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“You saved us again,” Chase grinned.
They took two glasses from the tray, downed them, then took two more. It was always the same with them as well. Right down to my appreciation of their shirtless, sweat-covered bodies… and my anticipation of their two radiant smiles.
“What happened to the electricians?” asked Noah, in the thickest of all New York accents.
“They finished up,” I lied, my eyes crawling over every chiseled ridge of his washboard stomach. “For now, anyway.”
“And the groundskeeper?” added Chase. “I haven’t seen him since the week before last. And that little guy who was with him…” He snapped his fingers a few times to help remember. “David. That was his name. Or maybe Damien, or—”
“Darius,” I said. “His name was Darius.”
Noah squinted back at me. “Was?”
“Apparently they had another job lined up,” I recovered quickly. “They might be back though… depending on if they finish by the end of summer.”
I couldn’t tell whether or not they believed me. I wouldn’t have believed me.
“Well, better get someone to repair the road in front of the gates,” said Noah. He pulled four big fingers through his thick mop of blond hair. “It floods every single time it rains.”
He smiled at me before returning to work, and for one beautiful moment his starfire eyes lingered on mine. I thought about what it would be like to crush my mouth against those perfect, tantalizing lips. Or how it migh
t feel to press my face against that hard, quivering abdomen…
Then he was heaving his hammer high overhead, and smashing away another piece of history.
“Hey.”
I turned and Chase was there, his two emerald orbs rendering me instantly helpless. He had the jawline of a Greek god, and cheekbones to match. One masculine hand scratching at a dark patch of super-hot stubble was the only thing that broke me from my trance.
“Things are getting a little thin around here, no?”
I couldn’t look away. Two big arms rested on the mighty sledge, propped up tall between his legs.
“T—Thin?”
“Yeah,” he smiled. “Used to be a full crew. Lots of work going on. Lately though, seems like we’re… dwindling.”
The scent of him was driving me wild. Sweat, steel, leather… and something else. Something so manly it was making my knees weak.
“Don’t worry about it,” I smiled back, trying not to overdo it. “Temporary lull. Ebbs and flows.”
Without thinking, I reached out and laid a hand on his deeply-tanned shoulder. It felt like touching a marble statue.
Oh my God…
I saw those amazing eyes dip down my body. They took their time coming back up, stopping at more than a few places along the way.
“Ebbs and flows,” Chase grinned, before twisting away.
Two
MADISON
“I’m sorry, but you’re overextended. There’s nothing more we can do.”
The loan officer’s words echoed in my mind as I drove slowly home from the third and final bank. I was officially out of options. Down to the very last of my savings.
And I wasn’t anywhere near able to pass the inspections required for historical status.
