Page 3 of Elevating Eve

Jonathan leaned back in his chair, trying to project an aura of calm to counteract her nervous energy. “I’m all ears.”

Panic flashed in her eyes, and for a moment, he feared she would run off. But then she took a slow, steadying breath and forced herself to look him in the eyes. “Frank knew the tile you wanted was about to be discontinued. He knew before you even picked it.”

Anger formed a ball in the pit of his stomach, but he did everything in his power to keep it from showing. “Why didn’t he say something before now?”

“He waited to order it on purpose, hoping to get a big discount. That way his profit margin would be bigger.” She chewedon her bottom lip for a few seconds. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me, and I thought you deserved to know.”

Jonathan took several deep breaths through his nose, willing his emotions to subside. It wasn’t Eve’s fault her boss (slash boyfriend?) was crooked, and the woman obviously needed less anger in her life, not more.

“Thank you for telling me,” Jonathan said, sounding almost like a robot to his own ears. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

She watched him for several seconds, chewing on that full lower lip again, her long lashes framing kind eyes filled with concern. Fuck, she was beautiful. He couldn’t let himself get sidetracked right now, though, when he needed to find his business partners and start making some major decisions.

“Have a good night, Jonathan,” Eve said in barely more than a whisper before she slipped from the room, closing the door silently behind her.

“Shit,” he said, leaning back against the chair and closing his eyes. And he thought the project was a total clusterfuck before.

With a sigh, he fished his phone from his pocket and opened his eyes. Pulling up the group chat with all the partners—even Leo, their silent partner who lived in New York—he typed a quick explanation and asked what time they’d be available.

It was going to be a long-ass night.

CHAPTER 2

Eve

Could this building possibly go up any slower? Eve never worked on a project with so many stupid delays, and she’d been in this business for thirty goddamn years.

Well. Sort of. She helped her dad on jobsites every weekend and summer for as long as she could remember, until she grew old enough for him to hire properly. So yeah, maybe five-year-old-Eve’s memories of the particulars were a little on the hazy side.

This job still sucked ass, though.

“Tommy, what on earth are you doing?” she asked, staring down her nose at one of their newest employees.

The gangly nineteen-year-old froze in place, the orbital sander in his hand stilling and falling silent. “Uh, I’m, uh...” He made random sounds for a few more seconds before Eve lost her patience.

“Did someone tell you to do that, Tommy?” she asked, her tone firm but kind.

“Um, yes ma’am. Mr. Talley did, first thing this morning.” He frowned at her. “Is that bad?”

Eve held in a frustrated groan. Everywhere she turned, someone else was doing something either monumentally stupid, or a complete waste of fucking time. And almost without fail, they had been instructed todo so by none other than Frank. At this point, it almost felt like hewantedto fuck up the project.

Didn’t mean the poor kid was to blame. “Go talk to Jake and figure out what he needs done.” At least she could still count on her foreman to do things the right way. “And if Frank tells you to do anything else...” God, she couldn’t believe she had to say this, but she didn’t feel like she had a choice anymore. “Come find me or Jake before you start. I want all assignments going through us, understand?”

The idea of ignoring orders from the big boss clearly didn’t sit well with Tommy. He fidgeted for a few seconds, not quite meeting her eyes anymore. “Yes ma’am, Ms. Hutchinson. Sure thing.”

“Please stop calling me that,” she said with what she hoped was a kind, not frustrated smile. Frank insisted everyone call him Mr. Talley, but she hated that shit. “Eve is just fine.”

And he didn’t even have to see me naked.

The thought popped into her head out of nowhere, and she was glad when Tommy scurried off in search of the foreman. It meant he didn’t see how furiously she blushed. Because now all she could think about was how hot Jonathan was naked.

Not even hot—that was such a basic bitch of a word. Jonathan was the most intensely sexy human being she’d ever seen. And not just his body (though holy shit, what a body), but every single thing about him. How his gaze seemed to burn the surface of her skin. The way he moved, like a predator about to take down his prey. His deep, commanding voice, always so perfectly controlled, a world of emotion lurking just below the surface.

And, of course, the way he completely fuckingworshippedthat woman out by the pool. Holy fucking fuck. So much power as he yielded a thick leather strap against her bare flesh, never losing one iota of control. He comforted and soothed that beautiful woman, encouraging her through the pain until it melted away into pleasure.

Pain. Ecstasy. Escape.

Salvation.

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