Page 33 of Now or Never

“Did I just walk into a real-life cliché?” she asked with a laugh.

“’Fraid so,” he said, looking over at Joel, knowing he could whistle like that. “Get coffee,” he yelled over the music. Joel gave a sheepish look and a nod before getting into his pickup.

“You’re pretty brave coming over here.”

Chelsea laughed. “It wasn’t my idea. Jasper asked me to come speak to you about turning your redneck music down. Also, he called you a hillbilly.”

Adam threw his head back and laughed. It was hilarious how seriously that guy took himself. He glanced over the top of Chelsea’s head, narrowing his eyes in on Jasper’s pompous scarf. “Redneck music? I’m offended.”

Chelsea smiled. “Yeah, you really look it, too. Somehow, I knew you’d like being called a hillbilly.”

“It’s a badge of honour, and I wear it proudly.”

Even as they were speaking, Jasper had his hands flailing through the air as he pointed and yelled at some girl with a clipboard, making Adam seriously question Lilian’s ability to hire a director. He shook his head and pulled his phone from his pocket, adjusting the volume down. “I thought you were shadowing Vincent. You shouldn’t have to run errands for that clown.”

Chelsea rolled her bright, playful eyes. “It’s only a few weeks, and you two don’t seem to like each other much. It’s probably best if I act as a liaison.”

Adam smiled, held her gaze. “I’d much rather see you than him.”

Chelsea smiled up at him just as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud and a beam of light illuminated her aquamarine eyes. He was lost for a moment until the sound of Joel’s truck tires spinning snagged his attention. He hopped off the tailgate and opened his mouth to warn Chelsea, but it was too late. Joel put on the four-wheel drive and hit the gas, spraying them with giant globs of mud.

He jumped forward between her and the truck, trying to shield her, but by the time the truck moved, they were both almost completely coated.

Chelsea whimpered a little and held her hands out as if she didn’t know what to do next. Her eyes were closed, with mud on her eyelids.

Shit.

“Don’t open your eyes.”

Adam lifted the bottom of his shirt up to her face and wiped the mud from her lashes. Luckily, it was thick clay and came off quickly in clumps. “There, you can open,” he said.

He twisted the shirt and lifted it up to wipe his own face, certain Chelsea was going to scream at him. Or worse, cry. But when he looked up from the shirt at her, she was staring at his abs with one eyebrow cocked and her mouth slack.

Adrenalin shot through his veins. A thousand images of her flooded his brain. Images he’d had since the moment he’d met her but had tried desperately to repress.

Fuck, he wanted her.

He wouldn’t survive knowing she wanted him, too.

He lifted his hand to a piece of muddy hair on her cheek. Her gaze swept up his body, landing on his mouth just as he tucked the strands behind her ear and watched a flush work its way up her neck.

He stared at the skin on her chest turning pink. At the small gaps in the fabric between her buttons. If he just shifted slightly, he’d be able to see what colour her bra was.

“What’s going on?” asked a strange, garbled voice from behind him.

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the intruder to fuck off when the lusty fog cleared from his brain and it registered whose voice it was.

He jumped back and twisted, finding Natalie and Ethan standing right behind him. “What?” was all he could get out.

Natalie stood with her hands on her hips, looking pissed off, while Ethan stood beside her, holding a bag and hiding a grin. “What’s going on?” she repeated.

What’s going on?

I’m imagining forty different ways I want to fuck your sister.

That’swhat’s going on.

No one answered.

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