Body Work by Bonnie Edwards

more than the texture of her skin, the feel of her heart pounding against his, the scent of her sex.
    He’d had some great times with other bored women, had even turned some of them into allies. This was a word of mouth business and he had great word of mouth.
    The fact that some of his reputation hinged on his recreational activity didn ’t make him proud, but he wasn’t above taking the work.
    But with Lisa, it was different, more, and that scared him.
    His cell phone rang and he answered, half relieved, half disappointed to have the interruption. “Branton.”
    “ Hey, I, uh, had something come up.”
    “ And I’ve got a good idea what it was,” he snapped, remembering about the girl Jason had met. “Just make sure she’s not jail bait and you’re protected.”
    “ I know, I know.”
    “ Jason, make sure.”
    “ I will.”
    “ You be back at work tomorrow or you go home. God help you if your mother finds your sorry ass on her doorstep.”
    “ Unh, maybe I should come in today.”
    Tyce laughed. His sister could kick Jason ’s butt from here to Sunday without stubbing her toe.
    He looked at the light gleaming out from the kitchen windows. “No, you take the day off. You’ll be itchy as hell all day watching the clock anyway. I know a good detailer who lives close by. You just mind yourself and the girl.”
    Jason was a Branton male through and through: his head got scrambled when his dick woke up.
    Tyce set his toolbox down beside the pickup and headed toward the kitchen door. Lisa had always been an early riser and he’d known all along that she watched him. A telltale twitch at the frilly white curtain in the window told him this morning was no different.
    He rapped once on the door , and then opened it.
    He found her perched on a stool sipping coffee from a huge mug that covered half her face when she held it up. She was alone. A glossy magazine lay flat on the counter top in front of her. Wrapped in a silk robe, her hair tousled like a cloud, she hadn ’t been up long.
    Her color was high. She looked pretty sitting there, back straight, bare toes hooked over the bottom rung on the stool. She had high arches in her feet and he knew now that the skin on her soles was a s smooth as the rest of her. “You need me?” she asked.
    “ I wouldn’t say that.” He stepped to the rack of mugs by the brand-new coffee maker and helped himself. He appreciated good coffee and Lisa’s was exceptional.
    She grinned into her mug and took a dainty sip. Surprised by her smile, he watched the fine slope of her nape as she tilted her head down. He wanted to lift her hair off her neck then run his tongue down her spine. Hm. Not a bad idea. When he got to the base, he could bend her over and take her that way. He wondered if she’d like that, too.
    “ You plan to come out to the garage today?” he asked.
    She raised her long lashes and studied him intently, blue ey es warm and filled with humor. “And if I am?”
    “ I’ll put you to work.”
    “ Excuse me?”
    He could have laughed out loud at her expression. Apparently being put to that kind of work wasn ’t what she wanted.
    “ Detailing. No more loitering unless you mean business,” he said. “I’m not running a daycare.”
    She sputtered into her mug but managed to swallow anyway.
    “These cars need to be washed, waxed and buffed,” he continued, ignoring her theatrics. “My nephew’s deserted me today. You can still use a buffer, can’t you?”
    The challenge he put in his voice was over the top, but he knew she ’d take the bait. Eventually.
    The red flush on he r neck gave her interest away. “Have someone from that place in town come out to do it,” she said in a bluff he could read a mile off.
    “ I don’t allow just anyone to wax and buff the cars I work on. I have a reputation.”
    She flipped a page on the magazine, then set her mug down and looked at him. The movement caused the shoulder of the robe to slide to her elbow. He saw a