"Yes," Gavin Bradley cried as he jumped back from the hickory tree in his yard. The high dead branch he'd just sawed off teetered for a moment and then fell. But, as he watched, the bare twigs caught in the leaves below it and stopped its decent.
"No, don't stop there," Gavin shouted to no avail. The limb didn't move.
His shoulders slumped and he shook his head as he lowered the extension saw to the ground. Sawdust sprinkled from his dark hair onto his sweat-stained T-shirt. Settling his fists on his hips, he looked up at the offending bough. A strong wind might bring it down, endangering anyone passing through the backyard so it couldn't stay balanced up there.
A car door slammed nearby, and Gavin's gaze was drawn to Karli Martin who rented the downstairs apartment in the house next door as of a month ago. Dressed in a baseball uniform that on her looked sexy as hell, she waved as she called, "You picked a beautiful day to work outside."
"You got that right." He thought her smile looked gorgeous-even from across the yard.
They'd shared a beer on his patio after he'd worked up the nerve to ask her over, but when she'd accepted his offer to dinner on a real date, it didn't work out the way he'd hoped. Her six-year-old niece took precedence when she was dropped off that evening. The little girl's parents were on their way to the hospital where her baby brother was born the next morning. Karli insisted Gavin come over anyway and offered to fix dinner for the three of them. He'd spent enough time with his own nieces and nephews to suggest he get a big pizza instead. He could tell Karli was pleased when the anxious child relaxed from worrying about her mother, and began enjoying herself. He'd hit the jackpot because pizza, it seemed, was her niece's favorite food.
Later that evening, he'd carried the child, who fell asleep watching a kids' movie with them, to the bedroom where Karli tucked her in. Back in the living room, Karli had hugged him and thanked him. Feeling her soft and tempting breasts crushed against his chest in the spontaneous gesture sent his blood pressure and his imagination soaring. By the little flush on her cheeks, he could see she wasn't unaffected either.
Neither of them wanted to call it a night at that early hour, so they watched the rest of the G-rated movie. The date hadn't been what he had planned, but surprisingly, he'd had fun and made it through the evening without the uneasiness he'd expected to feel on a first date. That boosted his confidence and left him feeling relaxed and comfortable with her as if he'd known her for ages.
The kiss they shared when he left soon after the movie ended was almost G-rated too, but it aroused his interest even further and left them each wanting more that they would have to save for next time.
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