Twelve Nights Of Temptation. Barbara Dunlop

been a long time since she’d spoken to them. She stopped herself now, and went back to Alex’s résumé. “At Schneider Marine, you worked on both gas and diesel engines?”

      “Yes. Gas, anywhere from 120-horse outboards and up, and diesel, up to 550.”

      “Any experience on Broadmores?”

      “Oh, yeah. Finicky buggers, those.”

      “We have two of them.”

      “Well, I’ve got their number.”

      Tasha couldn’t help but smile. This was the kind of confidence she liked. “And you went to Riverside Tech?”

      “I did. I finished my apprenticeship four years ago. I can get you a copy of my transcript if you need it.”

      Tasha shook her head. “I’m more interested in your recent experience. How much time on gasoline engines versus diesel?”

      “More diesel, maybe seventy-five/twenty-five. Lots of service, plenty of rebuilds.”

      “Diagnostics?”

      “I was their youngest mechanic, so I wasn’t afraid of the new scan tools.”

      “You dive right in?” Tasha was liking Alex more and more as the interview went on.

      “I dive right in.”

      “When can you start?”

      Alex grinned. “Can you give me a few days to unpack?”

      “Absolutely.”

      Both women came to their feet.

      “Then, I’m in,” Alex said.

      Tasha shook her hand, excited at the prospect of another female mechanic in the company. “Welcome aboard.”

      Alex left, but a few minutes later, Tasha was still smiling when Matt came through the door.

      “What?” he asked.

      “What?” she returned, forcibly dampening her exhilaration at the sight of him.

      She couldn’t do this. She wouldn’t do this. They had an employer-employee relationship, not a man-woman relationship.

      “You’re smiling,” he said.

      “I’m happy.”

      “About what?”

      “I love my job.”

      “Is that all?”

      “You don’t think I love my job?” She did love it. And she had a feeling she’d love it even more with Alex around.

      “I was hoping you were happy to see me.”

      “Matt.” She put a warning in her voice.

      “Are we going to just ignore it?”

      She quickly closed the door to make sure nobody could overhear. “Yes, we’re going to ignore it.”

      “By it, I mean our kiss.”

      She folded her arms over her chest and gave him a glare. “I know what you mean.”

      “Just checking,” he said, looking dejected.

      “Stop.” She wasn’t going to be emotionally manipulated.

      “I’m not going to pretend. I miss you.”

      “There’s nothing to miss. I’m right here.”

      “Prepared to talk work and only work.”

      “Yes.”

      He was silent for a moment. “Fine. Okay. I’ll take it.”

      “Good.” She knew with absolute certainty that it was for the best.

      He squared his shoulders. “Who was that leaving?”

      “That was Alex Dumont. She’s our new mechanic.”

      Matt’s brows went up. “We have a new mechanic?”

      “You knew I was hiring one.”

      “But...”

      Tasha couldn’t help an inward sigh. She’d seen this reaction before. “But...she’s a woman.”

      “That’s not what I was going to say. I was surprised, is all.”

      “That she was light on testosterone?”

      “You keep putting words in my mouth.”

      “Well, you keep putting expressions in your eyes.”

      He opened his mouth, but then he seemed to think better of whatever he’d planned to say.

      “What?” she asked before she could stop herself.

      “Nothing.” He took a backward step. “I’m backing off. This is me backing off.”

      “From who I hire?”

      Matt focused in on her eyes. His eyes smoldered, and she felt desire arc between them.

      “I can feel it from here,” he said, as if he was reading her mind.

      Her brain stumbled. “There’s...uh... I’m...”

      “You can’t quite spit out the lie, can you?”

      She couldn’t. Lying wouldn’t help. “We have to ignore it.”

      “Why?”

      “We do. We do, Matt.”

      There was a long beat of silence.

      “I have a date Saturday night,” he said.

      A pain crossed her chest, but she steeled herself. “No kidding.”

      “I don’t date that much.”

      “I don’t pay any attention.”

      It was a lie. From the staff quarters, she’d seen him leave his house on the hill on many occasions, dressed to the nines. She’d often wondered where he’d gone, whom he’d been with, how late he’d come home.

      And she’d watched him bring women to his house. They often dined on the deck. Caterers would set up candles and white linens, and then Matt and his date would chat and laugh the evening away.

      She’d paid attention all right. But wild horses wouldn’t drag the admission out of her.

      * * *

      So Saturday night, Matt had picked up the tall, willowy, expensively coiffed Emilie and brought her home for arctic char and risotto, catered by a local chef. They were dining in his glass-walled living room to candlelight and a full moon. The wine was from the Napa Valley, and the chocolate truffles were handcrafted with Belgian chocolate.

      It should have been perfect. Emilie was a real estate company manager, intelligent, gracious, even a little bit funny. She was friendly and flirtatious, and made no secret of the fact that she expected a very romantic conclusion to the evening.

      But Matt’s gaze kept straying to the pier below, to the yachts, the office building and the repair shop. Finally, Tasha appeared. She strode briskly beneath the overhead lights, through the security gate and up the stairway that led to the staff quarters. Some of his staff members had families and houses in town. The younger, single crew members, especially those who had moved to Whiskey Bay to work at the marina, seemed to appreciate the free rent, even if the staff units were small and basic. He was happy at the moment that Tasha was one of them.

      He reflexively glanced at his watch. It was nearly ten o’clock. Even for Tasha, this was late.

      “Matt?” Emilie said.

      “Yes?” He quickly returned his attention to her.

      She gave a very pretty smile. “I asked if they were all yours?”