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He recalled how she’d bumped into him, then gone on the offensive. His retreat had been instinctive after last night, because for a split second he’d thought she’d found out his real name and that she was going to punch him.
He didn’t think for a moment she’d be able to lay him on his ass like the wimp at the bar, but he wasn’t taking any chances. The right hook he’d witnessed had been dead on and as solid as they came.
She was one hell of a contradiction. A tough-as-nails attitude encased in natural beauty that became more enhanced every time he saw her. His mind told him it was best to keep away, but there was something about her that kept pulling him in.
He huffed along behind her, enjoying the view and biding his time while saving his energy. Or so he thought. By the time she reached the lookout, she was a good thirty yards ahead of him and he was dying.
He should’ve known. She wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever met. He should’ve known by her smirk he was in trouble. She approached on her way down as he continued to the turn-around. Sweat glistened on her brow and upper lip, and her breath came in short bursts like his. Not as bad as him, but getting there.
Suddenly his thoughts took a sexy, seductive detour.
Oh, come on. Not now. He groaned under his breath and focused on the scenery instead of her toned legs and tight ass. Despite his best efforts, during which he nearly killed himself trying to catch her at the end, she still beat him by a few yards.
They stood alongside the water fountain, hands braced on their knees, heads hung low.
“Damn,” Justin panted. “That’s gotta be a record or something.”
She looked at her watch, then raised her head with a weary, yet somehow still smug, smile. “I took a full minute off my time.”
He scrutinized her face. “How often do you run this?” he asked with suspicion.
“Four or five times a week.” She straightened, stretching her hands over her head. “You?”
He barely heard her question because the damp material of her top strained across her breasts. Raising his gaze with effort, he realized she truly didn’t know her effect on men. Amazing.
“I run some, when I get the time.” He drew in a deep lungful of oxygen and smiled wryly. “I don’t get much time.”
“Too bad.” She didn’t look one bit conciliatory. “Guess I have to start thinking of where I’d like my dinner, don’t I?”
That’s right, restaurant of her choice. Him and his smart ideas…why did he have the feeling the whole damn situation was going to cost him in more ways than one?
Meeting her gaze across the few feet that separated them, a little buzz of anticipation raced through him at the thought of admiring those eyes through an entire dinner. Before he could form words to set the date, she swallowed hard and her expression became shuttered.
Another downward glance at her watch was so deliberate, he got the impression she was about to start running again. Her next words confirmed his suspicion, along with her hasty backward retreat.
“I gotta get going.”
“What about dinner?
”
She spun away, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll let you know.”
Ignoring his disappointment, he let her go. Any attraction between them had about a snowball’s chance in hell once she found out who he was.
****
Marley refused to think on her way home and the moment she arrived threw her over-stimulated self into the vigorous spring cleaning she’d never gotten around to a couple months ago. That got her through the rest of Saturday.
Sunday was another story. The day positively crawled by, between worrying about Nate’s continued absence and planning a million possible conversations she’d have with the new owners of Hunter Construction the next morning.
Every once in awhile she thought about the dinner with Justin, only to quickly give herself a reality check. Completely thrown by the thought of her first date ever, she’d chickened out and blown him off. She didn’t have to know about guys to know his ego wouldn’t have appreciated that. And once he arrived at work on Monday morning to find her fired, he’d have no reason to feel obligated to make good on their bet. In fact, considering she’d never see him again, the smartest thing for her would be to completely forget about Justin Blackman.
For the most part, she succeeded. Until she laid in bed, closed her eyes, and pictured his intense hazel eyes the moment before he’d kissed her in the trailer. Then she tossed and turned half the night before falling asleep about two a.m. Promptly at five, her normal waking time on weekdays, she found herself wide awake, staring at the dark ceiling. She fisted her fingers in her covers with a groan, then knuckled her burning eyes. Darn internal alarm didn’t know she’d been fired and could’ve slept in as long as she wanted.
Armed with a pot of coffee, she spent the early morning hours memorizing the classifieds without enthusiasm. There were plenty of entry-level construction jobs, but she’d been there, done that. Having been ready to start a new chapter in her life with the internship, no way she would take a Rocky Mountain-sized leap backward.
She and Nate would have to figure it out somehow.
