“As long as the contractors finally get it all done. I can’t believe how stressful it is to have other people building stuff for you. I get how some of our clients feel now.”

Carmella laughed and laughed. “Please. Asa glowers at them if they’re even half a day behind. They’ll finish on time if for no other reason than that.”

“His grumpy attitude does come in handy at times.”

“He’s only hard on the outside. Now you?” She pursed her lips as she thought about it. “You like to come off soft, all laid-back and mellow. But I’ve seen glimpses. You’re not soft.”

“I was for about ten minutes back at your house after I came last.”

He tried to joke it off when he wanted to change the subject. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it, and like the others, she let him. If he wanted to tell her something, he would. But she understood not wanting to deal with stuff. Not being ready to think about something or just being totally over a situation that would only upset you if you if you dug back in.

“Tell me things, Carmella.”

So damned charming.

“Like what?”

“Get to know you things. Like, what do you do as a hobby?”

“I sew. I read. Watch movies. Oh, I love to scour garage sales and used bookstores.”

“I didn’t know you sewed. Though the shelves jammed with books at your house and the way you always have a paperback and your digital reader with you were pretty big clues you were a reader. Sexy.”

Carmella leaned back, looking up at the sky as the last of the purple had bled into black. It was warm and the air smelled like freshly cut grass and the blooms on someone’s rosebush.

“Sewing is sexy? That’s a new one.”

*     *     *

Duke looked over at her, all relaxed, eyes on the sky above. She had a smile on her mouth. One he’d never seen her give anyone else. Or hell, in public.

“I meant reading. But to be totally honest, the idea of you sewing makes me hot too.”

“Color me surprised.”

He laughed. “Can I confess something to you?”

“Uh-oh. Let’s hear it.”

“It turns me on when you clean stuff. And probably when you would sew too. When you set the office in order and that sort of thing, it’s so unbearably hot. It’s all I can do to get through the day because it makes me hard.”

She turned her head to look at him. “Maybe everything makes you hard.”

“Well, certainly it doesn’t take a lot to get a little tingly. My cock is always happy to tingle a little. But this is different. Anyway, it’s hot. I’d watch you sew any day.”

“All righty then.” She didn’t sound horrified in the least. “I’ll try to be less orderly at work so you don’t have to go through that.”

“Darlin’, it’s sweet suffering. I promise you that.” He paused. “While I’m confessing things, I should also tell you I saw you getting fucked from behind in your kitchen. It was over a year ago. But … I can’t apologize because it was hot and gorgeous and I’ve wanted you ever since.”

She gave him a raised brow. “I know you did.”

“What? Wanted you?”

Carmella sat straighter, tucking her legs beneath her. “I know you watched. I knew you were there.”

Surprise arced through him. “You did?”

She laughed. “I did. Are you shocked?”

“Not shocked. Surprised? You keep me on my toes. I guess I didn’t expect you to be so …”

“Filthy? Dirty? Turned on by knowing my hot inked neighbor was watching me get fucked? Are you scandalized I got off on a little exhibitionism, knowing it was you watching?”

He swiveled in his chair to face her. “What a constant surprise you are.”

Carmella tsked. “And this is good or bad? What exactly did you expect that makes me so surprising? Hm?”

He found himself sweating, cock throbbing in time with the pulse hammering in his head. “It’s good. Really good. I didn’t know you before. Not really.”

She laughed, but there was an edge to it. “You don’t know me now either.”

“Working on that part. But what I do know, I like enough to want more.”

CHAPTER Nine

What are you doing on Saturday?” Duke asked as he caught up with her after work the following Wednesday.

“I have some stuff to do early on, but I’ll be free by ten or so.” Carmella was getting used to his attention. He wasn’t obvious while they were at work, which she appreciated. But he brought her in treats every day. Just that afternoon he’d brought in a new mug for her desk.

Wonder Woman. Her favorite.

He really was sort of perfect, which made her even more wary.

Not enough to stop seeing him. She hadn’t been this happy in a very long time. A new romance, her mother was having a good period, her new job was more like home—all things that filled her with a sense that things were looking up and she was content to imagine they’d remain so.

“Mick invited us to spend the afternoon out on his boat. Asa and PJ will be there too. I figured we could take some lunch.”

Carmella paused at the door to her truck. A group date thing? She tried not to show any panic.

Duke opened it and she got in.

“You look like I just said I was a cannibal.”