Tempting Alibi by Savannah Stuart Page A

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.
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    Tempting Alibi
    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.”
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    Savannah Stuart
    “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. “What’s the
    problem?”
    She shrugged and her smile faded a fraction. “I have no idea. On my way to work
    this morning, it started making these little chugging sounds. Like it was coughing or
    something. I figured maybe I could