Page 49 of Tempting Eden

“Ms. Rochester, I presume?” The foreman tipped his hard hat. I didn’t envy him, standing between two extremely pissed off control freaks.

I stayed put and watched the show.

“You bet your ass I am. And why the fuck aren’t the walls painted? Where are my fixtures? Where’s the bar? Where’s the granite and the chrome and the glass and the tile?”

The foreman hitched a thumb toward the side of the building. “There’s a flatbed out there with everything you mentioned loaded up and ready to go. If you two ladies think you can go out there and heft it in here any faster than we can, be my goddamn guests.”

Oh, shit.

Eden fisted her hands at her sides. “You son of a fucking bi—”

“Rochester!” Mr. Poole dashed in from what I presumed was the pool area and gave Eden a too-friendly hug. “Glad to see you. Coming along great, isn’t she? Frank here will have her finished in no time. Right, Frank?”

When he released her from his grip, I relaxed. I didn’t realize I’d tensed until that moment. He was touching what was mine. It was irrational to think Eden could ever be mine. She wasn’t meant for the likes of me. Not in this life. But I couldn’t stop the feeling, the possessiveness.

“A week is plenty of time. At least it would be if you got these two banshees out from under me.” Frank rubbed his potbelly, as if comforting his food baby.

Mr. Poole barked out a harsh laugh and clapped Frank on the back. “You know how women get. Can’t control the hysterics. They don’t understand how the real world works.”

A mental image of me slamming Poole onto the floor floated across my vision.

“You got that right.” Frank smirked at Bess and Eden before going back to bossing his painting crew.

Eden was on fire, and Bess wasn’t much better.

Mr. Poole slid his hand down Eden’s back and rested it at the top of her ass. Too familiar, too close. Eden wasn’t the only one whose blood was hot enough to boil at that moment.

She shot me a glance and stepped away to peruse Bess’ plans.

Mr. Poole took a long look at both women before walking toward me.

When he passed me, he gave me a saccharine smile and said low enough so only I could hear, “And that, Jackie boy, is called pussy control.”

I imagined myself knocking out his too-straight teeth. I met his gaze, staring down at him so intently I noticed the burst blood vessels along his nose and the slight yellowing of his eyes. I wanted to hurt him for touching what was mine and for what he’d said, either reason was plenty. My mask of cool indifference seemed to have faltered, because he took a step away from me.

He bristled. “Boy, what’s got into you?”

I could knock him flat before he even knew what hit him. Instead, I gave a slight nod, which he took as me seconding his earlier comment.

“That’s more like it. Team player, that’s what I like about you, Jackie boy.” He seemed as if he were going to clap me on the back, then thought better of it before retreating back the way he’d come.

I looked over to Eden and Bess and realized they’d been watching the entire exchange with bated breath.

I forced myself to cool down, to become still again. “Everything’s fine. Don’t worry.”

Eden put her hands on her hips. “Don’tworry? This place is a disaster, and you looked like you were about to clock the developer. Everything is not fine!”

“I wish he would have,” Bess muttered before pretending to inspect her designs some more.

“You aren’t helping, Bess.” Eden pinched the bridge of her nose. “Where are our rooms? I think I need to sit down for a moment.”

We were staying on site now that the majority of the condos were finished. I’d chosen two of the fully furnished, unsold apartments just one floor down from the penthouse, though I hoped we’d only be using one of them.

I herded her to the glass elevator and to the room in a matter of moments. The driver had already deposited our luggage. She sat on the bed before throwing herself backwards in a particularly teenage move. She rolled over and buried her face in the duvet.

I sat next to her and rubbed her back with one hand. “Talk to me, Eden.”

A muffled reply.

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