Daring In The City. Jo Leigh

door.

      Now he was curious. But he couldn’t stand around thinking about how good she looked from behind when his stuff would be arriving any minute.

      Luca moved the tarps near the unassembled scaffolding then manhandled the wine crate and set it by the living room cable outlet. He put a sturdy piece of wood on top of the crate so his wide-screen TV would rest safely in front of his—

      The recliner...

      “Shit.”

      Charlie had mentioned that he and his crew could pick it up from Luca’s folks’ house and drop the recliner off with the rest of the tools and equipment he needed. That didn’t necessarily mean today. Luca was fairly certain his brother had Charlie’s crew working in Queens.

      Before he could start clearing the way for the chair—just in case—a pair of delivery guys arrived with his new bed and TV. As he suspected, the bed just fit, leaving him very little room to maneuver.

      While the men went back down to get the wide-screen, Luca finished making room for the recliner. He wasn’t crazy about the idea of working anywhere near the TV, but it was only for a couple of days. He was relatively sure he wouldn’t destroy it.

      He’d left the front door open for the delivery guys and heard Charlie’s booming laughter coming from down the corridor. Of course he’d chosen to come by today. Jesus. Luca shook his head. Again, one phone call could’ve solved the problem.

      “Hey, what’s up?” Charlie said as he walked in, glancing around. “You’re getting serious about this remodel.”

      Scott and Elliot followed behind him with an electric sander and a ton of drop cloths. Great, more things Luca didn’t have room for at the moment. All three men stared at him, and then Charlie grinned and whistled.

      Luca turned sharply toward the door. He figured it was April. Nope. They were grinning at him. “What?”

      “Show-off,” Charlie said. “Must be nice having time for the gym.”

      “The gym? Yeah, right. I haven’t been there in—” Shit. He glanced down at his bare chest then looked at the ladder where he’d hung his shirt. It wasn’t there, but he found it on the floor.

      Jesus. He’d been working the whole time shirtless. With April. But she hadn’t said a word.

      “Where do you want us to put your recliner?” Scott asked. “It’s on the truck.”

      Luca was tempted to make them take it back to his parents’ house. For not calling first. And for whistling. He scooped up the shirt and just as he was about to pull it on he noticed April. She stood in the doorway, looking uncertain.

      “You can set it over here,” Luca told Scott, nodding at the spot where he’d slept. Then he motioned for April to join them.

      The three guys, all of them in their twenties and notorious horndogs, eyed her, then him, then her again.

      He pulled on his shirt, knowing without a single doubt that April hadn’t been avoiding his eyes this morning. She’d been wondering why the hell he was walking around half-naked.

      She came up to him with a soft smile and waited for him to finish buttoning his shirt before she held out his coffee.

      “Thanks,” he muttered and turned a glare on the three mutts who continued to stare at her. “You guys must not be busy today.”