“Pleased to meet you, Madison,” the voice says.
Deep but soft, with a velvety rasp. It’s a very good voice. An incredibly sexy voice. And saying my full name like that?
Phew.
I turn.
And damn it, it’s the hottie sitting at the bar.
I have enough trouble with good-looking, bad-news kinda men outside work. The last thing I need is to spend my working hours with this hottie.
The hotter a man is, the badder news he’ll be.
It’s Maddie’s law.
By that logic, this guy is the worst news.
With a swallow, I stick out my hand. “Hi.”
He takes it. His hand is callused. Clearly, he does hard labor. He holds my hand in his for a moment while those seaglass eyes stare into mine.
My eyes drop down his body. He looks way too good in those faded wranglers and black cowboy boots.
Lord, give me strength.
I slip my hand away from his grasp and turn to my father. “Bad hire, Dad. He’s too pretty. No one’s gonna take him seriously.”
Quick shortcut to learning a guy’s true nature: say something insulting to his ego.
You’ll get very interesting results very fast.
My eyes slide back to the hottie.
Luke.
No. I don’t need to know his name. I don’t want to know his name. He’s a man, and that’s all the information I need. Nothing about him is my business.
I expect the guy to look offended. To puff his chest out and proclaim his tough-guy bonafides.
But this guy doesn’t do any of that. He’s still got that solemn, thoughtful look on his face, but something about the way his perfect lips quirk tells me he’s trying not to smile.
Interesting.
My dad folds his big arms across his chest. “Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong,” he says to me. “But we’re short-staffed, and we’ll find out quick one way or another.” He claps Luke on the back and tell him, “Try not to get yourself totally fucked up. My worker’s comp insurance is shit.”
As my father heads back to his office, I call out, “Great pep talk, Dad!”
The hottie’s looking at me again. I wait for him to say something, but he doesn’t.
Strong and silent type, I guess.
But then he says in that soft, deep voice, “See you around, Madison.” And walks away.
Why is it that a man saying goodbye to me and walking away only makes me want him more?
Older,I remind myself.Wiser.
And then I go back to massacring limes so violently that juice squirts in my eyes.
