Page 18 of Pain in the Axe
“And the mayor?” I asked.
He ran his hands through his thick, dark hair. “That one’s easy. The diner. He eats breakfast there almost every day. He’s usually with his cronies and hates to look bad. You can corner him and bust his balls in front of his poker buddies. He’ll do whatever you want.”
A rush of gratitude flowed through me. After fumbling around in the dark for the past week, suddenly, the lights had been turned on.
Moved by his kindness, I touched his arm. Instantly, I realized I’d made a big mistake. A massive mistake. His forearm was thick and warm and had a dusting of dark hair.
My fingertips tingled, but I pushed the sensation away.
“Thank you,” I said.
I hated that I needed his help. That I was floundering so badly he had to come to my rescue. But this job was way more complex than I’d anticipated, and I needed a solid plan.
“I want to help,” he said, his voice low, his tone deep, as he angled in just close enough for the gold flecks in his blue eyes to distract me. “People are afraid of me.” He shrugged. “Comes in handy sometimes.”
No shit people were afraid. And I was one of them. Though not for obvious reasons. No, I was terrified because Gus was defying my carefully crafted low expectations. He was smarter, kinder, more thoughtful, and more strategic than I’d given him credit for. And he could do some real damage if I let him.
“Getting the company back on track will be a lot easier if we work together,” he said.
He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t want to need him. And there was no way in hell I’d admit to him that I was in over my head.
Behind him, the doors to the gymnasium opened, and people filed out.
I leaned forward, and his eyes flared. His chest rose and fell, and the air between us sparked with tension. We did not get along, and we had nothing in common. It had been a mistake to think that I could work with him.
“I work alone,” I said, affecting an authoritative tone.
As a slow grin spread across his face, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
My entire body froze, and my lungs seized at the contact.
His rough fingers ghosted over my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “We’ll see about that, Dragonfly.”
And then he was gone, off into the crowd, leaving me confused and, for some inexplicable reason, breathless.
Chapter 5
Chloe
Somehow, we’d made it through another few days, though they hadn’t been easy. Work was chaotic and confusing, but I was starting to get my bearings.
JJ was up to her eyeballs in reports and soil samples, and Karl was running around, doing his best to keep me on schedule and keep the company running.
Then there was my least favorite employee.
He’d been gone all week, overseeing road repairs. The office had been blissfully quiet without him. One less unwelcome distraction.
But now he was back. And he was standing at my office door.
He was wearing dark wash jeans that hugged his thick, muscular thighs perfectly and showed off his lumberjack bubble butt. God, it was unfair.
I stayed behind my desk, silently willing him to stay where he was. One whiff of his sexy, earthy man scent, and I’d be done for.
How was it possible for him to trigger these reactions from me? It had been decades.
Olfactory memory. At least that’s what Dr. Google had explained to me. Dammit, it was ridiculous that he’d dug in sosecurely all those years ago that a part of him still lived deep in the primitive recesses of my brain.
“You rang, boss?” He stepped over the threshold, sucking all the air out of the room. “You’re looking particularly ravishing today,” he added, his face a stony mask of indifference.
