She was near enough to kiss, and it took every ounce of self-control he could muster to keep from doing just that. Would her lips feel as soft as they looked? Would those big eyes grow misty, or would she close them and—
“Just because you’re a big burly man,” she continued, “doesn’t mean you have to be so rough with yourself, you know.”
Alex swallowed. He didn’t know why her innocent comment struck a nerve. But it did. No one had ever been so tender with him. Why, if he didn’t know better, he’d have to say Taylor believed he was capable of breaking.
An ugly thought surfaced in his mind.
The accident had all but broken him, physically. But how could she have known that the aftereffects of it had all but shattered his spirit, when they’d spent no more than fifteen minutes, total, in one another’s company?
He needed to get out of this place, away from this woman. He had no business feeling drawn to her, not this soon, maybe not at all, ever. It was a good idea, this plan of his to heal on his own, alone. Because alone, he could think. Could reason things out. No way he could do that with her standing there looking at him like some kind of guardian angel.
Getting to his feet, Alex ran a hand through his hair. “Well, thanks for—”
“No,” she interrupted, “I’m the one who’s supposed to say thanks. You saved Barney, and very likely me, too.” She was smiling prettily when she added, “You’re our hero!”
He felt the heat of a blush creep into his cheeks. Hero? If only you knew, he thought glumly. “Well, guess I’d better get on my way.” He forced a grin. “You stay off rooftops now, y’hear?”
Standing at attention, she formed two fingers of her right hand into the Girl Scout salute. “Promise. Once I get that screen back into place, I won’t be going near any second-story openings any time in the near future.”
“Screen?”
She nodded. “That’s how Barney got onto the roof in the first place. He fiddled with the latches and the screen fell out onto the roof, and…”
Bobbing her head left and right, Taylor clamped her hands together. “I feel ridiculous, being so afraid of high places. Especially since I have no real reason to be afraid of—”
“Why should you feel ridiculous?” He didn’t know why, but Alex felt an overwhelming need to defend her. Careful, he warned himself, careful….
“Oh, I don’t know,” she began softly.
He’d never been afraid of heights. And frankly, he didn’t understand people who were. Wasn’t afraid of much, and never had been, for that matter. Fat lot of good your so-called bravado did you over the Caribbean, came his angry thought.
“I guess,” she continued, “I guess it’s embarrassing because people, well, you know, they tend to think if they aren’t afraid of something, no one else should be, either.”
Alex searched for something to say. Something that would comfort and reassure her. “Lots of people have a fear of heights.”
It was a lame thing to say, and he knew it. He thought she knew it, too. Why else had she sighed and shrugged and looked away?
What business did she have, looking so gorgeous and womanly and…and sad? Didn’t she realize what it was doing to him? How was he supposed to make a quick getaway, keep an arm’s-length emotional distance, with her standing there, in reach, looking like…like that?
He wanted to wrap his arms around her. Promise that nothing would ever scare her again—at least, not while he was around to prevent it. Wanted to kiss her, to prove how much he meant it.
Alex cleared his throat. You’re outta your ever-lovin’ mind, Van Buren. “Which window?”
“The one in my room.”
Great, he thought. Just what he needed. More information to make him want her in his life. Ruffled curtains, probably, and pink stuff sitting on lacy doilies. “Show me. I’ll put the screen back into place for you.” It was the least he could do. And then he’d make tracks, fast.
Taylor led him upstairs and down the hall, then pointed. “You’re a peach to do this.” Her lopsided smile became a full grin. “You don’t know how much I was dreading going out there to fetch the screen.” Laughing, she added, “I was seriously considering closing the window and praying for a strong wind to blow it off the roof.”
Alex realized the moment he poked his head through the opening that she’d never have been able to reach the screen from inside. Tiny as she was, she’d have been forced to climb outside, onto the roof, to get it. Wouldn’t have been easy, considering how she felt about being up so high. But something told him she would have forced herself to do it anyway.
Gritting his teeth, he realized which of the two of them was most brave. He leaned through the opening, stuck his arm out and took hold of the screen. No big deal for someone who didn’t mind heights. But she’d gone out there to save her cat, despite her terror.
Once he’d snapped it into place, Alex said, “Do you have a wrench?”
“Sure. But what do you need with a wrench?”
He wished she wouldn’t stand there like that, looking up at him with those big, long-lashed eyes. Being near her was having a peculiar effect on his nervous system. Alex didn’t remember feeling this fidgety around a woman before. Didn’t remember feeling this fidgety, period.
“Well,” he explained, “if I tighten these wing nuts that’re holding it in place, Barney won’t be able to work them loose next time he has a notion to sunbathe on the roof.”
The luscious pink lips parted, no doubt to ask him how he expected her to take the screen out again, should the need arise. His heartbeat doubled as he remembered that moments ago he’d wanted to kiss her. Remembered that he’d pretty much wanted that from the first moment he set foot in her foyer for the suitcase exchange. But he’d never wanted it more than right now.
Alex swallowed. “If you ever want to remove the screen for any reason,” he answered her unasked question, “you can always loosen the nuts…with the wrench.”
She smiled. “Makes sense to me,” she said, and dashed down the stairs.
“Good. Something around here oughta make sense,” he said when she was out of earshot.
Barney paraded into the room just then, tail twitching left and right as he eyed the open window.
Alex narrowed his eyes and shot him a warning look. “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”
The cat shot him a look that said, “The name’s Barney, buddy.” Then, purring, he twined a figure eight around Alex’s ankles.
Crouching, Alex patted the cat’s head. When he noticed the gouges on the back of his hand, he was reminded of the crisscrossing scratches on his face. “I have a feeling I’ll be thinking of you when I shave tomorrow morning,” he said. “When I shave for the next week.”
He’d be thinking of Barney’s mistress, too. Probably for a whole lot longer than a week. The thought almost made him wish he hadn’t decided to keep a safe distance from this churchgoing little woman.
Taylor burst into the room just then, carrying a pink metal toolbox. “Don’t laugh,” she said, plunking it down on the hardwood floor. “I bought it at a yard sale couple years back. Only cost me fifty cents, but it was all dirty and rusty, and the only spray paint on sale at Clark’s Hardware that day was—” she extended both hands, like one of the models who present the prizes on a game show “—pink!”
It just so happened she was wearing a pink blouse. And pink fingernail polish. The excitement of Barney’s adventure had colored her cheeks a pretty shade of pink, and those luscious lips of hers, well, they