Chapter 1
Scrape, Thud, Thump! Scrape, Scrape, Thud, Thump!
“What the…” Rachel Evans threw back her light-blue comforter and stomped across the cream carpet of her upstairs bedroom. Pushing back one side of the light blue drapes and the white lace shears underneath, she located the source of the irritating noise rousing her from a delicious dream featuring a dark-haired man and his expert hands. Squinting against the early morning sun, she watched two men in jeans and long sleeve denim work shirts on the roof of the single level house next door. They were busy ripping off the old, gray shingles and tossing them over the side of the roof into a metal utility trailer parked below. Hence, the loud scraping and thumping noises interrupting her Saturday of sleeping in after a busy week of preparing her teaching kitchen and classroom for the first day of school.
Rachel yawned and started to put the edge of the drapes back in place only to pause when a tall, dark-haired figure in a pair of low-slung, faded jeans and a gray T-shirt clinging to his muscular chest in the hot August sunshine began to make his way up to the roof on a nearby ladder. Licking her lips and forgetting her irritation at being woken so early, she pushed the lace further to the side. Angling her body closer to the window to get a better view, Rachel sighed and watched the corded muscles of the man’s arms flex and bunch as he climbed over the top of the ladder onto the roof. A delightful shiver of want ran through her while her gaze continued to wander over the tall hunk of deliciousness, imagining him as the man from her dream. When he turned, the wisps of wavy hair curling from beneath his navy ball cap turned backward started a low pulsing throb in her lower body.
Unable to tear her eyes away, Rachel sank against the frame of the window. Sucking in a deep breath and pressing her upper body further into the glass, she followed his long confident strides as he sauntered over to the nearest of the two men ripping up the old shingles. After the gorgeous man, whom she assumed from his actions was the boss, said something and pointed to the far side of the roof, the worker took his shovel and disappeared over the peak. Rachel leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window while the dreamy man grabbed another shovel lying nearby.
Rachel blew out a shaky breath as the muscles in the gorgeous man’s thighs strained against his jeans when he bent over to shove the tip of the shovel underneath the edge of another strip of shingles. A low, throaty moan escaped her lips as the ropy muscles of his arms bunched and rippled while he effortlessly scraped up the worn roofing material and tossed them over the edge into the trailer below. Rachel had always been drawn to tall, muscular men, and this one was no exception. In fact, he was the perfect picture of the type of man she’d always dreamed of marrying one day. A handsome, self-assured man with long lean muscles honed from hours of hard work each day rather than time spent in a gym. She ran several excuses for getting dressed and going outside to introduce herself through her head but quickly dismissed them not wanting to be too forward. Maybe she could sneak outside later and get a look at the name of the construction company on the side of the truck she could barely see from her window. With any luck, Gage, her friend Carly’s husband, would know who he was. After all, Oaktown, Texas was a somewhat small community, and Gage seemed to be friends with everyone.
As the gorgeous man went to shovel underneath the pile once more, he suddenly stopped and turned his head as if he could feel her lingering stare. Rachel gasped as their eyes connected and a burning pool of desire drenched the thin cotton of her sleep shorts. Sparks flew through the air across the narrow space between the houses, ratcheting up the stuttering beat of her heart before his eyes turned dark and a heavy scowl marred the perfection of his brow. Rachel couldn’t help running her tongue along her lower lip as the muscles in her core clenched despite the obvious annoyance in his brooding eyes. Unable to look away, she shifted slightly running her free hand through her sleep-tangled hair. With another furrow of his brows and a shake of his head, Rachel’s breath whooshed out as he turned away. With her body still sizzling, she watched as the muscles in his arms and shoulders strained when he ripped up another strip of shingles and slung them over the side of the roof. At the heavy sounding thud and with a sigh bemoaning the loss of his intense gaze, Rachel stepped back from the window.
With the image of irritation stamped across his perfect features filling her mind, a lump rose in her throat despite the buzzing of her body. Obviously, he hadn’t felt the same draw of attraction she had. Rachel released the edge of the drapes. She squeaked out a yelp as she turned and caught her reflection in the floor-length mirror next to her dresser. In her stupor upon catching sight of the gorgeous man, she’d apparently lost all sense of decorum. She pulled up the lace edge of her thin, pale-pink tank top that had slipped down exposing the rock-hard tip of one breast.
Rachel groaned while a flush crept up her neck.
Deciding it would probably only make matters worse, she grabbed the fluffy pink robe draped over the end of her queen-sized bed and wrapped it around herself making sure her breasts were covered before tying the belt tightly around her waist and opened the bedroom door.
“Ugh! What’s that noise?”
Rachel looked at her roommate, Sophie, as she came out of the room across the hall rubbing her eyes. Stepping to the side, she motioned for Sophie to go first into their shared bathroom.
“Men working on the roof next door.”
“They could have at least waited for a decent hour to start,” Sophie mumbled under her breath as she closed the door.
Rachel thought as she leaned heavily against the wall, thinking the whole embarrassing nip slip might not have happened if they had.
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