Worth The Effort (The Worth Series Book 4: A Copper Country Romance) by Mara Jacobs

residual grief from his wife’s death. Seemed like three big strikes.
    But this wasn’t about dating Sawyer Beck. This was about feeling a flash of emotion—namely lust—for the first time in a long time, and it felt good. It felt right. Even if Sawyer was the wrong choice for this lust, she was going to act on it.  
    She spent the next two hours trying to remember what state her house was in and if her sheets were relatively clean. She knew the bed wasn’t made but was hoping desire-induced neediness would make that point moot.
    She didn’t even think an invitation would be necessary—not if the bulge of his that she’d felt beneath her was any indication. No. He’d be following her home for sure to finish what they’d started.
    Still, just so there’d be no awkward “should I or shouldn’t I” on his part, as they pulled into the Summers and Beck parking lot and he parked next to her snow-covered car she said, “Will you follow me to my house?”
    He grinned and said, “Absolutely. Give me your keys, and I’ll get your car warm for you.”
    She dug the keys out of her bag and handed them to him. He left the warmth of the truck cab to start up her Subaru.
    She watched as he turned on the car and then remerged with her heavy-duty snow brush to clean off the inches of heavy white stuff that had fallen throughout the day.
    She’d had gentlemanly boyfriends before. They’d held doors for her, held her coat for her, things like that.
    But it was amazing the lump that rose to her throat as she watched Sawyer clean off her car as the heater warmed up the inside.
    When he got to the front passenger side, he stilled as he cleared it off. For a moment, Deni wondered if he’d wrenched a muscle or something. And then selfishly wondered if it would hamper his performance. Ha! It felt so good to have her body sparking again, to be thinking thoughts about performance and orgasms and Sawyer’s hot, sweaty body heaving over her.
    She hadn’t had sex in a long time, and even the desire to…take things into her own hand…had completely disappeared since the blanket of numbness had wrapped itself around her.  
    She squirmed on the seat. Oh yes, the sparks were there and were ready to be ignited.
    Sawyer rose from leaning over the windshield, and he seemed to be okay, although he was walking slowly back to the truck. There wasn’t quite the spring in his step as when he’d left it.
    “Are you okay?” she asked as he got into his seat and shut the door.
    “No. Well, yeah. I’m fine.” He was staring straight ahead at the building. Then he turned to look at her and said, “I’m not going to follow you home.”
    “Oh,” she said. She wanted to come up with some alternate plan about her following him, leaving her car here, or, hell, just peeling their clothes off in the warm truck and finishing what they’d started in a different parking lot.
    But logistics weren’t the problem. It was most likely being back at the office. He must have seen the building with his name on it as he brushed off her car and realized what a bad move this was, business-wise.
    Which was exactly what she’d told him the first time, when he’d brushed it off as easily as if it were snow on a windshield.
    But that wasn’t something she was going to throw in his face now. And she certainly wasn’t going to try to convince him otherwise. If he thought it’d be a problem because he owned the company, she was going to respect that.
    Even if the spark that had been humming through her body had just extinguished, and the heaviness seemed to envelope her once again. Like a lead blanket was being pulled around her, her arms were almost too heavy to even open the door. She wondered if she’d even be able to drive herself home.
    “I’ll follow you home, but just to make sure you get in okay. I think it’s better if—”
    She raised her hand ( hey, her arms did work! ) to stop him. “Not necessary. This is Hancock. I’m fine.” He made