Page 9 of Possess

Heat filled her cheeks, and she lowered her eyes. Yes, she’d thought about it and more. Zeke was front and center in her fantasies, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

Cool fingers touched her cheek, and she lifted her lashes to see Zeke staring at her. “I’ve thought about kissing you a lot.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “While we’re walking around on jobs, when you’re eating lunch at the café and I see you, at night when I’m in my bed alone.”

A gruff of laughter burst from her lips. “Alone? In bed? Do you truly expect me to buy that?” She’d seen the way women looked at Zeke.

“I do. You see…” Using one finger, he lightly stroked her hair. “All I can picture is your hair spread out on my pillow, your mouth open as you give little cries of passion as I make love to you.”

Instead of shocking her, his words caused a tremor of anticipation to roll through her body. This wouldn’t do. “Mr. Riggs,”—her voice was breathless—“you are being inappropriate.” She stepped back even as her body protested the move. She was on the job and keeping those boundaries was important to her.

The teasing light disappeared from his eyes. “I am.” He stepped away, putting more space between them. “My apologies, Ms. Young.”

She hated when he used that polite, cool tone of his. “Look, Zeke—” she started.

“Hey Zeke, how much longer do you think it will take to get this place ready?” Colby asked, walking up to them with Lara at his side. “Sorry. Did I interrupt something?”

“No. Colby, this is Allyson Young with the building inspector with City Planning Office. Allyson, Colby Durham, owner of Durham’s Leather shop.”

Allyson held out her hand. “Very nice to meet you.”

“Ms. Young.” They shook hands.

“Allyson, please.” Colby had a strong grip.

“We’re probably looking at another two weeks. Since Allyson did a quick inspection for us today, things should proceed pretty quickly, provided we don’t encounter any behind-the-wall surprises or supply chain issues.”

“That’s great,” Lara said. “I was expecting a lot longer.”

“You might need to close for a few days when we open up the wall.”

“I was afraid of that.” Lara groaned. “The café is so busy I hate to close for any reason. Plus, I need the Saturday for…ah…the catering job.”

Lara had hesitated in her response, and Allyson wondered why. She glanced at the wall, then walked over to the plans Zeke had laid out. She’d been doing this job long enough that she’d picked up a few things. “You’re only taking out a portion of the wall, right?”

“Yes.” Zeke moved to her side. “What are you thinking?”

“Well…” She glanced up at him, and he nodded for her to continue. “Depending on where you plan to open it up”—she ran her fingers over the area on the plans—“if you take out this section, you could partition it off and pull it down overnight or on a Sunday when the café isn’t open. Minimal interruption.”

“Hmm.” Zeke rubbed his chin as he studied the plans and then the wall. “That might be possible. I’ll have one of the engineering guys look at it.”

Zeke didn’t shoot her idea down. Her admiration for him went up another notch.

“If that can happen, it would be great,” Lara said. “Add any extra overtime to the bill. I expect Sundays and nights to be a higher rate.”

“Yes.” He glanced at the wall and then back to Allyson. “Thank you for seeing that.”

“Anytime.” Her cell rang. “Excuse me; I have to take this.” It was her boss. She stepped away from Zeke and across the room. “Hi, Wes.”

“Are you coming back to the office this afternoon? I didn’t see anything on your schedule.”

“I can. I got pulled into an impromptu meeting at a client’s site.”

“Please, I need to talk with you.”

Allyson’s stomach clenched. “All right. Be there in about thirty minutes. Does that work?” She wondered what Rudy had done now. There was no other reason her boss would call her in.

“Take your time. And Allyson, you’re not in trouble, so relax.” The line went dead, and she shook her head. Was she so transparent?

“Everything okay?” Zeke asked.

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