4. Lexi
Chapter 4
Lexi
Getting my butt out of bed the next morning was excruciating.
I hadn’t lied to him that I was a night owl by nature, but that was more on a Friday night, not in the middle of the week. Kai, of course, was whistling as he got ready. At least this time I hadn’t caught him with his ass in the breeze.
Not that it had been a hardship to see his ass, but now it was seared into my brain.
That part was not a good thing.
I shuffled out of my room when he finally got out of the bathroom. I wasn’t sure if him in a pair of cargos with damp blond hair in careless spikes was much better. His body was a crime.
Especially when I had morning mouth and bedhead.
“Morning, Lex. Want to drive in with me?”
I waved at him. “You go ahead, mister chirpy.”
He laughed as he dipped into his bedroom and grabbed a Murdock Brothers T-shirt in highlighter green. “I made some coffee, if you want any.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and closed the bathroom door. His bawdy laughter annoyed me all the more. Dammit, I was so tired I forgot my caddy.
I waited until I heard him in the kitchen to escape to get it. By the time I was ready to go, he and my brother were long gone. I didn’t need to be at the warehouse until eight, but I liked to get there early to make sure all the guys were at their respective job sites.
And to also make sure there were no fires to put out.
When it came to the project app that Sullivan used, there were a lot of fires. Mostly in the underwear of the lusty women in and around Indigo Valley. He even had jobs out in Saratoga, Ballston Spa, and Malta. That viral video had been the start, but once people got a look at the Murdock boys, there was a lot of word of mouth.
You couldn’t pay for that kind of marketing, even if Sully’s girlfriend, Nora, was a genius.
I cranked the air conditioning against the mid-May heat and headed for the warehouse. My phone rang and I answered it through my car speakers when I saw the name. “Hey, Nicole.”
“Girl, tell me you’re at the warehouse.”
“On my way, why?”
She sighed. “Kai, mister ultimate hotness, is on a ladder out front. That man is too fine for his own good.”
“What the hell is he doing there? He’s supposed to be on a job site. Also, why can you see him?”
“Because I’m across the street at the new breakfast truck. He and your stupidly delicious brother are hanging something up.”
I wished my best friend would just get together with my brother already. She’d been in love with him since we were fifteen. Wyatt had been smart enough to keep clear of her when we were kids. Being eighteen to her fifteen was a no-go, but now that we were in our twenties, she was fair game. And I knew he was a smitten kitten.
“I’m turning the corner.”
“Now you can enjoy the view too.” Then she hung up.
I parked in the lot across from the warehouse. Sullivan hadn’t had the parking lot for the business repaved yet and I wasn’t chancing a nail in my tire.
I grabbed my purse and got out to see Nicole nibbling on a breakfast burrito as she watched attentively. I waved to the chef of The Big Breakfast. “Can I get an egg and cheese on flatbread?”
“You got it.”
I bumped my hip into Nicole’s. Where I was short and curvy, she was tall and lean with glossy blond hair. “Staring much?”
She waggled her brows. “It is a nice view.”
“Up!”
I turned at the chef’s voice and went to exchange cash for food then I went back to my station beside Nicole. “I thought they already had a job today.” I took a bite and resisted the urge to moan. I should have gotten an egg white-something but fuck it. After no sleep, I needed the boost.
Nicole handed me the mini bottle of hot sauce she always kept in her purse. I dabbed it on mine and took another bite. This time, the moan came through.
“This place might actually put a few curves on me,” Nicole said between bites.
“You can have some of mine.”
She snickered. “Girl, you look amazing.”
“My perpetual cheerleader.”
“You know it.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” My eyebrows shot up as the Murdock Brothers - You dream it, we can build it! was revealed on the banner.
Nicole shrugged. “Slow day at the diner. I have class this afternoon, anyway.”
“You’re done this week, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “Finals on Monday. Can you believe summer is here already?”
“Not at all.” We both tipped our heads as Wyatt and Kai struggled with the heavy ropes. I unabashedly watched Kai’s biceps, triceps, and whatever else ceps bulged.
“Mercy.”
“Ditto,” I said with a sigh.
She giggled and wadded up her white paper wrapper. “I miss you.”
“I know. We’ve both been crazy. Are you taking summer classes?”
“Nope. Taking this one off. I’m so close to finishing my paralegal classes, I can taste it.”
“Then we have a date at the lake when your finals are over.”
“I’m in.” She bumped my hip. “Nice to see Kai in town again.”
“Won’t be for long, but it is a nice view.” I grinned at her.
“You should use that to your advantage. Duane didn’t know you had a clit, let alone know how to find it. I bet Kai wouldn’t need a map.”
“Stop.” I nearly choked on my last bite.
“I’m serious. He’s the perfect rebound.” She looped her messenger bag over her head. “You already have the hots for him.”
“I already live with him.”
“I’m sorry, what?” She turned me towards her. “Explain.”
“He’s crashing at Wyatt’s place while he’s here. Doesn’t want to live with his parents’, which you know I get.”
“So, he’s literally right there. Talk about serendipity.”
“And so is my brother.”
“Well, you are the one who does the scheduling, don’t you?”
I snickered. “You are diabolical. I couldn’t do that.”
“Oh, but you could.” She grinned at me, her dimples popping. “Send him to Vermont or something.”
“We don’t have jobs in Vermont, jerk.”
“The way their name is getting around, I wouldn’t be shocked.” She handed me her wrapper, then she turned on her heel and grinned over her shoulder, batting her eyelashes at me. “Doooo it.”
“Go on, get.”
Nicole got in her ageless Honda Civic, peeling out as she beeped at me. I threw out both of our wrappers and made sure there was nothing in my teeth before I crossed the street to where they were still struggling with the banner.
“Think one of you need to get on the roof to tack it up,” I yelled up at them.
Kai grinned down at me. “Hey there, grumpy.”
I flipped him off. “What are you two doing over here, anyway?”
“Mrs. Burnette had a school meeting this morning. Asked us to come back at eleven.” He held onto the sides of the ladder and slid down to the ground, making my heart stutter.
“If you do that, Wyatt Patrick Howard, I’ll beat you.”
Wyatt chuckled as he came down the ladder correctly. “Chill, sis. You have any short jobs for us?”
“Let me check.”
Kai crowded into me as I unlocked the front door. “Did I scare you?”
“Yes, you know you did. You could have fallen.”
“I’ve been on a ladder since I was ten.” His breath brushed my ear. He smelled of coconuts and that indefinable sweet spice. “I like that you worry, though.”
Ignoring him, I finally got it open and stuffed the keys back in the pocket of my dress. I flicked on the overhead lights and went to my desk. The warehouse was literally just a huge echoing space with a bunch of metal shelves on one wall full of lumber, tools, and other various builder supplies.
My desk was in the front where we had a small area for the occasional walk-in. Eventually, we’d have a front-facing office and look a bit more professional, but Murdock Brothers had grown so fast that little things like the warehouse were last on the list. I tapped my brand-new MacBook awake and loaded the jobs program as I sat down andautomatically set out my water bottle, coffee tumbler, and lip gloss on my blotter.
When I looked up, Kai was grinning at me.
“What?”
“So precise, that I want to mess you up.”
“Excuse me?”
He cleared his throat. “I mean, your desk.”
“Right. Of, course.” My heart was pounding in my ears and much lower that I didn’t want to think about. “Let me see what we’ve got.”
Wyatt came in. “Think Lex is right. We need to put one of those grommets in the center. I think I have something in the back.”
“Cool. Let me know.” Kai leaned on my desk. “I’ll see if she’s got a short job for us.”
Wyatt nodded and loped to the back of the warehouse.
My brain played over the mess you up comment repeatedly as I tried to read through the new jobs that came in. I’d scheduled out the rest of them in order of need and emergency. “Um, there’s an air conditioning install over on Liberty Lane. Should only take an hour. Older lady with no help.”
“Perfect. Who’s the client?”
“Mrs. Durham? Don’t know her.”
He whistled. “I do. Wait until she sees it’s me coming through her door. Might kick me out.”
I laughed. “Maybe I should give it to one of your other brothers.”
“Nah. We all bugged the crap out of her. She was the lunch lady. You don’t remember her?”
I blinked. “At school? No, probably not. I always brought a bag lunch.”
“Missed out on the exceptionally basic cheese pizza.” He winked. “We’ll take care of her.”
“Good. Thanks.” I printed out a work order and handed it to him.
Wyatt jogged back over to us. “No go on the grommets.”
I wrote it down on my pad. “What size?”
“You’re the best.” Wyatt patted my head. “Order a four and a five inch one.”
I scribbled it down and stuck it in the corner of my blotter. “I’ll order them this morning.”
“We’ve got a job over on Liberty.”
Wyatt nodded. “Sounds good. Thanks, Lex.”
As usual, my brother couldn’t relax, and he was already out the door. Kai held back a minute and paused at the door, then turned to me. “Did you like the idea of me messing up your desk, Lexi?”
I gulped. This was my chance.
Maybe Nicole was right. I had a feeling Kai knew what he was doing when it came to a desk, a bed, or a backseat. And I wanted to know all three.
“If I did?”
His fingers tightened on the door, then he closed it and returned to my desk.
My heart hammered in my chest as he leaned in, putting both hands on my desk until he was hovering over me. “Now you can’t say something like that to a man like me.”
“I think you’re exactly the right man to say it to.”
His jaw clenched.
“You’re not sticking around, right?”
Slowly, he nodded.
“Then, yes.” Nerves bounced around in my chest and lower. So much lower. I leaned in until our faces were very close, my mouth dry. “I’d definitely say yes.”
“Because I’m leaving when my brother doesn’t need me anymore?”
I nodded. “I don’t want anything serious. I just got out of a long relationship. A very long, very dry relationship.”
“I sure as fuck wouldn’t leave you dry, baby.”
The shiver did a figure eight down my spine and back up. “I have every faith.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth, then lower to the scoop of my neckline before locking on my eyes, then he straightened and there was no denying he was on the same page.
This time, I gave him a once-over and lingered at his very hard cock before meeting his gaze with a smile. “Good luck at the Durham and Burnette house.”
“Be ready at two.”
My smile faded.“What’s at two?”
“We’ll try out that desk.” He whistled as he sauntered out the door.
“Oh, boy.” I collapsed back in my chair.
What had I done?