Behind Closed Doors

She narrowed her gaze, staring him down and holding firm to her bundle...until his knuckles grazed her breast and she let go. He hadn’t meant to touch her like that, but her startled reaction made him smile all the same. Luckily she didn’t see because he’d already walked past her.

He set down the boards and shook his head at the pair of new dark green shutters. The loose white siding around them was in sorry shape. A good wind could carry off the weathered clapboards. “You do realize you’ll have to take these shutters down again.”

“Yes, I do.” She pulled off a glove and scratched the tip of her nose. “To fix the walls and windows. And the new door will have to come off, too,” she said, stepping back to admire the repairs. “That’s okay. We won’t get to the front for a while. The place can look nice in the meantime.”

The right side of the porch had been reinforced, but the plank floor on the left was still sagging. At least the steps had been replaced. “You working mostly on the inside?” he asked.

“Yes, I know I should make the most of the good weather but I take whatever labor I can get when I can get it.” She removed her second glove and stuffed them both between her clamped knees while she loosened her ponytail. A breeze played with her long wavy hair, the honey-colored strands getting away from her as she tried to secure them in one hand. She put her hair back in the ponytail, more tightly this time. “I’ll admit, at first I hadn’t considered the weather turning quickly. I’ve never tackled anything like this before.”

The sound of someone gunning a neglected engine snapped him out of his trance. “You’re a brave woman,” he said, annoyed that he’d been staring when he should’ve been hauling lumber.

Pulling her gloves back on, she followed him to his truck. “Or stupid. Guess I’ll know in a couple of months.”

He threw a look at the tired white structure as he grabbed another load. “That might be too optimistic.”

“I know.” Bethany sighed. “I wouldn’t care when it got done except I promised Rachel I’d have it completed in time for her wedding. She has friends who’ll need accommodations.”

“Rachel?” He stopped and thought for a second. “Little Rachel McAllister? She’s getting married?”

Bethany laughed, and she didn’t hold back. “Little? Are you sure you’re thinking of the same Rachel I’m talking about?”

Nathan smiled. “I don’t know her well. I went to school with her two older brothers until the eighth grade,” he said, and caught her puzzled frown. “County-line dispute. When the dust settled, my brothers and I went to Twin Creeks High.”

“That must’ve been awful for you.”

He shrugged. “We already knew every kid within a hundred miles. And I got to play football without having to compete with the McAllister brothers. I wonder if those boys ever stopped growing.”

She laughed again. “Cole might be taller than you, but I doubt Jesse or Trace is.”

“I’m only six-two.”

“Only?”

He watched her balance the pair of boards she’d grabbed, trying hard to keep his attention off her legs and butt. “You’re pretty tall yourself.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but then tilted her head to the side and looked past him toward the street.

“Nathan Landers? My word, is that really you?”

“Ah, Jesus,” he muttered under his breath, though he didn’t recognize the excited voice coming from behind him. This was the third time someone had slowed down to convey their heartfelt shock at seeing him. The boardinghouse was located at the edge of town, but right on Main Street. He should’ve known it would be a circus.

He turned and saw that it was the white-haired Lemon twins. One sat behind the wheel with a pinched frown aimed at the sister leaning across her and doing the talking. He couldn’t remember either of their first names or tell them apart. What he did know was they probably shouldn’t be driving, since the big old Chevy was taking up both lanes.

“Afternoon, ladies,” he said, touching the brim of his Stetson and keeping an eye out for oncoming traffic.

“How long has it been since we’ve seen you in town, Nathan? Two years? Three? I see you’re helping Beth. She’s such a wonderful girl. Very considerate, and pretty to boot. Won’t it be nice to have the old boardinghouse open again?”

“For heaven’s sake, Mabel, give the man a chance to answer.” The driver jerked her shoulder and shifted to face him, obviously trying to force her sister back to the passenger side.

“Miss Lemon?” He gestured to a black truck heading toward them.

Her eyes got wide and she fumbled for the column shift. “Darn it, Mabel. Give me some room before we have another accident.”

Nathan winced. He saw she was growing more nervous and jerking on the stick. The car lurched to the rear. “I think you have it in Reverse,” he said, releasing his load back into the bed and putting a warning hand up to the driver of the approaching truck. As soon as Nathan reached the sedan, he crouched to check the steering column through the open window.

Miss Lemon found Drive. The Chevy pitched forward, and he jumped back, stumbling out of the way. He sensed Bethany behind him. Felt her hands grip his shoulders.

“Oops.” She slid her palms down both sides of his spine, trying to steady him. Then she ducked her head around his body, keeping an arm wrapped across his back, and said, “Go ahead, Miss Lemon, steer toward the right lane. You’re doing fine.” She gave him a brief glance. “You okay? All body parts accounted for?”

“I think so.” He hadn’t actually lost his balance, but he liked having her so close he could smell her floral-scented hair. Feel the warmth of her skin through his shirt. “Might have to take inventory, though.”

Her gaze snapped back to him. She gave him a long look, then let out a laugh and lowered her arm. Stepping away, she watched the Lemon sisters inch down the street.

Already regretting the inventory crack, he couldn’t tell if she’d decided the words were innocent or loaded with a message he wasn’t sure he could deliver on. Playing with fire without a means to extinguish it was plain dumb, and he knew better. He had to get sex off his brain. What he needed to do was get his ass home and quit eyeing hers.

“Don’t they have kids or grandchildren who could drive them around?” With a worried frown, Bethany was still looking after the car.

“I don’t think either of them married, but I’m not sure. They’re in their eighties, right around my grandmother’s age. She knows them.”

“Does she still drive?”

“Not for a while. But she lives on the ranch with my parents and two brothers. Plenty of people around to take her wherever she wants to go.”

“At the Lucky 7?”

“No.” He noticed the increasing number of vehicles crowding Main Street and knew he was in for a lot more small talk if he didn’t keep his head down. “On my parents’ ranch,” he said, moving away from the street. “About twenty miles from me.”

“Wow, that’s great having your family so close.” She reached the truck ahead of him and picked up two boards. “Assuming you get along with them.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, or if he even should. Today was full of surprises. He’d kept to himself and the Lucky 7 for so long, he’d forgotten how to be social. How to talk to a woman and not second-guess himself. He’d been joking about the McAllister boys. Like them, he’d been one of the popular kids, the quarterback who’d led his team to the state championship twice, the guy who could’ve had a date every night of the week if he’d wanted.

College would’ve been no different if he’d had the time to socialize. He’d played football only to keep his scholarship alive, but spent the rest of his free time working to make his dream a reality. From the day he’d turned thirteen he’d wanted his own ranch. And at seventeen he was so confident of what lay ahead he could’ve carved his future in stone. At least the part about the Lucky 7. And marrying Anne.

“Nathan?” Bethany had already taken her load to the porch, and she stood there looking at him with troubled eyes. “Sorry, if I said something wrong. I know family stuff can be tricky.”

Not until three years ago.

Shaking his head, he forced a smile.

After the accident, the well-intended lies and hidden truths had come out in force. Even before the funeral, everything around him, including his relationship with his family, had started falling apart. He’d never felt so helpless in his whole life. But you couldn’t fix a marriage once the other person was in the ground.

“Hey, you still want that water?”

He blinked at Bethany. She hadn’t moved. Her smile was brighter but her eyes were even more troubled. Her hands were tightly clasped, her fingers entwined. Great, he’d dragged his black cloud with him.

When he noticed she was slightly up on her toes, he didn’t have to pretend to smile. He’d seen earlier that she was one of those high-energy types who tended to rock back on the balls of her feet when she wasn’t in motion. The complete opposite of Anne. Even he was more laid-back these days. He used to be full of ambition, hated that there weren’t more hours in the day. Maybe his new interest in breeding Arabians would bring back some of that drive.

“Ice cold, if you have it,” he said, glad to see relief pass across her face. “I bet you were a bouncer when you were a kid.”

She backed up to her new green door, wrinkling her nose. “A bouncer?”

“Not that kind—”

“Oh.” She snorted a laugh and tried to cover it up. “How did you know?” Abruptly she looked down at her feet. “I don’t still do that.”

He smiled but kept working. The sooner he transferred the lumber to her porch, the sooner he could get back to the Lucky 7. Sure, he’d admit it, he was enjoying Bethany’s company. Even knowing this little thing brewing between them would end right here. He glanced at what was left on the truck bed. In about twenty minutes, to be exact.

Ten if he worked faster.

* * *

BETH COULDN’T DECIDE if she should be insulted, mad or confused. Or perhaps she should just feel grateful that she had her wood for tomorrow and quit being a crybaby because she hadn’t expected Nathan to want to leave so quickly.

The whole time she watched him pull up the tailgate, jam it in place and yank off his gloves, she tried to think of a reason to make him stay. But she’d already asked him if he wanted a tour of the inside, which he’d declined. Then she’d offered to buy him a beer, which he’d also declined. She’d even suggested she whip them up something to eat since they’d both missed lunch. He’d declined that, too, which was for the best, now that she thought about it. As her niece had pointed out, Beth’s cooking sucked the big one.

The thing was, it had taken her no time to get his water. Just two minutes. Okay, maybe four, but only because she’d wanted to check her hair and see if she could use a dusting of blush. She’d resisted putting on lip gloss. Too obvious.

She couldn’t shake the feeling she’d said or done something wrong. Probably because he’d worked like a madman to get so much done in her short absence. Clearly he was anxious to leave. Admittedly, it had to be annoying to deal with all the nosy, intrusive questions from passersby, but she wasn’t suggesting they stay outside.

When he started to turn, she lifted her gaze from his butt. She’d been staring at it, too busy thinking to really enjoy the muscular roundness, and that pissed her off. He picked up the uncapped bottle of water he’d left on the bumper, tilted it to his mouth and drank.

She tracked a stray drop running down his chin and wondered what it said about her eleven-months-and-counting dry spell that she was seconds away from dragging him inside and seeing what else that mouth could do.

Of course, she knew he couldn’t actually read her thoughts, but when he swung a sudden glance at her, her struggle not to squirm turned pretty epic.

“Well, all right, Cinderella,” she said. “I know you’re worried about the whole pumpkin threat, so don’t let me keep you.” God, sometimes she said the stupidest things when she was nervous. It wasn’t enough he seemed eager to bolt—now she was giving him a push.

Except...

Nathan was staring back at her, quite intensely, and she hoped she wasn’t kidding herself, but he didn’t look so anxious anymore. Finally he broke eye contact to look down at her feet. “Before I go, I have to ask...”

With a resigned sigh, she followed his gaze to her short camo-patterned cowboy boots. Only they were pink and tan, camouflage objective be damned. “A birthday gift from my niece, so I feel obliged to wear them occasionally.”

“Ah.” Amusement eased the tension around his mouth. “You’re a very good aunt.”

“You have no idea,” she murmured, and stopped right there, deciding to avoid the topic. She suspected her earlier reference to family had darkened his mood.

He took another gulp of water, then recapped the bottle. “Good luck tomorrow. I hope your guys show up.”

“If they don’t, I’ll hunt them down.”

He smiled, and she had the distinct feeling he wanted to say something, but he started toward the driver’s door instead. So that was it? He was leaving? Wishing her luck was a goodbye?

“Nathan?”

He opened the door but stopped to look at her, his face blank.

“Thank you,” she said, wondering if she should offer to shake his hand. Normally she would, but now it felt weird. “I mean it. You could’ve easily blown me off, but you didn’t.”

“No problem,” he said, his gaze slipping away from her. “Just being neighborly.”

“I wish I could do something for you in return.” She focused on his chin, horrified by the dip in her voice. It sounded huskier than normal, kind of sexy, kind of as if she was offering sex. She wouldn’t mind a little harmless recreation, but being obvious wasn’t her style. “So...” She cleared her throat. “If you’re ever in town and feel like a beer, remember, I’m buying.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” His voice had lowered, too, and though she hadn’t met his eyes, she felt him staring at her.

“That includes Woody, too. And Craig and Troy, of course. Please tell them.” She saw a brief smile tug at his mouth and slowly lifted her lashes.

At that exact moment he turned away to toss his gloves onto the seat. “You don’t owe them anything. They were being paid.”

“Guess it’ll be just you and me, then.” She shrugged, which he missed, along with her teasing grin. So she was back to feeling awkward again. “Or not,” she said, repeating the shrug when he looked at her before falling back a step. “Better hit it before the Food Mart gets crowded.”

He looked momentarily confused and then tightened his mouth. Without another word he got into his truck. She waited until she heard the engine start and saw the pickup roll forward before she turned to go inside.

If she were to glance back, she wondered if she’d find him watching her. Probably not. She might’ve only imagined the spark between them, but she didn’t think so. Maybe he was still in mourning and wasn’t ready to get back in the dating saddle. Had the tension between them made him feel guilty?

She couldn’t stand it. She had to sneak a final look.

He’d just made the turn onto Main Street. And now drove in the opposite direction of the Food Mart, toward the highway leading back to the Lucky 7. Proof of what she’d already known. He’d used the store as an excuse. It pleased her and made her laugh.

“What was he doing here?”

The snarl in Liberty’s voice had Beth jerking around to stare at her niece. She was coming from the stop where the school bus dropped off town kids. Candace and Liberty didn’t live nearby, but she got off in town on the days she worked for Beth—who’d somehow managed to forget today was one of those days.

“Who?” Beth followed the spiteful gaze aimed at Nathan’s truck. “Nathan Landers?”

“Yeah.” Liberty gave a surly huff. “What the hell did he want?”

“How do you know—? Oh, God.” Beth finally realized why his name had sounded familiar. She’d seen it on the victims’ restitution list, the one that had been issued by the court. Nathan was one of the dubiously proud owners of Liberty’s wall art.

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