Tempting Alibi

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An Excerpt From: TEMPTING ALIBI

Copyright ©
SAVANNAH STUART, 2010

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.

Chapter
One

Michaela
Miller froze with her glass of wine halfway to her mouth. Her eyes widened
as she watched her sexy-as-sin neighbor Scott O'Callaghan step through his
back door and strip out of his t-shirt. He glanced around, once in her
direction, then toward the house on the other side of his own before
stripping his pants off.

Underneath
he wore shorts that should be illegal. She knew he'd been in the Marine
Corps before settling back in Hudson Creek and those were his...silkies or softies--or some other ridiculous name.
Whatever the damn things were called, they barely covered his crotch and
they put all sorts of bad thoughts in her mind. The man obviously wore them
to drive her insane. Every morning he was up at dawn and jogging around the
lake they lived on and showing off all sorts of taut, lean muscles and
tattoos. And she'd only discovered that by accident. She'd gotten up early
one morning six months ago and had seen him run by her place at the ungodly
hour. Now mornings were her favorite time of the day.

Seemed
she was getting a double show today though. Apparently his morning workout
wasn't enough and he was getting in some extra time tonight. Something told
her he had no clue she was watching. The light bulb on her back porch had
blown a week ago and she'd been too lazy to replace it. Usually the
moonlight and stars reflecting off the lake gave her enough light anyway,
but the sky was overcast tonight and she was sitting in relative darkness.

Her
hand tightened around her glass as he reached up and grabbed on to the
metal bar he'd installed recently. It was attached to some sort of pole
thing and now she realized why he'd mounted it. Michaela's stomach
fluttered as he started doing pull-ups.

Up and
down, up and down. Those big arms clenched and tightened each time he
pulled up. It was beyond embarrassing, but her panties dampened as she
watched him move. For such a bulky guy, he moved with a fluid grace that
made her wonder what he'd be like beneath the sheets.

He was
male perfection. Dark hair, dark, piercing eyes and not an inch of fat on
that hard body. Unfortunately he was quiet as hell and no doubt thought she
was an idiot. Scott was from the area, but he'd been gone for years and had
moved back only seven months ago. She'd brought him cookies to welcome him
to the neighborhood. Everyone who lived on Hudson Lake
knew everyone and she'd wanted to do something nice. When she'd shown up
with her plate, he'd grunted something inaudible, then just stared at her
as she rambled on for a full two minutes about--God, what was it? She
couldn't even remember now but since he'd barely responded to her
neighborly gesture, she'd steered clear of the sexy man. Didn't mean she
couldn't admire what was placed in front of her.

After
the pull-ups, he started on the sit-ups. When he switched to push-ups, she
shook her head and slipped through her back door. Nearly an hour had passed
and if she wasn't careful, she'd combust from watching him.

She
had to get up early to teach a yoga class anyway. Thursdays were her early
days and her patrons paid good money for her to do her job right. She
wasn't going to come in late and tired because she'd been horny and spying
on her neighbor.

*
* * * *

"Hey,
boss, would you sign off on this?"

Scott
glanced up from filling out the payroll as Daniel walked into his office
holding a clipboard. "What is it?"

"I
just finished with Mr. Wilkinson's BMW. I'm gonna call and let him know if
that's all right."

"Sounds
good." Scott quickly scribbled his signature without reading the paperwork.
Daniel had been with him since he'd opened O'Callaghan's Auto Body Shop. He
was the most trustworthy employee he had.

Daniel
cleared his throat. "Thanks. By the way, I just saw Michaela Miller drive
up. Thought you'd like to take that one personally."

That
got Scott's attention. "Get the hell out of here," he muttered.

Chuckling
to himself, Daniel quickly left the office.

Scott
wiped his dirty palms on his work pants. His mouth filled with cotton at
the mere mention of her name.
Anytime the sexy woman got near him, he lost the ability to think, let
alone speak. He'd lived through boot camp, SERE school, and about a dozen
other brutal training programs during his eight years in the Marine Corps.
Not to mention he'd lived in a warzone for six of those years. But for some
reason he couldn't talk to his petite, redheaded neighbor for longer than a
couple minutes without breaking into a nervous sweat. It was fucking
embarrassing.

The
sound of the bell jingling on the front door pushed him into action. He
turned off his computer screen and exited his office.

Michaela
stood behind the counter with her car keys in hand. She smiled when she saw
him. "Hi, I think my car needs to see a doctor."

His
gut clenched as her face lit up. Talk,
he ordered his mouth.