“Thanks.”
ObviouslyBeau wasn’t much in the talking mood at the butt-crack of dawn either, andEthan should’ve been relieved.
Hewasn’t.
Hewanted to bombard Beau with words. Ask him why he left. Explain what hadhappened with Blake. Yell at him for walking away.
Hedidn’t do any of that.
Sippinghis coffee, he fiddled with the engine beneath the open hood, not actuallyseeing anything in front of him.
Forthe last few hours, before he’d finally forced himself out of bed, he hadtossed and turned, feeling completely and utterly alone for the first time in along time. And it wasn’t like he didn’t spend every night by himself. But forsome reason, after what happened between him and Beau the day before, theloneliness had taken on a heavier weight. He felt smothered by it.
Butthere wasn’t much he could do about it now.
“Wantme to work on something specific?” Beau asked, appearing to have distancedhimself from Ethan on every level except maybe the business one.
Ethandidn’t like that fact.
Heliked the Beau who had pursued him for the last few months. Liked the guy whomanaged to snag his attention without even trying.
Notthis guy. The one who acted like nothing happened yesterday. Nothing that hadactually tilted Ethan’s world on its axis and left him reeling from theintensity. Only he couldn’t let Beau know that. It was clear that Ethan wasbecoming the clingy guy he absolutely couldn’t stand.
Andhe was being selfish to boot. He wanted the distance between them, right? Whyshould it matter who instigated it?
“Youhave any experience with heavy equipment?” Ethan asked, hoping he soundedprofessional. Considering he hadn’t bothered to look at Beau since he came outof the small office, he wasn’t sure how well he was faring.
“Yup,”Beau said easily.
Ethandid turn to look at him then. “Not at Dillinger’s, I take it?”
Beaushook his head as he sipped his coffee. “I help my uncle on occasion, when he’soverloaded.”
Ethanhad no idea who Beau’s uncle was, and it didn’t appear Beau was going to offerhim any additional details. “That tractor’s hydraulics went out last week.Can’t get it to lift,” he explained to Beau, nodding his head toward the mountainoustractor that was taking up one of the heavy duty bays.
“Gotit,” Beau said simply, not bothering to linger any longer to chat.
Ethanwas fine with that. Really.
Grabbinghis now empty coffee mug, he made his way to the office to get a refill. Whenhe walked inside, Ethan noticed the coffee pot was once again full. ApparentlyBeau had started another pot.
Fuck.
Whydid he have to be so damn thoughtful? That was only another reason Ethan wantedto bang his head against the wall. The guy was too good to be true. Had to be.That was the only logical conclusion.
Afterpouring another cup of java, Ethan forced himself to get to work. Theopportunity to get caught up had presented itself by way of Beau, and he damnsure wasn’t going to pass it up.
Mainlybecause he had no idea how long it was going to last.
??
Theday passed without incident.
Thatwas a first in an awful long time for Beau. Considering he was used to spendinghis days usually working solo because Ricky was too busy with his head up hisown ass, it was nice to work with Ethan. The man was a machine. He bouncedaround from one job to another, keeping them all documented and up to speed.
AfterBeau had gotten as far as he could with the tractor, including ordering theparts he needed, he had asked Ethan what else he could do. Thankfully, Ethanshowed him the ropes. Every job was ticketed, and all of the details were rightthere in a file folder, including parts ordered, issues identified, andmiscellaneous notes. Beau hadn’t needed to bother Ethan for the rest of theday, picking up a couple of tickets and working them.
AvoidingEthan hadn’t been in his original plan, but the second he walked through thedoor, he sensed that Ethan was in a mood. And he knew, based on experience,pushing Ethan wouldn’t get him real far. He had needed to let Ethan simmer downsome before he decided to address this new stage they’d moved to.
