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He had other things to think about Cody let the hot spray of the shower beat over his head and reminded himself that Abra Wilson wasn&039;t his problem A problem she undoubtedly was, but not his

Women that skittish were best avoided, particularly when they had those pretty feminine looks that contrasted with a h headaches He didn&039;t need to add her to the list

But then, she was hty easy to look at Cody smiled to himself as he turned off the shower Easy to look at didn&039;t es, but just now he had enough on his plate Now that his partner waswhat he could to shoulder the excess With business boo, the excessthe construction of the resort, there were innurams to send and receive, decisions, approvals and rejections

He didn&039;t rateful for the for hirown up on a ia-Florida border The boy had wantedway, Cody thought as he knotted the towel at his waist His body was lean, the torso tanned He still worked outdoors, though that was from choice now, rather than necessity It wasn&039;t only drawing boards and dreams with Cody There was a house on a lake in Florida that was half-built He was determined to finish it himself A matter of pride now, rather than lack of funds

The money was there, and he&039;d never deny he enjoyed its benefits Still, he&039;d grown up working with his hands, and he couldn&039;t seem to break the habit He corrected himself He didn&039;t want to break the habit There were ti more than the feel of a haers through his wet hair They were callused, as they&039;d been since childhood He could run a tractor even now, but he preferred a slide rule or a power saw

He strode into the bedroo as the hootten used to the space, to the sranted Because he&039;d grown up skirting poverty he&039;s learned to appreciate good ood wine Perhaps he appredated the eye than soood life But he didn&039;t think about that

Work, talent and ambition were the keys, with a bit of luck thrown in Cody ree, so he never avoided work

He had co Now he could dreaet thatyour hands dirty He could lay a score of brick if it was required, mix mortar, pound in a stud or drive a rivet He&039;d worked his way through college as a laborer Those years had given hi but a respect for the ht him back to Abra She understood construction workers He knew firsthand that ot the men who hahtfully he slipped into a white terry-cloth robe with the vague notion of calling roo in Abra Wilson, he et an extra thirty minutes&039; break for thethe water supply and the salt tablets

She was also a wory construction workers to break up a fight Or pour beer over the head of an insubordinate e on the job And she&039;d meant what she&039;d said

He appreciated that He was a man who preferred frankness to subtleties in both his business and his personal life She wasn&039;t a wo hints She would say yes or she would say no

As she had on the side of the road, he remembered She&039;d said no, Codythe reasons for the contradiction would be interesting work It was a pity he could only fit Abra into the business slot Theya hand through his still-daht to settle back and have a good time Perhaps it would be fair to say that she was too honest to take intimacy on a casual level He couldn&039;t fault her for that, which s on a business plane

And there was too much friction Friction usually led to a spark, and a spark to a blaze He didn&039;t have the tilance at the clock on the bedside table he calculated the time back east It was far too late to make any calls to the East Coast That ether and make all the necessary calls and connections between 6:00 and 7:00 a, he decided that as called for was a quick rooht Just as he picked up the phone, the buzzer sounded at his door

If there was one person he hadn&039;t been expecting, it was Abra

She stood there, balancing a brown grocery bag on one hip Her hair was loose - it was the first time he&039;d seen it unbraided or unpinned - and curled wildly to her shoulders She still wore jeans and a T-shirt, but she&039;d changed from work boots to sneakers The next surprise was that she was aled It was ridiculous, but she&039;d never been so nervous in her life

"Hi" He leaned against the doorfra by?"

"Not exactly" Her fingers dug into the stiff brown paper bag The telltale rattle ain "Can I coh From behind her, she heard the door click closed Her heart jerked with it "This is nice"

The living room of the suite was done in desert colors, mauves and umbers and creams There were sketches on the walls and narrow louvered blinds at the s The room smelled of soap He smelled of soap Abra braced herself to turn

"I wanted to apologize"

His brow lifted in an unconscious gesture as he studied her She was doing her best, Cody realized, and hating every minute of it Amused, he decided to draw the scene out

"For what?"

She nearly ground her teeth On the trip over she had prepared herself for the likelihood that he wouldn&039;t rateful this afternoon"

Cody slipped his hands into the pockets of his robe "Just this afternoon?"

Venoy was due, and she was da with a specific instance You helped rateful and unkind I rong, and when I a, shespace froht you some beer"

"To drink or to wear?" he asked when she pulled out a six pack

"Up to you" She broke down enough to shtened Her lips softened as if by ic Cody felt his heart stop for two full beats "I didn&039;t knohether you&039;d eaten, so I tossed in a htdeal, just a sandwich" She pulled out a twelve-inch tube wrapped in white paper

"Some sandwich"

"Yeah" She took out the Styrofoam dish that held the french fries If it killed her, she told herself, she was going to get the words out And itat her as though he&039;d rather nibble on her than the sub "I wanted to thank you for acting so quickly this afternoon I don&039;t knohether I&039;d have gotten out of the way in time or not, but that&039;s not the issue The fact is, you made certain I wasn&039;t hurt, and I never really thanked you at the tiuess I was ht He crossed over to stand beside her She was holding the eesture showed him more than words could have howfrom her and tossed it on the counter

"You could have written that down in a nice little note and slipped it under the door But I don&039;t suppose that&039;s your style" He resisted the urge to touch her hair, knowing it would be a mistake for both of them He would only want to touch her h she&039;d jump out of her shoes at the first advance Instead, he pulled a bottle out of the pack and turned it to read the label "Want a beer?"

She hesitated only briefly It looked as if he was going to make it easy for her after all "Sure"

"Half a ain "I could probably choke it down"

A truce, undeclared but understood, had been negotiated They shared cold beer and spicy round spa swirled silently at their feet Orange and red blossoh walls that closed the

"All the comforts of hoht about his house, where everything was familiar, where so many walls were still unfinished and so many yards of trim were still unpainted "Not quite ho"

Abra stretched the toes of her sneakers toward the water Lord, she&039;d like to sink into that, close her eyes and let every ret, she dish You?"

"Not really Well, around the state Up into Utah a couple of tih to ignore his s ofable to take a shower and go out and co in bed Stuff like that You must like them, too" She watched him tilt back his beer "You don&039;t strikehe didn&039;t care for"

"I don&039;t reasy and loaded with salt Perfect He took two "I like knowing I&039;ve got soo back to, that&039;s all"

She understood that very well, though it surprised her that he felt the sentiment - and the need "Have you always lived in Florida?"

"Yeah Can&039;t say I careweather in the North I like the sun"

"Me too" She dug out fries "It only rains here a handful of tirin, she finished off her half of the sub The best meal, she had to admit, she&039;d had in weeks It was hard to believe, but his company wasn&039;t such a trial after all She settled back to nurse her beer and wait for nightfall "I&039;d like to see the ocean, though"

"Which one?"

"Any one"

Her eyes were gray in this light, he noted Gray and a little sleepy "It&039;s a short flight to the West Coast"

"I know" She moved her shoulders and continued to watch the sky darken "I always figured I needed a bigger reason topretty hard the last few years This e of women&039;s liberation, but there are still walls to break dohen you&039;re an engineer who happens to be a woineer?"

He reached lazily for ers brushed cos worked - or what to do to ic of theure out the forht answer"

"The right answer&039;s not always the best answer"

Crossing her legs at the ankles, she turned her head enough to study his face in the lowering light "That&039;s artistic thinking, which is why an architect needs a good engineer to keep him on track"

He took a lazy s of beer and s n of the health club"

"I figured you&039;d get around to it"

Mellowed by the casual nored his sarcasm "The waterfall on the east wall We&039;ll overlook the fact that it&039;s an iainst waterfalls?"

"This is the desert, Johnson"

"Ever hear of an oasis?"

She sighed, deterood, and the coive you your little whimsy"

"Bless you for that"

"But if you&039;d put it on the all, as I requested - "

"It doesn&039;t work on the all," he said "You need the s on the all for the evening light, the sunsets And the view&039;s best in the west"

"I&039;"

"I leave that up to you You think plu fine"