On our way back to city hall, the traffic was light, and it allowed me time to think as I absentmindedly steered us along. Max was contemplative and sent me looks from his spot in the passenger seat, almost like he was worried I would be rude to him, since I’d spoken to Wysocki. Max clearly hadn’t forgotten what he’d done to Vane and Jaxson, and a small, spiteful part of me was happy he was uncomfortable; the rest of me just wanted to forget about it.
“You learned your lesson about the press. You’re a valuable member of the city hall team.”
He huffed out a snort and glanced at me. “How did you know what I was thinking about?”
“It wasn’t difficult to deduce.” We got caught up in a bottleneck near a construction site, and I had to stop the car as a large truck carrying a mound of strapped-down dirt stopped traffic on both sides of the street to swing ponderously between the gates of the cheap metal fencing that blocked off the work site. Idly I glanced to my left at the new building going up. Standing out in the center of a dirt lot, pointing at a crane lifting a steel beam, was a massive man with deliciously strong shoulders and a stance like he owned the world. My jaw dropped. It was Cam, and he was obviously at his job. Another man in a hard hat walked over to join him.
Smirking, I waited until the traffic started to move again and then pulled to the side of the street, bumping up onto the curb so my tires went onto the grass along the fence. I came to a stop with the car facing the wrong direction but didn’t care.
“What are you doing?” Max asked, and a small, upset furrow settled deep between his brows. He ran his hands along his thighs and gripped them hard. “Why did we stop?”
“Turning the tables. He thinks he’s so damned smart. He thinks he can just burst into my workplace,” I muttered. “Open my glove box. I have a city hall badge in there for when we do press conferences. Get it.”
Max did as I asked and gave me the most astounded look as I slipped the lanyard over my head. The badge dangled on my chest and the golden city seal in the corner winked in the sunlight. I sent him a smile. “Come with me and make sure you look extra annoyed.”
He sputtered.
“There you go. Like that.” I laughed and opened my door, and Max followed my lead. As I walked to a break in the fencing large enough for us to squeeze through, I had myself chuckling. I’d turn the tables and see how Cam liked having his day interrupted. Then we’d see who was the big man.
Max huffed along at my side while I strode across the grass that gave way to dirt. He tapped my arm, and I glanced at him, caught up in the satisfaction of being a pain in Camden’s ass. “Why are we here?”
“Just keep your mouth shut and go with whatever I do,” I said.
Thankfully he nodded. It didn’t take long for Camden and the man at his side to notice us walking toward them, and when he did, his mouth dropped open. Camden stormed our way and snatched the hard hat from the top of his head. The second he reached me, he dropped the hard hat right onto my head, and his face was a thundercloud.
“My hair!” I poked at his side, but he just slapped his hand to the top of the hard hat.
“This is an active construction site! What do you think you’re doing? There’s steel going up!” I glanced across to the skeleton of the building where the crane was working but couldn’t imagine what could possibly happen to get one of those beams all the way over to drop on our heads. I fought off a smile as the man he’d been talking to when I pulled up came over to join us and caught the tail end of Camden’s tirade.
“This is an inspection by city hall. I assume all of your paperwork is in order.” I raised my eyebrows as I glanced between the two men.
The other guy groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. He was nearly as big as Camden, with a shaggy beard and a deep suntan. “Oh, jeez. I’ll grab our permits.” He turned and hustled off in the direction of a small white trailer to the left of the work site, and I internally rejoiced at the absolute wrath that passed across Camden’s face.How do you like it?
“Are you serious right now? You’re not an inspector. You’re not, are you?” he asked, all at once seeming to come to the realization he had no clue what my job might entail.
It was impossible to keep my lips from twitching. This was more like it. “It’s not so nice to have someone swoop into your work, is it?” I gave him a sharp smile.
For a moment or two his face went a dangerous maroon I didn’t think I’d ever caused on another person, but then he began to chuckle, and that turned into an outright laugh. “You are something else, Mark.” He glanced at Max. “I see you were scared enough to bring backup, though.”
I played up shaking my head even though my heart took off at a gallop. “I’m not stupid enough to come after you alone. I know how much of an animal you can be.” I managed to keep a straight face as I said that. Max turned and coughed, as if maybe he’d finally caught on to the undertones in our conversation, and Camden roared with laughter.
He was wiping at the corners of his eyes when he finally drew enough breath to say, “Point proven. Maybe we can consider the workday out of bounds? Nine to five is a no-no?”
“You’re tricky. You didn’t say city hall was out of bounds.”
Camden smirked as his buddy came back with a folder and handed it over. I had no idea what was right or wrong for this type of construction site, but I pursed my lips and flipped through the paperwork anyway. “Well, these certainly all seem to have signatures,” I said vaguely, and Camden snorted before he snagged the folder out of my hands and snapped it shut.
His friend groaned. “What are you—”
“He’s pulling your leg. Mark, this is Wyatt. Wyatt, Mark,” he said, waving between us.
Wyatt sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I did not need that today.” He slapped his chest as if to get his heart going again.
Still pleased with myself, I held out my hand to Wyatt. He didn’t begrudge me and gave my hand a shake, but I was pleased to see Camden kept a careful eye on his friend, as if maybe he didn’t like another man touching me. A thrill spiked in my chest and had goose bumps raising on my arms. Jealousy was problematic at best and dangerous at worst, but it did give me an evil little delight that he cared enough to feel that way.
Wyatt took the folder from Camden and gave me one final smile. “I’m going to put this stuff away. Have a good afternoon, guys.” With that he sauntered off.
“Max, go wait by the car,” I said. Max nodded at me and turned, obviously happy to be out of whatever was going on between me and Camden. We both waited until he was far enough away he wouldn’t hear us, then glanced at each other. The summer air was hot, thanks to the unrelenting sun, but the atmosphere between us boiled and had weight to it. I could barely breathe.
