Elias flashed me a tight smile. “Meet her at the insurance office when she told you to. Better yet, get there early. Don’t make me ask twice.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I could practically see his trademark sneer.
“I’m the one she upgraded to.” He hit the red button to end the call, and handed me my phone back.
All I could do was stare.
Elias was an easygoing guy. Funny and sweet. Clearly he hadanother side, and it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
“Thanks,” I said, my voice coming out breathy. I clenched my thighs together as an ache started to form there. I was glad to be rid of Teddy, but a woman had needs. Needs I was very interested in having Elias fulfill.
He gave me a nod and a little smile. “He’s still giving you a hard time, huh? Can’t you just block him?”
I laughed, but there was no real humor in it. “I wish. Our lives are still tangled together. I’ve gotten almost everything separated without having to see him, but I have three things left to do that we both have to be there in person for. We both need to sign for the changes to our car insurance, bank accounts, and the lease on our rental place.”
“Once that’s done, so is he?”
I nodded. “Unfortunately, he’s using my needing to see him as proof to himself that I want him back.” I took a deep breath and sank into a chair. “I thought if he knew I was with someone else, he would drop it. But that only works if he buys my story.”
He flashed me that grin again. “Then we’ll have to really sell it.”
Chapter Two
Elias
What the hell am I doing?
I mentally berated myself as I walked from Layne’s front door to my truck. It was snowing lightly, typical of late November, and my boots crunched over the layer that had already accumulated.
This was a terrible idea.
Layne was just getting out of a messy, almost-marriage. She was also my co-worker, and my boss’s sister.
Doing her a favor would be one thing. But I’d had a schoolyard crush on her since the first time she came by the shop to see Jace, and it had only gotten worse since she started working there.
I was playing with fire, and for someone who worked with timber, that was dangerous.
I could tell myself that stepping in on her phone call was just to help her out. In reality, I was thinking partly with my heart ,and partly, with my dick.
Jace had told me all about what an ass her ex is. Two seconds of hearing him talk confirmed it. I wanted Layne to be free of him, for her sake, and hell, maybe for mine, too.
I tossed the paperwork onto the passenger seat of my truck and started the ignition. The big diesel rumbled to life, and I carefully backed down the long, winding driveway that led to Layne’s cabin.
I stopped off at Bend’s Best Brew and grabbed a twelve-pack of donuts to take to the office before driving to work. I should have gotten these first and given one to Layne. Sounds like she could use some sprinkles in her morning.
I pulled into the yard of Wild Timber Homes ten minutes later, my truck bouncing over the ruts in the road, unseen under the snow. I went straight into the office, where Jace was sitting behind Layne’s computer, frowning at the screen.
“Why do you let her work from home one day a week when you can’t figure out how to use a computer?” I asked, stomping the snow off my boots. Jace glanced up from the screen.
“Because she’s my sister, and she needs a day away from you animals.”
He was kidding, but a pit formed in my stomach anyway. Jace was protective of his sister, but not in a pushy way. He had accepted her decision to marry Teddy, even though he didn’t get along with the guy. Trusting her to know what she wanted. I wondered if he would still accept her decisions when she met someone new.
If he knew what I had just done, or what ran through my head when I did it, he would definitely have something to say about it.
I held out the box of donuts, and Jace poked his nose over theside and took a chocolate one.
“Here’s the file for the Beast project. I just stopped by Layne’s and grabbed it.”
