Page 28 of XOXO

His mouth turned down for a second, but then he gave a curt nod and motioned for me to head back down the hallway toward the main offices. I tried to walk inconspicuously but the heels had my hips swaying and after having a desk job so long, my ass had filled out the pants. Did I purposely wear them? Of course not. I had limited options. I had to get a second job to make ends meet. Which, if this went well, maybe I wouldn’t have to keep it long.

He walked me to the front door and held it open for me. “Thanks for bringing that out. I guess I’ll see you this week sometime.”

His hand was held out and a soft grin hid behind the thick beard. I wondered what it would feel like to just grab it.

“Adi? You alright?” he asked, his hand still out.

“Oh,” I said, taking his handshake. “Yes. I’ll email you when the crew will be out, and I’ll meet them here.” Why did his handshake make me all tingly? I needed to get out of his overpowering presence.

“Okay. I uh—”

“Hello, again,” Sweetie sing-songed as she scooted behind her desk. “You outta here?”

I smiled at the sweet woman as my hand fell from Stone’s. She talked my off ear when I first came before she led me to Stone’s office. “Yes, ma’am. But I’ll be back later this week with the crew.”

She smiled after she took a sip from her mug. “Well, you stay warm, hon. See ya soon.”

I smiled once more at Stone, then quickly shuffled to the car, hoping to keep the hip sway to a minimum.

Once inside my car, I cracked the window. I had to cool off before getting back to work.

Chapter 7

Stone

Two weeks had passed since Adi had been in my office. When she brought the crew out later that week, I escorted them back to where the work would be taking place then made myself scarce.

I was keeping an eye on things with our surveillance videos. Did she happen to be visible on them a lot of the time? Sure. I couldn’t help that. Did we happen to end up in the breakroom at the same time occasionally? Yes, but not to run into her so much as seeing her head to the breakroom made me realize how thirsty I was.

“So, we’re stalking now?”

I jumped from my chair at Tango’s voice. “What?” I turned and hit the power button on the screens. “No. I’m keeping an eye on the workers.”

He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. “Why don’t you just take her out and get it over with?”

“What?” I shuffled papers on my desk and fixed my seat so I could ignore his accusations and get back to work. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Do you think I’m blind? I’ve known you since we barely had hair on our balls. You don’t just think she’s hot. You’re smitten.”

A nervous laugh erupted from my throat. “Smitten. Since when do you say smitten?”

“Since you started acting like a little bitch. Just talk to her. I’m tired of you wandering around with your puppy dog eyes.”

I threw my hands up. “Okay fine. I like her. But she’s working for us and at the Spoke. I promised Pipes–”

“Excuse me,” a soft voice said behind Tango.

My jaw clenched and my chest heaved. She did not just hear me say that.

“Oh hi, Adi. How’s the build going?” Tango asked as he unfolded his arms and casually grabbed his hips.

She stepped around him and said, “Coming along nicely. Just a heads up that there’s some inclement weather possible the next few days so depending on that, the crew may have shortened days. I hope you understand.”

I cleared my throat. “Of course. Upgrades are no reason for anyone to get hurt. Just do what you think is best.”

Adi tipped her head then headed back out. Tango craned his neck to watch her before he walked over to my desk.

“You’re a smooth mother fucker, you know that?” He grinned.

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