Page 7 of Hard Wired

Chapter Three

Dominic Crane’s house looked like a casino hotel in Vegas. There were garish marble floors, gold trim on the light fixtures, even paintings on the walls of European cities like Venice and Paris. How much tackier could the man get?

And the way he’d been staring at her in the doorway? With the messy T-shirt and loose pants that he’d obviously just thrown on without a single thought, the scruff on his face, tousled black hair… None of which was the least bit attractive. Or made her think of him just waking up in his bed.

Ugh. Her chest was absolutely not tightening at the thought of Dominic Crane watching her right now. And her panties were most definitely not damp.

Sylvie dumped her bag onto the ground. Crane’s housekeeper had shut the door, and Tanner and Priyanka had joined them in the entryway. Everyone seemed to be waiting for her to say something. But Crane’s imposing presence had put her off balance, just as she’d feared.

She briefly glanced up and found Dominic looking back.

Oh, god. His eyes were focused intently on her. With his regal features and dark curls, he was part rockstar, part anime character, with a sprinkling of emo boy thrown in. He was nearly as tall as Tanner, but with a runner’s body. She saw lean muscle beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. Large hands.

Stop staring. He’s going to notice.

“Should we do it right here by the door?” Sylvie gestured vaguely at the wall.

Crane smirked. “I’ll do it anywhere you like.”

Priyanka giggled.

The housekeeper let out a small sigh. “I think she means the panel for the security system?”

Sylvie’s temperature had just shot up by at least ten degrees. Sweat pricked all over her skin. “That’s exactly what I meant. The panel. Do you want it by the door, like the old one you’ve got here?”

“I want it wherever you want it.”

Okay, now he was mocking her. “Great. If only all my mobster-slash-murderer clients were so accommodating. I’ll get started.”

She braced herself and looked at him again. His smirk had faded. Now Crane just looked bored. Good. Maybe he’d leave her alone and let her get this finished as quickly as possible.

“Dominic, perhaps you and I should go finish our lunch.” The housekeeper waved him toward the living room, where Sylvie spied a set of open patio doors. “My name is Maureen, by the way. You just let me know if you folks need anything at all.”

Sylvie held out her hand. “Thank you, Maureen. I’m Sylvie Trousseau. Pleased to meet you.”

Sylvie hoped she hadn’t offended the housekeeper by calling her boss a murderer. But then again, she couldn’t imagine anyone would work here by choice. Not unless Crane was paying Maureen bucketloads of money. And in that case, she probably didn’t care what anyone called her boss.

The woman took her hand and patted it politely. Sylvie felt a twinge of homesickness. Maureen had a Louisiana accent, like her dad. It had been years since Sylvie had left, but the old melancholy still crept up on her occasionally.

Crane and Maureen went out onto the patio, and Sylvie got to work. First, they needed to install the new panel. Luckily, the old one was already hard-wired, so Sylvie just had to switch them out instead of setting up any new connections. She told Priyanka which tools she needed from the bag, happy to focus on her task instead of on her distracting client.

Quickly, Tanner got tired of watching them and went to sit on the porch. He was the type of person who always craved sunlight, while Sylvie was usually worried about getting burned.

She took the opportunity to walk Priyanka through the steps of connecting the wiring for the panel. Priyanka seemed to pick it up quickly, as she did everything when she was paying attention. But then, her focus started to wander.

“Isn’t he hot?” the assistant whispered.

Sylvie sent a worried glance over her shoulder, but Crane was still sitting out on the patio with his housekeeper. A breeze ruffled his hair, and his profile was every bit as striking as any model in a perfume ad.

“I guess so. But we shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“I can’t help it. All that man… Damn. I just want him to break me in half.”

Sylvie bugged her eyes at her assistant. “Priyanka, that is not a way to talk about a client.”

The girls nose wrinkled. “Crane? Oh, he’s okay. I’m talking about Tanner. Is he single? Do you think he might be into me?”

Good Lord. “I’m not answering any of those questions. Can we please stay focused on work?” Sylvie was going to have to show the girl that sexual-harassment video—again. Otherwise, Priyanka would end up in some sort of compromising position, and Max would blame Sylvie for a lack of proper training.

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