Shane glanced up.
And she was lost.
Chapter Six
For a few seconds the only sound in his work room was Pia’s mad barking. The little mutt barked at Bobbi and then ran back to Shane, her excited yelps growing in intensity until with one look, and a quick scratch behind the ears, she quieted.
Shane took a second, not only to remove the ear buds but to make sure not one trace of emotion showed on his face. Seeing Bobbi like that, half naked and wearing his T-shirt, did all sorts of things to him that he didn’t want to think about or dwell on. Hell, it had been bad enough the night before when he’d struggled to get her out of her damn wedding dress and into the stupid shirt.
When she wasn’t giggling like a crazy lady, she was rubbing that hot body wherever she could touch. It had taken everything in Shane to not take what she was offering, and in fact, not even twenty minutes in a cold shower had offered much relief.
Her hair was still a mess, the thick dark strands wild and crazy—the total opposite to the sleek look she’d been sporting since he’d been back in town. There were shadows beneath her eyes though, dark smudges that told of a night without much sleep and her skin was pale.
Pia barked once more and Bobbi winced—no doubt because he knew she was suffering from one hell of a hangover.
“Thought you’d be in bed for hours yet,” he said, watching her closely as she took a step forward.
She cleared her throat and shook her head, though her eyes left him and she turned in a semi-circle, her gaze on the walls.
“You still paint,” she said softly.
Shane followed her gaze and nodded, his lips tight, a frown in place. “Yep.” He sure as hell wasn’t in the mood for a walk down memory lane. And to be honest, he was questioning his decision to bring her back here in the first place. What had he been thinking? He should have left her with her family and Dooley.
Pia barked once more. Seemed as if the dog agreed too.
He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and watched her cross the room to stand in front of a painting he’d done not long after he’d come back to New Waterford. He had created it from memory, with the aid of a few sketches he’d brought back with him.
“Who’s that?” she pointed and turned to him.
“No one you would know.”
For a moment the two of them stared at each other in silence, and he thought that maybe a shadow of hurt crossed her face. If so, it was gone just as fast as it had come, replaced once more with the cool, composed woman he’d come home to.
She was a stranger to him, and yet…
She wrapped her arms around her body as if seeking warmth and rested her gaze on the table he was working on. She blew out a long breath and took a few hesitant steps forward, though when Pia barked once more she scowled.
“Okay, your dog needs to relax.?
??
“Pia’s a little territorial,” Shane replied.
“Well she doesn’t have to worry about me,” she retorted frostily.
“She’s not.”
“She’s not,” Bobbi repeated.
“Nope.”
The dog glanced between the two adults and growled.
“I find that hard to believe,” Bobbi said as she took one step back.
“It’s me she’s worried about.”
Bobbi muttered something unintelligible under her breath before nodding toward the table and gesturing around the large, main floor of the carriage house. The entire area was his workspace, the one place where he felt at home and relaxed.