A Perfect Storm
Page 85

Wide-eyed and uncertain, Marla edged closer to Spencer’s side. “I, ah…”
“Men can be such dicks, huh?”
Since Marla appeared ready to faint over the easy way Arizona insulted him, Spencer said, “You’re not helping, Arizona.”
“Was I supposed to help?” She made a rude sound—and stopped directly in front of Marla. “Why are you here?”
Arm limp, Marla pointed at her house. “Tree limb.”
“Yeah? What tree limb?”
Spencer scrubbed both hands over his face. “There were storms last night. You,” he said, stressing the word, “were too hammered to hear them.” He didn’t bother telling her that he’d been oblivious, as well. “They blew half the damn tree into her yard and one really big limb is blocking her driveway and front walkway.”
“I was pretty drunk,” she confirmed to Marla, then she went to the edge of the porch to survey the damage.
In her short shorts and the soft T-shirt, she made a real sight leaning there on his railing. A breeze lifted her silky ebony hair. It tumbled down her back toward that perfect rear.
He was staring at her ass, a little lost, when she whistled.
“Holy cow. You can’t even get your car out with that blocking the way, can you?”
“Ah…no.”
Arizona turned back to Marla. “So what’d you want Spencer to do about it?”
Poor Marla looked from Arizona to Spencer and back again. “Help move it?”
“You aren’t sure?”
Still uneasy, Marla swallowed. “I really don’t know. I’ve never had it happen before. But I know it’s too big for me to take care of on my own.”
Evaluating things, Arizona eyed Marla up and down, then looked at the limb again. “Probably.” She cocked a brow. “You got a chain saw, Spence?”
So now he was Spence again? “Sure.” He strolled over to join her at the railing. “Doesn’t every guy?”
That made her laugh. “Every guy with a house and big trees in his yard.” Close to his side, aligning herself with him, Arizona leaned back on the railing and addressed Marla. “We were just about to grab some cake and coffee. And in a few hours we have to head out to see friends.”
“Friends?”
“I know, right? Seems odd to me, too, but somehow, I have them.”
Marla blanched. “Oh, I didn’t mean anything insulting—”
Arizona waved that off. “Give us a few minutes, and we’ll come over and help clean it up.”
“We?” Surprised and somewhat desperate, Marla looked to Spencer for help.
Knowing Arizona well enough to know he’d have a fight on his hands if he tried to exclude her, he shrugged. Once she’d made her mind up about something, she could be pretty stubborn.
“You might want to change clothes,” Arizona told her. “Looks like messy work.” She turned to Spencer with a gaze full of challenge. “You ready for that coffee?”
Amazing. Was there any situation—other than having a guy over her—that unnerved Arizona? She grabbed control of a socially awkward, uncomfortable scene and just played it out like it was nothing.
“Yeah,” he said slowly, doing his best to figure her out, “I’m ready.” He gave Marla a salute. “An hour or so ought to do it.”
“Oh. Okay.” She stood there, befuddled. “Thank you.”
Once inside, Spencer shut the door and snagged the back of Arizona’s shirt, halting her stiff stride toward the kitchen. “Hold up.”
Silent, strangely distant, she kept her back to him.
Undeterred, Spencer again eyed her backside. “Care to tell me what that was all about?”
She shrugged. “Neighbors are supposed to lend a hand to their neighbors, right?”
Using his hold on her shirt, he reeled her in, then wrapped his arms around her from behind. She stayed stiff—until he nuzzled the side of her neck. “You know I’m not interested in Marla, right?”
“I heard you tell her so.”
“I wouldn’t lie about it.”
While she thought about that, she rested her hands over his. Finally she nodded. “Okay.”
And yet she still sounded somehow distraught. “So what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said too fast.
Something—but pressing her now would get him nowhere. She’d share her thoughts in her own sweet time. “Want to know what I think?”
“If it has anything to do with admiring Marla, no.”
God, keeping up with her would be a challenge. “Why would I— No, forget that.” He propped his chin on top of her head. “I was admiring you, actually.”
“Me?” She twisted to see him. “Why?”
Too many reasons to count, but he said, “You sympathized with her.”
“Pffft.” As an invitation to nuzzle her neck more, she tilted her head.
“You did.” He obliged with a soft, openmouthed kiss. “And it was very kind of you.”
“She’s probably an okay person.”
Spencer hid his grin against her. “She’s nice enough.” But too manipulative, and too damn clingy. “It was wrong of me to let her think—”
She bolted away. “Cake, Spencer. And coffee.”
In one deft move, he caught her again and tossed her over his shoulder. “Sex, Arizona.” Already anxious to have her again, he smoothed a hand over her ass, then up and inside the leg of her shorts so he could fondle one firm cheek. “And maybe, after that, cake and coffee.”