Aged to Perfection (2 page)
Lila stepped out of the gazebo, leaving the two women behind. Rachel looked over at Jan. “Wow!”
Jan nodded and mouthed back, “I told you.”
“Mark, would you come down here please. I would like you to meet someone.” Lila beckoned.
“Sure,” he called as he made his way down the steps.
Rachel couldn’t keep her eyes off him. He was the stuff of fantasies with his low slung, worn blue jeans and cocky walk. His T-shirt pulled tight across his muscular chest as he moved towards them. How the hell could Lila have a son who looked like a Greek God? And how had she not seen him before?
Mark walked up and kissed his mom on the cheek then turned his attention to Jan. “Hi, Mrs. Collins, how are you doing?”
Rachel bit back a laugh at the look on Jan’s face when Mark called her Mrs Collins. Then she choked on her breath as Mark pinned her with the full force of his blue eyes. “Hi,” he said, smiling.
His gaze roamed over Rachel’s body. His confident smile one of a man who knew exactly how attractive he was to the opposite sex. “I’m Mark.” He stuck out his hand and enclosed hers in his warm grasp. His rough fingers slid across the smooth surface of her skin. A shock of heat raced through her body.
“Hi, I’m Rachel. It’s nice to meet you.” Her voice came out huskier than she had ever heard it.
Jan snorted, drawing Mark’s attention to her. “So, Mark, Rachel here was just admiring your handiwork.”
“Is that right?” He turned back to Rachel and ran his hand through his dark, chocolate brown hair. The action drew her eyes to his biceps as he moved. “You like what you see?” he asked, his mouth quirked up at the edges.
Rachel gulped. Unable to trust her voice, she nodded like an idiot. When Jan laughed, Rachel glared at her then glanced towards Lila who was watching her through narrowed eyes. Shit! Just what she needed, to make an idiot out of herself in front of Lila of all people. Rachel shook her head. She was a grown woman, for God sakes. She could talk to a handsome man without acting like an idiot.
“I definitely like it. I love how you were able to match the moulding on the railing with the house. It looks like it has always been here. And the gazebo is stunning. The details and intricacy of the work are phenomenal. I was interested in having something like this gazebo in my backyard as well as some other stuff done. I don’t know how swamped you are with work, or if you would even have time to give me a quote,” she asked him, rambling like an adolescent schoolgirl.
He looked her up and down, the look of male appreciation so hot and lustful it seared her with heat. “I am sure I could find the time to squeeze you in.”
“Great,” she replied, her voice pitched higher in nervous excitement. God, she was pathetic. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I mean, great.” That was better.
He grinned at her, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement.
Lila linked her arm with her son’s. “Rachel was the first designer I hired when we bought this house.”
Mark looked at his mother, his brow knit in confusion. “First designer? How many did you hire?”
“Oh, Mark, darling,” his mother chided. “You know I have very particular tastes. It took a great deal of trial and error to find a designer who truly understood my vision.”
“Right.” He chuckled and, turning his attention to Rachel, he gave her a lopsided grin. “I guess you didn’t get the vision.”
“Nope. I got the boot,” Rachel replied.
Mark laughed. “That sounds about right.”
“Oh, honestly, Rachel.” Lila gasped. “You didn’t get the boot. I told you that I thought you just needed a bit more culture and experience before you were ready for something like our home.”
Rachel gritted her teeth, remembering how humiliating it had been to be fired by one of her ex-husband’s friends. Catching the look Jan sent her, she smiled. “Of course, my mistake.”
She took a breath, trying to garner her self-control. Her emotions were everywhere this afternoon. She had to get it together; she was forty years old. There was no way someone like Mark would be interested in her. She needed to snap out of it before she made a complete ass out of herself.
Rachel turned her attention back to Mark and bit back a gasp at the intensity of his stare. She resisted the desire to melt into a puddle at his feet. God, the man was gorgeous.
Rachel shook herself out of the sensual fog surrounding Mark. “Right, so, when do you think you would be able to come by and take a look at my yard to give me an estimate?” she asked, pleased at how together she sounded.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “Why don’t you look at your schedule and give me a call, and we can set something up?” His blue eyes gleamed with enjoyment at her obvious discomfort. Clearly, she wasn’t as together as she hoped. Damn it! He must think she was some pathetic cougar.
“Shoot, Rach,” Jan said, smacking her forehead. “I forgot I have book club this afternoon, and it’s my turn for wine. I don’t imagine you want to stay.”
Rachel laughed. “Um, no.”
Lila shook her head, disgusted. “It wouldn’t kill you to stay, Rachel.”
“It might,” she replied, batting her eyelashes sweetly.
Mark coughed to cover his laugh.
Jan turned to Mark. “Any chance you have some free time this afternoon? Maybe you could run Rachel home for me since we came together. That way I can run out for wine and be back in time for book club, and you can take a look at her place,” she suggested, her face the picture of innocence.
Mark glanced at his watch then back at Rachel. She wanted to sink into the ground at Jan’s obvious ploys.
God, just kill me now. She could only imagine how desperate she must seem. Ugh.
Chapter Two
“Yeah, I can take a look at your place now if you want,” Mark said, slipping his notebook into his back pocket. “You ready to get out of here now?”
“Sure. Works for me,” she replied.
“Just let me grab the stuff out of my truck for my mom, and then I’m all yours.”
Rachel bit back a sigh.
If only.
Lila followed Mark around the side of the house. As soon as they were out of earshot, Rachel turned to Jan. “Just what the hell were you thinking, forcing him to take me home. That was so embarrassing.”
Jan shrugged. “How is it embarrassing? He has to look at your yard sometime. Why not now? This way I don’t have to take you home, and you get to just bask in his gorgeousness on the way there. It’s a win-win”
“But you made me look desperate.” Rachel groaned.
“No, I didn’t, sweetie. He needs the work, you need to relax and just go with the flow a bit. All those years with Roger have gotten you wound so tight. Now that you aren’t with him, I keep hoping some of your old spark will come back to the surface.” Jan wrapped her arm around Rachel’s shoulders as they walked towards the front yard. “Besides, it’s not like I’m trying to fix you up. Hell, he’s all of twenty-five and it’s not like you’re one of those pathetic cougars. I know you’re still hot for you age, Rach. But shit, look at him.”
Jan stopped walking at the sight of Mark removing pots from the truck bed. His biceps bulged under the strain of lifting the planter pot. “Mmm, just enjoy looking at him while you can,” she sighed.
Mark set the plant down and turned towards them. When he saw them watching, he grinned. “You ready to go?” he called.
“Yep,” Rachel responded before turning to Jan. “I’ll talk to you later.”
When she was just about at the truck, Jan called after her. “I’m setting up that date, Rach.”
Rachel closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose. Dear God, this sucked. Could Jan be more embarrassing? “Have fun, because I’m not going,” Rachel called back. She quickly hauled herself up into the passenger seat of Mark’s truck and shut the door before Jan could respond. She glanced out the window and bit back a laugh at the giddy excitement on Jan’s face. Rachel blew her a kiss and gave her a little toodles wave.
Ha, take that,
she thought, pleased to have managed to avoid that conversation.
Mark slid into the driver’s seat and glanced at Rachel. He’d never been attracted to someone his mother knew before, but damn, she’d never introduced him to someone as sexy as Rachel before either. There was just something about her. Maybe it was the sassy attitude combined with the killer body that made the whole package so enticing.
He met her-green eyed stare. Her eyes widened as the bolt of attraction zipped between them. Her gaze flickered away from him, and she wrung her hands together. She was clearly attracted to him, and for some reason, she was fighting it. He grinned. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to enjoy this.
The powerful hemi engine rumbled to life and he eased the truck into traffic. “So, where am I going?” he asked, pulling her attention back to him.
Rachel shifted in her seat so she was facing Mark. “I live in Park Hill.”
“Nice. I like that area, there’s some great older homes. I live downtown, so no yard for me.”
“What? How can a landscape designer not have a yard to putter in?”
He shrugged. “That’s why I had to play around with my parents’ yard since I don’t have one of my own. Although, I have to admit some days I’m kind of glad I live in a loft, otherwise I would be working in my own yard all the time rather than working for pay.”
She grinned back with a look of complete understanding. “I know what you mean. My first several pay cheques went into decorating my own place.”
Mark winked. “Kindred spirits.” He glanced at her out of the corner or his eye, his attention divided between her and the road ahead. “So, I’m assuming, by the fact that Mrs. Collins is trying to set you up for a date that you’re single.”
Rachel shrugged. “Guilty as charged. Although, I’m desperately trying to get out of Jan’s fix-ups.”
“Why’s that? Difficult breakup? You aren’t ready to date?” How was it possible that a woman who looked like her was still on the market? Were the men she knew all idiots?
“It’s not that I’m not ready to date. I’m just not ready to date the type of guys Jan wants to set me up with.”
“What type is that?” Mark prodded.
“I don’t know exactly. I guess middle-aged divorced guys who care more about their bank statements than anything else.”
Mark grimaced. “God. That’s depressing. Why would she want to set you up with that kind of guy?”
Rachel tilted her head to the side as she considered his question. “What other choice does she have? At my age, guys are either divorced or still single for a reason. It’s kind of slim pickings.”
Mark pulled the truck to a stop at the light and shifted his attention to Rachel. He let his eyes travel the path he wished his hands could take. He could imagine how soft her skin would feel beneath his fingers. He gripped the steering wheel to stop himself from reaching out to touch her. Goosebumps pooled on her arms and her skin flushed as he caressed her with her with a look. His dick instantly hardened at the visible signs of her arousal, and he shifted in his seat to ease the strain in his jeans.
“I would think a lot of guys would be interested in dating you. Not just fat middle-aged guys.”
Rachel rolled down her window and took a deep breath. Turning back to him, she wrinkled her nose. “They don’t seem to be asking if they are.”
Fuck it.
He needed to touch her. Mark reached out and ran his finger down her arm. “Is that all it takes, a guy asking?” She shivered beneath his touch. Her nipples tightened.
Rachel swallowed audibly. “It sure helps,” she joked nervously.
Oh yeah, she definitely wanted him. Feeling cocky, he grinned. “So if I asked?”
“Yeah right.” She snorted.
Mark stared back at her.
The blast of a car’s horn behind them broke their silent connection. “Light’s green,” Rachel murmured.
He looked at her one last time then turned his attention back to the road and accelerated back into traffic. “Why did you say, ‘yeah right’?”
“Come on, Mark, you’re what all of twenty-five?”
“Twenty-seven, actually, but what does that have to do with anything?”
Rachel exhaled noisily. “God, you’re just a baby. Only someone young would say something like that.”
Mark grunted. “Yeah ‘cause you’re just ancient.”
“A lot older than you,” Rachel told him. “Certainly old enough to know better,” she mumbled. Mark turned his head slightly and winked at her to let her know she hadn’t spoken nearly as quietly as she thought. She covered her face with her hands and groaned. He laughed and squeezed her knee.
“That’s my house on the left,” she indicated her historic little bungalow.
“Nice place,” he replied, pulling his vehicle to a stop in her driveway and turning off the ignition. He swivelled in his seat and faced her. He licked his bottom lip as his gaze roamed up her body. Her nipples tightened, visibly pushing against her shirt, and her breathing increased rapidly.
“Mark, I’m forty years old. In the dating world, I’m ancient compared to you.”
Fuck the age difference, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted a woman this badly. “Forty’s not old, Rachel. Age is just a number; besides, with age comes experience.”