Free Billi Jean by Running Scared

wondered about him a lot. More than she should, she knew, but it seemed like she was addicted to knowing more about Russell. And, well, Irene was a gossip.
    “Wasn’t born here, but we moved here when I was pretty young. I stayed until I was a teenager, then I moved down south,” he finally said.
    He was already taking out the lock she’d had in wrong, concentrating on the little parts inside and doing something to the inside of the door. His black hair looked shiny and smelt clean, fresh and a bit…spicy, maybe? Or maybe that was him. He’d taken off his jacket, but he had on a great cable-knit, dark blue sweater, with a hint of a white T-shirt around the collar. As usual, he had on a pair of jeans, but these looked brand new, still stiff and dark blue. And his boots. He looked fantastic. All man, and all lean and strong. She could see his biceps under the sweater. Guys in sweaters with T-shirts underneath just looked so good. And his thighs were impressive, too. They were so long and muscled. When he crouched down he filled in the jeans tightly, making her wonder what he looked like out of those jeans, completely naked. Would he have black hair on his legs? And his chest? She imagined he’d have some hair on his chest. He looked like he would.
    Blinking, she jerked her eyes off his body and tried to concentrate.
    “To join the Navy?” she asked.
    He grunted. It was a bit exciting, the sounds he made. And that was just plain odd. Her dad had grunted at her when she was pestering him with questions, or when he was working on something. But coming from Russell it was…sexy.
    “Yeah, after a while.”
    “Mmm…” He certainly didn’t say much about himself.
    “What about you? Drove here on your own and now you’re looking for work?” he asked, adjusting the lock in his hand and handing her the screws that would fix it to the door. Their hands touched and she felt a little jolt. Had it been so long since anyone had touched her?
    Russell looked over at her when she didn’t immediately respond. She was struck again by his grey eyes. The irises were so dark they were almost black, except they weren’t. There were some flecks of grey and blue there but a hint of brown stood out as well. Hazel? Maybe.
    “Don’t lose any of those.” He directed a look at her hand, making her blink down in order to focus on the screws.
    She’d been staring at him, but he was so absorbed in the lock, he didn’t seem to notice.
    Lock in his big hand, he flipped a few metal pieces around, added something else, and grinned over at her. “This way it might work better, but still not good enough.”
    “Right,” she muttered at his arrogance. As if she was going to drop the screws and, if she did, where would they go? On the floor? Men.
    His jaw flexed, as if he were gritting his teeth. He actually looked a little cute like that. Not that she’d tell Mr Big Navy SEAL that, but he did. She eyed his big shoulders and long arms and reassessed him—maybe not cute, but more approachable and less intense, she supposed. But still sexier than any man had a right to be. She couldn’t help noticing how long and capable his fingers were. His hands were big, rough and strong.
    But they’d felt wonderful the other day. And his mouth. She’d thought about that kiss all day after he’d left the hardware store. And all night. It’d been so masculine. And possessive. And so unexpected. Had he been planning it, or had he just decided to kiss her right then and there? It had felt like he hadn’t been able to stop himself. His hand had trembled a little on her face, she remembered. For some reason recalling that made her weak at the knees. What would it be like to have a man want her so badly he couldn’t control himself? The idea shouldn’t have been so thrilling.
    She could admit now that she wanted him to kiss her again. Maybe a bit more than such a quick kiss, too. But she still wasn’t sure how much more; and he didn’t look like the