Basic Attraction Read Free Page B

tousled bedroom-eye look that set every nerve ending in her body on high alert. She would feel much more comfortable if he would head to the barber and chop all that soft, dark blond hair off.
    “That’s what fingers are for.”
    Desperation was starting to kick in. Sheri needed to get past him, but he looked like he had all the time in the world to just stand there and hold up the wall. If she tried to bluster past him, part of her was going to touch part of him, and she knew that would be harmful to her general health and well-being.
    “Are you going to help me look for the cat or not?” Standing, she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look firm, hoping he wouldn’t notice the panic that must be swimming in her eyes.
    “Sure.” He started to turn around but threw back over his shoulder, “If I find him, what’s my reward?”
    “The happiness of your sister.” She followed him out of the room, heading down the hall to check the bathroom.
    She heard him rustling around in the hall closet before closing it again. He trailed after her into the bathroom.
    As she opened the shower stall door with a click, he said, “How would a cat get in there?”
    “I don’t know. But we need to check everywhere.”
    “I never knew a cat who could open a shower door.”
    Now he thought she was tall, overreacting, and stupid. “Okay. Point taken.” She pulled her head up from behind the toilet. “There’s only one place left to check. The basement.”
    “After you.”
    He gallantly swept his arm out, and she brushed past him in the narrow bathroom door. Her shoulder clipped his. Dammit. His bare skin was warm. Hot, in fact.
    “So do you have a house, Sheri?”
    She refused to look at him, so she walked doggedly on towards the basement steps leading off the kitchen. “No. I have an apartment.”
    “Me too. I’m wondering about this owning-a-house business. Do you think it could be fun?”
    There was that off-balance thing again. She had no idea if he was just making conversation or if there was a point. “I guess. More room to spread out. And I’d like having a garden in the backyard for my herbs.”
    She grew herbs in innumerable small pots throughout her apartment for use in cooking and her tea. She liked to think of gardening as her feminine side. When she wasn’t jogging or working, she liked her plants.
    “I’d get a dog.” Luke clamored down the steps into the basement behind her.
    Pausing on the rickety wooden steps, she searched for the light switch. “What kind?” An image of him with a Doberman or a Chihuahua came to mind. Why such extremes, she wasn’t sure. But maybe because she imagined him wanting to make a statement with his pet. She found the light and flipped it on.
    “An Irish Setter,” he said without hesitation.
    Good thing she was facing away from him or he would have seen her jaw drop. She couldn’t quite reconcile the idea of him tossing a ball with a dog, letting it lick his face, or running his hand over that shiny chestnut coat with the man she had seen.
    “Why?”
    “I like their coloring. I’m partial to long brown hair with reddish streaks.”
    Wait a minute. That was her hair color.
    After turning quickly, she caught him staring at her behind as he followed her down the stairs. She stepped into the basement and coughed. Good thing it was still dim down here because she felt a flush creeping up her neck. Had he really just given her a hair compliment?
    The man was nuts. No one had ever found anything the least bit remarkable about her hair. Including Mark, her ex-boyfriend, who had suggested she crop it so it wouldn’t create wind resistance when she ran long distances.
    She headed towards the first dark corner blindly. Luke followed her. She could feel him behind her, hovering, leaning towards her, his skin radiating warmth and smelling like fabric softener from the sheet he had slept on.
    Glancing behind the furnace, she let her eyes adjust to the gloom and saw