“It wasn’t a screw-up, asshole. You hit a nail nobody could’ve seen. It would have been me if I’d have been working on that log. But yeah, the insurance company’s insisting. I’m betting it’s mostly because of McEntyre’s leg.” Luke pauses, and I remember how our new hire didn’t follow safety protocols and almost ended up in a prosthetic. “Guy’s name is Derek Chen. Starts in a few weeks.”
I freeze mid-sip.
Derek Chen. Couldn’t be Claire’s ex-boyfriend. Right? But this is way too coincidental for my liking.
And how does my horny ass know about Derek-fucking-Chen? I did what any rational man who’s obsessed with a woman woulddo. I deep-dived her social media at two in the morning like a stalker. Found exactly three photos of them together from two years ago, all deleted except for the ones other people tagged her in. Derek Chen, some corporate safety consultant out of Austin. Good-looking in that gym-rat, protein-shake way. The kind of guy who probably never got sawdust in his hair or chainsaw kickback in his arm.
The kind of guy who hurt her bad enough that Esme and Piper both warned me off unless I was serious. Something ugly and possessive twists in my chest at the thought of Derek Chen anywhere near her.
“You know him?” Luke asks, too casual.
“Know of him.”
“He came highly recommended. Experience with timber operations, OSHA certified, the whole package.” Luke watches me over his beer. “This gonna be a problem?”
“Why would it be a problem?”
“Because you’ve been sniffing around his ex-girlfriend, and I’m not blind.”
I set my beer down harder than necessary. “I’m not sniffing. I’m pursuing. And why would Derek Chen have anything to do with that?”
“You tell me.”
Luke grins. “How’s that going, by the way?”
“She’s still running.”
“Smart woman.”
“She texted me yesterday about the wedding rehearsal schedule.”
“That’s not running. That’s coordinating.”
“She signed it ‘Dr. Elliott.’”
Luke laughs, his shoulders shaking as his head kicks back. “Yeah, you’re screwed.”
“How’s it going with the twins’ mom?”
“Fuck you.”
I tip my bottle toward him, smiling as the cool liquid slides down my throat. Luke and Emily have been dancing around their attraction for a while now, but I don’t push, just like he doesn’t do with me.
I lean back against the counter, running my thumb over the scar on my right palm. Old habit. Old memory. But when I close my eyes now, I don’t see Jenna’s funeral. I see Claire in that ER bay, looking at me like I’m dangerous. Like she wants me anyway.
Derek Chen can take his corporate safety protocols and shove them up his ass. Claire’s not his anymore.
She’s just not mine yet either.
“Hunter.” Luke’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “I’m serious. Is this going to be a problem? Because I can’t have my best foreman and my safety consultant at each other’s throats.”
“It won’t be a problem.” I meet his eyes. “I’m a professional.”
“You’re full of shit, but I’ll take it.” He raises his beer. “To professionalism.”
“To professionalism.”
We drink, and I make a mental note to text Claire tonight.
