Chapter 6

The next morning,I get to Ginny's house before the sun comes up. There's not only a lot that needs to be done, but I want to see her before she goes to work.

Her car is in the driveway, and Neal sent me a text last night letting me know they installed a security system in her house. He knows about what happened with Steph, so I'm sure he had about the same reaction as I did if Ginny told him about Mark.

I tossed and turned last night unable to fall asleep. My thoughts were crammed with Ginny and if she was safe. But also, I was bombarded with images of her soaking wet in the kitchen. If my inner thoughts are supposed to say what kind of man I am, I'm ashamed of what they revealed about me last night. I bounced between murderous rage and insatiable want until I just gave up and got out of bed.

Now I'm here knocking on her door at the crack of dawn.

I wait a few moments, but there's no answer and no sound. I pull out the key she left for me yesterday and let myself inside. My guess is she's probably still sleeping, so I go straight to the kitchen and get to work.

I've got a crew of guys coming later on today to help me, but this much I can do.

I'm lost in what I'm doing with the plumbing and time goes by. When I finally climb out from under the sink after it's all fixed I'm greeted with an ear-piercing scream.

"Shit," I gasp, and nearly drop my wrench.

"You scared me to death," Ginny says as she lowers the bat in her arms. "You told me about Mark and I got all crazy last night. Then I hear noises down here this morning and I didn't know what to do." She puts her hand to her chest trying to calm her heartbeat and it's then I notice what she's wearing.

She's got on a baggy tank top that hangs to her ass, but I can't tell if she's got on short shorts or just underwear. One thing I know for sure is that she's not wearing a bra. Her dark red hair is piled on top of her head, and she's got the most adorable sleepy expression on her face.

I move my hands to the front of my jeans to try and cover exactly how much I'm enjoying her presence. I clear my throat and try to look away, but it's no good. I keep coming back to her body.

"I made coffee," I say, pointing at the counter behind me. "Your water is good to go."

"Thank god," she says, with her eyes half closed. She walks right past me and to the pot as she grabs a mug out of the cabinet.

I'm a little confused that she's not more concerned about being nearly naked in front of me. After getting soaked yesterday and giving me spank bank material for a year, I thought she was a little shy when it comes to her body. But I guess I was wrong. Because right now I can see nothing but skin and sex as she moves around the kitchen.

She pours the coffee into the mug and brings it to her lips. She closes her eyes and inhales the dark aroma before she takes a sip. First one then another. Once she's had about half her mug she sets it down and looks over at me. Then, as if suddenly realizing that I'm here, her eyes widen in panic.

"Oh my god," she whispers, looking down at herself and then trying to use an arm to cover everything I've already seen.

"Good morning," I say, trying to hide my smile as I lean against the counter next to her and make a show of looking her up and down. "Sleep well?"

"Why do I keep embarrassing myself in front of you?" She puts her coffee down and scoots by me as she nearly runs from the room.

"Don't stop on my account!" I shout to her from the kitchen as she scampers up the stairs.

I wait until I hear the shower running before I go outside and grab my big tool bag. I've got a lot of work to do today and I brought everything I need.

Just when I've finished getting everything set up, Ginny comes down the stairs. This time she's wearing jeans and a collared shirt with the city's logo on it. Her hair's down, and I think she might be just as beautiful now as she was when she came downstairs earlier.

"Good morning, Genevieve," I tease, and I love it when she bites her lip.

"Listen," she says, like she's had a long time to think about what she's going to say before she came down here. "I need this work done on the house, and my sister trusts you. Let's just try and keep this professional from here on out. I don't even need to be here when you are." She says all of it quickly as if to rip the Band-Aid off.

I take a few steps toward her and she leans her head back to look up at me. "Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no," she says, then licks her lips.

"Then I'd like to see you as much as possible," I say, reaching out and brushing my knuckles along her jaw. "Maybe you can come back at lunch time and see what I've been working on."

She blinks a few times and then walks around me to grab a to-go mug for her coffee. She fills it up while she talks with her back to me. "Like I said, let's just keep this professional."

"All right then. If that's the way you want it," I say, fighting a smile. I have no intentions of letting her off the hook so easily, but I can be a very patient man.

She spins around, and her expression tells me she didn't expect me to give up so easily. Then she straightens as if remembering this is what she asked for. "Yes. Okay then." She's all business now. "Just fix the things we went over and that's it. Leave your bill tonight and I'll mail you a check."

"Sounds good," I say, and don't try to hide my smile.

Ginny grabs her purse and nearly stomps past me on her way out the door.

"Have a great day," I say, and she looks back at me one last time before she closes the door behind her.

Now the fun begins.