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Her green eyes cut in my direction again. “Thanks.”

Jordan’s hand moved up to smooth her hair and for some reason I had the impression that her question about my age was more about this attraction between us than anything work related.

“You’re only eight years older than me,” I pointed out, as if the woman couldn’t do the math herself.

“Our ages don’t matter, we’re just coworkers,” she said, but I had a feeling she was reminding herself as much as me.

I’d watched Jordan a lot over the last week. She was firm, fair, and completely unflappable, no matter what kind of bullshit people threw at her. I’d seen her take a lot of shit from the good old boys on the team who were pissed that they lost their special treatment, and she never did so much as bat an eye. The only time Jordan seemed a little nervous or unsure of herself was when she was around me, and I had to think that meant something.

We reached the nurse’s office, and I gave the lady a quick run-down of what happened. Jordan stood in the corner as the nurse examined me, at least until I lifted my shirt so the nurse could listen to my heart with the stethoscope.

I watched as Jordan stared at the ridges of my abs, her face turning the cutest shade of pink. Now that was interesting.

“I’d better get back out on the floor,” she said quickly, avoiding looking at me. “I’m glad you’re okay, Jim. Just don’t forget to file an incident report for management.”

“I won’t. But I’ll see you soon,” I called as she hurried out of the exam room. “Don’t forget, you promised to join us for a beer.”

Jordan

Oh my God, those abs! I knew Jim was fit, it was obvious through the tee shirts and jeans he wore to work every day and all the heavy lifting he did, but I hadn’t been prepared for actual washboard abs. It had taken every bit of self-control to keep from moving closer and tracing those ridges with my tongue.

Then I’d remembered that I was eight years older than him and also his boss, and that cooled my ardor like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.

I walked fast as I made my way back to our sector of the factory, hoping that a little bit of exertion would clear my head. My footsteps echoed off the drab concrete walls as I clomped down the hallway. These steel toed boots were heavy, and you couldn’t help but sound like an elephant when walking in them. Or so I told myself.

When Jim backed the forklift into that post I’d come close to panicking. And I wasn’t a person who panicked about anything. It was weird, I didn’t know him at all, but for some reason the thought of Jim getting hurt made me freak out. I didn’t fully relax until I saw him pulling the forklift away from the post an hour later, sending me a wink as he drove towards the machine shop to have the guys take a look at the damage.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Right before quitting time Jim found me at my computer, filling out the end of shift reports.

“See you at LJ’s?” he asked.

I nodded without looking at him. “Yeah, I’ll be there, probably be about half an hour though.”

He gave me a smile that made my panties incinerate. He had this way of looking at me that was like I had one hundred percent of his attention at all times. “Okay, see you then.”

After I finished my reports and briefed the foreman on the next shift I headed into the locker room to get my stuff and clean up a bit. I kept deodorant in my locker, so I freshened up my pits, swished some mouthwash, and re-did the bun that contained my thick, curly hair.

I preferred it down, but it wasn’t safe in a factory. Normally I pulled it down as soon as I got home from work, but since I was heading out to the bar I figured I’d keep it pulled back. I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. Of course, that didn’t stop me from applying a bit of lip gloss before I went out to my car.

LJ’s was a large bar just up the road. I’d been around long enough to know that this was the go-to place for anyone at the factory who wanted to grab a beer after their shift. Whoever had the foresight to open the only bar in a two mile radius right next to the town’s largest employer was a genius.

Jim was at a table in the corner with three other people. When he saw me come in, he waved me over. I moved to the open chair next to him and gave everyone a smile.

“Hi, I’m Jordan.”

“Jordan, this here is Leo,” Jim said, pointing at an old guy that was somewhere between sixty and eighty years old, it was hard to tell. “Leo has the distinction of being our longest term employee.”

I reached across the table to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Leo.”

“I’m George,” a hulking man next to Leo said. “Welcome to our little corner of the world.”

After I shook his hand I turned to the other woman at the table. “I’m Lillian,” she said, giving me a warm smile. “I’m always glad to meet another woman in this sea of testosterone.”

I learned that the trio all worked in Jim’s regular sector. It was obvious from all the teasing and inside jokes that this group had known each other for a long time and were good friends despite their obvious differences. I liked them all right away.

“How’s Jimmy doing over there in your sector?” Lillian asked as she poured me a beer from the pitcher in the middle of the scarred table. “He gettin’ into any trouble?”

“Jimmy?” I laughed.