Chapter Four
Elias
So she didn’t want me to stay. No big deal. I hadn’t expected her to. It was fine.
I had a shit ton of work to do anyway.
I arrived at work and stepped into the office to find Zane and Wyatt already there. The place smelled like coffee and sawdust, which meant they’d both been up early too. “Ready for another day working on the Beast?” I asked as I put my lunch away.
“I updated the plans, again,” Wyatt said, stretching his back from behind a computer in the office, bones cracking like he was twice his age. “So if you want to actually run a chainsaw today, you can get started.”
“A minor miracle,” Zane added, flipping through the pages. “I told Marin, no more changes.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you the one talking to clients? Isn’t that Layne’s job?” Of all the boisterous guys who worked here, Zane was the quietest.
A bit of color crept into his cheeks. “We all do our part.” He studied the pages before him like they might rescue him from the conversation, so I let it go.
Wyatt wrapped his arm around Zane’s neck and ruffled his hair. “The ghost over here actually talked to a person. Mark it on the calendar.”
Zane batted him away and gave him the finger, expression otherwise unchanged.
Jace came into the office and raised an eyebrow, taking in the scene in one sweep. “Do I have to separate you two?”
“No, Dad,” Wyatt said with a laugh.
Layne poked her nose around the corner of her computer screen. “Never call him that. It’s just weird.”
Wyatt’s grin grew wider. “How about Daddy then?”
Layne made a retching sound. “Get out of my office, all of you.”
Wyatt definitely said yes Mom under his breath as he collected his coat. Either Layne didn’t hear him, or didn’t take the bait.
I grabbed a chainsaw, a measuring tape, and a list of measurements and headed out into the yard, feeling the need to move. I craved that bone-deep physical exhaustion that only this job could provide.
It was cold and bright out, and snow crunched under my boots, and I headed out to select the perfect log for this portion of the project.
The job was fifty percent science, fifty percent art, and one hundred percent dangerous. Logs weighing several thousand pounds, power tools, heavy equipment, dust, noise, and stress from clients who couldn’t make up their goddamned minds were all part of the equation.
For that reason, I needed to focus on the task at hand, and not on Layne.
By lunchtime, I was more sawdust than a man.
The muscles in my forearms and thighs ached, my shoulders burned, and my shirt stuck to my skin with sweat despite the cold weather.
The air tasted like pine sap and chainsaw exhaust, the kind of smell that usually grounded me.
I’d made some headway on the project, assuming nothing had changed.
I hadn’t seen Zane, Wyatt, or Jace in a while. Hopefully that didn’t mean they were in the office redesigning. More likely, they were in another part of the yard working out some finer details.
I made my way back to the office for lunch and coffee. So much coffee.
“Stop!” Layne yelled as I opened the door, but before I could actually step through it.
I froze. “What?”
She stood up from her desk, hands on her hips. “You can’t come in here like that. You’ll make a mess.”
“I need someone to blow me off, and there was no one else in the yard.”
Her face turned an interesting shade of scarlet, and I was pretty sure mine did too once I realized what I’d said. “The compressed air, I mean.”
She licked her lips, fighting back a laugh. “Go outside. I’ll help you.”
I walked back out to the shop, my heart thumping faster than it had any right to.
The cold bit at my damp skin, raising goosebumps along my arms, but I barely noticed.
All my attention was locked on her. Layne followed, then grabbed the air compressor hose and turned it on, sending a powerful blast of air at me.
Dust exploded off my clothes and into the air.
I pressed my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut.
“God, Elias, you are a mess,” she called over the sound of the compressor. “Turn around so I can get your back.”
I could hear Layne giggling as she worked, the sound light and unguarded. It threaded straight through me, settling low in my gut and making it hard to breathe. I focused on the way the air hit me, dust trying to get up my nose, anything to drive the image of her standing so close out of my head.
Finally, she shut it off and set the hose aside. We were standing closer together than was strictly necessary. Close enough that I could smell her shampoo, something clean and faintly floral that didn’t belong out here among sawdust and diesel.
“Am I clean enough to come into your office now, Your Highness?” I did a slow turn for her inspection.
She reached out and swiped her hand over my shoulder, dislodging a few stubborn flecks of wood. “It’ll do.”
Her fingers lingered for half a second too long, and the casual touch landed like a spark.
I blinked the dust from my eyes and took her in.
Her blonde hair was pulled back from her face, her curvy figure tucked into a well-fitting pair of slacks and a blouse.
Some of the dust from me had settled on her.
She was a combination of perfectly put-together and a little chaotic.
On the surface, she belonged to a different world than mine, one with polished desks and spreadsheets, but somehow she stood here in the snow and sawdust, fitting in just fine. Her eyes sparkled with amusement, and I loved the way she looked when she laughed.
“Thanks,” I said, swallowing hard, trying to keep my eyes from drifting to her mouth. This had to be the most inconvenient crush I’d ever had.
She smirked, brushing some of the sawdust from her blouse. “You’re lucky I’m feeling generous today.” She shivered.
I was hot from work, but she was outside in the snow without a coat.
“Let’s head back then.” We walked back to the office, and I pushed the door open and held it, letting her slip past me, her shoulder grazing the center of my chest. She stood stomping the snow off her shoes, and I took my boots right off; they were a lost cause.
We were standing close, and I fought the urge to lean in closer. I had to keep perspective. “So… how’d it go with Teddy?” I didn’t even like saying his name, and the thought of her with him splashed cold water on the feelings bubbling below the surface.
The amusement drained from her face. “Surprisingly smooth. We got done what needed to be done. The fact that he didn’t put up a fuss seems more suspicious than good.”
“I can come with you to the next meetup,” I said too quickly.
She cocked her head to the side. “For moral support, or…?”
I nodded. “Really sell the fake story, you know?”
She nodded too, her gaze flicking down my chest once before meeting my eyes again.
The look made my pulse jump, and I scolded myself.
Not sure if I was seeing things I wanted to see or if that appreciative look in her eye was really there.
“I might just take you up on that. Then again, if I don’t, will you just happen to be in the area again? ” she teased.
Heat crept up my neck. I was certain I hadn’t blushed this much in my entire life. “I do go to the bank from time to time. I could coincidentally show up at the same time as you.”
She took a half-step closer. “Then I’ll let you know when. Just in case.”
The door opened behind us, and we jumped apart. “Oh good, Layne, can you print the updated bill for the Henderson place? I changed a few things on the spreadsheet last night. Hey, Elias.”
“You touched the spreadsheet? Jace, leave these things for me,” Layne snapped as she stormed behind her desk.
“I think I’m in trouble,” Jace muttered.
As I watched Layne’s curvy frame march towards her desk, my skin still buzzing where she’d stood close beside me, I thought I might be in trouble too.