cheeks devoid of makeup.
Lori propped her broom against the table in the foyer and grinned at Ramón, sending a jolt of pleasure straight into his gut.
“Hi,” she said, wiping her brow with the back of one hand. “You just called! Either you were already close by or you broke the speed limit getting here. Which is it?”
“I wasn’t that far away. Stopped to see my dad.”
“Really? Where does he live?”
“Old Mill Assisted Living Center.”
“Oh, yeah. Over on Huffman near Broad?”
“Right. After I left him, I headed straight here. And yes, I did keep an eye on my rearview mirror for any black and whites that might be on my tail,” he said with a wink, knowing he’d rolled through that last stop sign at the intersection leading to Lori’s street—after looking both ways, of course.
During the drive to her house, he’d thought of nothing but how shaky her voice had sounded on the phone, how anxious and panicky she must be. He was not about to leave her house until he had done all he could to make her feel safe. “Give that to me,” he told Lori, taking hold of the broom. “Go sit down and watch TV or something. Let me take over from here.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” she said forcefully, tugging on the broomstick, her eyes squinting in earnest. “Sweeping up glass, I can do. Fixing a trashed alarm? No. So you get busy with the alarm, while I clean up the rest of this glass.”
“You’ve got a deal. Show me where the control box is and leave it to me,” Ramón agreed.
“It’s in the garage. And it’s stifling hot out there. I can hook up a fan if you want.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” Ramón commented, following Lori through the kitchen toward the door to the garage. However, walking behind her, what he really wanted was to place both palms on her sweet round hips, which were so deliciously encased in her black Capri pants. The sight was too beautiful for words. Sucking in a breath, he ripped his eyes away from her perfectly shaped rear end. The last thing he wanted was for Lori to turn around and see the growing bulge in his pants, though he knew there was no way to slow his growing desire to possess her completely.
Once Lori restored as much order to her trashed bedroom as possible, she stripped her bed of ruined linens, stuffed them in two heavy-duty trash bags and headed through the kitchen to the garage. There she paused in the doorway and drank in the delicious sight of Ramón, shirtless, standing in the garage with his back to her while removing the broken control box.
Lori’s heart did a jerky flip, sending pulses of heat between her legs and into the pit of her stomach. He looked so damn good with his longish black hair tied back with a red handkerchief and his smooth V-shaped torso glistening back at her. Lori ran her tongue over her bottom lip and gulped back the surprising surge of desire that rose within her. As she watched him twist wires and adjust levers, she realized that he was singing the song they had danced to in Club Azule. Was that a coincidence, or was he trying to send her some kind of a message?
Damn he’s hot! Why did he have to take off his shirt? Show me so much skin? Tempt me like this when the last thing I need is to get tangled up with a stranger?
“There’s a radio over there on that shelf,” she said casually, stepping into the garage.
Ramón’s head swiveled around in surprise. He flashed a killer smile at her, sending more pulses of heat through Lori, who drew in a short breath to cool down. After depositing the trash bags in the large rolling bin, she went over to the cluttered shelf, picked up a battered boom box and handed it to Ramón. “Here. Put it on any station you want. Then you won’t have to sing to yourself.”
Ramón reached out, as if to take the radio, but covered her hand with his instead. With an insistent tug, he guided her closer, slipped his hands beneath her arms and cupped her elbows with his palms. Only the small blue radio that Lori was holding prevented her body from molding flush to his. “No, thanks,” he replied in a husky tone. “I’d rather listen to my own singing…unless it rattles you.”
His remark slid over Lori like a layer of sweet syrup, easing through her veins to pool in her chest. He had a way of saying the most mundane things in the most sensual way, stirring up emotions that threatened Lori’s composure.
“Don’t worry. You could never rattle me, unless I allowed you to,” she countered, setting the radio down, shifting her hips to one side while eyeing Ramón with a dare of a gaze.
“Never?” he repeated. “You sound awfully sure about that.”
“I am.”
“Hmm. Okay. Let’s give it a test. Does this rattle you?” he whispered, feathering a finger along the side of her neck and down to rest on her bare shoulder.
“Not at all,” Lori replied, luxuriating in the shivers initiated by his touch, knowing it was pointless to deny that she was getting all hot and bothered. “In fact, that feels pretty good,” she admitted, knowing she was telling the truth.
Encouraged, Ramón graced her with a misty half smile and then dipped down to graze his lips across hers in a brush of a kiss before pulling back to check her reaction. “How about that?”
Lori felt the muscles in her tunnel of love contract, relax and then tighten again as she connected with the yearning expression darkening his features.
“Getting close,” she admitted, watching him with guarded eyes as his self-assured smile widened, brightening his face.
With just a touch on her cheek and a light brush of a kiss, he’d turned on the kind of sexual heat that Lori knew spelled trouble. There was no denying that his effect on her was too dramatic to ignore, too delicious to dismiss and too intensely inviting to pass up. However, she planned to keep a tight rein on the pace of this rapidly evolving encounter and not get caught up in the drama of too much togetherness too soon. Yes, Ramón did rattle her, but she liked the feeling of not knowing what to expect. He made her want to do things she shouldn’t even be thinking about, let alone hoping would happen.
Ramón’s heart was racing like a video on fast forward. In front of him stood the most beautiful and exciting woman he’d met in a long time, with her gorgeous face, vibrant energy and a teasing attitude that turned him on. He flattened his palms on the backs of her arms and inhaled her scent—delicate, sweet and as intoxicating as deep red wine. God, how he’d love to ease her down on the concrete garage floor and take her this very minute, and from the signals she was sending out, she just might be down with such a move.
During his drive to her house, he’d thought of the delicious press of her thighs on his, the warmth of her breasts filling his hands, the touch of her fingers on the erection that was now swelling in his pants. Now with tentative steps, Ramón guided Lori to the side of her car and positioned her back against the driver’s-side door. He leaned over her, inching closer until the buds of her hardened nipples burned twin spots of desire into his bare chest. Bracing his hands against the car on either side of Lori’s face, he locked her in place and studied her features with languorous eyes, not about to rush her into anything, though he sure as hell wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this pass him by.
Lori stilled under Ramón’s piercing, dreamy brown eyes, knowing he was waiting for a go-ahead signal from her. Her body was taut, aching for his touch—and she didn’t
