Page 29 of Five Mountain Daddies

She smiles and stretches. “It’s been fun,” she admits. “I honestly didn’t see itcoming.”

“Good. That’s the best kind of surprise. The realkind.”

She laughs. “And you made thathappen?”

“More orless.”

“What if I weren’t interested inthem?”

I shrug a little. “Then you weren’t the girl I hoped you were, and we’d moveon.”

“That easy,huh?”

“That easy. But I’m not usuallywrong.”

She watches me a second, and it’s that silent contemplation that really draws me to her. Yes, she’s gorgeous, sexy, funny, cute, all the usual adjectives, but I’ve had all that before. What really gets me is the way she thinks, how smart she is, how much she notices. I find that the sexiest thing ofall.

“Okay then,” she says. “So now you’re here. Does that mean I passed yourtest?”

“It wasn’t a test,” I say, and then grin. “But yes, youpassed.”

She grins back. “Whatnow?”

“I thought we’d get to know each othernow.”

“Okay,” she says, not evenhesitating.

“Good. Remember where that first partywas?”

She nods. “Sure.”

“Meet me there.” I get into my car, not waiting for an answer. She watches me pull out and drive off, but I know she’s going to follow. I head back to the shop, and since it’s after hours, it’s totally empty. Everyone’s gone home at this point, even the other guys. I park my truck up front and a couple minutes later, London parks next tome.

I get out and lead her inside. The place looks different now that we put all the machinery back. The main dance floor and central party area is gone, covered over, but you can still easily see where we’d move stuff awayfrom.

“Nice place,” London says. “Looks different without all thosepeople.”

“You should see it when we’re working,” I say. “Busy as heck. Sparks flying all over. It’s reallygreat.”

“I bet. Anddangerous.”

“Sure, that too.” I smile and lead her up some stairs, up to the top of the building. We head down a hallway and I take her into myoffice.

“Office” probably isn’t really the word for this room. There’s no desk, no computer, just a stylish and comfortable couch, a television against the wall, a bar area, a little table, a little kitchen area, and a bunch of paintings on the walls. It’s more like a tiny apartment than an office, but I always pretend that I’m working when I come inhere.

I sit down on the couch as London follows me in. She laughs and looks around the room. “Is this like, the break room orsomething?”

“Nope,” I say. “Didn’t you see my name on thedoor?”

She raises an eyebrow. “This is justyours?”

“My office, of sorts.” I grin ather.

She sighs and sits down next to me. “What kind of business gets done inhere?”

“You can probablyguess.”

“Well, now I just feeltawdry.”

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