Page 20 of Pain in the Axe
He crossed his arms. “So you’re punishing me.”
I shrugged.
“Joke’s on you.” He laughed, the sound low and soft. “Seeing your gorgeous face every day is the furthest thing from punishment.”
Hands splayed on my desk, I scowled at him. “Just behave, and I’ll be out of here in a few months.”
A sexy grin spread slowly across his face, the sight of it unnerving. “You know I can never behave, especially around you.”
That deep tone of his made my legs shake and the warmth in my core ignite.
“The FBI will be here next week, along with that team of high-priced Boston lawyers you’ve got working for you. You’ve got a ton of work to do, and I’m here to help every step of the way. But first, I need you to tell me the truth.”
My eye twitched as I regarded him. I held my breath, shoring up my defenses. I would not fall into his trap. I would not let him manipulate me. Nope. He could take his flirtation and his “I would do anything for you” and shove it right up his thick lumberjack ass.
I did not owe him shit. Least of all an explanation.
“You want to know what I think?” He pressed his palms against my desk, looming over me in a way that many might find intimidating. Me, though? Not a chance. This was Gus. The gentle giant, the kind lumberjack with a heart of gold.
Or at least that’s what I’d once thought.
It shouldn’t be so easy to forget that he had abandoned me when I was at my most vulnerable. That he’d broken my heart and sent me away without a second thought.
I couldn’t let those broad shoulders and his deliciously manly smell distract me from the truth. He was not the good guy. No matter how good his acting ability was.
“You’ve been in the timber industry for a long time, but on the investor side. You buy and sell and strategize. And, according to the internet, you’re fucking great at it.”
I had to suppress a smile. Those words from him were the biggest ego boost I’d experienced in a long, long time. Yes, I wassmart and I worked hard, and I’d earned everything I’d achieved. If only the men in my own family could see it.
“You’ve bounced around. Mostly on the West Coast. You live in Seattle, where you own a luxury condo in a historic building in the Queen Anne neighborhood.”
I sucked in a breath, and my heart took off once more.
“In your role as a partner at Strategic Timber, you’ve traveled all over the globe and made a lot of money for institutional investors in Eastern Europe, specifically Romania, which has some of the best hardwoods on the planet.”
Aw, fuck. He’d done his homework.
He raised one eyebrow. “I’m smarter than I look.” Lowering himself until he was so close I couldn’t help but inhale his strong masculine scent, he said, “So why are you here? This company is small, this town even smaller.”
“Investment opportunity,” I choked out.
“You bought my family’s company, came back to run it, and bought a damn mansion in my hometown. So you can sit there and snap at me all you want, but we both know this isn’t just an investment to you.”
His proximity brought me back to a different world, a different life.
Those callused hands were still strong, and his deep blue gaze still burned me as hotly as it always had.
I squeezed my eyes shut and dug deep, searching for the anger that had festered inside me for decades. But dammit, he had a point. Why was I here? That was the problem with Gus—he was too smart for his own damn good.
If I had to put my finger on what was making me so uncomfortable, I’d say it was his honesty. He was an open book, making his interest clear and relishing every moment the two of us sparred.
It was so very Gus, and so very infuriating.
I’d worked with tons of men, and very few had ever shown interest in sleeping with me.
I wasn’t the desirable woman men lusted after.
I was the scary one.
