Oh.

Yes.

He liked that bit of formality from her very much. Especially as it was a tease.

“If you get a hankering for ice cream in the middle of your day, feel free to come over and help yourself.”

She slid the top of the cooler open and pulled out one of the chocolate–chocolate chip bars and didn’t pay him any mind until she’d unwrapped it and found a seat. “What? Did you think my manners were good enough to turn down an offer of ice cream? I’m only human.”

He grabbed one of the same bars and joined her.

“So a job, huh?” she prodded, and then took a bite.

“Duke and I think you do good work. We like having plenty of people to call when we need good work done on our machines. Understand we’ll start small and simple to see what you can do. But given the stuff of yours we’ve seen, we’re not worried.”

She smiled. “Awesome. When?”

He watched her eat that ice cream and nearly broke down.

She wasn’t even really trying that hard to be sexy! He was a grown man with excellent self-control, and this woman made him crazy.

He should have called her back the week before to tell her they’d agreed to toss her some work. Could have had Duke call her.

He should have done a lot of things, but he didn’t want to. He wanted what was right there in front of him.

“Finish your ice cream and I’ll show you.”

“Excellent.” She sat back with a smile. “Today is a pretty good day. How are you? Other than super lucky to be here with me eating ice cream, which clearly is a yay.”

He laughed. He’d been stupid to resist this. She was fun to be with. “Any afternoon a man can take a break and eat ice cream with a beautiful woman is a yay.”

The watching-her-eat-it part was pretty fantastic too, though he’d refrain from saying that.

They finished their ice cream and he led her out toward the shop.

He cast a quick look at her clothes and shoes. She wore heels but not stilettos. “Watch your step.” Without thinking he put a hand at her elbow to steady her.

They stood in the back stairwell, just five steps up from the shop floor, but at this part of the stairwell it was just the two of them.

She looked down at where he held her, his hand against the fabric of her blouse, and then back up, her eyes going wide and then half-lidded.

The need was back, gripping him as the heat between him and PJ continued to build.

It grew. And grew until he leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers. His brain screamed at him to stop. Until his cock took over and shoved the brain far away.

Her lips opened on a sigh and he groaned as her taste flooded him, his tongue sliding over her bottom lip. She made a sound so sweet and demanding he’d have given her anything she asked for at that moment.

This was good. She caught his attention, to the point that nothing else registered.

Her bag was between them, which was good because he was so hard he’d have scared her if they were body to body. But she was so fucking sweet he ached for more. Even as she put a hand on his chest and he broke the kiss and stepped back.

He started to apologize, but the look on her face told him that would be a mistake. And he wasn’t sorry. He wanted more and he couldn’t have it, so he’d have to let that kiss be enough.

PJ supposed she was probably going to hell for not telling Asa she didn’t need his elbow because the soles of her shoes were treaded like work boots. She wore them all the time when she was in their different shop spaces at Colman.

But his hand was so big. And warm. And she liked it when he touched her. Then he’d kissed her. It surprised her, but she caught up quickly enough, opening to his mouth, to his tongue, which was quite talented.

He kissed her so well she forgot everything but where he touched her.

Sounds came from around the corner and she didn’t care. She should have cared, but she didn’t. She’d waited how long for him to do this? Wondered if she’d been imagining real heat between them even as she knew that hard-on he’d been sporting was real.

And it was better than she’d imagined it would be. The kiss and that hard-on.

She put her hand on his chest, and he groaned low in his throat and stepped back. She saw it in his features. He hadn’t meant to lose control. He was as surprised by that kiss as she was.

And he’d loved it as much as she had. But he felt guilty. She saw that too. If Asa apologized, she was going to kick him.

He thought better of it – maybe he noted the violence in her eyes – and waved a hand, indicating she should proceed.

Smiling, she moved along as he led her through the shop, bringing her to stand in front of a 1971 El Camino.

“You’re kidding me. Really?”

She was usually much more confident, but she wanted this so bad! Working on this truck would be such a fantastic job. As good a time as the kiss. Though she wouldn’t say that out loud.

“This is a pretty simple job. The client wants initials woven into a design on each door, below the handle. Give me three choices and I’ll pick one.”

“Nope.” She thrust her bag into his arms and began to walk around the truck.

“Nope?”

She laughed without looking up at him, her gaze roaming greedily over the El Camino. “Bet you don’t hear that often. I’m not giving you three designs. That’s a waste of my time. I don’t need to anyway. Who is your client? Male? Female? Young? Older? Letters in the name?”