The Bachelor Next Door

“There you go,” she said, rising to her feet. “Grab your lunch bag, honey.”

She poured coffee into two large foam cups, handing one to Mr. Santini and keeping the other for herself.

“Milk or sugar?” she asked.

He declined both. Andy grabbed a handful of oatmeal raisin cookies, offering a few to Mr. Santini, who took them.

“We’re going to be late,” Cass said, “Andy, did you close the upstairs windows?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll run—”

“I’ll close the house up for you. Go on, get this little guy to school.”

Cass hesitated for a moment, then remembered that Mr. Santini owned a reputable construction and land development company. As president of the home owners’ association, she’d approved his application for purchase. She knew more about Santini than she should. He was a respected member of the business community and a supporter of the Police Athletic League. There was really nothing in her house that he couldn’t afford to buy for himself.

“Thanks,” she said, herding Andy out the door. “That’s two I owe you.”

“Bye, Mr. Santini,” Andy said, waving.

Cass backed the Volvo out of the drive, wondering how she was going to deal with her new neighbor and the debt that now stood between them. All the way to school Andy talked about Rafe Santini, and that worried her more than she wanted to admit.

She dropped Andy off in front of the school just as the bell rang. She watched him run toward his classroom on legs that were no longer chubby. Andy was beginning to lose that little boy look and becoming more like a young man. He was only seven years old, but looked a lot like his father, small and lean. Andy had come home from school with a black eye two weeks ago. Since then, he’d followed her dictate on “no fighting” but had ended up feeling insecure. Cass wasn’t sure what to do with her son now.

She wished he would stay her baby forever but knew that wouldn’t happen. Andy was getting too hard to handle, she thought with a sigh. She’d always believed that a child’s upbringing would influence his actions, but Andy had a willful streak a mile wide. She hated to admit it, but she needed help with him.

Now she had a macho man with a swagger a mile wide living across the street. She thought about her new neighbor and how Andy had taken an instant liking to the man. Trouble was brewing.

She could cope now, but in a few years, if she didn’t assert herself, Andy would be racing all over the place and getting into real trouble. Mr. Santini was no help at all. Running around in those skimpy jogging shorts of his every morning. He looked like every young boy’s image of what a man should be. An athlete and a macho warrior rolled into one. It was enough to give a grown woman a heart attack.

Rafe drove a classic Jaguar sports car and probably dated women with big boobs and bleached blond hair. He was definitely not her type, and definitely not a good influence for a young boy.

But his earlier concern came back to her. He’d lit into her about letting Andy out of the house without supervision. She wondered if there was more to him than that badboy facade indicated. Did Rafe Santini care?

She pulled into her driveway and let the car idle for a minute before shutting it off. She hesitated to get out, reluctant to face her neighbor again. But at the same time, an edgy sort of nervousness made her limbs tingle and her pulse race.

She went into the house and filled her portable carafe with coffee before going across the street. Rafe sat on his front porch, his Siberian husky sprawled at his feet. Both were completely relaxed. Rafe’s eyes were closed, and Cass stood there, staring at him.

“Oh, no,” she muttered. “He’s asleep.”

One gray eye blinked open and glanced up at her. Cass cleared her throat and lifted her carafe. She leaned against the porch railing next to his lounge chair. “Want a refill?”

“Now that’s right neighborly of you,” he responded lazily, picking up his empty cup from the porch.

Silence settled around them, and Cass stifled the urge to run back to her own safe home. Her experience with men was limited to her late husband, Carl. She’d never had a chance to experiment with boys, having married right out of high school.

“Mr. Santini—”

“Rafe.”

She nodded, but didn’t use his name. “I have an offer for you.”

He grinned. “Does it involve my buns?”

Cass blushed. She felt the heat of it radiating from her face. She was going to have to have a talk with Andy when he came home.

“No. It involves something else.”

He raised one eyebrow at her, studying her with the intensity of a carpenter about to cut into mahogany.

“Well?”

“I wanted to um...” This was harder than she thought it would be. “I wanted to thank you for helping me out this morning and see if there was something I could do to repay you.”

“Well, now that you mention it there is one thing I’d like.”

His eyes narrowed and his gaze swept slowly down her body, sending signals to parts that had lain dormant for a long time. She fidgeted and stepped away from the railing and away from Mr. Santini.

“What do you want?”

“You,” he said.

Two

The teasing glint in Rafe’s eyes kept Cass from making a fool of herself. She forced a smile to her lips and took a deep cleansing breath. Her pulse rate still hammered annoyingly high, making her feel like a schoolgirl. “I’m serious, Mr. Santini.”

“Call me Rafe.”

His eyes were truly remarkable. So light and clear in that dark, teasing face. She wondered if he was ever serious. But then she remembered his concern for Andy earlier this morning. Lurking beneath that carefree exterior was a man she could like, and that scared her.

“Okay...Rafe.” His name felt strange on her tongue. If he’d been more like Tony, her brother-in-law, or the slightly balding Marcus, who lived down the street, it would have been so simple. She could have pretended he was a buddy.

But he wasn’t. He was a dark-skinned Italian dream man with all the confidence in the world. Cass felt out of her depth with Rafe Santini. She swallowed hard. “I was more or less welcoming you to the neighborhood and offering to return the favor if you ever got locked in your bathroom.”

He raised one eyebrow, clearly questioning her suggestion of repayment. His mouth quirked in a half grin that made her pulse race. “Won’t Mr. Gambrel have something to say about that?”

Carl would have befriended any person who’d rescued her from the bathroom. He’d never been one of those jealous types. Steady, levelheaded and able to find the calm in chaos, her deceased husband had been an anchor. She still missed him, but at least she could say the words now without her throat closing up. “My husband is dead.”

Rafe cursed under his breath.

The word was harsh and not one Cass had ever heard used by one of her peers. No man of her acquaintance used vulgarities. He reached out to her. One finger brushed against her arm, the texture of his work-roughened hands at odds with the gentleness in his tone.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” And it was. She’d come to terms with the loss of her husband a long time ago. Carl had been part of another life almost. But of course, he’d left her Andy. A constant and steady reminder of what they’d once shared.

There was something in Rafe’s silver-gray eyes that mirrored the pain that she’d felt at Carl’s loss—a pain that she’d recovered from. Somehow she thought that Rafe hadn’t.

Who had he lost? She wanted to probe into his past and find out everything she could, but knew it would be an intrusion, to say nothing of unwise. Still, the sadness seemed at odds with what she’d observed about her new neighbor, and she couldn’t help wondering about its source.

Cass knew little of Rafe’s personal life. He’d moved into the neighborhood two weeks ago and she’d seen him only briefly when he’d been out jogging or playing with his dog. Maybe it was better that way—having never met him, she’d felt safe fantasizing about him. Talking about him to Eve...

She should leave well enough alone, her common sense told her. But that sad, haunted look that had played briefly over his face wouldn’t let her.

“I was hoping for an offer to clean the windows or the bathrooms,” he said, a wicked grin on his face.

“No way,” she retorted, fighting the urge to smile at him. He was a charming rascal, this Mr. Santini. “Call me if you’re ever trapped in the bathroom or any other room in the house.”

He balanced his coffee cup on his knee. His other hand rested absently on his chest, and for some reason Cass’s eyes stared helplessly at it.

“Don’t you have to go to work?” she asked abruptly, wondering why his lack of a shirt bothered her. Every other man on the street went without one in the summer. But it wasn’t the same. She’d been raised that any decent person would never leave their house less than fully clothed, and finally she understood why.

He raised one eyebrow in a sardonic way. “I’m on vacation.”

“Oh, got any plans?” she asked, hoping that he’d be leaving for Key West, Hawaii or Africa. Anywhere so that she would have time to adjust to being so attracted to him. Some part that had been dormant for a long time felt a tingle of life again. Why had she come over here this morning?

“Yes,” he confirmed. “I’m making this house livable.”

“Really? By yourself?” It had taken a crew of twenty men to finish the work on her house.

“My crew will be coming out at the end of the week to do the major overhaul. I’m going to finish the inside myself.”

“You own a construction company, right?” Emily, her backyard neighbor, had told her all about Rafe Santini’s business interests as soon as she’d found out he was moving into their neighborhood.

“RGS Construction and Development,” he said with a touch of pride. His gaze slanted down over her. “Do you work?”

“Yes, I’m a mother, but I also run an antiques service from my home.”

“What type of service?”

“I refinish antiques and help locate pieces that my clients need to complete a room.”

“Sounds interesting. I’ll keep you in mind when I start on the interior.”

She glanced at his overgrown lawn, uncomfortable talking business with a neighbor. A change of subject was needed. “What’s RGS stand for?”

“Raphael G. Santini.” He took another sip of coffee. The dog stirred, then bounded off the porch to chase after a squirrel. Watching the dog in motion was a delight. She moved with the skill and cunning of a hunter. Cass suspected that Rafe would also move like a warrior.

Raphael, she thought, what a beautiful name. His mother must be a very romantic person to have come up with that. “What’s the G stand for?”

“My middle name.” He spoke in a sardonic way that made Cass think he saw life as one big joke.

“Very funny, Santini. Come on, confess. It can’t be that bad.” She walked closer, pinning him with her own version of the mother’s stare. The one that always forced Andy to tell the truth.

“No way.” He didn’t sink back in the chair. The look on his face told her that he’d rather be tortured than admit his middle name. Interesting.

“I’m not intimidating you at all, am I?” she asked. Cass enjoyed Rafe’s company as she hadn’t enjoyed a man’s in a long time.

“Nope.” He smiled and sipped his coffee.

“Can I guess?” she asked.

“It’s a free country.”

“Is it George?”

He shook his head.

“Gary?”

Another negative response.

“Gregory?”

“Give it up, Ms. Gambrel. No one would guess the name in a million years.”

“Call me Cass,” she said without thinking.

He wasn’t going to tell her, and she was honest enough to admit she didn’t need to know. Cass then realized that she was hanging around his porch like some love-starved widow. She straightened away from the railing and prepared to leave. “See you around, Rafe.”

“Thanks for the coffee, Cass.”

A cheerful whistle followed her home, and Cass forbade herself to think of Rafe as anything but a neighbor. Well, possibly someone who could help her teach Andy discipline. But that was all.

“I’m not interested in Rafe Santini,” she said out loud, hoping that saying the words would make them come true but even to her ears, the declaration sounded weak.

Damn that good-looking man and his cute backside. She added two cookies to the penalty of treats she couldn’t have for using a curse word. At the rate she was going, she wouldn’t be able to eat dessert until the year 2010.

Rafe worked on the roof all morning and into the afternoon. The tedious job of removing shingles left his mind free to wander. But it never went further than the lady across the street. A week had passed since he’d rescued her from the bathroom, and he still couldn’t get the feel of her in his arms out of his mind.

And if he needed a further reminder, Andy was constantly underfoot, asking Rafe questions about every job he did. At first the boy had seemed annoying, and Rafe had been unsure what to say to the kid, but Andy was so serious. More of a miniadult than a child. That made talking to him easier.

Rafe always steered clear of “family” women. The type of lady looking for a man to be a husband and father to her kids. The type who wanted commitment. He didn’t care for the way that word was bandied about on talk shows, but he knew it to be a goal of most females. A woman just wasn’t happy until every bachelor she knew was married.

He liked being on his own, coming and going as he pleased and not having to answer to anyone. Loneliness didn’t bother him anymore. His business was successful, and his life on track. He wasn’t about to screw that up now by becoming attracted to a single mother.

His libido said differently, but Rafe felt firmly in control. He wasn’t some sixteen-year-old virgin experiencing lust for the first time. He was a seasoned man. He was in control. “Ha,” he muttered.

He climbed down off the roof and grabbed a beer from the cooler sitting on the porch. Maybe he’d hang the basketball hoop on the garage and see if he could entice anyone in the neighborhood into playing a game.

Hanging the hoop took all of fifteen minutes. Rafe finished off his beer with one long swallow and dug the orange ball out of a box in the garage. Walking back out onto the cement of the driveway, Rafe bounced the ball a couple of times.

“Hello, Mr. Santini.” Andy Gambrel’s shy voice broke his concentration. This serious little boy made Rafe want to go back inside. He was trying to forget Cassandra Gambrel, and her son was a reminder Rafe could have done without. They were a family and family meant pain. Remember that.

“Hi, Andy. How was school?”

A gap-toothed grin lit the boy’s face. “Good. What are you doing?”

“Playing basketball. You up for a game?”

Andy glanced over his shoulder before nodding. Rafe knew the boy was going against his mother’s edict. “Have you ever played before?”

“No,” he said. Andy shrugged, fidgeting from one foot to the other. He cast another glance over his shoulder at the house.

“Want to learn how?” Rafe asked. He had never met a child so serious. Andy seemed to be weighing the consequences of every decision he made.

At last he shook his head. “My mom says sports are for big brutes. Small guys like me were meant for the arts.”

Rafe felt a spark of anger toward Cass. Sports helped boys develop into men. It gave them the training and discipline to see things through. Andy would need that discipline when he reached the teen years. Hell, the boy needed it now. Still, Rafe had no right to interfere.

“Well your mom’s the boss, but if she changes her mind let me know.” Rafe bounced the ball one more time before tossing it toward the hoop. It was a clean shot and didn’t touch the rim.

“I’ve never really asked to play. I don’t think Mom would mind if I threw the ball a time or two,” Andy said.

Rafe figured the boy knew what he was doing. Dribbling the ball a few times, Rafe shot it toward the hoop, sinking the ball perfectly. Rafe passed the ball to Andy. “Your turn.”

Andy tried, but his passes lacked the power to make a basket. The boy bounced the ball and kept glaring at the hoop as if it were his enemy. His shots were strong, but he missed sinking the shot every time.

“It’s not your skill, Andy. The hoop’s too high for someone your size.”

“Mom was right then,” he said, sounding unbearably forlorn.

“You need a lower hoop,” Rafe said. “Or some help. Dribble the ball and I’ll lift you when you’re ready to dunk it.”

Rafe heard the squeak of a screen door opening, but kept his attention on Andy. He felt Cass’s gaze on them. It took all of his discipline and willpower not to glance over his shoulder.

Andy bounced the ball a few times before he was ready for his shot. Rafe lifted him and together they made a basket. Andy’s face glowed with the pride of success. “I did it! Wow, I can’t believe it.”

“Mommy, did you see that?” he asked turning to see her watching. Andy ran to her, hugging Cass’s legs. “I can’t believe it.”

Rafe saw the conflict in Cass. Pride warred with anger and apprehension on her face. “Good job, sweetie, but you know the rule about sports.”

“This was supervised.”

Cass shook her head. “Okay, Andy, but next time I want you to ask for permission first.”

“Thanks, Mommy.”

“Go inside and wash up for dinner.”

He left without another word. Rafe half hoped that he’d be dismissed also. But the gleam in Cass’s eyes told him differently.

“Rafe, I don’t like Andy playing sports. He’s small for his age and I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“We weren’t playing tackle football, just shooting some hoops.”

“I know I’m overreacting. It’s just that I’m not sure Andy’s ready to get involved in sports. He’s only seven.”

“He’ll be okay. He knows your rules, Cass.”

She nodded, then straightened her shoulders as though preparing for an assault. “I’m the president of the Hollow Acres Home Owners’ Association.”

“Really? Must be some job.”

“It doesn’t take much time,” she said, staring over his shoulder for a minute before meeting his gaze squarely. “That hoop is against our regulations.”

“What?” he asked. Her ginger-colored eyes were serious now, but some of her earlier fear for Andy lingered.

“I’m issuing you a warning. You have two days to remove the hoop or you’ll be fined.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Wrong, Mr. Santini, I’m serious about this.” She reached down to scratch Tundra under her chin, and the dog’s tongue lolled out of her mouth as she rolled onto her back. “Didn’t you read the Owner’s Agreement?”

He hadn’t, but he couldn’t think beyond the long legs revealed by her shorts. The fabric slid up her thigh as she bent to pet Tundra. He knew that she was in shape, but hadn’t guessed at the muscle tone she had. Her legs were long and lean and he wanted to feel them wrapped around his waist.

Tension ripped through him, making a mockery of his control. Dammit, what had they been talking about? The Owner’s Agreement. “How long has this agreement been in effect?”

“Since 1983 when the county commissioners asked us to make our houses uniform.” She stood up and started to walk away.

“Well, maybe it’s time we updated the rules.”

She stopped and glanced back over her shoulder. “Maybe, but until we do, that hoop has to come down.”

“What if it doesn’t?” he asked to keep her there.

“Then you’ll be fined,” she said. She started back across the street. “Have a good night, Mr. Santini.”

“You too, Cass.”

Damn that woman. Underneath that prim and proper exterior lurked a temptress. A woman who liked to laugh and tease. He wanted to see more of that lady, he decided.

Cass held the phone against her shoulder and secured the leftover dinner in plastic wrap. Closing the refrigerator door with her hip as she started the dishes, she said, “I’ll stop by first thing in the morning, Dana.”

Cass thought about her friend and co-chair for the PTA bake sale. Dana’s son Jeff was in Andy’s class, but the two boys didn’t get along.

She hung up and stared out the window. Dusk had deepened into night, and the imitation gas street lamps were sparking to life. She liked this quiet neighborhood with its old houses.

Andy sat on the front porch doing his homework, and Cass quickly finished the dishes before joining her son. He had wanted to invite Mr. Santini to dinner, but Cass had put Andy off. Rafe’s influence over Andy was getting out of hand.

Rafe didn’t encourage Andy, but her son was hungry for masculine attention. The other day Andy had used a swearword that her son knew warranted strict punishment. She’d also seen her son leaving his shirt off and swaggering when he walked. The same way Mr. Santini did.

Rafe had included Andy in a softball game the previous Saturday. Her son was still talking about it and asking her every evening when he could join Little League football or baseball. Andy was obsessed with getting involved in sports and mimicking their new neighbor. Cass knew she had to put a stop to things and quickly.

The loud barking of Tundra announced the arrival of Rafe before he rounded the corner. Cass told herself not to look. That he was a temptation in those ridiculously skimpy running shorts, but her gaze was drawn to him all the same. If Rafe was an example of how men could look by running a few miles every night, men across America would be hitting the streets.

Cass pretended she didn’t notice Rafe. He waved to Andy as he jogged up the walk. Tundra breathed heavily at his feet. Andy set his pencil aside and gave her a pointed look. “Mommy?”

Andy never phrased out questions when just a word or a look would get the point across. She debated for a moment and decided that the husky wouldn’t hurt her son. She nodded slightly and Andy beamed with pleasure.

“Can I play with Tundra, Mr. Santini?”

“Sure,” Rafe sat down on the bottom step as Andy bounded off the porch.

Cass watched her son toss a stick to the dog, and soon the animal and boy were playing on the lawn. “Would you like something cool to drink?”

“Got any beer?” he asked. He smelled of sweat and male muskiness. Cass wanted to lean closer to him, to feel him surrounding her, to inhale the scent that was subtly Rafe. She wanted to taste the sweat that glistened on his arm and to experience this man in a way that she’d thought she’d forgotten.

“No. Iced tea would be better for you.” She couldn’t help the way she’d been raised, and drinking except at family celebrations and holidays was strictly forbidden.

“Not if it’s sugary.”

Always a comeback, she thought, enjoying the game as much as he did. “Like beer has any nutritional value.”

“What it lacks in nutrition it makes up for in taste.”

He had to be kidding, beer tasted like...well like beer, nothing else even came close to that taste. “My tea’s not sweet.”

“Than I’ll take you up on that offer.”

She fixed them both a glass of tea before returning. This would be a good time to ask him to stop including Andy in games. There were a few man-type things that she didn’t know how to handle, and this was one of them. How did you politely tell a man that he wasn’t the right type of influence on your son?

Quite honestly there were more than a few things she didn’t know about raising a son. Teaching Andy to color in the lines and to use the potty was easy compared to coaching him on ignoring bullies. She didn’t want Andy to grow up being afraid of other boys, but at the same time she wanted him to be someone who used his mind to settle arguments, not his fists.

“Thanks,” Rafe said as she sat down next to him on the step.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, trying to ignore the heat radiating from his body.

He took a long swallow of tea and then bounded to his feet. “Hey, Andy. Have you got a football around here?”