Her gaze traveled up and down his torso in obvious approval. “The pleasure is all mine.”

God, she was so ridiculous! Had he ever seriously gone for this type? Well, yeah, but that was then, and this was now. He thought of the sweet, unassuming woman who waited for him in town, and all he wanted was to get back to her as fast as he could.

“Your mother says you’ll be here a while,” Doro said.

“That’s right.”

“We should get together sometime.”

“I’m going to be really busy.” As he put his shirt back on, he swore he saw disappointment in her blue eyes. He gestured to the sagging roof on the main building. “Lot of work to get done.”

Her lip rolled into that foolish pout women did so well, but it had no effect on him. “You can’t work all the time.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Glancing at his watch, he said, “In fact, I have somewhere I need to be. You have a good night now.”

As he got in the truck and drove away, Mac checked the rearview mirror to find her still standing where he’d left her, probably trying to figure out how she’d managed to let a live one slip away. He suspected that didn’t happen very often to good old Doro.

At the top of the hill, Mac pulled into his parents’ driveway where his motorcycle waited for him. He parked the truck and went into the garage to grab a helmet. Blowing the dust off, he strapped it to the back of the bike and gave the house a quick look. He’d love to say hello to his father but didn’t want to run into his mother and have to answer fifty questions. As he weighed the pros and cons, she appeared at the door. Mac suppressed a groan.

“Hello, stranger.”

“Hi, Mom. I was just dropping off the truck.”

“I see that.”

“Is Dad around?”

“In the shower.” She opened the screen door and stepped onto the porch. “Want to come in? Have a beer?”

“Got to be somewhere.”

“Of course you do.”

“Look, Mom—”

“I don’t know what kind of power that woman has over the men in this town, but it’s apparently quite formidable.”

Fighting to control his temper, Mac looked up to the heavens in search of patience. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, and once again I’ll remind you to be very careful.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll take her and her son and go back to Miami tomorrow. I’m far too old to be justifying myself to my mother.”

“Oh, Mac. You could do so much better!”

He released a bitter laugh. “Like your good friend Doro Chase?”

“For one.”

“I just had the pleasure, and she reminds me of a hundred other women I’ve known. Nothing about her interests me.”