Hot Property (5 page)

She slowly faced him. “Skylar, this is a
surprise.” The words came out in one quick sweep instead of smooth
like Betsy planned. But when her eyes met his she was so busy
willing her emotions to be quiet that she had forgotten.

“I wanted to bring you a copy of the new
house plans like I promised. I put them up on your desk.”

Betsy’s stomach was doing one flip after
another as he took baby steps in her direction. Stop gaping at him
like some love struck teenager and say something, she ordered
herself. “You didn’t have to make a special trip into town.”

“I didn’t.”

“Well good,” Betsy stammered. “I am anxious
to see the plans. I’ll take them home with me so I can give them a
close look tonight.” She’d rambled until his voice cut her off.

“Do you ever take time out from work,
Betsy?”

The warmth in his tone was soothing enough
that Betsy relaxed and smiled. “I could probably ask the same of
you.”

A crooked smile appeared on his face. But
the grin was short lived and the man wrinkled his brow as though in
deep thought. “Maybe we both deserve a little time off. What do you
say to a quiet dinner? Then we could--”

“No. I really can’t tonight,” Betsy cut in
stammering again. Only problem was she hadn’t said what she really
wanted to say.

The evening Skylar suggested sounded
wonderful. But if she said yes, what would she be agreeing to next?
The unknown never frightened Betsy before. But when it came to
Skylar Blakewood, she was scared to death of these new emotions
that grew in strength every time she was in the man’s company.

“Can’t or won’t?”

Betsy trembled at the sound of his voice.
Had he read her mind? Did he know she was terrified of getting too
close to him? Or did he think she was just playing some sort of
childish game? That’s not what she wanted.

“I just can’t,” she insisted and bustled
past him and up the stairs to her office.

“Is it something I said? No wait, it’s my
breath. I have bad breath. That’s it isn’t it?”

The smile came naturally as Betsy craned her
neck away from the window where she’d taken root, and looked at
him. He balanced his tall muscled frame at the top of the steps, by
gripping the top of the archway. His head was tilted sideways,
while narrow blue eyes peered up at her in a pitiful way. He
reminded her of a little boy who’d just been scolded.

“No, it’s not your breath.” The smile faded
when an inner voice reminded her of her decision to practice
restraint around him. “I have other plans. But you might want to
ask Stephanie Rogers. I’m sure she’d love to have dinner with you.”
Betsy wanted to bite off her tongue. She had no idea where the
words came from.

“I had lunch with Stephanie.”

His words took her breath away. Reminding
herself he could have lunch with whomever he wanted, allowed her to
breathe.

“I’m sorry. I had no right--”

“You have the right to assume whatever you
want, Betsy.” Their eyes met and held steady for a long time before
Skylar broke the spell by speaking again. “Since I can’t convince
you to have dinner with me, I guess I’ll go take a closer look at
my new property to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.”

But you have convinced me. I can’t think of
anything I’d rather do than have dinner with you. The words were
all there, stuck to the roof of her mouth. And by the time her
tongue had pried them loose, Skylar was already going out the front
door.

Betsy felt the loss immediately, a void deep
within her. She crossed her arms over her heart, hugging herself,
but the empty feeling did not leave her. If anything, it had
widened into a big gaping hole.

A few minutes to gather up her things and
she left the building, surprised to find the temperature and
humidity had dropped. The pleasant weather shouldn’t be wasted
indoors.

That of course was the explanation she gave
to the sensible side of herself. The one telling her it was a
mistake to think about doing what she was already making plans to
do. And when she stopped by the mini-market on the way home
selecting the things she would need, Miss Sensible was still
badgering her. She didn’t let up once she arrived home or while
Betsy changed her clothes. She persisted as Betsy loaded up the
small basket she carried with her back outside.

Betsy strapped the basket to the backend of
her motorcycle seat and mounted her ride before Miss Sensible gave
up and wasn’t heard from again until Betsy coasted to a stop at her
destination.

The instant old Betsy came into view,
Betsy’s pulse quickened. When she coasted to a stop behind the
truck, Miss Sensible returned insisting she turn around and head
for cover before it was too late. But it was already too late.
Hiding would not fill the gaping hole deep within her. Only Skylar
could do that.

Invisible fingers tickled Betsy from head to
foot as she collected the basket from her bike and started making
her way through the path of flattened weeds. She trekked over the
ground and climbed the hill effortlessly in comparison to the other
day. But today she was wearing her hiking boots and had already
absorbed the shock of losing her land.

As Betsy stepped upon the peak of the hill,
Skylar approached from the other side. The mere sight of him took
her breath away. He still wore the trousers to his suit. But the
jacket and tie were gone and his shirt was unbuttoned to the middle
of his chest.

A blazing burst of heat stormed through
Betsy as she imagined running her fingers over the smoothness of
that muscled and tanned chest.

When his long legs suddenly braked, Betsy
gazed up into magnificent blue eyes. Their stare held for what
seemed an eternity of pure bliss before the magical moment was
broken when Skylar blinked. His mouth spread into a big smile that
showed flawless white teeth.

“You came.” His words were said as if the
surprise of seeing her left him too stunned to think of anything
else to say.

The void within Betsy was already flooding
over the edges with fullness. “I came,” she said, still gazing at
him in a trance-like state.

The magical moment of silence made Betsy
feel weightless. Her fingers let go of their firm hold on the
handle of the picnic basket. When it smashed down on her toe, it
wasn’t pain, but built in reflexes that made her move, breaking the
spell.

“Ouch,” came from Skylar’s mouth on impact.
And it was he who quickly lifted the basket off her toe.

“You okay?” he asked.

The genuine concern in his voice soothed the
thumping sensation in Betsy’s big toe.

“Didn’t feel a thing,” she said and smiled,
deciding her next pair of hiking boots would have steel toes.

Skylar’s smile reflected relief. He swung
the basket up to his face and raised a corner of the lid. “What
have we got here anyway?”

“I figured you’d skip dinner when you
mentioned coming up here to work.”

“You do seem to make a lot of assumptions
about me, Betsy.”

The sudden change in his mood alerted Betsy
something troubled him. Could it be her boldness? Had he made other
dinner plans for later and hesitated telling her? Had he taken her
up on her suggestion and called Stephanie? If so, he didn’t have to
feel embarrassed for her. Her impulsive behavior had gotten her
into this awkward position and would get her out.

“Well I won’t be making any more,” she
declared, snatching the basket from his hand and turning on her
heels to leave.

In spite of her quickness, Skylar moved
faster and grasped hold of her arm and spun her back around,
pulling her against him.

“Your assumption wasn’t wrong, Betsy. I
haven’t eaten yet.”

His voice had come to her in a husky
whisper. Her flare up of anger was replaced with a raging fire of
desire that was burning out of control when Skylar stepped back
from her.

“Bringing me dinner was a nice gesture. But
I don’t have time to eat right now.”

“I see,” Betsy stated, but she didn’t. And
the snapping and cracking fire of passion was replaced with anger.
The man was absolutely impossible. One minute he was warm, even
compassionate. The very next, he was cold and distant.

“Charlie Webber, my construction foreman
just left here,” he said, then hesitated, ramming his hands in his
trouser pockets. His head lowered as a dusty loafer kicked into a
patch of tall clover.

He stared into her eyes. “A township
supervisor showed up this morning when my crew was about to break
ground for the road up here. The supervisor stopped them.” He
paused. “It’s my own fault. My lawyer was out of town so I had to
retain the services of another one before I had time to make the
proper inquiries into his background. The man has no experience in
real estate transactions of this nature. If he had, all the
necessary permits and approvals would’ve been finalized prior to
settling on the property.”

Now Betsy understood his mood swing. And all
she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and assure everything
would turn out okay. But she knew that wasn’t what he needed right
now. The man might be vulnerable if put in a situation foreign to
him, but Skylar was in familiar territory. He didn’t need a hug and
she kept her arms at her side and prompted him to explain his
solution.

“So now what? I mean what timetable are we
looking at before you can move forward?”

Skylar glanced at his watch and started
moving down the hillside. “The township’s monthly meeting should be
getting underway any minute now. I intend to get approval before it
adjourns.”

Ninety percent of Betsy’s dealings involved
residential properties. The other ten percent gave her experience
with urban land sales purchased for development. Obtaining the
required permits and approvals was not as simple as Skylar made it
sound.

Skylar suddenly stopped in mid-stride, as if
something had occurred to him. He started to turn back around as
Betsy came up alongside him. He reached out and relieved her of the
basket then was off to the races again down the hillside. Betsy
shifted into a trot in order to remain at his side.

“You should come with me to the
meeting.”

Betsy glanced over at him just in time to
see the grin.

“The supervisors might be more agreeable to
my request with a pretty woman at my side.”

His statement left Betsy speechless. How
dare he make reference to her as if she were a pawn he could use to
sway their decision in his favor? Did he really think she was
pretty? The thought gave her a chill of excitement and brought a
smile to her face. Then she frowned. In comparison to his beauty
queen girlfriend Stephanie Rogers, Betsy thought herself a plain
Jane. If it were Stephanie at his side would he have said
beautiful?

They reached old Betsy and Skylar sat the
basket in the rear end of the truck and froze when he spotted
Betsy’s motorcycle.

“You ride a Harley?”

Betsy couldn’t keep from smiling as she
gripped the handlebars and swung her leg over the seat. “You have a
problem with that?”

He shook his head and grinned. “No problem.
So you want to follow me?”

“I never said I was going to the
meeting.”

His lower lip dropped. “As my Realtor you
could offer insight into the need for additional housing in the
area.”

Betsy couldn’t argue. Nor could she
visualize anything but pine and spruce trees sprouting from the
hillside he wanted to build homes on.

“You can give them the facts,” Betsy said,
then glanced down her front. “I’m not dressed for the occasion
anyway.”

She watched him close his lips and swallow
hard. Could he be feeling the same sense of loss as her since they
were about to part? Wishful thinking, Miss Sensible mocked. The man
gave little indication of being physically attracted to her. But
then Betsy thought she did a good job hiding her true feelings.
Could he be too?

Skylar’s hands gripped the side of his truck
bed. “If I had more time I think I could convince you to join me.”
He paused, taking a deep breath. “Since time isn’t on my side, I
guess this is goodbye.”

“Bye.” Betsy saw him hesitate, his eyes
fixed on hers as if he was holding on in hope she’d change her
mind. When she remained silent he turned toward the door.

“Skylar!”

He slowly tilted his head in her
direction.

“Good luck.”

His lips twisted into a little smile before
she watched him climb behind the wheel and drive away.

Betsy swallowed the lump in her throat, then
gunned the throttle and headed in the opposite direction. She was
determined to enjoy the sights and smell of the countryside. The
thick forest of trees on both sides of the road made her smile. But
the beauty of the lavender and white wild flowers near the edge of
the road is what occupied her thoughts until she made the turn onto
the main street.

Up until now the scenery allowed her to
postpone feeling the emptiness tugging at her insides. She couldn’t
allow this to continue. She’d been perfectly content with her life
before Skylar. And she would be again. She had to be.

She arrived home and went into her roomy
downstairs apartment, managed to shower, pull on her white terry
cloth one piece short outfit without allowing a glimpse of Skylar
and her feelings for him into her thoughts. The way her toe began
to thump helped keep her mind off him. She placed her foot on the
side of the bathtub to give the toe a closer look. It was an ugly
sight, swollen and already black and blue. Feeling along the bone
she came to the conclusion it wasn’t broken.

When Betsy thought about how she’d gotten
the injury, she quickly put her foot down on the cool tile.

“You got off easy,” Miss Sensible insisted.
If she hadn’t stood gaping at Skylar the picnic basket wouldn’t
have smashed her toe in the first place.