“Electrician should be here in about thirty to start setting up the scanning system for the door,” he said. “Feel free to send him back to my office when he gets here.”
I kept my tone light. “You got it, boss.”
My hand had a slight tremble as I clicked on another email, and he was still behind me.
But when he walked away, I let out a slow breath and got back to work.
The rest of the day went smoothly. I taught a class and had a training session. The electrician installed our new system, and Emily and I worked for the next two days to figure out the distribution of the new card system to all members.
I set a carton of milk on Aiden’s desk when I returned after a day off, and his lips twitched.
“Oh, come on,” I said.
He leaned back in his chair, hands braced behind his head. “Eventually, you’ll get it because you’ll run out of options.”
I narrowed my eyes in a glare, and as I walked out of his office, I heard a low husky laugh that had goosebumps popping along my arms.
It was that sound that had me sliding into vivid imagery, Aiden kissing along the back of my neck, laughing when I turned and tried to capture his mouth.
Just as I contemplated how long it had been since I’d allowed myself into that headspace, the sound of someone swiping a key card at the door registered, and I blinked a few times to clear my face.
With my polite smile affixed, I looked up, only to see Anya smashing her face against the perfectly clean glass. She waved frantically, and I smiled. Behind her was a tall, handsome guy with Aiden’s eyes and jaw, but his hair was almost black.
I hated how immediately I cataloged all the ways he was less than Aiden.
He was younger, to be sure. If I had to guess, he was probably closer to my age.
He wasn’t quite as tall, though when he pushed open the door for Anya, I knew he was still a solid six-one.
He wasn’t quite as big, even though he looked strong and muscular.
And he didn’t wear that constant broody, grump face that Aiden did, because as he saw me behind the desk, his face spread with a broad, handsome, white-toothed smile.
“Wonder Woman!” Anya yelled, running around the desk to hurtle her small body into my arms.
Emitting a shocked laugh at her effusive greeting, I gave her a quick hug and set her back to study her. “No tricks on the beams today, right?”
She nodded. “Uncle Beckham made me promise too. Only he gave me a giant candy bar.”
“I see the evidence of it.” I gestured to her chocolate streaked cheeks.
“Anya Hennessy,” the man said in a scandalized voice, “that was supposed to be our secret. How quickly you turn on me.”
Her giggle had me smiling again. “Miss Isabel won’t tell daddy.”
He leaned against the wall and gave me a quick study. “Miss Isabel won’t, huh?”
His tone was undeniably flirty, his green eyes were warm and friendly, and honestly, this was the problem. Why ‘going on dates’ was about as far down my priority list as a full body wax. Because that undeniably flirty tone and warm eyes had my hackles up immediately. I felt like a dog who just spotted another dog far off, and instead of waiting to see how they’d act toward me, my instinct was raised hair along my back and the beginnings of a growl in the back of my throat.
This guy didn’t even know me. I’d done nothing to warrant flirty eyes and a flirty tone.
This, ladies and gentlemen, was why I was still in full possession of a hymen.
Why only untouchable, emotionally unavailable men seemed to appeal to me, because things like this didn’t happen.
Anya scampered off to find her dad, leaving the two of us alone by the front desk.
He stuck a big hand out. “Beckham Hennessy.”
I cleared my throat to make sure that an actual growl didn’t emerge. “Isabel Ward.”
“The manager,” he clarified.
I nodded.
“Hmmm.”
My eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
At first, he did nothing but smile, but then he snapped his fingers like I wasn’t sitting there glaring. “Logan Ward is your brother, right?”
“He is.”
“He’s a defensive genius,” Beckham said.
“He is,” I repeated, this time injecting a little warmth into my voice. “Though, I never saw him that way growing up. He was just the guy who forced me to do my homework and told me I couldn’t torture my little sisters.”
That had him grinning. “I had a picture of him on my wall when he used to play.”
My face was on fire when I thought about the fact that I had pictures of Beckham’s brother on my wall around the same time, but boy, did my mouth stay shut.
Beckham strode closer to the desk and dropped his elbows on the bar height counter along the front. Like a weirdo, I pushed backward in the chair so he wasn’t so close.
“You and I could probably trade some absolutely killer stories,” he said.
One eyebrow rose. “Could we?” I murmured. Please, not about posters on walls, I thought frantically.
He leaned in a little farther and dropped his voice. “Just imagine how much we have in common.”
My head tilted. I couldn’t peg this guy, because his eyes—up close—didn’t hold anything except polite friendliness.
“Beckham,” a deep voice snapped.
My back straightened. Because Aiden appeared around the corner, jaw tight and eyes very not-flirty.
Beckham didn’t move from his position, with the leaning and the closeness. His smile spread. “Aiden. Lovely to see you. I was just telling your manager here that we have a lot in common.”
Aiden’s face was stormy. “Maybe you should let her get back to work.”
“Maybe she wants to talk to me,” Beckham said.
“Maybe you should pay attention to how she’s leaning away from you,” Aiden replied.
“Maybe,” I interjected smoothly, “she can speak for herself.”
Aiden’s eyes locked onto mine, and even though all the normal ‘Aiden-induced’ physical reactions immediately kicked off, with the stuttering heartbeat and tingly hands and butterfly-filled belly, I refused to look away.
Beckham whistled. “I really like her.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.