“I’ve actually tried to hammer it down, but it keeps popping off,” Aspen moved over to where ‘Wolfe’ squatted down and gave the board a tiny kick in hopes it would reengage.
It didn’t.
“The board is warped so unless you trim it down or replace it and use a nail gun to fire in the finishing nails, it’ll probably continue to give you fits,” he continued to inspect the board in a crouched position.The thick muscles of his thighs bulged; his pose representative of a feral animal ready to pounce.“Actually though, you should consider putting vinyl in its place.Easier to clean and safer.”
He might as well have been speaking Swahili for all Aspen knew at the advice being dispensed, and her stare probably mirrored her confusion.
“What?”Wolfe asked, perplexed.“My da—uh, family is in construction.You want me to fix this for you?”
More time with the yummy bunny in front of me?Yes please.Then reality set in, along with the reminder that she had no time for any man, let alonethisman.“I would love that, but I can’t ask for your help because I don’t have extra cash to pay you or even purchase materials right now.Every dollar is going into the business for equipment I need to buy.”
“Aspen needs to get a new ovenpronto dente,” Mia shared aloud, mimicking the thoughts in Aspen’s own mind.
“Yes, Mia.Pronto dente.”
“No worries.I’ll see what’s around my garage.”
Wolfe stood up and brushed imaginary dust off his hands, then wiped them off across the threadbare pockets of his jeans covering the tightest, roundest butt Aspen had ever seen.
She thanked her lucky stars he couldn’t hear her thoughts.She would have been embarrassed at their intensity and inappropriateness had he known what was in her head at the moment.
“That’s nice of you, but I can’t ask you to just donate your time and materials,” Aspen said, and began twisting her hands in front of her.“Can I at least give you a dozen cupcakes or muffins for your time?Your choice.Whatever I have is yours.”
Wolfe seemed to pause at Aspen’s words, possibly considering it a double entendre.Then, that small smile pulled at his full lips.A wave of dark blonde hair cascaded across his cheek and collarbone as he perused Aspen’s body in a lazy and lingering stare.
Yup, double entendre indeed.
What was it that I was just thinking about my ovaries?
“Thanks, but no.I don’t eat sweets, especially when I’m training.”
“Or any other time of year,” Dante mumbled from across the bakery.
“He smells sweets a lot, though,” Matt added on to Dante’s comment.“It’s kinda weird.”
Wolfe instantly whipped his arctic-blue gaze that had been trained on Aspen to where Matt was standing and offered him a menacing look.“Shut the fuck up, rookie.”
“Whatever,” Matt attempted to dish back, but the teasing instantly stopped as Wolfe held his ominous glare, causing Matt to shift on his feet.“Maybe if you had a freaking muffin you wouldn’t be so damn cranky all the time.”
“Oh, I’ll have my muffin, rook,” Wolfe explained and returned his stare to Aspen.“Of that you should have no doubt.”
Ooookay.Maybe Wolfe felt the same attraction as Aspen.
Alarm bells sounded in her mind at the intensity of his words and the oh-so-sexy possibilities.
“Wellll, I have a recipe for‘Oat you Kidding Me’muffins.They have no sugar, flour or oil, believe it or not,” Aspen cleared her throat and tucked a piece of her coppery hair behind her ear that escaped the tight bun on her head.“There’s a batch with your name on it, if you would be so kind as to fix that stupid board.”
“That’d be nice, but there’s no need.I’m just trying to help.”Wolfe pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, causing his forearms to flex and the ink of the colorful tattoos covering the skin to dance at his movements.“I can come by the day after tomorrow, if that works.”
Aspen heard his words, but became distracted at the ink covering his arms.Was that tattoo an anchor plunging through the water?What did it mean?Shit, Aspen didn’t think she was a ‘tattoo girl’ but she was utterly fascinated with the story woven across his skin.Where else did he have tattoos,her traitorous mind pondered.
Then Aspen remembered she hadn’t responded to Wolfe yet.“Yeah, that would be great.”
“Great,” Wolfe said quickly.
“Great,” Aspen repeated.
“All right, boys.Let’s bounce,” Dante announced and grabbed a to-go cup of coffee Mia had poured for him after clearing the milk mess, breaking whatever connection pinged between Aspen and Wolfe.