He had earned that control with blood and a hell of a lot of hard labor. No matter how hot she was, he needed to keep it. That control made him a man he could be proud of.

She slowly raised the brow with the piercing and then pushed her glasses up her nose. Imperious. He nearly groaned and one corner of her mouth tipped up slightly. She knew that got to him.

He changed the subject. “Have you ever thought about surgery? For your eyes, I mean.” And ended up being weird again.

She paused and then ate some more of her ice cream. “I like glasses. Plus, I can’t even put drops in my eyes. I am the worst with that stuff. The few times in my life I have to have drops, my brother Shawn sits on me while Julie keeps my eyes pried open.”

Asa guffawed. “Sorry. I just…” He tried to stop snickering.

She flapped a hand his way. “So, as I’ve made clear, I’m not a good candidate for letting lasers near my eyes. I also take eyebright and other supplements for eye health because I like to avoid being a woman in her twenties calling her brother and sister over every time she needs eye drops.” Then she grinned.

The ground at his feet was shaky. He liked her. When he was around her, he was pleased. Satisfied that she was in his shop.

The only other people he felt that way about were his mom and sisters.

She watched him. “So, you gonna tell me what’s going on with you, or am I going to keep pretending you’re not being sketchy?”

“Sketchy? I’m not sketchy!”

“Oh, so you’re mad that you’re acting weird and I’m calling you out on it? That’s sketchy. Go on and deny it, buster, but you know what I’m talking about and I’m not playing that game. Not with anyone.”

PJ mad was blistering hot. He had to breathe out in one slow exhale to pull the tattered shreds of his control around him.

Sometimes when he was seeing someone he would divert them when he didn’t want to deal with whatever they wanted to talk about. Which was, actually, shady.

“Drug dealers are sketchy. That clerk at the deli across the street is sketchy. Don’t go over there in the afternoons unless you’re with me or Duke.” He paused and swallowed hard. His dad was sketchy. Asa would never, ever be that. “I’m not sketchy.”

Her anger softened and she cocked her head. “I’m truly sorry that I hurt your feelings. It was a poor choice of words. I’m just saying that it’s important to me that I never let myself be lied to. It’s not cool. So you can say you don’t want to talk about something and I’ll respect that. But I’m not going to pretend there’s not something we’re not talking about. Do you get that distinction?”

“I accept your apology. Thank you. I apologize for overreacting.” He sighed, reaching out to close his door. The way he’d acted only underlined why this had to stop. He couldn’t be doing this at work.

“What happened two weeks ago, it can’t happen again. I mean, it was fantastic, don’t get me wrong.” He didn’t want her thinking he hadn’t enjoyed himself, because fuck yeah they had mad heat in bed.

The look on her face told him she wasn’t going along with this the way he’d hoped she would. “So if it was fantastic, you want to stop why?”

He had to tread very carefully. She might be young, but she was smart and the gleam in her eye told him she was dangerous when pissed off.

Which made him hard, and then he frowned at his lap.

“We have heat, I can’t lie. That night was… well, it was unreal. But I have a rule and I broke it with you.”

“If you tell me you’re married or with someone and you fucked me, I’m going to punch you in the balls.”

He winced. “No. I’m not with anyone or I wouldn’t have slept with you. My rule is that I don’t enter any relationships with people I work with. It creates complications.” And damn it, he felt it when he was with her. Which led him to other reasons, but ones he wasn’t going to get into right now.

It was easy to sleep with a woman for a while and then move on when they both got tired. But this was more. He could feel the outline of something far bigger than he’d really wanted to deal with.

He’d already done things he’d never done before. Lost his control. It mattered what she thought and how he made her feel.

Casual sex that would end after a time would ruin this thing they were building. He and Duke loved the work she did. It was best to nip this in the bud.

PJ dropped her half-eaten ice cream into the trash can. “Complications?”

“Yes, complications. Like this one we’re having right now.”

“I came in to drop off an invoice and have an ice cream bar. I didn’t leap on you or wear an I Love Asa Barrons button. You started this whatever-it-is you’re doing right now.”

This was not going the way he’d hoped.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.”

PJ drew a breath and fought her temper. She’d had such a weird day and decided to drop by Twisted Steel. No big, just a few minutes of fun, maybe tell Asa about how she’d just quit her job and then go about her business.

Instead he was talking about complications as if she didn’t want to keep this thing between them mellow in public, especially in a work setting.

And then, like a man, he doubled down. “You’re too young for me. I’m too old and jaded for you. We’re not right for one another for a host of reasons. But I like you. I like the work you do. I certainly like flirting with you and having you as a friend.”