Page 5 of Forbidden Kisses
The ocean blew her brown hair around her face, clawing against her soft, touchable skin. She folded her arms over her chest, reminding him of the tough teenage girl she’d pretended to be. She was tough all right, but not impenetrable.
“Are you going to talk or just stare at me?” she asked.
Jack shook his head. She was throwing up her defense tactics left and right, which meant she felt like she needed to protect herself. From him. “You were interested in the job.”
And he knew better than to hire her.
“I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m not the right person for the office position. We both know that.”
He released his soft grasp on her arm, but they continued to stand close. “You helped Aunt Mira in the office when you were a teenager. She said you did great.”
Grace swiped at a lock of hair that whipped across her cheek, framing her mahogany eyes. “I was fifteen years old.”
“Just imagine how great you’d do now, then.” He could hear the flirty tone in his voice. Unintentional. Grace brought out all kinds of unintentional things in him. “We offer competitive pay. Benefits. Office hours.”
Grace lifted a brow. “You didn’t sell the job this well to the other two candidates. Why me?”
Good question. She was the worst candidate for the job. His dad and brothers would implode if they found a Donner in their midst. But they’d tasked Jack to do the hiring. “Dewy’s kid rammed a boat into our kayak launch earlier.”
Grace’s hands flew to her mouth. “Tristan? Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He’s fine, but I’m the one who’ll be building a new launch. I don’t have time for paperwork and I don’t have time to train someone whose main qualification is making coffee. That’s why I need you.”
Grace inspected him, making him feel like he was the one being interviewed. For a reason he couldn’t explain, he wanted her to say yes nearly as badly as he wanted to taste those lips of hers again—which was exactly why it’d be best if she turned down his job offer.
“I don’t know. Are you sure your family would be okay with me working at the company?”
“It’ll be fine. I’ll talk to them before you start,” he promised. “Come on. Please. I need you.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. If you’re sure.” She gave a small smile and said, “When and where do you want me?”
That question sparked a flurry of responses in his mind. He wanted her right now, on the sand, in his bed. He was no longer a thirty-one-year-old man; suddenly he was whipped back to the sixteen-year-old boy he’d been with a forbidden crush on his stepsister. She’d been beautiful and she’d had this seemingly magic power to make him feel better just by walking in the room back then. He couldn’t get enough of her, even though their time was mostly made up of just hanging out and watching TV. He’d fantasized about more, though. As much as he’d liked and respected the teenage Grace, he’d also been a horny kid.
Jack cleared his throat. “How about coming to the office at eight o’clock tomorrow morning?”
Grace nodded, still smiling. “I’ll be there.”
Their gazes held for a second.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” Jack watched her wave and walk away, the muscles of her long legs tightening against the mounds of sand, his attraction to her crashing down on him as forcefully as the waves on the shore. This decision was going to get him in so much trouble—and not just with his dad and brothers.
He headed back to the office to tell them the news, but no one was in. The fish must’ve been biting this morning. Maybe that meant they’d all be in a good mood later when he sprang the news of their new hire. Relieved for the delay, Jack walked over to the kayak launch to inspect the damage that Tristan Capps had inflicted earlier. His cousin Gabe met him at the water’s edge.
“Hey, cuz.” Gabe pulled Jack in for a back slap. Not a hug. Nope, the Sawyer men didn’t embrace. They took a hand, pulled, and used their other hand to slap backs. Fronts didn’t touch because, well, they were men. And they were also fishermen, which meant they usually wore grime, bait, and a thick coating of perspiration when they were at work. “I hear you’ll be the one fixing my launch.”
“Yep.” Jack nodded. “Tristan is lucky he’s not paralyzed or worse. What was he thinking?”
“You mean what was he drinking.” Gabe pulled his shades off the top of his head and over his eyes. “He is Dewy Capps’s kid, so I guess he was doomed at conception.”
Jack frowned. “What’s going to happen to him? Do you know yet?”
Gabe shrugged. “His old man will pay for the damages, I suspect. Haven’t decided if I’m going to file charges, although I probably should. The kid is already being hit with underage drinking, though.”
Jack rubbed the back of his neck, entertaining the second bad idea he’d had today. Bringing Grace onboard at the Sawyer Seafood Company was bad enough. But he remembered being a punk of a teen, too, once upon a time. At least he’d had a decent father to steer him back on track. Tristan, on the other hand, had a father who was doing a good job of steering him off track. “I’m going to need help fixing this launch,” Jack said.
Gabe’s brows lowered. “Okay. Well, do you want me to—?”
