“I’m serious this time. Why would the builder be spending so much time with us if he’s not interested in you? That’s the real estate agent’s job. Not his.” Diana persisted, closing the closet door, so the stud-muffin in question wouldn’t overhear their conversation. He’d paused in the hallway outside the master bedroom to answer his cell phone.
For just a second, Lacey thought her mother might have a point. Why was he with them exactly? He’d spent the last half hour showing them all the impressive features of the Show Home and had only left them alone long enough to answer his cell phone. Could he actually be interested in her? A guy who practically oozed sex appeal like that? No way! He’s probably just a really friendly guy, she thought to herself.
“Maybe he’s trying to help sell this house? That is his goal, right? He’s just being very thorough,” Lacey said absently, admiring the customized closet’s many drawers and shoe shelves. There was even a small round window on the back wall.
She walked over, looked outside, and was delighted to see rose bushes, grass, and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. She sighed. Even the closet window has a view, she thought. Unlike her current apartment which featured a grim view of either a cinder block wall from the bedroom window or a front row seat to her creepy exhibitionist neighbor's bedroom from the patio. She shivered at the thought of his hairy, portly body squeezed into a schlong thong. Yuck! She’s kept her blinds closed since that unpleasant sight had assaulted her eyes a few months ago.
“He’s selling something, alright. But it’s not this house. You already told him it’s too big for you. Face it. He thinks you’re cute.” Diana gave her daughter a sly wink and pushed her toward the closet door. Lacey opened it to find Mr. Sexy Builder Guy standing on the other side, looking a little puzzled as to why they were checking out the closet with the door closed.
“We were just curious to see if the door closed all the way,” she said, giving him an inane smile. “It looked a little warped or something.”
“Warped? Seriously?” He asked, seeming downright offended that a door in one of his houses would dare to be sub-par. He maneuvered around her, brushing his large warm body against her in the process, and opened and closed the doors several times, examining it for flaws. “Looks okay to me. In fact, it looks pretty much perfect.” But he wasn’t looking at the door, he was staring intently at her with laughing green eyes.
Their gazes locked and Lacey felt the strangest sense of connection with him. Looking into his eyes seemed more intimate than having sex with her ex-boyfriend. In fact, doing the nasty with Barry seemed quite cold compared to the weird electricity flowing between her and this stranger. Just a glance from him and her palms were sweating and her panties became as moist as a rain forest. She forced her eyes away from his before she embarrassed herself by completely losing control and launching herself into his arms.
She regained her composure and moved toward the master bathroom, putting as much distance as possible between herself and his mind-numbing, testosterone-induced brand of hypnosis. He must have an excess of pheromones or something, she thought. Or I’ve been without a man so long that I’m becoming hysterical from sexual frustration. That must be it. She was just imagining there was something between them. All she needed was a quiet evening alone with her battery-operated boyfriend and she’d be fine.
“Mom, did you notice the heated floors in the bathroom? Wouldn’t they be incredible on a cold morning?” Lacey called over her shoulder, acting as casual and nonplussed as possible considering she’d nearly assaulted a complete stranger in front of her mother.
Chapter Two
An hour later, Lacey and her mother were walking slowly toward the car. Alone. Not only had Mr. Superstud shown them the rest of the Show Home, he had also shown them the other three row-houses, which were in varied states of completion.
Lacey was impressed with both his generosity and talent. He was knowledgeable and obviously passionate about this project and answered every single question her mother shot at him with patience and humor. Lacey could tell that Diana was completely charmed and wouldn’t be surprised if she did the unthinkable and offered Lacey’s virtue on a silver platter if this continued much longer.
Unfortunately, her virtue seemed quite safe at the moment. As they’d been leaving the last property, he’d received yet another call on his cell phone and had excused himself to go back inside and answer it. They’d waited on the porch for a few minutes to say good-bye, and thank him for a tour, but his phone call had continued and they’d decided to leave. Standing around and waiting for him had seemed intrusive and a trifle desperate.
As they reached their vehicle, Lacey noticed Serena walking down the path from the Show Home toward them. She met them on the sidewalk between where Lacey’s Mini Cooper was parked at the curb and the sleek, white Mercedes.
“Wow,” Serena said, clearly shocked. “I can’t believe you’re still here. You really did get the grand tour, didn’t you? Jay usually can’t be bribed or threatened to do that. You must have caught him in a really good mood, or something.”
“He was really great. He showed us everything,” Lacey said, trying not to gush.
“Hmmm… I’ll bet he did. It sounds like you really liked what you saw.’ Serena raised one finely arched eyebrow at Lacey, and it was obvious that she was not talking about the granite or the crown moldings.
“Well, they’ve done an incredible job here. We were very impressed, weren’t we, Mom?”
“Absolutely,” Diana agreed. “That young man knows his stuff. And is extremely easy on the eyes.”
“Mom! Seriously?”
“Well, he is. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. Your eyes nearly fell out of your head when he bent over in front of you to demonstrate the built-in vacuum. You practically salivated, dear.”
“I certainly did not salivate!”
“Wipe your chin, dear, and we should be going.” Diana reached out for the real estate agent’s hand and they shook warmly. “Serena, it’s been a real pleasure. That dreamboat had to leave us to take an important call, so I hope you’ll extend our gratitude to him for being so gracious. We’ll be in touch.” With that, Diana let go of Serena’s hand, got in the passenger side of Lacey’s car and looked expectantly at her daughter.
“Ignore her. She just likes to ruffle my feathers,” Lacey said in an undertone to Serena.
“No worries. She’s hilarious. I wish my mom was that much fun.”
“She really is. But seriously, please let him know how much we enjoyed the tour, okay?” At this point, Lacey really wanted to ask his name, but if Serena was, in fact, his girlfriend as she’d thought when they arrived, she didn’t want to seem too infatuated. But then, with a man like that, Serena was probably used to women lusting after him.
“I’ll let him know. Thanks for coming in today. Please let me know if you have any more questions, okay?” She handed Lacey her card. “Or just stop in. I’m here on weekends from 1-4. At least until they all sell. I can’t guarantee ’The Dreamboat’ will be here, but I will be.” They shook hands and Lacey got in her car, started the engine, and reluctantly prepared to leave.
They had just started to pull away from the curb, when the man of her dreams came out of the final row-house they had been looking at. He broke into a run when he saw them down the road and his long legs ate up the pavement. Within seconds he was right beside her front window, smiling and tapping on the glass.