Read Man at Work for Free Online Page B

brought
refreshments,” Candace complimented. “Thank you.”
    He pulled a bottle opener from his keychain
and popped the tops on their Heinekens.
    “ You think of everything,”
Candace observed.
    “ I always take care of my
partner’s needs first.” He winked, and her heart flip-flopped at
the familiar gesture. She picked up on the double-meaning of his
words. His fingertips brushed hers as he handed her a bottle. An
image of him caressing her skin flashed like lightning in her
brain. How did he manage to be so sexy all the time?
    Toye interrupted the byplay. “Gabe, you are
such a better boss than Candace.”
    “ Yes,” Marlowe agreed.
“She’s been working us non-stop, never letting us quit for a
break.”
    “ Um hmm,” Ronnie joined
in. “Sometimes, she withholds food and water too.”
    Candace pursed her lips. “Y’all stop
lying.”
    Gabe chuckled. “I can tell you are all
related. You have such good camaraderie.”
    “ Plus, she’s the middle
kid,” Toye quipped. “So, we have to make sure she doesn’t feel left
out.”
    “ Fine,” Candace taunted.
“Since you hags don’t like my leadership style, you guys can leave
now.”
    “ Thank the Lord!” Marlowe
said. “My elbow is out of grease.”
    Ronnie grabbed her car keys. “You don’t have
to tell me twice!”
    “ I’ll see you guys later,”
Candace said, slowly sipping her beer.
    “ You’re not leaving?”
Ronnie asked.
    “ I have a few things to
clean up first.”
    “ I’ll help,” Gabe offered.
“You ladies can split.”
    “ Whoa!” Marlowe
interjected. “We like you, Gabe. But we don’t know you. We can’t
simply leave you alone with our sister. You could be a serial
killer.”
    He crossed his arms over his muscular chest.
“You could call Sampson’s. The front office will vouch for my
integrity.”
    Candace cut a glance at Marlowe. “Gabe will
help me pack up. You ladies had better be back tomorrow bright and
early so we can finish the bathrooms.”
    “ Great. Another Saturday
wasted in renovation hell.”
    “ You won’t be complaining
when the money comes in.”
    Toye elbowed Marlowe. “Let’s go before she
changes her mind.”
    Gabe chuckled as the women said their
goodbyes. Alone in the kitchen with Candace, he teased, “You’re
pretty tough, Boss Lady. Don’t you know the best way to manage
workers is to kill ‘em with kindness?”
    “ Are you speaking from
experience?”
    “ I might have bossed a few
folks around.”
    “ I imagine all the ladies
must melt at your feet.”
    “ There’s only one woman
I’m interested in melting.”
    She locked eyes with him and willed her
careening heartbeat to slow down. She prayed he had no clue of the
effect he had on her. She bluffed. “I don’t melt easily, Mr.
Hunt.”
    He stepped closer and stroked her cheek with
his thumb. “I’m hoping to change that, Miss Jones.”
    Candace slipped away and laughed. “You are
so full of yourself.”
    He grinned. “I have a comeback for that, but
it’s kind of X-rated, so I’ll keep it to myself. In the meantime, I
have a question. Your cousin Toye told me that you only have three
weeks to flip this house. Why the short deadline?”
    “ I see Toye has given you
the play-by-play.”
    “ She didn’t tell me
anything other than that. She said if I was nice to you, I might be
able to coax the rest from your lips.”
    An image of him coaxing her lips open with
his mouth burned itself in her brain. She shook it off and forced
herself to refocus. “I had some issues with a shady contractor. He
took off before completing the job.”
    “ You never thought of
hiring another one?”
    “ Unfortunately, he took
off with my money too.” She began collecting the tools they’d used
and placed them in a gray, metal toolbox. Keeping her hands busy
kept her from getting angry all over again. “I’d worked with his
company on other flips, so I had no reason not to trust
him.”
    “ Son-of-a-bitch. What kind
of person would