped the top floor for her own use. She hadn’t planned on renting out the second floor apartment until Jonah Sutter had approached her about Levi.

Jonah was married to Amanda Barrington, Amanda Sutter now, a friend of Linda’s from Vermont who had also relocated to Jamesville. Jonah had introduced her to Levi, who was looking for a place to stay and was willing to work in exchange for rent. It had saved her a bundle on the renovations. Levi could do the work of three men and there wasn’t much, if anything, he couldn’t do.

Cyndi and Shamus O’Rourke, more friends who lived in Jamesville, had pitched in to help her as well. Shamus was a partner in B & O Construction, a local contracting company, so he’d given her great advice and a good price on work when she’d needed it done.

Jonah had done his part as well, using his skill as an electrician to upgrade all the electrical work in the building. Not for the first time, she was thankful for her new friends and glad she’d made the move. The contrast between her friends and her family made her stomach ache.

It was no good to question why her parents and brother couldn’t just be happy for her. They were what they were, but she was through trying to please them.

She finished pouring the coffee into a paper cup and handed it to Levi. From past experience, she knew he took his black. Over the past few months of working together she’d gotten to know him fairly well. Or as well as anyone knew him. Levi was incredibly self-contained, keeping to himself when he wasn’t working. But she’d like to think they’d become friends, of a sort.

“Thanks.” Their fingers grazed as he took the coffee from her. Heat shot down her arm and her breasts tingled.

She dropped her hand and rubbed it up and down the fine wool of her dress pants. It was distressing how quickly her body reacted to Levi. It had been that way from the first moment she’d met him. All the man had to do was walk in the room and she felt her body temperature rise. She had to control herself. Levi was a friend, nothing more.

She didn’t know his entire story, but she knew he’d been in the army with Jonah—Special Forces. He’d left the military and had come to Jamesville to help Jonah about six months ago and had stayed. She figured he was entitled to take some time to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

Besides which, he was the perfect tenant. He was quiet and he’d done more than enough work to pay for at least six more months’ rent. She had no idea how long he was staying and hadn’t worked up the courage to ask. The last thing she wanted to do was make him think she wanted him gone.

“I think you’ve got your first customers waiting outside.” Levi’s quiet voice broke the silence between them. She looked at him and he canted his head toward the door. Sure enough, through the huge display window beside the front door, she could see Cyndi, Shamus, Amanda and Jonah waiting to get inside. All her friends had come to her opening.

Smiling, she let all thoughts of her family and her sexual feelings for Levi slip away. Plenty of time to deal with them later. Or not. Taking a deep breath, she strode across the store and unlocked the door. “Welcome to Past Promises.”

Levi set his coffee on the counter the minute Linda’s back was turned. Whatever was in that letter had upset her. He’d stood in the shadows watching her for several minutes before he’d spoken. He’d seen the way she unconsciously placed her hand over her stomach, the way her shoulders had hunched forward.

He didn’t like it.

Reaching down, he plucked the letter out of the garbage and stuffed it in his back pocket. He’d read it later and decide if there was anything he could do to help her.

Some might consider it an invasion of privacy, but not Levi. He had skills that most people didn’t and if he could use them to help someone he cared for then that’s what he should do. Besides which, she’d thrown it in the trash without even tearing it up or shredding it. That made it fair game in his mind.

Linda was special. A classy lady who was never pretentious. She’d been reserved with him at first, but he’d soon discovered that was just her way. She reminded him of a dog who’d been abused. Guarded. Not trusting until she was certain she wouldn’t be hurt.

He didn’t like the idea of someone hurting her.

Not that she was fragile or anyone’s idea of a victim. Just the opposite, in fact. Linda was fiercely independent and a hard worker. She’d pitched in, working long hours alongside him, sweating deep into the late hours of the night to whip this place into shape.

She had to be curious about him and his past, yet she’d asked him no questions. Linda had accepted him as he was, and that was a rare gift. He knew he made a lot of folks uncomfortable. It wasn’t only his size, but the way he watched things. He’d been told more than once he had scary eyes.

But Linda hadn’t seemed scared or intimidated at all. She’d worked beside him, sharing funny anecdotes from her trips to look for more antiques. She handled all the details of the renovation, as well as the pressures of getting a new business launched without breaking a sweat.

However, she wasn’t all calm and composure. More than once, he’d caught her swearing when things went wrong with the renovations. Her blue eyes blazed and her skin flushed a rosy red as she dealt with whatever problem arose. She was cute when she was mad, but he’d never tell her that. He wasn’t totally without social skills when it came to the opposite sex.

He liked Linda. She was comfortable to be around. Plus, she was easy on the eyes. He didn’t like the idea that someone, or something, had upset her as much as it had.

He glanced over at her as she hugged Cyndi and Amanda. Linda was tall for a woman, about five-nine, but she was still small alongside him. He liked the way her black hair was cut short. The style wasn’t fussy and suited her. She had a slender build and porcelain skin. He longed to touch her, but knew he was much too rough around the edges for a woman like Linda.

That hadn’t stopped him from fantasizing about it though. His imagination had created scenario after scenario, which featured both of them naked and rolling around in his bed. Hell, he didn’t even need a bed. A table, a sofa or even a wall would do just fine.

He could imagine her hands touching him—everywhere. He wanted to feel her fingers skating all over his skin from his face to his feet and everywhere in between. Then he wanted to return the favor.

He’d lost countless hours of sleep wondering what color her nipples were and how sensitive they were. Levi wanted to feel the texture of her fine skin beneath his fingertips, wanted to taste her soft flesh, caress her plump breasts.

He imagined working his way down her body, teasing her bellybutton with his tongue before dipping even lower. He wanted to spread her thighs wide and bury his face in her pussy, learn her scent and smell as he discovered what made her moan and what made her scream with pleasure.

His jeans tightened around his cock as it expanded. He swore under his breath and concentrated on bringing himself back under control, thankful he was standing behind the counter. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to keep the problem from getting any bigger. He usually had no problem with control, except around Linda.

Her voice, low and cultured, slid over his skin like a physical caress as she greeted her friends. It had been that way from the moment he’d first heard her speak. She glanced over her shoulder at him as if she sensed his scrutiny. She raised her eyebrow at him in silent question. He stared back, giving away nothing of his thoughts.

Cyndi caught her attention, pulling her away to look at a display of dishes in the corner. Levi picked up his coffee and headed over to where Jonah and Shamus were standing just inside the front door. He nodded to both of them. “There’s coffee if you want it.” He pointed them in the direction of the coffee pot.

Both men took him up on the offer, heading over to help themselves to a cup. The letter he’d dug out of the garbage was practically burning a hole in his back pocket, but it could wait. If there was one thing he’d learned during his time in Special Forces, it was patience. He’d need privacy and time to examine whatever was in there. He settled back and pushed the letter from his mind for the time being.

Right now, he needed to be near Linda. Joy and excitement lit her face from within as she showed both women around the store. He soaked it up, feeling a sense of pride at his small part in helping to make this happen. The corners of his lips turned up slightly as he watched her flit around the store like a butterfly, not quite landing anywhere, but touching everything in her path. He’d bet every cent he had, which was a considerable amount, that she knew every object in the store and could tell you its history and price without checking her computer.