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"Morning," she greeted me cheerily. "Ready to get your hands dirty?"
"I’m ready to work,” I said gruffly. Oops. That came out pricklier than intended. I wiped my brow, already sweating again from the heat.
"It's a stupidly hot day,” she said, signaling at her outfit as if to explain to me why she’d worn practically nothing today.
I kept my eyes glued to the sidewalk. "Yup."
"So, I got iced coffee!" Holy shit. She was holding two coffee cups and I hadn't even noticed.
"Thanks. Not my drink of choice, but I appreciate it."
"You'd be amazed what you can learn to enjoy."
Energy crackled between us with every word we spoke. The universe knew that the last time we'd seen each other, we'd kissed. And it wasn't going to let us forget.
We unloaded the truck together, and I tried to focus on anything but the way her body moved in that skimpy outfit. It wasn't easy.
Inside the bar, I half-expected her to broach the subject of our kiss straight away. She didn't.
"Okay," I started, "I’m going to rip up this old linoleum." I gestured to the dingy floor. "You can tackle the office wallpaper with the steamer."
"Perfect!" Her grin lit up the room, drawing my attention to her full, pink lips. "I've never used a steamer before. I always like to try new things."
My heart thudded in my chest. Now was the time. I needed to set expectations before things got out of hand. "Elara, we need to talk," I began, my voice hoarse. No doubt all the rehearsal was to blame.
"Of course."
I took a deep breath. It was one thing to practice this and another to actually say it to her. "It’s about what happened at the barbecue. I don't think it's a good idea for anything else to happen between us. It was . . . a mistake.” God, it felt harsh saying that. I ran my hand through my hair. “I'm not going to apologize because we didn't do anything wrong, exactly."
"Agreed."
"But I'm not going to let it happen again. I think the most important thing for me to do is stay professional and get on with the work. Anything else could get in the way of that. Plus, I'm too old for you. I have kids. And you're leaving." It sounded cold. I hoped I hadn't hurt her feelings too badly.
To my surprise, Elara merely shrugged, unfazed. "No problem."
"Wait, no problem?"
"Yeah, it's all good. Not like we're dating." She grinned, all perfect white teeth and pastel-pink lips. "Shall we get down to work?"
"Right. Yes. Work." This was ideal, wasn't it? She was on the same page about keeping things strictly professional. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Elara bent over to pick up the steamer and I full-on stared at her perfect ass. Great. Good. Well, I was one hundred percent glad that nothing more would happen between us.
Carrying the steamer over to the office door, she asked, breezily, "Did you enjoy the rest of the barbecue?"
"Yeah, it was fine," I grunted, my mind still preoccupied with her peach-shaped bottom. "The girls had a good time."
"I had fun, too. And my tarts went down well."
"Lexi ate a ton of the kiwi one."
"I saw!" Elara opened the office door. "Right, I'm heading in here, I guess. Good luck with the lino."
"Wait, have you used a steamer before?"
"YouTube is my sensei."
"You don't need me to show you?"
