Free Next to You by Julia Gabriel Page B

onto its frame so it wouldn’t slam shut at the end. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been in the house before. Before her arrival, he spent quite a bit of time in it, checking up on the cleaning service, making small repairs, keeping an eye on problems that might develop. It was an old house and needed a close eye.
    He walked past the wide front stairway and headed toward the back of the house, the old hardwood planks creaking beneath his feet. Maybe she was in the kitchen with earbuds in, listening to music. As soon as he laid the photo album on the kitchen island, footsteps clattered down the front stairway.
    “Oh hey. I thought I heard someone down here.” Phlox Miller seemed unconcerned that he had entered her house uninvited and was standing in the middle of her kitchen. He dipped his head toward the floor anyway, an automatic reaction to other people so they didn’t have to look at his face, but not before he registered what she was wearing. White shorts, a peach and blue striped shirt, and tiny leather flip flops. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun … thing. Jared was clueless when it came to women’s hairstyles or clothing or makeup. He was sure there was some actual name for the way her hair was right now. He could call Mina later and describe it to her.
    What Jared was sure of, however, was that he liked the messy bun thing. It was practically inviting him to undo it, to let her gorgeous golden hair fall down around her shoulders where he could bury his face in it and inhale the scent of her shampoo.
    He wanted Phlox Miller.
    Jared hadn’t thought much about women in ages. Hadn’t let himself think about women. Why torture himself with thoughts of something he couldn’t have? He kept all those desires pushed way down deep where they couldn’t bother him.
    But he was thinking about this woman. Thinking about all the things he wanted to do with her—innocent things like sit down here in her kitchen and talk over a beer or coffee. And not-so-innocent things like pull that striped tee shirt over her head and press his face to her breasts. He didn’t even care if they were surgically reconstructed breasts. He wanted to see them and touch them. Taste them.
    Her flip-flopped feet appeared in his line of vision. He’d never really thought about feet being sexy before, but hers definitely were. There were hundreds of bones in the human foot, according to his nephew, and Jared wanted to run his finger along each and every one of her delicate foot bones. He wanted to sit on her bed and watch her paint that pink polish on those toenails. Her company probably sold that nail polish.
    “Jared?”
    Her voice was quiet but concerned. Like maybe she wasn’t totally unhappy that he had barged into her house but still wasn’t sure whether he was going to blow a gasket again or not. He lifted his sights from her toes to her knees.
    “I, uh, returned your pictures.” He waved a hand at the island behind them. “I owe you an apology, Ms. Miller.”
    Between the social need to apologize for his horrendous behavior and the wildly confusing effect her presence was having on his body, Jared felt like the low-level employee he suddenly realized he was. He had started a company, been its CEO, grown it into an industry leader and sold it for a boatload of money. But right now he felt like a teenaged pool boy.
    “Phlox. Please call me Phlox.”
    “I’ve never met anyone named Phlox before.”
    “No one has.”
    He could tell from the softness of her voice that she was smiling. Why wasn’t she yelling at him? Pushing him out of her house? Firing his sorry ass?
    “I’m also here to tender my resignation. I can leave in the morning or stay until you find a replacement. Whichever causes the least inconvenience for you.”
    Jared had never quit a job before. Or been fired, though he had fired plenty of people himself. Damn, this was humiliating. Jake would be rolling on the floor right now, laughing his ass