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didn’t know how he managed to concentrate enough to give her proper instructions, but he struggled through.
    “Thank you,” she said when they finished. “You’re not so bad after all.”
    “Wish I could say the same.” She stuck out her tongue and his shaft jumped. He picked up the filters from a shelf where he’d laid them and held the package in front of his crotch. “Next time, come appropriately dressed. This is a hardware store, not a fashion show.”
    “These are old clothes.” She looked down at the outfit.
    He took a good look at her. “I’m not fooled. Those shoes probably cost more than half my wardrobe.”
    “Can’t argue with your comment, since most of your wardrobe consists of T-shirts.”
    “They’re multi-purpose and comfortable,” he informed her.
    “And cheap.”
    “That, too.” He laughed. “One of these days, I’ll let you wear one.” Where’d that come from?
    Her eyes widened, and awareness crackled between them. She dragged the moist tip of her tongue along the outer edge of her full mouth, prompting an image of him sliding between those full lips. He pushed harder, edged closer. Testing her.
    “You’re so petite,” he said, dropping his voice lower. “I bet if you wore one of my T-shirts it would fit like a short dress.”
    She swallowed. “Why would I ever wear one of your T-shirts?” she asked in a husky voice.
    He shrugged. “Who knows, I may let you borrow one, or you might do something to earn the privilege.” His nostrils flared at the thought of her walking around in his clothes. An image of her in his house, in his shirt, with nothing underneath but her warm, sexy body flashed through his brain. He continued to push. “The hem would probably land right here.”
    He jabbed the air beside her thigh. He didn’t touch her, but she jumped back as though electrocuted, and he heard her breath quicken. The sexual tension between them escalated, and they stared each other down. He wanted nothing more than to put her in his car and discover other, more intimate ways to make her breath quicken.
    “Excuse me!”
    A brusque female voice shattered the tension-filled moment. A harried woman with a baby in a shopping cart and a toddler beside her glared at them. By the pinched expression on her face, Tomas suspected she’d been standing there for a while, ignored in their absorption of each other. They stepped aside so she could pass down the aisle.
    Talia fingered the gold loop in her ear. “Thank you for your help.” Her overly bright smile signaled the moment had passed and couldn’t be recaptured.
    “Anytime. I’ll even paint if you want. Free of charge.” For some reason he couldn’t leave well enough. She was about to slip away, and he almost offered to paint her entire house and all the houses in her neighborhood. Because like any red-blooded man about to lose what he desired, all he knew to do was give chase.
    “I’ll keep that mind. Thanks again.”
    She eased past him, and he kept her in his sight until she vanished around the corner. He stroked his jaw and walked slowly toward the cash registers at the front of the store.
    Talia Jackson was getting under his skin, and he definitely wanted to get to know her better. Now he had to figure out how to make that happen.
     

Chapter Six
     
    Chin in hand, Talia tried once again to focus on the contracts on her desk. Her Monday morning had started badly. The legal department had sent their recommendations for changes, but she had no better understanding of what the pages in front of her said than she did an hour ago.
    Under normal circumstances she focused easily on her job, but today she found it impossible. All morning her mind had wandered. She dreaded seeing Carter in the halls because of the confrontation on Saturday—the drawback of working with someone she used to be married to. With his office a floor below, she hadn’t seen him so far, but she didn’t know how much longer that would last.
    Then the