no way I’m going to mess it up. It’s time to reinvent myself, and mistakes aren’t an option.”
“I agree with you.”
“You do?” She sounded surprised, as if expecting some pushback.
“I’m a businessman, and most of my business is here in town. It’s small and getting involved with anyone is a very bad idea. When a relationship ends, and it always does, there can be hard feelings, word spreads, people take sides.” He shrugged. “None of the above is good for McKnight Construction.”
“So you really do have a personal life,” she said, her voice full of I knew it.
“Yes,” he agreed. “I just take it somewhere else for a long weekend.”
“I see.” She met his gaze. “So, we’re in agreement.”
“We are. I respect the fact that you don’t play fast and loose, but that’s the only way I want to play. Nothing gets in the way of my work, and it’s important that the expansion is completed on time and within budget. I have projects and a reputation to maintain. Delay isn’t an option for me,” he said, echoing her words.
“I’m glad to hear that.” She glanced up at the window. “So what do y’all think are the chances we can keep last night a secret what with the whole town at the wedding?”
“You live on the property and have a very good reason for your car being there. And I’ve been known to spend the night on my boat.” He saw her look and grinned. “To sleep.”
“Uh-huh.”
He ignored that. “What I’m saying is that no one will think twice about my car still being here.”
“I’m tickled to hear that.”
“You just need to get back to your place before the newlyweds and their curious little guy are up and around. They’re leaving on the honeymoon later today, but if they spot you in yesterday’s dress, questions will be asked.”
“So I better get going.” She started to get up, then looked at him.
“I guess you want privacy.” A little late for that, he thought. He’d seen, touched and kissed a lot of that soft skin and would remember last night for as long as he lived. “I’ll leave you alone.”
He didn’t care if she peeked at him and threw back the sheet, taking his time to gather up his clothes before leaving the cabin. Just outside he saw her dress and picked it up. After rubbing the sensuous silk between his fingers, he put it on the bed. “You’ll need this.”
Something else she wouldn’t want to hear was that he liked her dress a lot, but much preferred her without a stitch of clothing. Maybe just the high heels.
The thought made him smile until another, more sobering one took its place. There was one more thing he had to talk to her about.
By the time he had his pants on, Ellie emerged all dressed. She headed for the ladder that would take her topside. “See you tomorrow at work.”
“Just a second.”
With a hand on one of the rungs, she glanced at him. “What?”
“Is there any chance you’re on the pill?”
“No.” Her eyes went wide. “There’s been no reason. I don’t date. But you had a condom.”
“Yeah.” One that was way past the expiration date.
It both pleased and disturbed him that she wasn’t with another guy now and hadn’t been for a while. But he’d been thinking with every part of his body except his head, and the only protection he had with him was aged, and not in a good way.
“It broke,” he said.
“Thanks for telling me.” She nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem. Don’t you worry.”
Yeah, he thought. That would happen.
Chapter Three
It was almost quitting time on Monday, and Ellie had never been so glad. She was exhausted from work, but mostly it was the strain of trying to act normal with Alex. How did you undo sex? How did you stop picturing your coworker naked when you’d actually seen him that way?
Good Lord, she’d slept with him but that wasn’t even the worst. The next morning they’d had a discussion about why it couldn’t happen again, all while still in his bed. How did a woman go to work and pretend it never happened when he was sitting at a desk just across the room?
Every time she looked at his brown bedroom eyes and broad shoulders, sex was all she could think about.
“The plumbing subcontractor will be here in the morning.” Alex looked up and caught her staring. His eyes narrowed with something dark and intense, as if he knew what she’d been thinking.
“Right.” The single word was almost a croak so she swallowed, trying to stay loose. Fat chance. Her stomach clenched and her chest felt tight. “You’re sure this is a good crew?”
“The best.”
“Good. I’m not worried about the public areas which they could probably do in their sleep. It’s the lines for the outpatient surgery and recovery rooms that make me nervous. We’re talking a delivery system for oxygen and nitrous oxide used for anesthesia.”
“These guys can handle it,” he said confidently.
He was confident about everything, even making love to a woman. Darn it. There she went again. Time to get out of here. “I’m going to look things over and make sure we’re good to go tomorrow before I leave for the day.”
“Which you’re planning to do soon, right? Leave for the day, I mean.”
“Yes.” Then she wondered if he was trying to get rid of her. “Why?”
“You look tired.”
The man was too perceptive. Her bad was wondering if that meant he cared. She wasn’t going to be one of those women who expected a man to have deeper feelings just because they’d slept together. Sex was a physical act between a man and a woman who found each other attractive. That’s all it had been or ever would be.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of hours.” She stood and closed her laptop. “But if I’d wanted a nine-to-five job, I’d have picked another profession.”
“That wasn’t criticism.” Alex stood, too. “I just wanted to run something by you while you’re doing the last inspection of the day, but if you’re too tired it can wait.”
“I’m fine. What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking about when we join the new part of the building with the clinic, and I think it’s going to require a special expansion joint along with a new reglet cut into the existing wall.”
She’d been thinking about that herself and knew he wanted the reglet, a flat, narrow architectural molding, to make the joining of the two structures strong and seamless. “Y’all think it won’t hold up otherwise?”
“That’s right.” He walked out from behind his desk and stopped halfway to hers. “I’ll show you what I mean, then you should go home.”
“Okay.”
By this time of day Ellie looked forward to kicking off her high heels. But when she met Alex in the middle of the room she was glad to have the extra height because of a weird, vulnerable feeling. Not about the work. He wasn’t one of those jerks who figured she didn’t know her eyebrow brush from an air duct. This was personal, and for some reason unclear to her at this moment, it was important to stand as tall as possible beside him.
“Okay. Let’s do this and get you the heck out of here.” He stepped in front of her and led the way, which was something he