Page 15 of The Last Time

He grabs what seems to be a clean white t-shirt off his seat, giving me a view of the front of his body. The lines and grooves in his abs are hotter than anything I’ve ever seen.

He starts to turn back toward his truck, so I lean forward to try and catch the last glimpse of his chest, forgetting I have the powerful vibrating sander on. I go flying forward as the machine takes me with it.

I let out a loud scream as I land on my stomach. The machine falls out of my hands and starts jumping around on the deck.

Before my brain can process what just happened, Asher is running up the deck. He pulls the cord, and the sander slowly comes to a stop.

My head falls forward on my arms as I shake my head. This is not happening. I did not just make a total ass of myself in front of this man.

When I pick my head back up, he’s standing there with his arms crossed. He didn’t even have time to put his clean shirt on, giving me a close-up of his body.

“What happened now?” his gravelly voice asks eagerly.

“I got distracted,” I say as I push off the wood and stand up.

I try to wipe the dust off my body, but it’s a futile attempt. I’m covered head to toe and must look pitiful.

His eyebrow raises with curiosity. “What distracted you?”

“I thought I saw a bear,” I lie.

Are there even bears here?

I swear I see the beginning of a smirk on his face, but he catches himself. “There aren’t any bears around here.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why I was so shocked.”

Why the hell did I say bear? We’re by the ocean, not the damn mountains. This man has me out of sorts, but in my defense, it should be illegal to take your shirt off when you look as good as he does.

“That would be a shocking sight to see out here with no woods surrounding us,” he says in smug delight.

Ugh, his stupid face says it all. He knows I was distracted by something else, and I’m sure he is cocky enough to suspect it’s him.

“Anyway, I’m all good. Thanks for coming over to check on me.”

I go to reach for the sander, but he stops me.

“Look, I really would feel a lot better if you let me at leasthelpyou with this project.”

“I can handle it. Just because I didn’t know about that stupid dust bag thing and lost control of it for a second doesn’t mean I’m not capable.”

He throws his hands up in defense, but all that does is give me the perfect view of his body. My damn eyes give me away as they assess the sharp lines of his abs.

“I’m just saying I would like to help—free of charge. I’m fully aware that you are capable of doing this project despite losing control of the big bad bear you thought you saw.”

He winks at me. It feels playful and light. I didn’t know he had it in him, but fuck, it makes my lady parts clench to see a glimpse of a lighter side.

“Ugh, just say it already. I wasn’t distracted by a bear. It was you. You and your stupid…” I wave my arms in the air to gesture at his body, “muscles.”

His hands come up in defense. “Hey, I never said I didn’t believe you.”

“Oh, please. You’re about as subtle as a sledgehammer with your smirks and winks.”

He bites his bottom lip to try and hide his obvious smirk. I’m not sure I like my discomfort as the reason this man suddenly can’t hold back a smile.

“Come on. Just take my help,” he says, ignoring my previous comment.

“I told you. I can’t afford it.”

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