Touch Me and Tango by Alicia Street, Roy Street Read Free Book Online

Doesn’t anybody around here take care of
their houses anymore ?
    When nobody showed up and the barking did not seem to be
coming any closer, she ventured out and gazed around. That’s when Tanya knew
she was in the right place.
    Beyond the farmhouse she saw gardens. In fact, everywhere
she looked she saw something growing. Trees with flowering buds and every kind
of bush. White, blue, pink. The yellow forsythia was the only one she could
name. As she got closer she saw patches of flowers in every color. And
vegetable gardens with some kind of stalks she wasn’t sure about. A lily pond.
A rock garden. It seemed to go on forever.
    She came to a beautifully made trellis with some kind of
green and pink blooms crawling over its arch. She stepped under it and took a
pebbled path that was bordered by daffodils and tiny blue flowers. She stopped,
turning around herself, taking it all in. The air carried a sweet floral scent.
A breeze prickled her skin and made a soft whoosh in the treetops. Songbirds called
to each other.
    Even on this gray and cloudy day the place was nothing short
of heavenly. In fact, the mist made it look like a fairyland. Funny. She’d always
kind of seen Parker as a handsome otherworldly fairytale prince who’d appeared
in her parents’ garden from some magical place. She’d had trouble thinking of
him as part of the real world. He’d certainly never been part of hers.
    Just as she thought it, she remembered the night Parker had
asked her to marry him, remembered him telling her he would buy a piece of land
and turn it into a little paradise for the two of them to live on. She still
hated herself for her cruel response. After reminding him that her father would
hit the roof if he found out his daughter was having a romance with the local boy
hired to do their yard work, she’d informed him of the marriage proposal she
had just accepted from her college boyfriend. And told him their affair was
just an escape, a habit they both needed to break.
    “Hello, Tanya.” Parker’s voice sparked a surge of heat at
her core. Just as it used to do.
    He strolled toward her. She’d never seen him so at ease, so
in his element as here in this floral haven he’d created. A tee shirt clung to
his broad chest, jeans riding low on his narrow hips. His long arms moved
casually as he walked. Tanya found it difficult to look at him without wanting
those arms around her.
    She’d always been the brazen one who could throw him off his
game, but something about this place—and him—made her act seem silly. Nervous,
she went into performer mode, striking a pose she hoped came off as attractive
and confident. “Nice digs.”
    He just nodded, his face blank. “What can I do for you?”
    Okay, so he was still angry. “I want to start by saying I’m
sorry about the way things went down on the phone earlier. I didn’t mean it the
way it sounded.”
    Parker stood there motionless and silent, studying her, his
expression unreadable. Being around six-foot-six, his virile, towering form
loomed over Tanya, making her feel tiny.
    She waited for his response. And waited. “Well?”
    “Well what?”
    “You could at least nod your head.”
    “What for?”
    “Gimme a break, Parker. Do you always have to be so
stubborn? Can’t you see I’m here to apologize?”
    “Yeah, I got that part.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “Impossible.”
    “That’s for sure.”
    The stared at each other in silence. It annoyed Tanya how
easily he kept a poker face. Between her mother’s Russian blood and her dad’s
Italian side, she was hopeless on that front. And right now being this close to
Parker brought up memories of his mouth on hers and the feel of his smooth,
muscled chest pressing against her naked breasts…
    Get a grip . She
took a steadying breath and said, “The reason I cancelled the job with my
mother was because she didn’t hire you for gardening or lawn work. Not that we
don’t need it. The place looks