Third Time's a Charm (Holland Springs #3)(15)
Taking the Jeep would leave her stranded. The only other vehicle on the property was an old Chevy truck parked in the barn. It had quit working ten years ago when Skye had poured grease in the gas tank in an attempt to make it environmentally friendly.
“I’m not sure...”
“I promise to return it.”
Something in his tone made her reconsider saying no. “Just replace the gas you use.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. The wind brushed at his hair, lifting the burnished gold strands.
“Please,” she added, slipping past him and making her way back to the house.
A hand on her arm almost made her drop the basket, but then his hand moved to cover hers and kept the basket from falling.
“Is there any way I can help you, Rosebud?”
She couldn’t take her eyes off of his mouth. Or the small freckle at one corner that she wanted to lick. He also had some on his nose, light in color, but if one was close enough…If a woman was able to get past his very kissable mouth, she could find them. Count them. Tease him about them, before kissing each one.
Heat pooled in places she’d prayed were dormant when it came to him. Her body vibrated, throbbed. The woman that she’d buried deep inside of her wanted a man’s touch, a man’s kiss and demanded to be let out. No, not a man’s touch. Sasha’s. And that woman could think of a dozen ways he could help her. Although none of them were sane and some of them probably weren’t legal in North Carolina.
She licked her dry lips. “Paying me rent in advance is enough.” But it wasn’t. And she couldn’t ask him to loan her a hundred thousand dollars, could she?
“Have it your way, but if you need something, all you have to do is ask. I won’t think less of you.”
He sounded so sincere that she couldn’t stop herself from blurting, “Cheesecake.”
His brows drew together and his chin dropped. “Cheesecake?”
She almost told him to forget it, but the woman who wanted him also wanted a decadent dessert that she hadn’t been able to eat in what seemed like forever. “I would like some cheesecake.” She dug the keys out of her pocket and placed them in his free hand.
“Then cheesecake you shall have.”
They stood there, hand in hand, not moving, and yet Rose could feel gravity slipping away.
He leaned closer and she couldn’t stop staring at his sensual lips as they moved. “Anything else?”
Her heart pounded in her throat. “For you to be careful.” With her Jeep she wanted to add, but for some reason her teeth and tongue refused to cooperate. She made her focus widen to encompass his entire face.
Sasha blinked, as if he couldn’t quite discern the meaning of her words, and let her go.
Rose fled to the house.
Chapter Five
Sasha drove back to Strawberry Grove in his newly purchased Mercedes CLS63. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he’d opted for a family car when a two-seater roadster was more to his liking. More to his lifestyle.
Actually, he could explain it all. He was out of his bleedin’ mind.
On the passenger side sat three different styles of cheesecake. He wasn’t sure if she wanted light and fluffy, dense and rich, or whatever the hell else the bakery shop owner, Daisy Barnes, had in her store. And what was it with these women and their flora and fauna names? Lily, Daisy, Iris…Petunia. Okay, so there hadn’t been a Petunia, but he had distinctly heard a mother shout, “Stop, Birch!” at a boy teasing his little sister.
Or perhaps that was the name of the tree she wanted to get a switch from to “paint his back porch red.” At least Sasha was able to indulge his sweet tooth and eat a cupcake topped with sprinkles while he was there.
He adjusted his mirrors and glimpsed a flash of blue lights in the reflection.
“Bloody great.” He pulled over and reached for the required documents. Taking another look in his side mirror, he muttered a second curse. Sheriff Turner was headed his way with a rather disgruntled look on his face.
A single touch of a button had the window automatically rolling down as the sheriff leaned over. “License and registration.”
Handing it over, Sasha kept his mouth shut and waited. He rather thought that asking what the problem was might end up with a ‘don’t-tase-me-bro’ moment.
“You know why I pulled you over?”
Sasha had a very good suspicion as to why. “To see if it really can parallel park by itself?”
Turner didn’t crack a smile. “I don’t appreciate being used in this little scheme y’all got going. Rose Holland is a nice girl. She and her sisters were sweet to Missy when everyone else talked about my Yankee of a wife.”
No surprise there. She’d helped him out, too, hadn’t she? Put her sweet hands on him and eased his troubles for a while. He gave the sheriff an arrogant glare. “I didn’t realize upholding the law was a scheme.”
Turner flung his license and registration back at him. “Men like you never get what they really deserve in the end.”
“Men like me keep doing what they’re doing because it works,” he said, checking his reflection in the rearview mirror and running his hand through his hair. Or because they have no other choice. No way out. But he wasn’t about to share that information. He fiddled with his cufflinks. “Now, are we finished?”