“Hey, how was the drive?” Dylan asked, his dark eyes holding a hint of amusement. The mischievous grin on his face didn’t help either.
“Uneventful.” She said, stepping around the bar and into the kitchen, keeping her eyes trained on her brother and not the other man standing so easily against her counter, who appeared not to be giving her the time of day, although she knew better.
“You remember Alex, don’t you?” Dylan asked by way of introduction.
Did she ever.
“I do. Nice to see you again.” Ashleigh gave him a brief glance, then turned back to her brother. “What’s going on?”
“Pops asked Alex to stop by to install a security system.” Dylan restated what Ashleigh already knew. “Now that you’re here, I need to run Nate by his new school. We’ve got to pick up a schedule or something.”
Maybe she should offer to take Nate. The dead last thing she needed was to be left alone with Alex. Not if she was expected to keep her sanity.
She’d grown accustomed to her body’s unruly reaction to the man over the years, but that one night at the Christmas party just a few weeks before had nearly sent her hormones on strike.
“Why don’t you stay? I can run out and pick up dinner.” One last ditch effort to keep her brother close was worth a shot.
“Can’t. Maybe tomorrow.” Dylan replied as he nodded back to Alex, then turned toward the front door. “Oh, and Pops said he got held up, but he’d stop by tomorrow to see how things are going.”
Right. Held up her ass.
The old meddling man was interfering, that’s what he was doing. For the life of her, Ashleigh couldn’t fathom how Pops would think this was a good idea. Her and Alex?
“I’ll walk you out.” Alex offered, and Ashleigh shot him a glare. He graced her with that sexy, seductive smile that she had thought about way too many times.
Damn that man.
She fought the urge to watch him walk out the front door. Then she fought the urge to lock it and keep him on the other side where he belonged. One of the movers caught her attention as he headed toward the back of the house.
Great. They were setting up her bed.
That was clearly what she needed - more temptation. Couldn’t they have waited to get her bedroom set back up until after the cocky, arrogant alarm guy left?
Of course not.
Karma was a pushy bitch, trying to test every one of Ashleigh’s limits. And Alex McDermott was so far beyond off limits Ashleigh couldn’t even see the warning signs from where she stood.
Her body wasn’t heeding the warning signs anyway. And that was after only two minutes in his presence.
When he was around, her skin was too tight, her entire body felt flushed, and she would never have to worry about cold weather again because he heated her from the inside out.
Sex. That’s the first thing that came to mind when Alex was anywhere in the near vicinity. Hot, sweaty, rip-your-clothes-off-and-throw-them-around-the-room sex. And Ashleigh would be the first to admit she constantly had sex on the brain, but that was only because she was an erotic romance author. The only reason.
Well, that and because she’d been introduced to Alex McDermott all those years ago.
With a sigh of disgust, she dropped her head. She had to get over this freakish infatuation with the man.
She needed some air.
Ashleigh made her way to the back deck, her eyes eating up the spectacular view it afforded her. This was the reason she bought the house. The water looked like glass, reflecting the warm glow of the sun, the crystal blue sky, and the brilliant green tree line that reminded her entirely too much of Alex’s eyes.
Shit.
Mind. Gutter. Damn it.
Squeezing her eyes closed for a second, she fought off the image before once again opening them. Taking in the calm, smooth water, she remembered the real reason she bought the house. Inspiration.
Giving up the view from her Lake Whitney shoreline had been the hardest part about moving. When she’d glimpsed the pond through the plate glass windows, Ashleigh had been inspired. Being a writer, she took it where she could get it. Although the small pond wasn’t as elaborate as the lake, Ashleigh still felt at peace here.
A quick gust of wind blew across her skin, somewhat cooling her overheated libido, and once again reminding her of the reason for the unseasonal heat wave in her girl parts. Why in the world would Pops set her up with Alex McDermott? Didn’t he know how flustered the man made her?
Wait.
On second thought, she hoped not. She did not want either man knowing the affect Alex had on her. Ever.
For as long as she could remember, Ashleigh had been fighting her body’s reaction to the man and doing her best not to let on that she felt any sort of attraction to him. Except for that one night when she’d lost her mind, but she was almost certain Alex didn’t remember anything about that night. Copious amounts of alcohol tended to do that to a person.