nonchalantly, “When was your
birthday?”
“Last week,” he said, coming over and
sitting down beside her.
“Oh.”
“The book was a present from my sister.”
“Oh,” she said again, relieved, but thinking
a book was a particularly poor gift for someone who couldn’t read.
What had his sister been thinking? Especially a “with love”
sister.
“She’s the one who sent along the other book
too,” Jack said. “She was afraid you might find welding a little
dry.” Karen had also thought it was about time her brother showed
more than a passing interest in a woman. Rather than being
displeased with his inability to read ploy, she’d told him he could
always use the practice, since he did tend to avoid the written
word, and she’d rummaged under her bed until she’d found the
perfect primer. “No woman can resist this man,” she’d told him with
an uncomfortably dreamy sigh. Uncomfortable, that is, for Jack.
He’d told his sister he had plenty of competition, thank you, and
did she have another book. She’d only said, “Trust me.”
“Actually,” Lila said. “I think Welding
from A to Z and Beyond is going to better suit our purposes.”
She opened the handbook to the first chapter and tried to keep her
gaze off the cover of the romance novel. The Hawk looked like Jack
with a wild streak, and she didn’t need the added stimulation to
her imagination. “Do you know the alphabet?”
“Inside out and backward,” he said,
grinning.
She slanted him a wry glance. “Dyslexic
joke?”
He laughed and helped himself to a handful
of cookies.
Five minutes later Lila realized there was
more to welding than she’d thought, and most of it was couched in
technical jargon. Boring, indecipherable technical jargon. She was
halfway through the book and she still hadn’t found a good starting
page. She never should have agreed to let him bring his own
material, she thought, or allowed him to sit quite so close to her
on the couch. He disrupted her concentration.
“Stop,” he suddenly said, scooting even
closer and making it difficult for her even to breathe. “Back up a
couple of pages. Yep. That’s it. That’s the page we want.”
“Arc, TIG, MIG?”
“Just the arc part. I don’t need TIG
capabilities or MIG speed.”
“How lovely,” she mumbled, searching the
page for something simple, something she understood and he could
read.
“I’m not even sure I need arc,” he
added.
Then why, she asked silently, was she
reading stuff like, “The duty cycle at nonrated amperage is
inversely proportional to the square of the new amperage?” She’d
always struggled with anything remotely related to mathematics, but
she kept her thoughts to herself and scanned farther down the
page.
“Okay,” she finally said. “Here’s a good
sentence to start with.” She set her finger on the page below a
line of type. He leaned over her, and she swore she could feel his
body heat warming her right side.
“AC or DC?”
“Yes, that’s the one. Can you read it?”
He dutifully repeated the line. “AC or DC,
but that’s no sentence, teach.”
“Hmm?” She jerked her head up and her gaze
collided with his sexy grin.
“No verb.”
“Oh. Of course.” He had the most interesting
mouth, she mused, and she liked the way it curved higher on one
side when he smiled. She liked remembering how it had felt to have
his mouth on hers. She’d liked everything about his kiss . . . the
heat, the taste, the sensation he’d aroused deep in her breast. She
slowly lifted her gaze to meet his and swallowed.
Jack knew an invitation when he saw one, and
invitation was melting in her brown eyes. Color raced across her
cheeks, flushing her skin rose-petal pink. If he had thought before
he acted, he might have decided not to kiss her, because kissing
her wasn’t likely to lead where he’d want to go. But he was only a
man—and damn glad of it.
He raised his hand to her face and brushed
his thumb across her skin
birthday?”
“Last week,” he said, coming over and
sitting down beside her.
“Oh.”
“The book was a present from my sister.”
“Oh,” she said again, relieved, but thinking
a book was a particularly poor gift for someone who couldn’t read.
What had his sister been thinking? Especially a “with love”
sister.
“She’s the one who sent along the other book
too,” Jack said. “She was afraid you might find welding a little
dry.” Karen had also thought it was about time her brother showed
more than a passing interest in a woman. Rather than being
displeased with his inability to read ploy, she’d told him he could
always use the practice, since he did tend to avoid the written
word, and she’d rummaged under her bed until she’d found the
perfect primer. “No woman can resist this man,” she’d told him with
an uncomfortably dreamy sigh. Uncomfortable, that is, for Jack.
He’d told his sister he had plenty of competition, thank you, and
did she have another book. She’d only said, “Trust me.”
“Actually,” Lila said. “I think Welding
from A to Z and Beyond is going to better suit our purposes.”
She opened the handbook to the first chapter and tried to keep her
gaze off the cover of the romance novel. The Hawk looked like Jack
with a wild streak, and she didn’t need the added stimulation to
her imagination. “Do you know the alphabet?”
“Inside out and backward,” he said,
grinning.
She slanted him a wry glance. “Dyslexic
joke?”
He laughed and helped himself to a handful
of cookies.
Five minutes later Lila realized there was
more to welding than she’d thought, and most of it was couched in
technical jargon. Boring, indecipherable technical jargon. She was
halfway through the book and she still hadn’t found a good starting
page. She never should have agreed to let him bring his own
material, she thought, or allowed him to sit quite so close to her
on the couch. He disrupted her concentration.
“Stop,” he suddenly said, scooting even
closer and making it difficult for her even to breathe. “Back up a
couple of pages. Yep. That’s it. That’s the page we want.”
“Arc, TIG, MIG?”
“Just the arc part. I don’t need TIG
capabilities or MIG speed.”
“How lovely,” she mumbled, searching the
page for something simple, something she understood and he could
read.
“I’m not even sure I need arc,” he
added.
Then why, she asked silently, was she
reading stuff like, “The duty cycle at nonrated amperage is
inversely proportional to the square of the new amperage?” She’d
always struggled with anything remotely related to mathematics, but
she kept her thoughts to herself and scanned farther down the
page.
“Okay,” she finally said. “Here’s a good
sentence to start with.” She set her finger on the page below a
line of type. He leaned over her, and she swore she could feel his
body heat warming her right side.
“AC or DC?”
“Yes, that’s the one. Can you read it?”
He dutifully repeated the line. “AC or DC,
but that’s no sentence, teach.”
“Hmm?” She jerked her head up and her gaze
collided with his sexy grin.
“No verb.”
“Oh. Of course.” He had the most interesting
mouth, she mused, and she liked the way it curved higher on one
side when he smiled. She liked remembering how it had felt to have
his mouth on hers. She’d liked everything about his kiss . . . the
heat, the taste, the sensation he’d aroused deep in her breast. She
slowly lifted her gaze to meet his and swallowed.
Jack knew an invitation when he saw one, and
invitation was melting in her brown eyes. Color raced across her
cheeks, flushing her skin rose-petal pink. If he had thought before
he acted, he might have decided not to kiss her, because kissing
her wasn’t likely to lead where he’d want to go. But he was only a
man—and damn glad of it.
He raised his hand to her face and brushed
his thumb across her skin
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