Page 15 of A Little More

Nash drank the cold sweet tea. Leave it to Dewey to cut the situation down to the real problem. He wanted Lexi to know where he stood and wanted to find out if she was interested. He might be rusty, but not for long.

Nash tapped his boot against her pink one. “Cute boots. You need a hard hat, and you’re ready for the construction site.”

“That’s the plan.” She slid her hands into her back pockets, looking around a second before back at Nash.

“Will you come down during the construction?” Nash asked.

“I don’t,” she said with hesitation before adding, “usually.”

If she didn’t want to come down, she could’ve said so then. At eighteen, Nash would’ve ignored any signals or warnings, waiting for a woman to spell it out one way or another. Life after thirty with one divorce under his belt left him a little more hesitant but able to read a woman better.

But big risks came with big rewards.

Nervousness ran over her features when Nash shifted his weight towards her, making sure to keep his voice a little lower than usual to get his point across. “I hope you can make an exception this time.”

“Well, I, um,” she paused, her attention shifting to Dewey and then to her boots. After a deep breath, she met his eyes again, devoid of the nervousness from before. Back to business. “Julien Charneau is coming down tomorrow to meet with you.”

Nash raised his eyebrows.

“Myboss,” she said with more emphasis than necessary.

Nash recognized the warning but didn’t care. “I’d love to meet him.”

She snorted and looked away. “No one says that about Julien. He looks like a boxer and can be rather intimidating.”

Nash shifted. Not much, but enough to respond to the threat. Beside him, Dewey did the same.

She glanced between the two men, her lips parted. “I don’t suppose that bothers you, does it?”

“No.” Nash’s simple answer didn’t seem to sit well with her. She looked a little shell shocked.

Dewey tapped the hood of the truck and set his cup down. “It was nice to meet you, Lexi. If you’re hanging around this guy, I know I’ll see you again soon. I’m going to head home, find a pressure washer to get some of this soot off before I head into work.”

“Bye, man.” Nash still didn’t take his eyes off Lexi.

Lexi gave Dewey a broad smile. “Nice to meet you, too.” She watched him walk away before turning back to Nash. “I’ll go back down to the property. I can look around while you clean up.”

He rubbed his chin, realizing he’d not taken the time to shave since he’d planned on a mid-day shower before their meeting. “I can take a shower in a little bit. I seem to recall the last time you were there you about walked into the highway. I think I need to go with you, so I’m available to save you again.” Any excuse to get his hands on her. When had he given up on keeping it professional? Her boss coming in town tomorrow threw a huge kink in moving it along, but if she was willing…

A frown line appeared between her eyebrows. “I’ll be fine.”

“I can drive us down in the truck. That way, your car won’t get nasty, and I’ll be there to make sure you don’t get hit.”

“I won’t get hit,” she said a little stronger.

He gave her what he knew was a bland smile. “Keys are in the truck.” He passed by her, wishing he didn’t have a crazy urge to reach for her hand and tug her along behind him. Those urges were harder to control than they should have been.

Finally, she began to follow. “I don’t need a babysitter. Besides, I figured you’d want to take a shower now.”

“I do.” He paused at the passenger side door to his truck, opening it and waiting. “But I think you’re far too pretty to end up roadkill.” The intentions of the light-hearted statement seemed to fly away. Her lips parted like she might respond but then didn’t. “You act as though no one’s ever pointed out that you’re pretty. I find that hard to believe.”

She rubbed her palms up and down on her jeans. “They have, but not in the middle of the day.”

He leaned his forearm against her open door. “Men in the city only tell women they’re pretty when the sun goes down?” At times she seemed as though she could run a major corporation without breaking a sweat, but now, as she approached him, nerves bounced off her like hail on the highway. Her hands twisted together in front of her a couple of times before she rubbed her palms along the side of her jeans again.

“I meant no one has ever said that during a business meeting. That’s what this is. Business, Nash.”

“Business first, compliments second. I’ll try to remember that.”

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