Page 32 of Now or Never

Chelsea’s eyebrows inched up. She glanced toward the build site where a group of guys were gathered, eating their lunches on the tailgates of four trucks. She picked Adam out of the crowd immediately. In fact, she’d had a hard timenotlooking over at him all afternoon. Mostly because of the vast difference in vibe between the construction job site and the film set. Across the lawn, they looked as if they were having fun. Here, everyone ran around on eggshells.

Just then, Adam tilted his head back and laughed. He was sitting in the centre of the group, wearing a backward ball cap and construction vest, and all the other guys were hanging on his every word.

Seemed about right.

“We’re not shooting. What does it matter? Isn’t this part of Lilian’s agreement?” Vincent asked.

Jasper huffed. “It’s so loud I can’t even form a thought.”

“I’m not entirely sure the music’s to blame,” Vincent said under his breath.

Chelsea coughed to hide a laugh.

Jasper stabbed a glare at Vincent before turning to Chelsea. “You’re friends with that guy, the loud one in the middle. Go over and ask him to turn off the music.”

Chelsea gaped at Jasper. There was no way she was going over there and telling them to turn off their music, like some crotchety old hag who was desperate to complain about something.

“No.”

“Please,” Jasper added through clenched teeth, then turned and walked off.

Chelsea glanced back at Adam, then at the torn-up mud field between them, then down at her white jeans and sneakers. She wanted to ignore Jasper and get the screenplay for Vincent. But she also had a vested interest in keeping the director of the film happy. The last thing she needed was for him to throw a tantrum and pull out at the last minute. She needed the money, and the time with Vincent.

“You don’t have to go,” Vincent said. “Jasper’s in over his head, panicking, and taking it out on them.”

“He’s always been easily frustrated. Honestly, I’m surprised he landed this position.”

Vincent laughed. “Me too.”

Chelsea sucked in a deep breath. “It’s okay. I’ll go. I rented this property for a film set, and I should make sure it’s functioning as well as possible. Plus, it’s probably best if Jasper and Adam don’t interact too much. They don’t seem to like each other.”

Vincent glanced across the field and smirked back at her. “I can’t imagine why.”

Chelsea shrugged.

Vincent huffed a small laugh. “I’m just about done with this now, anyway. You can get the script and shorts to me later.”

“Thank you so much,” Chelsea said.

She sucked in a cleansing breath and braced herself for seeing Adam up close in all his blue-collar hotness, then set out across the muddy lawn.

ten

Adam was draining his fourth water bottle of the day just as he saw Chelsea break from Vincent and Jasper and start walking across the lawn toward him. He’d have liked to say he’d just noticed her, but the truth was he’d been having a hard time keeping his eyes off her all day.

She was wearing white jeans and sneakers with a pale-yellow cotton shirt that had the tiniest buttons holding it together. The kinds of buttons that would slip open with one good tug. Her shirt stopped just above the waistband of her pants, and when a breeze came, it picked up the bottom slightly, giving him a glimpse of her soft skin and pretty little belly button.

He wanted to drop to his knees and kiss her right there.

His plan to think of her as one of the guys was already failing. He was more likely to be hit by a falling satellite than to look at her and not think of sex.

He mentally slapped himself.

“Hey—”

A catcall screeched through the air, cutting off Chelsea’s voice. At first, she looked surprised, gaze searching for the offender. But she gave up quickly, looking back at him with a laugh and a smile that showed her pretty dimples.

Fuck.

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