What in the heck was going on over at Jed’s house?

All morning there had been a constant stream of women parading through his yard. The first woman I’d seen had been young, blonde, and beautiful, and I’d assume there was some sort of morning-after situation going on.

Which, for some reason, had my stomach tightening and my heart squeezing with something that felt like a combination of sorrow and anger … which was silly, because I didn’t even like Jed. There was no way I was jealous at the thought of him with some pretty young thing.

Except, that’s what it had felt like.

But then, there’d been more women, of all ages, and I decided maybe the pretty young thing hadn’t been his girlfriend, and there was something else going on.

But, what?

It was hard to tell from a few glances out my window, and I swear, Jed had almost caught me once, so I decided to do some weeding in my backyard. Sure, I kept my nice clothes on, and forgot my gloves, shovel, and whatever else you need to weed, so instead, I walked over to the privacy fence that stood between our yards and leaned against it.

I was just a woman enjoying the sunshine in her yard … nothing wrong with that, right?

“The hard lines and smooth surface is really exceptional,” a woman with a sultry voice was saying. “You must really work on it…”

My eyes widened as I imagined Jed next door, naked, or at least shirtless, while these women looked him over.

Was he a model? Did he have some sort of studio back there?

Or, was he into something more clandestine…

There was no denying he was attractive, if you were into tall, good-looking men who were too busy to shave and had eyes that seemed to see everything.

Maybe Jed was a gigolo, and all those women were his johns, or would it be janes, who were coming by for their weekly fix.

But, on a Sunday?

“I do,” Jed answered. “Every chance I get I’m back here, honing my craft, trying to sculpt perfection.”

I blinked. Wow, conceited much? I mean, sure, even with clothes on I could tell he had a nice body, but perfection? That was a little much.

“It shows,” the woman said. “I bet it gets pretty hot out here…”

Needing to see what was going on, I hurried over to my bench and started pulling it to the fence. Once I had it in position, I stood up on it, crouching at first, then slowly standing up until I could peek over the top.

I just wanted a glance, to see what was really happening over there. Not that I wanted to see Jed naked, of course, I only needed to see for myself what the appeal was…

I tiptoed up until I could just see over the top of the fence, then frowned when I saw Jed standing with a woman who looked to be in her sixties, and realized they were both fully clothed. I noticed she was holding a large, wooden slab that looked like a serving tray of some sort, and then my cousin stepped out of the building.

I ducked so fast that I lost my footing and fell back, yelping as my butt hit the ground with a thud.

“Serena?” I heard Reardon ask, swearing under my breath as my face reddened with embarrassment.

I was about to be caught.

“You okay?”

I looked up to see Reardon peering over the fence at me, the man so large that he didn’t have to stand on anything to see over the top.

“Mmmhmmm,” I murmured, standing slowly and dusting off the back of my pants.

That’s going to leave a mark.

“What were you doing?” he asked, too sweet to be suspicious.

But Jed wasn’t, and I knew it when I heard him say, “Spying. She’s been spying on me all morning.”

“No, I have not,” I lied indignantly.

I heard Jed chuckle and scowled.

Why’d he have to be such a know-it-all jerk?

“Rena, were you spying on poor Jed here?” Reardon asked with mock shock.

“Pshaw,” I spat, even though I knew it was an unattractive sound. “Poor Jed, my foot. He’s had women coming and going all morning, I was just curious as to what was going on … that’s all. It was purely concern.”

That had Jed out and out laughing.

I stuck my tongue out at the fence, then remembered Reardon was watching me, so I looked up at him with an apologetic smile.

“Why don’t you come around the fence and see what’s going on, rather than peeping over the fence like a creeper?”

I gasped at my now least favorite cousin.

“I’m not a creeper,” I protested.

Reardon laughed. “Come on, Rena, I’ll show you what Chris and I are picking up for the baby’s room.”

Unable to ignore the opportunity to assuage my curiosity, I slowly made my way through my yard and out my gate, before turning into Jed’s and walking up his driveway. I didn’t want to seem too eager, but when I caught sight of Jed’s knowing grin, I knew I wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all him.

“Come on,” Reardon said, and I walked past Jed without so much as a “hello” and followed my cousin into the building that was an exact replica of my studio.

When I stepped over the threshold, I gasped when my gaze landed on the most beautiful table I’d ever seen. I crossed to it, my hand outstretched with the need to feel the wood against my skin. I caressed it lovingly as I took in the beautifully crafted table with the embedded glass river running through it.

“It’s so gorgeous,” I cooed, then looked up to see Reardon standing there with a smile and Jed watching me with a scowl.

I didn’t care why he was scowling.

“I need it!” I exclaimed, picturing it at the art gallery.

Shoot, it was a piece that belonged on exhibit in the gallery, that’s how beautiful it was.

“No,” Jed stated, turning his back and going back to the woman with the serving tray who looked like she was ready to leave.

I gaped at Reardon, then narrowed my eyes at Jed’s back.

Oh, one way or another, this table is going to be mine.