Page 15 of His Build
The confirmation that she was staying there eased his mind. The Williams family, who’d been running that place for fifty years, would take good care of her.
Though he didn’t know why he was worried.
“That’s right. Big neon sign is lit up ’til midnight. You can’t miss it.” Graydon hesitated.
Don’t do it, man.
He shoved the voice aside. “Lucy?” It felt strangely intimate having her name in his mouth. For the second time that night, he was thankful the darkness hid his rebel feelings.
“You hungry? I was going to head home to grill up a late night burger. I could just as easily head into Aubrey’s for one. If you’re interested in joining.”
There was a long pause where Graydon felt his stomach fall right out of his body. It was like he was a knock-kneed middle school kid again asking the high school prom queen on a date.
“I already ate,” she said. Her voice had an edge to it. Not that cold ‘get the hell out of my face’ edge from before, but a ‘Don’t ask again’ one.
He wished, with all his might, that he could sink into the forest behind him. “Oh, sure,” he said, his voice falsely light.
What the hell’s the matter with you, Gray-Man?She’s a colleague. Probably a pro at keeping things professional, which was something he ought to remember. This was a short term professional relationship.
“But thank you,” she said, her voice apologetic. “Maybe we could have coffee one of these days. So you can go over the schedule with me,” she said, a little fast.
Work. Of course. “Yeah, that sounds good.” Then his stomach gave a little rumble, as if to nudge him along. “Alright, go on then, let’s get the hell outta here.”
6
When Lucy got back to the Lakeside Motel, she kicked her door closed behind her and took a long breath, saying a genuine prayer of gratitude that it was Friday night and she wouldn’t have to see Graydon again for at least a couple of days.
She’d spent the week working in her room and only dropped by the site one other time midweek, after everyone else had gone home. That day she’d run into the other guy, Chris, who was perfectly nice, but she’d made an effort this time to go later so she was sure to be alone.
Only she’d seen the one person she’d been trying to avoid the most.
A fresh wave of embarrassment washed over Lucy at how it had played out. She’d gotten lost almost the minute she left the site—it was a labyrinth in the dark, with every corner looking just like the last. What did people out here have against street signs, anyway? She’d turned around three times before Graydon had found her.
Lucy pulled a frozen dinner out of the little freezer in her room—not exactly haute cuisine, but it’d do. After getting it started in the microwave, she pulled out a bottle of pinot gris and poured herself half a glass. The wine was cool on her tongue, countering the warmth spreading in her now as she thought about Graydon. She couldn’t help but feel a glow at the kindness he’d shown her: not fighting her when she insisted she’d go out on her own, even though she was wrong as hell. Then temporarily blinding himself so she wouldn’t think he was an axe murderer. And finally, leading her out to safety when he probably just wanted to be kicking back at home like any other reasonable human being on a Friday night.
He didn’t need to do all those things for her. But he did.
And even when he’d nearly fallen on his ass outside her car, he’d still managed to be sexy as hell. He looked so good standing out there with shadows cutting into the round muscle of his shoulders; the trickle of scruff going down his neck. She’d had to turn away to keep herself from staring.
The microwave dinged, and Lucy sighed, striding over to retrieve her supper. She nearly dropped the burning hot box when she pulled it out, cursing as she upturned its contents onto one of the motel plates. The congealed, steaming lump was supposed to be some kind of chicken and penne thing. She brought her food out to the balcony and settled down in one of the two Adirondacks.
Maybe she should have taken Graydon up on that offer of a burger in town. For a brief moment, she let herself imagine what that would be like.
Would he keep the discussion strictly about business? Or would he ask her about her life? Would they flirt? She closed her eyes and rested her head back against the deck chair.
Maybe he’d order her a beer and let his fingers graze hers as he passed it to her. She pictured his thumb sliding over the back of her hand and up her wrist. In her mind he leaned over the table and gripped her face, his lips meeting hers with a soft intensity that made her thighs quiver even here, out on her second-floor balcony, in real life.
Her food forgotten on the patio table next to her, Lucy’s hand slid down the smooth curve of her stomach, brushing against the button of her jeans. She pictured Graydon’s hands: tough, lined with scratches and callouses. His thumb flipped open her button, tugging her zipper down. He grinned from between her legs, gently nipping at her hip with his teeth, flicking his tongue against her skin. Lucy slid her hand under the band of her underwear. Her elbow shifted, knocking against something on the arm of her chair.
Then her wine glass exploded on the balcony floor.
Shit.
After running inside for a used towel, she knelt down to clean her mess, her fantasy gone to vapor. What had gotten into her? She’d never spent so much time trying not to think about a man. And failing so miserably.
No matter how many times she tried to convince herself he was a guy’s guy who probably laughed at dirty jokes on the job site and catcalled women with his buddies, she couldn’t align the conjured jerk in her mind with the real Graydon. She knew, as she tried to foist these qualities on him, that they weren’t his. They didn’t match up with the guy who’d taken such care to make sure he didn’t scare her in the woods. The guy who’d come over and talked down the asshole with the tailgate gonads.
The sexy as hell guy with the cut abs under those worn t-shirts, the one she seemed to have no trouble fantasizing about to such a degree that she trashed the motel’s dinnerware.
