Shoe Strings

renting this cabin from Calvin Bloodworth.   He carried my bags up just this
morning.”
    The man ran his hand through his sopping wet hair, a
disheveled mop whose ends curled around the base of his ears.   “Hell, I didn’t know he had a
renter.”   He placed his hands on the
ends of the small towel, pushing it dangerously low on his narrow hips.   “I’m Cal’s son, Jesse.   Didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “Oh.”   She
loosened her grip on the counter.   “Well…”   Not that his
explanation made much sense, but it did relieve her nerves.   “What are you doing here?”
    He smiled and she saw it then, the same crooked smile as his
father, the nearly identical chiseled jaw.   He ducked his head in an aw-shucks move.   “He’s not home and he keeps the better
shampoo over here,” he said with a quick jerk of his shoulder.
    She shouldn’t have done it.   She shouldn’t have let her gaze follow
the droplets of water as they slid from the hollow of his neck, past two very
impressive pectoral muscles, down to bounce over his six pack abs like skiers
on a moguls course.   For a woman
whose libido had been in hibernation for the better part of two years, her
reaction to him was practically feral.   Lust, in its purest, most basic form, caused her mouth to go dry and
every coherent thought to fly out of her head.   “Oh…”
    He’d seen the change in her, smelled it like a male dog
smells a female in heat.   She could
see the smirk on his lips, feel the heat of his hazel eyes on her body.   When he zeroed in on her face, she knew
it was beet red.  
    “I’ll just put some clothes on and be out of your way.” She
nodded and waited for him to turn and walk back down the hall.   Lita angled her head to take a good look
at his retreating backside and was caught when he turned back around.   “There’s a broom and dustpan next to the
refrigerator.   If you’ll set them
out, I’ll clean this up for you.”
    When the door closed behind him, Lita let out the breath she
didn’t realize she’d been holding.   Please, God, she prayed.   Let
him be stupid, so incredibly dim that she couldn’t possibly be attracted to
him.   Because of all the reasons
she’d stepped away from her life at the drop of a shoe, falling head over heels
in lust wasn’t one of them.   It wasn’t
even in the ballpark.
    ***
    Cal Bloodworth strolled along the path that led from his
garage to his house, whistling and swinging the bag full of miscellaneous
supplies he’d picked up at the hardware store.   That’s when he spotted Jesse’s Scout.   Shit.   With one impressive toss, the bag landed
neatly on the front door mat as if he’d gently placed it there and Cal sprinted
toward the cabin and the lovely Ms. Barros.  
    He knew she was home, as he’d just parked next to her
SUV.   But even without the car, he’d
have known she was around.   She
smelled good, like flowers and woman, all wrapped into one and her perfume
lingered in the air around the cabin.   He’d been thinking on his stroll toward his house how nice it was to
have a woman around again, how it seemed to make the flowers brighter, the
budding leaves of the trees perkier, and the air almost cleaner.  
    And now all he could think was, “Holy hell.”  
    He gave a quick, but hardy knock on the back door and tried
to rein in his breathing before opening the door an inch and peeking his head
around.   “Hello?” he called before
moving inside and flashing his most innocent grin.   “Angelita?”
    She jerked around from the hallway holding a broom and
dustpan.   “Cal.   Oh, you startled me.”
    “Sorry about that.   I saw your car and wanted to be sure you found the grocery and got
everything you needed.”   He inched
further inside the room, all the while casually glancing around for any sign of
Jesse.  
    “Yes, I got everything.   Listen, Cal, I…broke one of the beautiful prints you had framed in the
hallway.”
    “No, she didn’t.” Jesse stepped out of the bathroom with
steam and the fresh scent of soap in his wake.  
    Good Lord, he was too late.  
    Jesse reached over and gently took the broom and dustpan
from Lita’s hands.   “Well, I guess
technically she did, but it was my fault.”
    Cal closed his eyes briefly and shook his head.   Jesse spoke to him, but he didn’t for a
second take his eyes off Lita.   Couldn’t say he blamed the kid, and Lita didn’t seem annoyed by it, but
the last thing