Honey Trapped

Chapter Two

There was another contest of wills. It was her brother who relented. "Sal. My name is Sal."

"Sal? No last name?" Drew shot back.

Sal gave a grudging grin. "Get out of here." He hugged Pria, then turned back to Drew, eyes hard once again. "I care for my family."

It wasn't a touching sentiment. It was a warning.

Drew nodded. "Understood."

Drew escorted Pria to his pickup truck and opened the door for her. As soon as Drew settled in his seat, she looked over at him with an apologetic grimace. "Sorry about Sal. I mentioned yesterday my family is old school, but sometimes he gets a little carried away."

Drew snorted. "I half expected him to invite himself along."

"If you were a lesser man, he probably would have. He's tried it in the past." Pria noticed the way Drew concentrated on the road as he drove, and she wondered briefly if he were slightly paranoid with the way he kept checking his mirrors. Then she remembered that driving in the Bronx could be considered an Olympic event, and she settled in her seat comfortably.

They arrived at the house he was renting a basement apartment from not even ten minutes later. "It's really great of the homeowners to allow you to bring in a pet. Most wouldn't."

They hauled the wood out of the bed, through the gate, and into the backyard. "It's actually my buddy, Enzo, and his wife, Erina, I'm renting from. Erina loves animals. Enzo doesn't, but he believes in the saying 'happy spouse, happy house.'"

Pria inclined her head as she grabbed up a few two by fours and hefted them onto her shoulder. "Smart man."

Like most big city homes, the yard small, but had grass and shade so would suffice. She bit her lip as she watched Drew confidently lay out his tools and the wood in an organized manner. She gave a little laugh when she noticed how everything was lined up perfectly in rows of like items. "OCD?"

He pulled a self-deprecating face. "A little. Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"No." She smiled. "But it is amusing. Do you go around touching things three times?"

From his crouched position, he looked up at her. The sun played over his skin and lit his brown eyes, making them look like layered pools of milk chocolate. Long, thick lashes framed his eyes prettily. It was really the only thing "pretty" about him. He was handsome, but in a wholly masculine way.

"Nah. I'm not that bad. Just ... exceedingly and annoyingly neat."

Even though she stood over him, he still gave the impression of being the dominant one, and there was that cliff again. Do I jump?

Drew's eyes darkened. She might have imagined it, but she swore he gave a slight dip of his chin. Silent invitation. Jump.

Pria shivered despite the heat.

Drew broke eye contact. "Let's get started."

He pulled out a sheet of paper and they went over the plans he had drawn up. "He'll be with me most days. I'll even be able to bring him to work sometimes. I still want to make sure he'll be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I have heating and cooling units that will attach here at this opening. We'll need to make sure we cut it just right so we don't have any issues later."

"How are you planning on protecting the cords and outlets?

"That's Enzo's problem. I build things. He does the electrical."

"Mr. Borks is a very lucky boy," she murmured as she rubbed a hand down the dog's flank.

Drew followed the movement of her hand and shifted his stance before looking away. "Pretty sure in a week, Enzo and I will be in a custody battle over ownership rights." He looked at her and smiled. "You should have seen Enzo when I came in with whatever-his-name-is last night. He tried hard to hide it, but after an hour, Enzo was feeding what's-his-name from his own plate."