“Uh huh.”

Really, the man’s jealousy was exasperating. And kind of thrilling, too. “I made him take me home right after that. And when my father told me you had come by, and what he’d told you, I was furious with him.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet that hurt his feelings.”

She rolled her eyes. “Look, Jake. I can’t keep apologizing for my father. Only for myself. I’m sorry for barging in on you at lunch yesterday. I’m sorry I went out to dinner with Alex. Both were bad moves on my part. But I can’t apologize anymore for my father. He’s part of me. He’s part of my life and my career. If you and I are going to have a relationship—”

“Is that what you think we have, Lucy? A relationship?” Stunned, she didn’t know how to answer that. “I don’t know. I thought we were starting one. Was I wrong?”

He stared at her for so long she shifted in her chair, growing uncomfortable. She laid the beer on the table and stood. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

“Wait.”

He moved toward her, his chest still glistening with perspiration. She sucked in a breath and held it as he stopped in front of her.

She didn’t want to lose him. She didn’t want to hear him say goodbye to her.

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m a bad tempered sonofabitch sometimes. And jealous as hell.” That’s exactly what she wanted to hear.

“It’s okay. I make a lot of wrong decisions, and I’m often blind to my father’s faults.

I always have been. I let him manipulate me all too often and I’ve got to learn to stop letting him do that to me. I guess I keep hoping he’ll change. He doesn’t.” He moved in even closer. “I was rude to you yesterday when you were nice enough to bring me lunch. I’m really sorry about that.”

She shrugged. “It’s okay. I should have called. I shouldn’t assume…” He reached for her, grasping her upper arms. “Yeah, you should assume. If we’re going to have a relationship, you have every right to assume.” Her pulse kicked. She laid her hands over his arms and moved into his embrace.

“Jake.”

For the first time since she’d gotten there, his lips curled into a smile. “I’m sweaty. I smell like my backyard and I need a shower.”

She smiled back. “I’m not fussy, Jake, and I don’t mind getting dirty. Just kiss me.” He did, dragging her against him and taking her mouth, parting her lips and sliding his tongue inside to claim hers. His lips were salty, and she devoured his flavor, needing to consume him, to take him as much as he was taking her. She whimpered against his mouth and he lifted her into his arms without breaking the contact of their kiss.

And since his mouth was attached to her mouth, how he could maneuver his way down the hall and into the bedroom without being able to see was beyond her ability to understand. Okay, she really didn’t care. All she knew was that in record time she was on his bed and they were both na**d and Jake’s hands were roaming gloriously all over her body, and she had free rein to explore his. Which she did in depth, kissing his mouth, his neck—as salty as his lips, before lifting her head and rolling over on top of him.

He arched a brow in a wicked, suggestive way as she rubbed against him. He was hard and positioned in just the perfect spot to send hot shivers all over her. Never one to take the initiative in bed before, Lucy nevertheless felt emboldened tonight. She pushed off his chest and sat up, rolling down a bit so she sat on his thighs. She held out her hand and fortunately, Jake knew just what she asked for. He reached over to his nightstand and pulled a condom packet from the box and handed it to her.

She tore the packet open and took the condom out, then swept her gaze up to his, wanting to watch his face as she applied the condom. The heat in his gaze, the way his eyes met hers instead of focusing on what her hands were doing, excited her more than the feel of his hot, hard shaft in her hands. When she had the condom applied, she held him in her hands and paused, riveted on the dark sexy look in his eyes.

“You gonna do something with that or just hold on to it all night?” She grinned. “I don’t know. I might.”

She could tell he was fighting to maintain control. “You might what? Do something or…nothing?”

She cupped the sac underneath him and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Oh I definitely don’t plan on doing…nothing.”

He groaned and lifted his hips. “Lucy,” he said, his husky tone a warning.

Figuring she’d tormented them both enough, she shifted, fitting him inside her and leaning over him, pressing her palms down on his shoulders, her br**sts flattened against his chest as she drew close to his face. “You have absolutely no sense of humor.” He grabbed her h*ps and lifted her up, then down, making her whimper. “Not when this is what I want.”

Her own humor fled. Her concentration on how Jake made her feel, how his body connected to hers so intimately made her tighten around him, made her want to surge forward and grip his shoulders. She shuddered, holding that position until she thought she’d burst from the sensations spiraling through her core.

Jake swept her hair back and cupped the back of her neck to bring her lips to his, kissing her with a deep passion that stoked the fires higher than she thought possible. She was hot, wet, aching, needing release. She ground against him, controlling their passion, rocking hard until Jake groaned against her lips. He dug his fingers into her h*ps and started sliding her back and forth—faster, controlling her movements. She lifted her head and looked down at him. His eyes had darkened, shadowed under his half-closed lids. He looked fierce, yet so sexy he made her belly tumble, and her sex twitched in spasms she could no longer hold back.

“Jake.” His name fell in a whisper from her lips as she shuddered around him, falling into a cl**ax that tore from her body in a rush of sensation. She tensed, gripping Jake’s arms and pressing her thighs to him.

Jake held tight to her hips, arching upward with one hard, driving thrust, then pulled her in for a kiss, groaning as he released. She held him, feeling the sensations of his release, absorbing it like a hot caress. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close long after both of them had settled.

She liked being on top of him, resting against him like this. She liked it so much her lids grew heavy, especially since he stroked her back with slow, easy caresses.

She yawned.

“Are you going to sleep there tonight?” he asked.

She smiled against his chest. “I might.”

“I’m sweaty.”

“And now so am I.”

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

She lifted, placing her forearms on his chest so she could peer down at him. “That we’re both sweaty now?”

He tapped her butt cheek. “No. It means we both need to take a shower.”

“That smacks of promise.”

“You’re like a ravenous beast I can never satisfy.” She waggled her brows. “I know.”

She got up and they went into the shower, which turned out to be just as much fun as she thought it would be. They dried off and had dinner together. Jake opened a bottle of wine and they spent a couple hours sitting outside in the backyard swing.

“I realized something tonight,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“We fought, made up, and we’re still together.”

“Is that unusual?”

“In my world? Yes.”

He laughed and slung his arm around her shoulder. “Babe. If we’re going to have a relationship, get used to it. We’ll have arguments while we’re getting used to each other.

We come from different backgrounds. Plus, I’m kind of new at this. I haven’t really had a steady girlfriend before. I’m sure I’ll screw this up more than once.” Girlfriend. She was his girlfriend. She felt giddy at the prospect. It was childish, but she loved it. She loved him. Everything was new and exciting and she felt much younger than her age. Ridiculous, but she didn’t care.

She was having the time of her life, in love with a very special man.

She wasn’t going to let anything screw this up.

Chapter Eleven

Jake sat back at his desk and grinned, trying to concentrate on the mounds of paperwork littering his desk.

He was going to have to stop this mooning or his employees were really going to give him a hard time. Though they’d already done that. The guys had been torturing Jake for the past two weeks, claiming he smiled too much and he was—God forbid—turning into a nice guy. They said it was so unlike him they kept asking if he was sick, possibly dying.

Bunch of smartasses.

He couldn’t help it. Being with Lucy put him in a good mood. And for the first time in his life, he was genuinely content. He had a great career that satisfied him during the day, and a wonderful woman to spend his nights with.

They’d been together every night, having dinner, going to movies or just hanging out at his place. Lucy would bring her laptop and paperwork with her. They’d sit side by side at his kitchen table while he worked on plans and she did legal briefs. Quiet, relaxing, homey. It was weird as hell, but he liked having her there, and she seemed to enjoy being there with him, even if neither of them said a word for hours. They’d settle into a companionable silence until one or both of them would look up and they’d make eye contact. They’d put their work away and have a beer or a glass of wine, sit outside if the weather was nice or in the living room if it was cold outside.

It was so different having someone to talk to about his day. Lucy listened well, didn’t offer advice, just listened while he talked out his problems. She’d ask him what he planned to do to work out the issues. Then she’d wait until he asked for her advice instead of inserting her opinion. And she told him about her day, about the cases she could discuss or problems at the office, and asked for his advice. She treated him as an intellectual equal, listening to what he had to say.

Even arguing with her about current events and issues was fun.

After they were talked out, they’d head into the bedroom—if they made it that far—and spend a couple hours exploring each other, learning each other’s bodies, their likes and dislikes. They’d already discovered they didn’t have a lot of dislikes, which made Jake really happy.

Everything about Lucy made Jake really happy.

He was in love with her. He wanted her in his house every night. He wanted to share his life with her, wanted to cook with her, do his paperwork at night alongside her, and have her in his bed every night. He wanted to wake up feeling her warm body nestled against his.

He already couldn’t imagine his life without her, and he was pretty sure she felt the same way, though neither of them had said “those words” yet. He wondered if she’d move in with him if he asked. He knew he lived pretty far outside the city, but they could commute together. Even if she had to work late, he could always catch up on paperwork at the trailer while he waited for her. He liked the idea of driving to and from work with her. More time together.

He was even starting to imagine the future. Converting the other bedrooms into rooms for kids. Kids he and Lucy would have together.

He’d never gone that far in his thinking about a woman. With Lucy, the thoughts were starting to come pretty easy. And frequently.

He dragged his fingers through his hair and shook his head. God, he really was pathetic, wasn’t he? But hey, he was happy. Nothing wrong with that.

He straightened when Bob pulled open the door and stepped inside, a grim expression on his face.

“You aren’t going to like this,” Bob said, filling the trailer doorway with his bulky form.

“What am I not going to like?”

Bob tossed a stack of papers on Jake’s desk. “Our permits have been pulled. The project is halted as of right now.”

Jake’s heart slammed against his ribs. “What?”

“OSHA is demanding an immediate inspection, claiming anonymous complaints about potentially dangerous safety hazards. The architect’s plans are being called into question—something about measurements being off spec, and our building materials have somehow suddenly come up subpar and will need to be reinspected.” Jake stood and snatched the papers off his desk, scanning them all one by one.

Safety, engineering and materials. All at one time. His gaze shot to Bob’s. “This stinks of sabotage.”

“No shit.”

“But who? There’s plenty of work to go around. Every single contractor in the city is scrambling to find enough workers to fill their jobs. It’s not like any one of our competitors would want to shut us down. People in our business just don’t do that.”

Bob pulled off his hat and scratched his head. “Beats me. It’s not like the folks in our business resort to this level. I’ve never seen anything like it. You’d have to know people in all the right places to do a shutdown of this magnitude.” People in all the right places. Jake didn’t make enemies in his business. He was a fair contractor who always handled his business above board. He treated his employees fairly and always brought in his jobs on time and on budget. He got along well with the other contractors, too. So who would want to ruin him, to shut his business down, to make him look like a fool?

There was only one person he could think of who hated him enough, and who had the power and muscle to do all that had been done to him.

Raymond Fairchild.

“I’ll be back.” He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.

“Where are you going?” Bob asked.