One Perfect Touch (Very Irresistible Bachelors Book 3) Read online

  I blushed, focusing on my glass again. “Maybe not.”

  “Good. I’ll keep that info for the next dinner.”

  “You’re not letting that go, huh?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  ***

  Rob

  Once her plate was empty, she rose from the table with it.

  “I’ll deal with this later. Sit down with me.” I didn’t want to waste one minute focusing on anything but her.

  “I like doing it,” she murmured. I watched her intently, rising too, joining her at the counter with the rest of the dishes. It took no time to clean up.

  Skye checked her watch when she returned to the empty table. She didn’t sit down, just leaned against it, sighing. “It’s so late. I’m going to go. This dinner was really delicious. Thanks.”

  “Happy you enjoyed it.”

  “Is it your secret weapon to charm women?”

  “So you’re charmed?”

  She chuckled, blushing, but didn’t respond. I moved closer until our hips were touching, leaning in.

  “My answer is no. I haven’t done this in years,” I said.

  “Why not?”

  “You’re different from anyone I’ve met, Skye. You do things without expecting anything in return, like going to all this hassle for your neighbors. And you’re so sexy that it drives me crazy. I want you. From the moment I saw you, I wanted you. And now? I can barely think straight.”

  “Rob...,” she whispered.

  “I’m Rob now? Not Robert. Good to know.”

  Blinking a few times, she rubbed at her eyes. “Oh, why did I have so much wine?”

  She’d had a little too much, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of it. I had to clasp my hands behind my back to make sure I wouldn’t be tempted to touch her. But damn it, it was the hardest thing. All I wanted was to be closer, erase any distance between us.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you to your door.”

  “Afraid I won’t find the way?” she teased.

  “Something like that.”

  “I’m not that drunk.”

  “I just want to spend a few more minutes with you, Skye.”

  I tilted forward a few more inches, until I smelled her faint perfume. Damn, I was playing with fire.

  Clearing her throat, she took a step back, pointing at me. “Just walk me to your door.”

  “Why, afraid you’ll invite me in if I come to yours?”

  “Maybe,” she whispered. Fuck, her lips and smile looked absolutely delicious. The knowledge that she wanted me just as badly was driving me insane.

  “You bite your lip every time I look at your mouth. Think I didn’t notice?” I feathered my fingers over her cheek, then slowly over her lower lip. I was seconds away from kissing her.

  She parted her lips on an exhale. My eyes flared, and I captured her mouth. She fisted my shirt, taking it out of my pants before slipping her hand underneath it, over my abdomen. I needed more than this kiss. I needed to touch her. She moved her hand farther up my chest before descending back down, right until she reached the metal clasp of my belt.

  “Skye, fuck,” I exclaimed on a groan, cupping her ass. Her short dress shifted, and I touched her bare ass cheeks. The next second she pressed her thighs together. She’d drenched her panties, I was sure of it.

  She arched her hips into me, biting my lower lip lightly before kissing me again. She was pressed against me: her breasts, her hips. I moved my hands over her buttocks to her hips, then back down to her ass cheeks, dangerously close to the strap in between them. A light tremor coursed through her. I was so turned on that I could barely breathe.

  Groaning, I tore my mouth from hers. “You’re driving me crazy.”

  Her eyes were hooded, but when I pulled back a few inches, she exhaled sharply, glancing at the door. It was my cue that she wasn’t ready for more tonight. Her body might have been, but she wasn’t.

  “After you,” I said, tilting my head toward the door.

  I walked slightly behind her but reached ahead of her and opened the door. I made to go out with her, but Skye pointed at me again.

  “No. You stay here.”

  “Or what?” I teased.

  She licked her lips. Fucking hell, was she trying to kill me? I clutched the handle tightly. It was either that or kiss her against the doorframe.

  “I don’t know. Just seems the smart thing to do.”

  “Fine, but first, I want you to promise we’ll do this again soon.”

  “Maybe.”

  I laughed when she closed the door quickly, as if it was the only thing she could think of to cut through the thick sexual tension between us.

  Hell, tonight had taken me by surprise in every way possible. I’d been attracted to Skye from the first time I saw her, but then again, a man would have to have ice running through his veins not to be attracted to her. She was beautiful and sensual, but tonight, that attraction had magnified by a factor of one million. When I’d spoken about Anne and Lindsay, she’d understood exactly what I was saying. Back in LA, some acquaintances told me point-blank that I was crazy to change things so drastically just because my sister was going through a divorce. But Skye... Skye was one of a kind.

  She’d only said maybe to a repeat of tonight. But I was excellent at turning maybe into yes.

  Chapter Nine

  Skye

  Over the next few days, I learned that having a hot-as-sin neighbor came with a few perks... especially because he went out for a run every evening at the same time. He wore shorts and a T-shirt that were unfortunately not very tight, but there was plenty to admire, such as his sculpted calves and arms.

  On the third evening, he proved that he hadn’t gotten those mouthwatering biceps by running: he did fifty push-ups right in his backyard. Yum....

  How was a girl supposed to not have sexy dreams after such a performance every evening?

  Truthfully, watching him through my kitchen window had been my only “interaction” with Rob since our dinner. He left early in the morning, and I returned late in the evening. Besides, his sister and niece stopped by for dinner almost every night.

  Meanwhile, Tess and I had made tremendous progress in our search for someone to manage the store every Sunday.

  After reviewing countless applicants and not finding anyone we could agree upon, we convinced Jane to reconsider taking charge on Sundays. She’d been unsure if she could handle it, but she finally agreed. We’d also hired a student to help her out—since Jane knew the business inside and out, it didn’t really matter if the person helping her had experience, and students were our cheapest option.

  “To us learning to delegate and not be such control freaks,” I said, clinking my cup of coffee to Tess’s on Thursday morning.

  She chuckled. “Speak for yourself, sis. I’m still working on the control part.”

  “It’s going to be fine. Jane knows her stuff, and the new sales associate will just follow her instructions. Can’t wait to give everyone the good news.”

  “Oh, yes. They’ll be thrilled. I think I’m going to arrive a little later for our family meeting. George said he’d meet me half an hour later.” George was the CFO of one of the factories we worked with.

  “Okay.”

  We were meeting the whole gang today for one of our working lunches. Technically, there was no reason for them now. We’d set them up so we could work on organizing the galas, and those were not starting again until September. But then again, we used these meetings mostly to update each other on our lives.

  I headed to Hunter and Cole’s office later in the day. When I entered the conference room, my brothers, Hunter, and his wife, Josie, were already there. She wasn’t just Hunter’s wife—she’d been our friend forever, and I loved it that she joined our lunches whenever she had time. With chocolate brown hair she’d cut into a bob and a little black suit, she looked every inch the lawyer she was. Her blue eyes lit up as she waved at me.

  I looked around the room once,
content that no one appeared troubled or exhausted. Although the roles might have reversed now and the boys were more into our business, that didn’t mean I could just drop my old habits. They’d been honed over more than a decade. Hunter, Cole, and Ryker were all over six feet and well built. The boys had also inherited the blue-eyed gene in our family, but other than that, they looked nothing alike. Hunter had light brown hair and high cheekbones, Ryker had dark blond hair that looked perpetually messed up, like he was preparing himself for a rock concert, and Cole... Cole was something else. His jet-black hair brought out his eyes in an amazing way. He didn’t quite give off the bad-boy vibe Ryker did, but it was just as deeply ingrained in his DNA.

  When Josie met us the first time, she nicknamed Ryker the Flirt and Cole the Charmer, and she’d been spot on. She’d also nicknamed Tess the Hurricane, which had been fitting because my sister was a force of nature. I’d been the only one left without a nickname (until recently, when Ryker said I was a dragon. I absolutely loved that... he might have become my favorite brother ever since).

  “Hi, everyone. Tess will be a little late,” I said. “What are we eating today?”

  “Pizza,” Josie said. “It’s on the way.”

  Hunter squeezed his wife’s hand, kissing her forehead. I sighed. He always looked at Josie as if she walked on water. I might not be a romantic, but I couldn’t deny that watching them did something to me.

  “Tess and I have some news, but I’ll wait for her so we can share it together.”

  I rubbed my stomach, my mouth already watering at the thought of pizza.

  My sister arrived at the same time as the food.

  “Ooooh, I have excellent timing. Which one’s mine?” Tess asked, surveying the stack of cartons.

  “The one with your name on it,” Hunter said. We’d been doing this long enough that we already knew each other’s favorites.

  The meeting room exploded with the smell of melted cheese, olives, salami, and anchovies.

  All eyes were on Tess and me while we devoured our respective pizzas.

  “What’s up?” Tess asked.

  “Oh, I told them we have news. So... we’ve finally convinced Jane to take over on Sundays, and we hired her a part-timer.”

  “Which means none of you has to sacrifice your Sundays anymore,” Tess added. “We’re very grateful for all your help.”

  My phone vibrated while my sister talked.

  Rob: Hello, neighbor. Want to catch up this evening?

  Skye: Not sure when I’ll be home.

  Rob: Past three days you’ve always been home already during my run.

  Holy shit, he’d noticed me watching him? I decided to play dumb.

  Skye: Oh, really?

  Rob: Skye... I saw you through the window.

  Skye: Couldn’t just ignore what was right in front of me.

  Rob: Which part did you like more, the run or the push-ups? I can take my T-shirt off, just for you.

  My face felt so hot that I was certain everyone at the table could tell something was off. Glancing around, I noticed Tess was grinning at me, but everyone else was too busy devouring the pizza.

  Hmm... I wasn’t one to overshare, but I stood by the family’s no-secrets policy. Tess had insisted on it after Dad left, saying that keeping things in wasn’t healthy. We used to just sit together in circles and pour our thoughts out when Mom wasn’t looking. She’d been so down anyway that it would have broken her heart. But the strategy worked, and after a sibling session, we all usually came up with ideas to cheer Mom up. I didn’t miss those times, but we did grow very close because of it. Some might say our relationship was weird, but I liked that everyone had their nose in my business. My siblings and their better halves gave some good advice. Usually I only mentioned guys when I’d been on a few dates, but I decided to try another strategy this time. Perhaps if I spoke about this, I could get some perspective.

  “So, my neighbors moved away,” I said.

  “That’s right,” Cole said. “You said you were helping them sell the house. How is that going?”

  I took a deep breath. “Well, this gorgeous guy just moved in. I was already there for dinner once and it was delicious. We also kissed, and it was smokin’. Anyway, if anyone has advice on dealing with a too-hot-to-handle neighbor, I’m all ears.”

  I’d said all this very fast and was greeted with such an unnatural silence that I wondered if they understood me.

  “He’s the guy who just texted you?” Josie asked. As usual, she caught on the fastest. The lawyer of the group, always looking for clues.

  Tess laughed. The boys were just stunned.

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “I don’t know. Body language. Also, you’re blushing. And all that from some texts.”

  “I also can vouch for the fact that she’s been daydreaming about said hot neighbor a few times at work,” Tess said.

  Cole whistled. “You know what, sis? Good for you.”

  My eyes bulged. “Wasn’t expecting this reaction.” My brothers usually were skeptical of any guy I mentioned.

  Cole, Ryker, and Tess exchanged glances. Josie pressed her lips together.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “You were so down after you broke up with that last guy you dated that we’re happy you’re moving on,” Cole said. “Just putting it out there, but I’m still volunteering to punch the moron.”

  I hadn’t realized they’d all worried so much about me. I was slowly putting two and two together though. There was a lot of sibling support over the last weeks... like when Tess, who would sleep at the store if she could, had started suggesting we take the evenings off to go to museums or for walks in Central Park. Josie and Heather had organized girly evenings. Ryker and Cole had pampered me even more than usual.

  It had all been a group effort to cheer me up.

  I hadn’t been in a funk because I was single but because the guy had made me feel like I was worth nothing, and it was a shitty feeling. Like goo I couldn’t scrub off. And oh crap, now they were all hopeful I was moving on. I hadn’t meant to get their hopes up. I mean... at least they weren’t worrying about me, so that was a good thing.

  “Let’s recap,” Josie said. “He’s hot, a great cook, and, by the intensity of your blush, an excellent flirt. I’m giving you one week before you agree to whatever is making you blush.”

  “Nah, two weeks,” Tess said. “Give Skye some credit. She’s a tough nut to crack.”

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence, sis.”

  I turned to my brothers. Ryker was deep in thought, judging by his frown.

  Cole whistled. “I usually agree with Tess, but I’m with Josie on this one.”

  Ryker held his hands up. “I don’t want to wake the Dragon, so I’m just going to withhold my opinion.”

  “We can do that?” Hunter said. “That’s so smart! I’m with Ryker.”

  Tess burst out laughing. Cole was grinning from ear to ear.

  “You’re no help. At all,” I concluded, but I was grinning just as widely as Cole. And when my phone lit up again with a message from Rob, I knew I was a lost cause.

  Rob: Going for a run at the same time tonight. Want to come with me?

  Chapter Ten

  Skye

  “I do feel like this is bringing out my boobs better,” I told Tess. After lunch, we were both having one of our “research and development hours.” Jane was dealing with customers, and we were in our dark room in the back. “I’ll wear it for the rest of the day, check how comfortable it is.”

  “It is sexy as hell,” Tess said, surveying me. We’d finished sewing this one yesterday. We had a small sewing machine and a ton of fabrics in the back, and twice a week, we blocked four hours in the afternoon for experimenting. Sometimes we stayed in the store so we could actually have some natural light, but if it was too full, we made do in the small room.

  “I know, right?” It made my already huge boobs appear even larger. I’d been s
o ashamed by them when I was a teenager, so conscious of the looks they attracted. But now I was proud of them and of my body. It wasn’t perfect, but I loved my curves. “We just need to make the straps a little wider—or use another fabric. It’s cutting into my skin.”

  “I’m on it,” Tess exclaimed. Rummaging through the box where we kept leftover textiles, she picked two pieces of black stretchy fabric, carefully wrapping them around each strap. Instead of making them bulky, it added a layer of sexiness.

  “Wow, now it’s even more sophisticated than before. I’ll just sew them real quick so they don’t fall off,” I said.

  “I’ll do that,” Tess said. I took off the bra, and she quickly made the changes at the sewing machine. Then I put it back on, and we both admired the result in the mirror.

  “That’s better,” I said.

  “Let me just sew a bit of lace to the upper part of the cup. I think it’ll look great—balance out the sturdier straps. Don’t need the sewing machine for this. Just stand still.”

  I eyed the needle she picked. “Don’t poke me.”

  “When have I ever poked you? Wait... don’t answer that.”

  “Uh-huh.” It had taken her a few months to get the hang of sewing a garment on me without making me feel like a pincushion.

  “You’re not exactly still. What’s the matter? Thoughts of a sexy neighbor making you jittery?”

  “Or the fear that my skin will get the pointy end of the needle.”

  Tess stepped back, pointing a finger and the needle at me. “Don’t feed me tales.”

  I grinned apologetically. “A mix of both?”

  Tess kept staring.

  “Fine, I was thinking about Rob.”

  She smiled triumphantly, resuming the sewing. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? You didn’t give me any details about that dinner and kiss. Time you rectify that, don’t you think?”

  She kept glancing up at me, and I knew the second she split her focus between sewing and fishing for spicy details, my skin was in danger.

  “Fine, I’ll spill the beans. But give that needle here. I’ll do it myself and keep my boobs safe from you.”