Page 61 of No Summer Hotter than You

“There’s been an influx of new properties on the market, and we’re interested in buying another one,” I said and shrugged, acting nonchalantly.

“I guess that’ll make sense why you’ve been so distracted lately, boss!” chimed in Logan, another man on my crew.

I let out a laugh, and then blurted, “Yeah, Shoua and me have been thinking a bit about getting an empty lot together.”

That seemed to draw in their interest instead of deterring them away. “So, what are you going to do with it? Build a house for her?” Logan asked.

Before I could stammer out a stupid response, Ramiro quickly spoke up. “Sounds pretty romantic to me.”

“I-it’s not romantic. It’s a business endeavor,” I managed to say.

My two workers cast me looks of amusement. They clearly weren’t buying my answers.

Logan shrugged with a smirk. “Our wives would say otherwise. Right, Ramiro?”

They burst out laughing as if Logan had told a joke. I held back the urge to roll my eyes as if I was speaking to my brother and Jonathan. I shook my head instead.

“I’ll be heading out for a bit for business. I should be back by one. Tell the others you can all take your time with lunch,” I said, glancing at the time on my phone. “I’ll see you all later.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Logan said with a laugh.

I quickly texted Shoua to let her know I was heading over.

Me

I’ll be getting some food and coming over to see you soon

Shoua

Again? Don’t you have work to do?

Me

BUT I WANT TO SEE YOU

Shoua

You saw me this morning

Me

So? I want to see you

I truly did. I desperately wanted to see her. I had been thinking about her every single second of this week and all I wanted to do was to be with her. When she swung by on Wednesday afternoon, I couldn’t deny how happy that made me. Logan was right when he mentioned that I had been distracted lately. It was because of Shoua.

The moment I arrived with lunch, I called her to come out. It wasn’t long before I caught her walking towards the truck, looking breathtaking in a simple white blouse and black slacks.

“Where’s your company truck?” she asked as she climbed in.

I shrugged. “My dad would kill me if he found out I was using the truck for personal reasons like I did when I had lunch with you last time. It’s against company policy. It was best if Ramiro just drove it instead.”

“Are you all right?” she asked slowly.

With the AC on full blast, her heavenly coconut perfume mixed with her sweet natural scent wafted lightly in the air around me. My mouth watered, but not for lunch.

“I’m perfectly fine,” I chirped, watching her.

An unreadable look crossed her face as she tossed the biodegradable food container she was using into the plastic bag I brought our takeout salads in. “You sure? You came to see me for lunch practically this entire week. What’s wrong?”

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