her gorgeous face, vibrant energy and a teasing attitude that turned him on. He flattened his palms on the backs of her arms and inhaled her scent—delicate, sweet and as intoxicating as deep red wine. God, how he’d love to ease her down on the concrete garage floor and take her this very minute, and from the signals she was sending out, she just might be down with such a move.
During his drive to her house, he’d thought of the delicious press of her thighs on his, the warmth of her breasts filling his hands, the touch of her fingers on the erection that was now swelling in his pants. Now with tentative steps, Ramón guided Lori to the side of her car and positioned her back against the driver’s-side door. He leaned over her, inching closer until the buds of her hardened nipples burned twin spots of desire into his bare chest. Bracing his hands against the car on either side of Lori’s face, he locked her in place and studied her features with languorous eyes, not about to rush her into anything, though he sure as hell wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this pass him by.
Lori stilled under Ramón’s piercing, dreamy brown eyes, knowing he was waiting for a go-ahead signal from her. Her body was taut, aching for his touch—and she didn’t want the feeling to slip away. What she wanted was to feel him all over her, inside her, tasting and teasing and probing places that were in desperate need of attention.
What the hell? How far can things go inside my garage? she rationalized, arching forward and flattening her breasts against his chest while stifling the moan of joy that crept into her throat. She let him push her back against the car, inviting Ramón to press closer and devour her mouth in a deep, probing kiss. As their tongues explored and flicked over each other in their search for satisfaction, Ramón’s fingers worked on the knot in the straps that held Lori’s halter top in place. When the soft white fabric fell to her waist, Lori gulped back her need, parted her legs and guided Ramón to stand between them.
Lowering his head, he lifted one warm breast to his mouth and slid his tongue across the nipple before suckling it with a pull that ignited emotional flames in Lori. She welcomed the burn of his tongue and the scorch of his fingers, loving the blistering press of his pleasure-tool as it grew hard against the flat of her stomach.
“Hey, Lori!” Brittany’s voice bounced against the closed garage door and jolted Lori out of her self-indulgent trance. “Ohmigod! It’s my neighbor,” Lori hissed, forcing Ramón to back away so she could pull up her halter top and re-tie the straps.
“Not a word,” she whispered to Ramón as she pressed the button to raise the garage door, pushing an explosion of black curls out of her eyes.
“Hey, there you are,” Brittany said, walking into the garage, her focus shifting from Lori to Ramón and then back to her neighbor. “No answer at the front door, so I thought you might be out here.”
“Right, right. Just emptying the trash. Come on through,” Lori rushed to say, beckoning Brittany forward. “Brittany, uh, this is Ramón Vidal…from Vida-Shield Security. He’s fixing my alarm.”
“Oh, yeah. I saw his truck in the driveway. Hello, Ramón,” Brittany said with a nod in his direction. “Good idea to get that thing back up and running right away.” She turned back to Lori. “Need any help cleaning up over here?”
“Thanks, but I think we’ve got it covered,” Lori huffed, throwing a nervous glance at Ramón, who nodded his agreement and said, “Yeah, we’re doing just fine.”
Lori cringed at the hint of a smirk that tugged the corner of Ramón’s mouth and the sexy tone he’d used, certain that Brittany must be wondering what was going on.
“Ramón is gonna fix the broken window in the dining room, too,” Lori rushed to say. “And he’s arranged for a cleaning company to come out and deal with the paint.”
“You two are moving right along, huh?” Brittany observed.
“That’s right,” Ramón replied, reaching for his screwdriver and resuming his work. “Best to move quickly when you have a lot of ground to cover. Won’t take me long to make Lori safe again.”
“That’ll be a relief,” Lori remarked with a fast roll of her eyes at Ramón while making her way toward the door leading into the house. “Come on in, Brit. I can use a glass of water.”
“Me, too,” Brittany concurred, fanning her fingers in front of her face. “It’s too damn hot to stay out here.”
As soon as they were in the kitchen, Lori closed the door and leaned against it, her attention sharply focused on Brittany. “Okay…I know you didn’t come over here just to offer your help or get a glass of water, did you?”
“Hell, no. When I saw Mr. Security Expert get out of his truck, I knew I had to see this guy up close. Is he for real? Shit…where’d you find a hunk like that to fix your alarm system?” she asked, stabbing Lori with a skeptical expression. “The Yellow Pages or a personal hookup?”
Adopting an amused, but pensive expression, Lori paused, and then said, “Personal connection.”
“Okaaaay…so, he’s a friend?”
“I guess you could call him that,” Lori hedged, removing two glasses from the cabinet, which she filled with ice and cold water from her refrigerator door.
Brittany tapped a long acrylic fingernail on Lori’s kitchen counter, signaling her curiosity. “He’s a new friend, then? One I have neither seen nor heard of before today, and one who is hellafine.”
“On that we do agree.” Lori laughed conspiratorially.
“When did you meet him? Where?” Brittany demanded, accepting her drink from Lori.
“He’s the guy I told you about…the one I met on the plane yesterday. Well, no…before that when I danced with him in the club in Acapulco,” she finished in a stammer of words.
A burst of laughter made Brittany step back. “When you said he had it goin’ on, you really meant it.”
Lori locked wide innocent eyes on Brittany. “Did I say that?”
“You did.”
“Yeah, well, what’s your take?” Lori probed.
“I’m not saying anything,” Brittany shot back. “Just observing, and from the looks on your two faces when I walked into the garage, I’d say he’s in more trouble than you.” Chuckling, Brittany sipped her water, and then jerked her head toward the closed garage door. “Come on, let’s go back out there. I want to see more of your gorgeous new friend. In fact, I have a few questions for him.”
Back in the garage, Ramón had bad news. “Sorry to tell you, Lori, but your system is not worth repairing.”
Lori grimaced, shoulders sagging down in disappointment. “Damn. What do you suggest?”
“A whole new system,” he stated in a serious tone, going on to describe his most popular home security alarm. “It has a multilevel digital alarm that’s virtually tamperproof. I can take the measurements today, plan it out for you and install it tomorrow if you want.”
“Well, I guess so. Think insurance will pay?”
“I’m sure they will. If you give me your agent’s name, I’ll verify everything before I proceed,” Ramón offered, clearly enjoying the fact that he could be of help.
“Okay, I’ll get his member,” Lori said, turning to go inside.
“Ramón,” Brittany started as soon as Lori had left the garage, “What’s your opinion of burglar bars?”
“Not always a good idea,” he said, kneeling to put his tools into his toolbox.
Brittany walked up behind Ramón and stared at his bare back, shaking her head in admiration while mouthing the words, Too damn fine! “Why not burglar bars?” she asked.
Ramón stopped what he was doing and looked up at Brittany. “Well, they could