Page 13 of Unbreak My Heart

Make thatoneperson who’d noticed.

Dammit!

She sent him what was hopefully an open smile. He held her gaze for a moment, then turned his attention to the rest of the men.

The sound of more vehicles turning up caught her attention and she spoke. “I know you want to open as soon as possible, Max. Since we’re not doing a concrete slab, and you wanted us to oversee the project planning, I took the liberty of hiring two extra crews. We should be able to shorten the original completion date by at least three months with them. Possibly even more. If my projections are correct, and we don’t get too much inclement weather, we could have you opening in six to eight months, instead of the projected twelve.”

Max’s astonishment was difficult to miss. “Really?”

Relaxing into herself, she nodded. This was her job. Her passion. This was what shedid.

“Yes. I have everything ordered already and have moved up the required-by dates to even before my projections, so that if there are any issues sourcing things—which there shouldn’t be, according to my suppliers—that we’re ready for each step no matter how early we complete them. I have backup suppliers for any possible delays. Costs will increase slightly with the extra crews, but it’s still well within budget since the time frame will be shorter. You should even have a slight amount left over after completion.”

The happiness on Max’s face warmed her. She loved seeing her clients satisfied with her work. It was what she lived for. His happiness was reflected on Simon’s face, also.

And if she wasn’t wrong, admiration.

She shoved that thought from her head. It didn’t matter if Simon admired her, or liked her, or whatever.

He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested. She needed to put their random encounter from her head and move on.

She shot him a glance as he chatted animatedly with Isaac and Max about the build.

That was going to be harder than she thought. The man pressed all her buttons. All thegoodones.

He seemed to be the perfect package. Friendly. Open.Verygood-looking. Some people looked worse for wear in the light of day, the lighting in bars and nightclubs a little deceiving.

But not him.

He was gorgeous. Not in that pretty, model-beautiful way that Max was, but more rugged, more real. Moretouchable.

Don’t touch, Eva. Don’t touch the brother of the man paying your salary for the next six-plus months.

Such a lovely, wide, lush mouth. She’d nearly combusted when he’d smiled properly. And that laugh. It was enough to ignite her knickers.

Stop it!

She looked at him again. Lean, but strong. He wasn’t some pasty weakling pretending to be a man. He was the real deal. A healthy tan made his skin a lovely golden-brown. He didn’t only work indoors.

And his hands.

Strong. Competent. Calloused.

Remembered sensation of how good his hands actually felt assailed her senses. She looked away, fighting the sudden heat rising in her body all over again.

This was going to be a problem. She needed to get a hold of herself and be the professional everyone expected her to be. The professional she expectedherselfto be.

Lusting after Simon would cause too many issues. Issues she didn’t need.

Her gaze lit on his left hand.

No ring.

He was single. Or, at least, not married.

She breathed deeply and shook herself mentally. The sound of feet behind her had her turning.

A group of men, women, and two small children came toward them. A smile tilted her mouth immediately at the friendly faces attached to the group and became bigger at the happy giggle of the toddler who stumbled toward Max, a giant, sloppy grin widening that cute little face at having spotted him.

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