Waiting For Him (3 page)

Her cat kept vigil pacing back and forth between the windows. Sam was a lovely lady, but ruled the dogs with a mere look.

Keisha ran a hand over her loose curls and wondered if she should contain it in a ponytail. For the longest time, her regimen had included washing, dressing and restraining her hair. She almost felt pretentious for letting it hang loose.

As for her lip gloss, she’d already chewed that off, so it had been a complete waste of time. At least her jeans and blouse weren’t much different than her dress down attire at work.

Chaos erupted with Stone’s first tap on the door. The cat shot off the window, Clyde started dancing and Bonnie awoke with such a barking start she fell off her doggie pillow.

She opened the door and found Stone standing there with a smile.

“I hear them,” he said with amusement. He leaned around her to peek in, and the smile widened to devastating impact.

If he’s an animal lover on top of being so gorgeous and funny and…attentive to her, she’d be a goner in no time.

“Come on in.”

He got one foot in the door and Clyde was on him, his paws on Stone’s chest as he tried to lick his face.

Stone laughed. He set aside a large toolbox that looked like it weighed a ton and went down to a knee.

Clyde all but took him to the floor. Stone was stronger than her so he didn’t end up on his tight muscle butt, but instead seemed to enjoy the attention.

With high-pitched maniacal barking, Bonnie vied for her own share of notice.

Sitting on the floor, Stone laughed some more and struggled to give both dogs the pets they craved.

“Really?” Keisha cut in. “You guys will have him thinking you’re neglected, that I’m a terrible pet owner who leaves you starved for crumbs of attention.”

“Nah,” Stone said. “They’re terrific.”

Terrific? Seriously? Maybe he hadn’t noticed the cat yet. Or how dog hair already clung to his dark T-shirt. Or the ugh…doggy drool on his shoulder.

She covered her mouth and asked in a horrified whisper, “Should I call them off?”

“Why? I like the enthusiastic greeting.”

Bonnie got into his lap, and he let her. Clyde kept sniffing his neck and chest—which was something Keisha wouldn’t mind trying if given a half a chance.

Unsure of what else to do, she seated herself on the couch. Sam immediately joined her to watch the display with disdain. Then, getting tired of the scene she jumped on the floor and let out a meow that had the dogs backing off enough to sit beside Stone instead of on him.

“Names?” He asked, as if being accosted by the animal horde was just fine and dandy.

She cleared her throat. “Bonnie and Clyde and their ruler Sam.”

“She has beautiful coloring.” He glanced at the smaller of the dogs.

Keisha wanted to melt. “She’s a dilute tortoiseshell, and yes, very beautiful. They’ve all been adopted from shelters. Bonnie was not treated well.”

Brows coming down, Stone reached out to the smaller dog again.

“Her shaggy gray fur needs a lot of work and her previous owners just didn’t care. They kept her outside, and she was dirty, matted and I’m sure she was miserable.”

Stone said nothing, but his jaw tightened and he cuddled Bonnie a little closer.

A telling move. He was breathtakingly gorgeous and kind.

No wonder he had such an amazing reputation with the ladies.

She swallowed back her sigh of longing. “Clyde is seven years old but still acts like a pup. As you already found out, he loves to give doggy kisses. Something she’d never gotten use too.

Stone scratched the dogs head. “Yes, he does. Don’t you boy?”

Keisha gaped at him and wanted to melt again.

Stone returned his attention to her. “I’ll be stopping by my brother’s later. He and his wife have a dog and cat who’ll think I’ve been out cheating on them when they smell your pets on me.” He laughed. “Bill and Hilary can be very possessive.”

“Those are pets?”

“Yeah. Bill the dog and Hilary the cat were shelter pets too. Jonathan and Cindy weren’t a couple then, just neighbors.” He smiled. “Though Jonathan had it for her bad, I don’t mind telling you. Anyway, they went to the shelter together. She got Hilary and he got Bill and later they got married. Now they’re a happy family.”

Her heart swelled. “That sounds like a lovely fairy tale.”

Stone shot her a puzzled look. “Nah. Just real-life love. Happens all the time.” The animals finally allowing a break, he stood back to his feet.”

He was so big that it prompted her to stand too, so he wouldn’t be towering over her. At least as not as much as when she sat. Since he stood well over six feet and she was only five five, there’d be some towering going on no matter what she did.

With Stone, she sort of liked it.

“You look nice with your hair loose.” He grazed her cheek and stuck a wild strand behind her ear. “I didn’t realize how curly it was.”

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth so all she could do was stare at him. The combo of a casual touch and a compliment packed a wallop to her starved nerves.

“I like the ponytail you usually wear, too.”

“Oh…”

That knowing smile of his widened. He ran his big thumb along her jaw, then dropped his hand and looked around her home. “You have a nice place.”

“Thank you.”

He looked up at the cove ceiling. “There’s so much character in an old house like this.”

“I like it.” In a very short time, it had become her home, not just her residence. “The landlord did a great job in dividing it up for a duplex. In most of the rooms you can’t even tell that it used to be one house.

“Who lives next door?”

“She does. The landlord, I mean.” Keisha really didn’t want to talk about her.

“She’s nice?”

“Very nice.” As well as beautiful, incredibly built, smart and successful. The comparisons could depress her, except her landlord was one of those people who treated everyone like a cherished friend.

She did not want the woman treating Stone that way.

Time to get him thinking about a different topic. “I was hoping the doggy door could open to the backyard.” She led him to the kitchen.

Along the way, Stone remained silent. She assumed he was taking in the original high baseboards and the sloping wooden floors. When she glanced back, it was her behind he stared at. She faced forward and tried not to put any more swing in her walk than necessary.

“Right here would be the ideal spot.” She indicated the thick wooden door that opened to the small fenced yard.

When she turned, Stone was right there, crowded in close behind her in the small confines of the galley kitchen. A little dumbfounded, Keisha stared up at him while breathing in the amazing scent of hot, hunky male. She’d been around other men and never noticed their scent. Did he smell different? Or just better?

Stone glanced at her with a raised brow and barely there smile. She had to get it together or he’d start to wonder at motives, which, yes, included the desire for more than a doggy door to accommodate her pets.

Maneuvering around him, Keisha tried to gather her wits. “Would you like anything to eat? Drink?”

He knelt down and examined the base of the door. His dark shirt stretched tight across his broad back and solid shoulders and the denim of his jeans hugged his flexed thighs. “I’ll take a drink, thanks.” 

Lord, have mercy. Stalling, Keisha lifted a hand and fanned her face, but it didn’t help the flash flood of heat.

Maybe she should have started this plan with someone just a little less…everything.

Less macho, less gorgeous, less overwhelming.

Problem was, no one else had appealed to her.

He glanced back. “Keisha?”

Having a big sexy guy around was an aberration and she knew she was bound to trip up occasionally, but still, she wanted to just be a little smoother. “I, ah, don’t have anything alcoholic. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about it or I could have picked up some beer or something.”

Releasing her from the snare of his dark gaze, he opened the door and asked. “What do you have?”

“Iced tea, Coke, some juice or coffee.”

“Tea would be great thanks.” He glanced back at her again, then all over her, before returning his attention to her face. “I’m not a big drinker.”

“Oh, okay.” Keisha bit her lip at the lame reply. What did okay even mean? Should she admit she wasn’t much of a drinker either? No. Not yet. Not when so many social relationships relied on casual drinking.

After a ridiculous smile, she spun around and almost tripped over Bonnie and Clyde. They sat there, staring at Stone with the same fascinations she felt.

By the time she’s finished filling a glass with tea, Stone stood again, his hands on his hip, expression pensive.

She handed him the drink. “Is there a problem?”

“Not a problem, exactly. I can do it. It’s just that I kind of hate to.”

He drank deeply, and she watched the way his throat worked. This late in the day, he had a dark beard shadow. She wanted touch his throat, to feel the rasp of his stubble, maybe brush over hit with her lips…

He pulled the glass away from his lips and frowned. “Your landlord actually agreed to this?”

Keisha had no idea as to what he was getting at. “I talked with her about it before making any real plans.”

“Well…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Before I do anything, I like to talk to her too. Do you know when she’ll be around?”

No, no, no. She didn’t want Stone and her landlord in the same room together. “You don’t believe me?”

“Sure I do. But I’m guessing neither of you realize the value of that door. Before I start cutting on it, I want to talk to her myself.”

The idea of him meeting, Alexis disheartened her, but what could she do?” Keisha shrugged. “She’s usually home by now, actually. I don’t understand your concern.”

“That’s one hell of a vintage door to chop up. Solid, probably original to the house, and still in great shape. They don’t make them like that anymore, not unless someone wants to spend a small fortune. People refurbishing old homes would go nuts over it. Seems a shame to mess it up. Once I cut it for the pet door, it’ll never be the same, and replacing it later with another door like it wouldn’t be easy.”

“Oh.” Keisha looked at the door, but to her it was just a door. “So I guess a pet entry is out.”

“No, we can still do it. If your landlord agrees, I’d rather take that door down and store it so it can be put back on if you ever move. In the meantime we throw up a cheaper door and use that for the pet entry. It’d still look nice, and it’d be plenty secure. What do you think?”

“Won’t that be more work for you?”

“Not a lot. As long as you don’t mind having me around an extra day or so, it’s not a big deal.”

Mind having him around? He had to be joking. “There’s a shed out back where you could store it or maybe in the basement or attic.” She hated to sound unsympathetic to the old house, and she loved the idea of prolonging a visit but… “How much would a new door cost me?”

“Nothing. Steve probably has something lying around that would fit.”

“Steve?”

“My friend lunch today.” He tipped his head. “You don’t remember him?”

“I do.” Steve had an engaging smile, blonde hair and green eyes, but sitting across from Stone, he’d been almost invisible to her. Without thinking it through, she admitted, “I heard a few of the other waitresses talking about him.”

“Yeah? Saying what?”

She cleared her throat. “Just girl talk.”

At her show of discomfort, his gaze brightened and a smile played over his mouth. “Tell me.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t.”

He set his drink aside and with teasing intent, stalked closer. “C’mon, Keisha. Out with it.”

She back-stepped until her rump bumped into the counter. Heat rushed into her face. This was a new game to her, but she didn’t want him to know that.

He got so close that her heart hammered and a strange tingling spread out to her limbs.

It wasn’t at all an unpleasant feeling. Not with Stone.

“Now don’t faint on me.”

“No. I won’t.” She might jump, but she wouldn’t pass out and miss any of this. She cleared her throat. “They, ah, said that Steve was so sexy, he…”

“He what?”

To get it over with, she blurted, “Made panties drop.”

Stone didn’t put any space between them. In fact, he brushed her cheek with the backs of his knuckles. “And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“You think Steve is all that?”

“What? No.” She shook her head hard. “I mean, I’m sure he’s nice enough.”

“He is.”

But he wasn’t Stone. She shrugged. “That’s it. He’s nice.”

Stone’s slow smile said a whole lot of stuff—but she wasn’t sure what exactly. “He’s a carpenter, so he always has extra materials on hand. If he doesn’t have a door that fits exactly, he can cut it down to make it work. Piece of cake for him.”