Lucky Break (Lucky 3)

She swirled her wine in her glass. “I want Jason to be happy, too, but Lauren’s leaving. She has plans and I can’t see anything that would make her stay, especially in a place where she would have to face all the problems her family caused day in and day out.”

“Women and men do strange things in the name of love,” Clara mused. “I just think we have to wait and see what the Fates have in store.”

“Why wait when we can nudge things in the right direction?” Amber asked.

“As long as things take their natural course,” Clara said warily.

Gabrielle cleared her throat. “They’re already working together, right? So we just need to keep it that way. What could be more natural than that?”

“Exactly!” Amber’s excitement was tangible. “Just a little extra work that will keep Jason in the house more often. Nothing serious or extreme, I promise.” She held up one hand.

“See? All natural matchmaking.” Gabrielle grinned.

“I like it. Who’s in?” Amber asked.

Clara hoped she didn’t live to regret this as she joined the other women at the table and raised her hand.

FOUR DAYS INTO Lauren’s project, Jason thought he would lose his mind. What had started as a mission to show Lauren he could work on her house like a professional and accomplish everything she needed without distraction-sexual distraction-had turned into a form of self-torture. It didn’t matter that he had men from his crew milling around or the electrician inspecting the wiring. His focus was solely on her.

He’d been determined to let sex be on her terms. He wanted her to come to him so that she didn’t have any regrets afterward, ensuring many a repeat performance. At least until she left town.

But being around her was wearing him down. From the tight jeans she wore, to the way she hummed off-key to the music she played on her iPod, to the sexy sway of her hips as she cleaned and scrubbed each room from top to bottom, she slowly, systematically was driving him insane. He didn’t think he could wait for her to give in first.

As a successful athlete, he’d always attracted women easily. Whether it was the ski bunny groupies who hung around the lodge where he worked and practiced, or the women who wanted to say they’d scored with the world champion. Judging by the chemistry between them, which was stronger now than in the past, Lauren wasn’t more than a kiss away from being in his bed again.

Yet for one of the first times in his life, he wasn’t eager to take what he wanted just because the woman in question could be easily swayed. He didn’t know if it was the bruising his ego had taken in the past year, or if it had just been too long since a woman had wanted Jason Corwin the man, not the athlete. He feared it was more about the woman herself. And she was doing her best to remain elusive.

But he needed Lauren to come to him and admit she wanted him.

Now that work was finished for the day, he headed to check in with his lady boss. He couldn’t locate Lauren, which surprised him since they’d fallen into a routine. He arrived at the house at eight in the morning, before his small crew, and he worked later than his men, until Lauren called a halt. She enticed him away from patching holes in the walls with the lure of dinner, always some kind of take-out food.

She didn’t cook and didn’t apologize for it. He wasn’t great around the kitchen either, which normally left him eating at the diner in town or mooching some of Clara’s home cooking, which was delicious. But since he’d started working at the Perkins house, he was back to eating takeout.

He didn’t mind one bit. He preferred sitting across the table from Lauren each night. Learning more, with every meal, about the woman she’d become.

He finally found her in a far room, one he knew she was putting off fixing until last. She was on her knees, her head half inserted into one of the holes in the wall, her delectable rear end sticking out for him to see.

The woman had amazing curves and soft skin. He knew that firsthand, but seeing her in such a provocative position took him off guard and his mouth went dry at the sight. His groin hardened, throbbing against the zipper of his jeans. Visions of stripping off his clothes and taking her in that position, his entire body wrapped around hers as he thrust into her over and over again, filled his mind.

He let out a groan, knowing no way in hell was he going to be able to wait for her to come to him.

THE CAT HAD BEEN crying pitifully from somewhere inside the house. Lauren had done a systematic room-to-room check, listening for the sound to grow louder, but no luck. She’d worked her way from the bedroom, where the cat stayed with her at night, to the far end of the house when finally the meows had grown more distinct and she realized the cat had crawled into one of the many ridiculously large holes punched in the drywall and gotten stuck there.

She’d lowered herself to her hands and knees, gingerly easing her head into the wide space, and peeked inside. Pitch-black, she couldn’t see a thing.

“Now that’s a nice sight.” Jason followed up his words with an appreciative whistle.

Startled, Lauren jumped up, banged her head and fell back onto her butt, her head aching from where she’d smacked it on the wall.

She braced her hands on either side of her hips and glared up at him. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on a person?” she asked as she rubbed her sore head.

“Sorry.” She noticed he was trying not to laugh but the corners of his mouth kept tugging up. “You okay?”

“Nothing bruised but my head-and my ego,” she muttered.

This time he allowed the grin. “Mind if I ask what you were looking for?”

“The cat’s stuck inside. He’s been crying on and off.”