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She sighed loud enough I could hear it. I could also hear what she wanted to say, something like ‘want is a very strong word, Mr. Jeffries, and I don’t want to meet with you at all, ever if possible.’ To her credit, she didn’t say it aloud which is better than I was doing.
“I have an hour at one-thirty on Thursday.”
“I can make that work. This community center means a lot to me, Ms. Renner. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I know I didn’t make a good impression just now, so my work will have to speak for itself.”
“Then I’ll see you Thursday to work out some preliminary details. Goodbye,” she said.
If she hadn’t been so goddamn difficult when I tried to apologize, it wouldn’t have been a terrible phone call. As it was, it had been a disaster. I was rude to her, then I fumbled every attempt to speak rationally. I wanted to tear out my own hair every time I heard her voice. All low and husky and not at all as squeaky and annoying as it should be. It was a voice that made some muscle low in my belly tighten, some primal reaction that made my libido kick in high gear. I had a caveman instinct to grab her and back her up against the nearest wall, kiss that smart mouth and then screw her brains out. She made me crazy, and it drove me wild. That was the problem.
Want was a very strong word, that was true. I wanted this job. I wanted to build the best damn community center possible, one that would stand for generations and give Rockford Falls a place to gather for after school tutoring, yoga classes, wedding receptions, and surprise parties. I wanted to build something that would stand long after I was gone and mean something. I wanted to run screaming into the woods at the thought of having to go to meetings where Nicole Renner was my boss. I wanted to hike up her proper pencil skirt and lick her until she screamed my name. That was the problem that stood in the way of everything else I wanted. This insane attraction that was like an itch in my chest, a maddening pull of wanting to be near her, wanting to bait her and argue with her and then make up hard enough to shake the walls. When I shut my eyes for a second, I could feel my palm in the small of her back as she arched toward me, my mouth at her neck. It was so vivid, so palpable that I felt myself go hard. I shook my head. This shit was bad news. I’d warned Max about hiring Rachel when he was attracted to her—I knew she was the best for Sadie, but I’d made a joke about blue balls. A joke that maybe didn’t feel like it was particularly funny now.
I rang him up, “Hey, Max,” I said. “I got the community center build. Let’s have a beer tonight and celebrate.”
“Congrats, man, that’s great. Hey, I told you she wasn’t stupid. One beer, though. I don’t wanna leave Rachel alone with the kids too long. The baby’s teething so she didn’t sleep much last night for being up with him.”
“You don’t wanna leave Rachel alone because you love her, I get it,” I said, trying not to sound shitty about it.
“That’s true too. I’ll meet you at five-thirty, okay?”
When five-thirty rolled around, karma slapped me in the mouth. There was Nicole sitting with the Michelle across the bar. She was drinking beer out of a bottle. Her pretty mouth pursed around the neck of a dark glass bottle—fuck. I needed to adjust my jeans from the sight. I nodded to Michelle when she saw me and then I sat down and ordered a wings and a couple of drafts for Max and me. I went to a table, not wanting to sit and stare at them across the bar, not needing the image of Nicole sucking on a beer bottle to add to my spank bank. I was breathing hard. I was fucking sweating. Max had better get here so we could celebrate and I could leave, because the room felt stuffy and hot and it wasn’t the weather. It was being in a room with her. She was hot, and a complete pain in the ass. That was the whole situation right there. Except the part where I wanted her mouth on me, could almost feel her hands digging into my thighs. When Max pulled out a chair, I was just getting to the part where I’d make her scream my name. I needed someone to throw a bucket of water on me.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“Need to call Damon, get him to dump some cold water on me from the water truck.”
