Teaser Tuesday #4 : Blue Eyes and Muscles.

Once settled into his room at the guest house, Eric accepts an invitation to tea in the Kitchen where he hopes to meet the sexy gardener. This teaser comes from early in Chapter 3, and we start to build impressions of the main characters: Megan’s almost maternal homeliness, Tom’s open friendliness and, from Eric, a little dash of predatory behaviour!

Eric was pleased to see that his prayers had been answered. Tom was stretched out on one of the kitchen chairs. Regrettably, he had decided to put on a shirt before coming inside, but he was only marginally less stunning for being covered up. He stood up quickly and flashed Eric a charming smile.“I’m Tom,” he said, extending a hand. Eric shook it, relishing the feeling of Tom’s firm, work-roughened fingers against his own. “Good to meet you.”“Thanks,” Eric said. Tom’s tanned face was open, friendly and punctuated by two of the bluest eyes he had ever seen. He was certainly a rare find. “I’m Eric.”Tom went back to his chair, but not before he pulled out a seat next to his and beckoned Eric to join him.“Tea or coffee?” Megan asked.“Tea would be great.”“Here, I’ll get it for you,” Tom said, and leaned forward to fill Eric’s cup from the china teapot in the middle of the table. “Help yourself to milk.” He paused for a moment, then grinned at Eric. “Oh, sorry. You being a lawyer from London, I suppose I should have put the milk in first?”Eric laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just have to punish you later.”He immediately lowered his eyes to his teacup, not entirely able to believe that he had just said that Tom just laughed, while Megan chimed in with, “He’d just enjoy that!” She came to the table carrying a beautiful Victoria sponge cake along with three small plates and a cake knife. “Cake?”“Yes, please,” Eric said, glad to have the distraction. “Is that home-made?”Tom reached out a well-muscled arm and pulled Megan to him by the waist. Eric couldn’t entirely supress a pang of jealousy at the sight. “My Meg’s always baking. If you stay here long enough she’ll do terrible things to your waistline!” Megan blushed and pushed herself away from him so she could cut the cake.“She’s not done much damage to yours,” Eric said. “How do you keep so fit?”“Hard labour and rugby,” was Tome’s cheery reply.