Page 127 of Jep

“What?”

“Come on and I’ll show you.”

“I’m fine where I am.”

Slate grabbed him in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles across his skull while he dragged him from the room.

Em laughed. “Are they always like this?”

“Always. If you want to hang around, you can find out for yourself.”

“You sound like you need help running this place.”

“I wouldn’t say no to a feminine perspective around here now and then.”

“It wouldn’t be distracting for them?”

“The boys need training in how to behave around a beautiful woman. As you may have noticed.” He may as well go for it. This could be the last chance he had with her.

“Too bad I already have a job.”

He clicked his tongue. “Too bad. How’s it going, by the way? You like being a supervisor?”

“Yeah. It’s good. Really good.”

“How’s Lawson?”

“Same as usual, except that he asks my opinion now.”

“Wow. He’s come so far.”

“And the team’s running better now that Gardener and Pearce are gone,” she said.

“As it should.”

“Not as well as when you were there, but that’s to be expected.”

He had taken a few steps closer to her, but the hood of a car was still between them. “Listen, Em. This small talk is nice and all, but once you walk out that door, I may not ever see you again, so I’ve gotta be up front with you.”

“Should I be worried?”

He laughed. “That all depends.”

“On what?”

He skirted around the car and moved in. Close. She didn’t move back. “I’ve missed you. A lot.”

“You have?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess we got used to seeing each other regularly.”

“That’s not what I mean. And I take it by that blush that you know it.”

“Mentioning my blush makes it worse, you know.”

He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “What about this?”

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