Ethanlooked back up at him, wondering if this man understood him as well as itseemed he did.
Beaulooked around again, then grinned back at Ethan. “I know this guy,” he beganwith a sexy smirk. “He’s kinda in need of work at the moment. He’s pretty handybeneath the hood.”
Ethanlaughed, letting all of the tension drain out of him for the first time in whatfelt like years. “Yeah? Does he know it requires long hours?”
“Iheard he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. And I’m pretty sure he hasn’ttaken a vacation in… well, in years actually.”
“Yeah?”Ethan studied Beau for a moment. “He’s not looking to take one anytime soon, ishe?”
“Nope.”
Ethanfigured bringing Beau on board was better than letting Jared get involved. Whoknew what kind of asshole he’d be stuck with if his cousin got a say in who washired. “Well, when you see this guy, let him know I need him to be here atseven o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Beaunodded his head, that sexy smirk morphing into a devastating grin. “What if Itold you he’s free today?”
Ethanknew it was time to get serious with Beau for a minute. As much as he wasenjoying this conversation, and as much as he truly was looking forward tohaving someone who would come in and knock out the work that was piling up,Ethan wanted Beau to understand what he was really getting into.
Becauseit damn sure didn’t look like this attraction between the two of them waslessening any. And Ethan was doing his damnedest to keep up his defenses, butthere was only so much one man could do.
Slidingoff of the table, Ethan left his coffee mug behind as he got to his feet andcleared the distance between him and Beau in an instant. To his surprise, Beauactually backed up a couple of steps.
“Youscared of me?” Ethan asked, not quite sure where the question came from.
Beausmiled again, this time a wicked grin that had Ethan tempted to back up a fewfeet.
“Quitethe opposite actually.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Ethantook another step closer and watched as Beau looked around. Wondering what hewas searching for, Ethan was surprised when Beau set his coffee mug down on theclosest toolbox.
“Andwhat makes you think this will work out? You working here?” Ethan asked,remembering what he’d walked over to say.
“Whenit comes to work, I’m here to work.”
Ofall the things hedidn’tknow about Beau, hedidknow the guy wasa hard worker. Always had been.
Ethanmoved even closer, satisfied when Beau took one more step back and foundhimself up against the corrugated metal wall.
“It’sthat easy for you?”
“Forme to what?” Beau asked, his head tilting as though he were trying to figureEthan out.
“Youthink it’ll be easy to work here with so much…” He couldn’t finish thesentence. He was beginning to rethink the urge to bring this topic up. Ethanwasn’t sure he wanted to go this route. He damn sure wasn’t acting likehimself.
Heknew Beau well enough to know he could easily offer the guy a job, and he’d becompletely professional. However, Ethan was suddenly sick of professional.
“Somuch what, E?” Beau questioned, his voice seductively low. “Temptation?”
Thenext thing Ethan knew, he was the one up against the wall and Beau had bothhands flat on the wall beside his head. The heady scent of coffee and manassaulted his senses. The room seemed to spin as he was overwhelmed witheverything he’d suppressed for this man.
“Temptation,”Ethan confirmed in a choked whisper, letting his eyes wander to Beau’s lips.
“Doyou want to ignore it? If you do, I will.” Beau paused, seemingly waiting forEthan to meet his gaze. When he did, Beau said, “For you.”
God,why did Beau sound so damn sincere? Every single word he spoke seemed to beselected with care, always ensuring he said the right thing. It was clear thatthe attraction between them was potent, strong enough to ignite this wildfirethat threatened to disintegrate them both in an instant.
