Nailed. Christine d'Abo

terrible.”

      The barista returned with our drinks and told us how much we owed.

      “I’ll get that for them,” said a low male voice behind us. Dread really is a feeling that lives in the pit of your stomach. I’ve grown well acquainted with it over the years. So when I turned around and saw Fynn standing two people behind us, I was prepared for the nauseous uncoiling that occurred.

      The barista nodded as he shoved the beverages into our hands and took the order of the woman behind us. Fynn wasn’t smiling.

      Yup, I was so going to be sued.

      Normally, I’d try to talk myself out of whatever mess I found myself in. Nine times out of ten, that didn’t end well for me. Thankfully, Tamara had the presence of mind to grab me by the arm and pull me out of harm’s way.

      “Thanks for the coffee, Mr. Babineau.” She gave him a polite nod as we passed and didn’t stop moving until we were safely on the other side of the door.

      “Oh fuck.” My lungs tightened until air was at a premium. I pulled my arm free from Tamara’s and found the nearest wall to lean against. “I can’t believe he heard that.”

      “You don’t know exactly what he heard.”

      “Enough for him to buy our coffee! I’m so screwed.”

      Tamara crossed her arms, carefully holding her coffee to the side. “You’re making too big a deal out of this.”

      “I was sexualizing my costar! I’m fairly certain that constitutes harassment.”

      “Only if the other person isn’t interested.” She took a sip of her coffee, her gaze slipping to the door. “If we wait here much longer he’ll be coming out.”

      Instead of the panic I’d expected, a shiver of arousal wormed its way through my body.

      Seeing Fynn was quickly turning into a small obsession of mine. Why I was fascinated with the muscles of his forearms as he’d pick up a hammer, or wanted to follow a trickle of sweat down his cheek and throat with my tongue was beyond me. I mean, yes, he was attractive, but I’ve never really been a lust-at-first-sight kind of girl.

      Apparently, there was a first time for everything.

      Time officially ran out on me when the shop door was pushed open and Fynn stepped out with a coffee and a sandwich in hand. He didn’t look surprised to see us still there. Standing with his legs spread slightly, Fynn was clearly a man who was ready to handle the situation.

      Me, I wasn’t so sure I was up for that yet.

      Tamara grinned as she looked between the two of us. “Well, I better get back. Carl wanted to see the revamped design budget by tomorrow morning. I’ll leave the two of you to walk back together.”

      “Traitor.” And I threw her my best evil eye for good measure.

      The little shit waved at me before she turned tail and strode away.

      Which left me standing face-to-face with certain doom. And by certain doom I meant all six feet three inches of an annoyed Fynn. At least I assumed he was annoyed. I didn’t have the proverbial balls to look his way yet.

      I could hear him taking a sip of his coffee as he came closer. The sound of him swallowing did strange things to my insides, including making my nipples hard. Being turned on definitely was not going to help the situation.

      “I haven’t had a chance to speak much with Tamara. She seems like a good type.” Fynn didn’t sound annoyed. I risked looking up at him, which was probably the worst idea I’d ever had.

      The bastard was smirking.

      This was the first time since our meeting outside Trinity House that I got the impression I was seeing the real Fynn behind the wall he’d so prettily constructed. Here was the man I could picture going out for beers with the guys, talking a woman up at a party or stripping down to go for a swim. The skin around his eyes crinkled as he continued to look at me with amusement. I couldn’t figure out why until he licked a spot of coffee off the back of his hand.

      Holy shit-balls, was he flirting?

      “Yeah, Tamara has been keeping pretty busy.”

      He took another sip, this time letting his tongue tease the opening on the plastic lid. “We haven’t had much free time ourselves. I usually take time to get to know the people working with my crew well before we start.”

      “That’s nice.” Nice? God, I was such a dweeb. “Umm...we should probably head back. I know Matt was looking for you.”

      “I’m sure he was.”

      “He’s probably looking for me now, too. Always wants to record what I’m doing. Like anyone is going to care what kind of muffin I’m eating.”

      “You’d be surprised what people will want to know about you once you’re on TV.”

      I’m not sure if the noise that escaped me was a sob or a squeal, but either way it wasn’t an attractive sound. Fynn broke out in a full-on grin. “You’re right. We should probably get back.”

      We fell naturally into step together, each of us sipping our coffee as we went. I hadn’t a clue if he was feeling as awkward as I was and was waiting for me to break the ice, or if he was simply enjoying this silent form of torture. Either way, I needed to step up and face the music.

      “So how much did you—”

      “All of it.”

      Fuck. “As in...”

      “As in you like my ass. And my abs.” He tried to hide his grin by taking another sip of coffee, but I caught sight of it regardless.

      “Sorry. That was out of line.”

      He turned to face me as soon as we crossed the street. “For a minute I thought you knew I was there and were putting on a show.”

      “Oh, God no!”

      “That lovely blush is the reason why I’m not pissed. I can’t exactly say some of the guys on the crew haven’t been saying similar things about you. But I’ve made sure that they don’t get out of line.”

      “What do you say to them?”

      “I threaten to fire their asses if they don’t smarten the hell up and keep their eyes in their heads.”

      I would have assumed he was simply being a smart boss, ensuring that I was made comfortable on the site, if it wasn’t for the quick pass of his gaze down along my body. A tingle went through me as though it wasn’t his gaze but a caress traveling down my naked skin. Fynn turned and started walking once more, leaving me to catch up.

      “Well, I hope you’ll accept my apology and not encourage Carl to fire my ass.” There were other things Fynn could do to it though. Spank it. Squeeze it. Bite down on it.

      “How about my male ego thanks you and we leave it at that.”

      We walked in silence the rest of the way, but for the first time since I’d met Fynn, it didn’t feel awkward. The second we got back to the site, Matt came jogging over.

      “Where the hell have you two been? Fynn, I need you in the house. The abatement team is here and Brian wants this on film.”

      “Just needed a fix. I’ll be there in a minute.”

      “You have five, but any longer and I think Brian might actually freak out.”

      Matt was barely out of earshot when my big mouth opened up. “Once more we are torn apart. Our secret tryst disrupted by the chaos of our lives.”

      That earned me a throaty chuckle. “Matt’s a jerk.”

      “He means well. I think he’s got Brian after him most days. And poor Brian has Carl breathing down his neck most of the time. That would pretty much turn anyone