“Ohhh.”She practically purred it.“Well, hello.”
Kayne glanced up from the hallway wall, where he was going over something with the contractor.His expression didn’t change.He looked calm, polite, and totally unreadable.Chloe felt her skin tingle anyway.
Danica sashayed closer, hip angled, giving a smile she’d perfected in a mirror somewhere.“I don’t think we’ve met.”
Kayne nodded once.“Kayne Serruto.”
“Mmm.”Her eyes lit with interest.“Southern.I can hear it.”
He didn’t blink.“Louisiana.”
“Delicious,” she breathed, inching closer.“I’m Danica.I work here.”
Barely,Chloe thought.
Kayne’s mouth tipped up.“Do you?”
Danica preened.“Of course.I’m part of the leadership team.”
Chloe accidentally snorted.
Danica ignored her and drifted even closer, trailing her fingers along Kayne’s biceps as if she was inspecting merchandise.“Wow.You’re ...solid.”
“Danica!”Chloe hissed.
“What?”Danica blinked innocently.“I’m just being friendly.”
Kayne stepped back subtly, a gentleman’s version of “no, thank you,” which Danica absolutely refused to register.
“So,” she said, lashes fluttering, “are you part of the construction crew, Kayne?Is that how you got those amazing muscles?”
Kayne glanced at Chloe.Something warm, wicked, and protective flashed in his eyes.
He turned back to Danica.“I’m Chloe’s boyfriend.”
The world stopped.Chloestopped.Her heart flatlined, restarted, then took off as if it were late for a connecting flight.
Danica blinked.Hard.“I’m sorry—what?”
Kayne hooked his thumbs casually in his pockets, looking every inch the confident, quietly lethal man he was.“Her boyfriend,” he repeated mildly.“We’ve been seeing each other.”
Seeing each other.
Chloe let out a soft, startled squeak she would deny on her deathbed.
Danica’s mouth fell open in outrage.“Since when?”
Kayne’s gaze drifted back to Chloe, sliding over her in a way that made her knees consider abandoning their duties.“Since recently,” he said.“But it’s going well.”
“Oh, my God,” Chloe whispered.Heat crawled up her neck as if it were training for Everest.
Danica gaped.“You?With him?”
The tone implied Chloe had tackled Kayne, tied him up, and forced romance upon him against his will.
Kayne only smiled.“She’s pretty irresistible.”
Chloe was going to pass out.
