EIGHTEEN
LUKE WOKE WITH CLAIREIN his arms, her soft, lush curves nestled against him. He inhaled, breathing in the scent of shampoo from her hair and the musky scent of their bodies warm from sleep. For a man who’d always slept alone, he was getting used to waking up next to her. After less than a handful of nights together, it was hard for him to imagine sleeping without her.
The thought made him uncomfortable. He never let himself get in that deep. He stayed in control and didn’t put himself in a position where he depended on someone else for anything. He paid for what he needed and never gave more than he could afford to lose. Iron hard control. It’s how he built his business and how he ran his life.
But everything felt different with Claire. She was fierce, strong and sexy as hell. He wanted to protect her and fuck her and fight with her, not necessarily in that order. What he wasn’t willing to do was say good-bye to her. Especially not after last night. Jesus, she been so fucking sexy. Bending over, opening herself to him. But it was the way she didn’t hold anything back that blew him away. She gave him everything, made herself vulnerable and surrendered completely to him. That kind of gift from a woman like Claire was priceless.
The vandalism at her flip had been dirty and ugly. That she turned to him to help her forget, at least for the moment, meant something. Even if he wasn’t comfortable with what it meant. For now, he’d push the messy emotional stuff to the side and focus on the pleasure. God knows there was plenty of pleasure.
He stretched, nudging her thigh with his thickening cock, and smiled as she curled into him, seeking him even in sleep. With deliberate slowness, he rolled her onto her back, pulled her nipple into his mouth and set about starting his day.
IT WASAFTER nine before they got to the job site and Claire sat next to him in the Jag trying to balance being angry at him with the blissed out look of a woman who’d been well fucked. Luke wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her reputation with Sparks or her crew, but he had to admit, he got a perverse amount of pleasure from riling her up.
“Do you want me to let you out around the corner so no one sees you arriving with me?” He pressed his lips together to keep from grinning.
“What I wanted was for you to take me back to my flip to get my truck. What I want seems incidental at this point.” She didn’t cross her arms over her chest, but she may as well have. Frustration rolled off her in waves, and he seemed destined to be her primary target.
“Well see, here’s the problem. I l…” He caught himself before he finished the word. Hell no, he had not been about to say love. “Like you a great deal, but I do not trust you.”
She hmpffed and he took energy from her frustration. “I mean it, Claire. I know you. If you had your truck, you’d skip out and go over to the flip before I got back here and you are not going there alone. No fucking way. Not until we sort out who’s responsible.”
“Arrogant, controlling prick,” she muttered.
“Yes I am. That doesn’t change anything. I’m not letting you take chances with your safety. It has nothing to do with how competent you are. I know you can handle yourself. You do it every day.” He reached over to brush a thumb over her forehead, smoothing the wrinkle between her brows before tracing the side of her cheek with his fingers. Despite how angry she was with him, she leaned into his caress. Her response, the power in her reaction made something twist low in his gut. “You don’t have to do it this time. I can help. Let me help.”
“Do I have a choice?” she asked, cutting her eyes at him.
“Not really, nope.”
“Nice,” she said, shaking her head, but he could see the corners of her mouth turn up in spite of herself.
He pulled up in front of the construction trailer and leaned over to press a quick kiss to her cheek.
“I’ll be back at four to pick you up and then we can grab dinner and head to the flip.”
“Okay, oh great and powerful one. Whatever you say.”
“Damn straight,” he said, with a laugh as she climbed from the car.
Before he turned around to head back to his office, Sparks came out of the trailer to wave him down.Fuck.If he intended to quit at four he had things he needed to do and holding his construction manager’s hand wasn’t one of them. He rolled down the window and waited for the older man to make his way to the door. Claire looked over her shoulder and disappeared into the building, no doubt hoping Sparks hadn’t noticed her.
“Mr. Masters, I’m sorry to bother you.” He leaned toward the window, and the stale cigarette smell hung in the air between them, so strong Luke had to fight the urge to lean back.
“I told you to call me Luke, Sparks.” At least five times, he thought, his already frayed patience wearing thin. “What can I do for you?”
“I just wanted to tell you I’ve got the shipping containers coming today. I had to push them, but they should be delivered this afternoon. I’ve never had this kind of loss on a job before. There’s no stealing on a Matthew’s job. The subs know it and respect it. I think it must be someone from the outside. I can’t imagine one of my people doing it.”
Luke was used to some loss on his jobs. The fact that it was such a big deal to the construction manager felt either naïve or disingenuous, and Sparks had too many years under his belt to be naïve. Although before this happened, Luke would have sworn the crusty old contractor was a straight no nonsense character. He stomped on his initial impulse to dismiss the older man’s concerns. He was so used to working with Samson. Maybe he’d gotten used to too high a level of loss, too. He had an idea that might make Sparks happy and Claire easier to deal with at the same time.
“I’m sure it’s a onetime thing, but if you’re concerned, why don’t I send my security guy around to put up some extra cameras.” It would give him a way to explain to Claire why he was having cameras installed on her flip. Maybe she’d be a little less pissed. Not that is would change what he did, but she was a lot more fun when she was pliant. An image of her stretched out on his bed, ass in the air, offering herself to him flashed in his mind. Definitely better pliant.
“That would be great,” said Sparks, looking genuinely grateful.
Whether it was true or not, the man certainly seemed to be bugged by the losses, and for a moment Luke wondered if they might somehow be connected to the vandalism on Claire’s flip. He shook off the feeling. It was simply two bad things happening close together. There was no reason to connect them.
“I’ll send him over this afternoon,” he said, dismissing the man and hurrying from the lot. He was going to have to glue himself to his desk if he planned to pick up Claire at four and he planned to do that and a lot more.
CLAIRE MOVEDTHROUGH the building, picturing the finished structure. Her guys had kicked ass. She knew they would, but she was still grateful to see what they’d accomplished while she was away. She found most of her crew chasing behind the framers on five. Jesus, if they moved any slower the building would be coming down instead of going up.
