Page 26 of Daddy, Sir

“Absolutely.” She turned Lourdes toward the house and gave her a gentle nudge. “You’re a fantastic carpenter and I want you supervising.”

“Me,” Beatriz said. “I want to learn, and I can’t start the bathroom wallpaper until the grout finishes curing. Maybe we can do a video for your blog.”

“Perfect. Let’s get you started on the mortar while I clean up my mess.”

“And me,” a man said, surprising her.

She spun to look at him and about swallowed her tongue.

Well, hello, Daddy.

Dressed in faded jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to a set of washboard abs she could have cheerfully climbed like a tree, he was gorgeous.

And mercy, those dark blue eyes combined with a strawberry blond crew cut… Sadie resisted the urge to fan herself, but there wasn’t much point in flirting with a man that fine. If he didn’t already have a wife or girlfriend, she doubted he’d be interested in a woman who once thought a manicure was a treatment for nail fungus.

“Hi.” She stuck out a dirty hand, then jerked it back and wiped it on her jeans before offering it again. “Sadie Windham. Are you looking for a job?”

“You could say that.” He took her callused hand in his and squeezed gently. “Daniel Palmer.”

“Nice to meet you.” She grabbed a shovel and started clearing the mess she’d made of Jim’s half-assed retaining wall. “Tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” Without being asked, he found another shovel and started at the other end of her path of destruction.

“First, are you addicted to alcohol or drugs? No judgment, but for safety reasons, I can’t allow substance abuse on a construction site.”

“Nope. Just coffee.”

She shrugged and scooped a shovel full of rubble into a bin. “That goes without saying. Do you have construction experience?”

“No.”

“That’s cool. Most of my new hires don’t.” She straightened and rested her chin on the handle of her shovel. “Why should I hire you?”

“Well, let’s see…” He shoveled a pile of busted mortar into the bin and winked, making her heart race. “I’m pretty good at following orders.”

Mmm. Daniel’s raspy baritone would be perfect forgivingorders too. Like,lie down so I can eat your pussy.

“Can you read a drawing and printed instructions? If you can’t, I know a tutor at the community center who helps adults with literacy,” she replied, dragging her head out of the gutter. If she was going to hire him, she had no business wondering what his orgasm face looked like.

“Not sure on the drawings.” His arms flexed as another shovelful of rubble went into the bin. “Yes, for printed instructions.”

She considered asking him if he minded working for a woman but figured she had a better than even chance of him lying. Instead, she decided to rephrase the question. “My crew is female, aside from my electrician and plumber. Is that going to be a problem for you?”

“As long as I can swear when I hit my fingers with a hammer, nope.” He dumped the last of the broken bricks into the trash and rested his hands on the top of his shovel handle. “Looks like you and your ladies had things under control with Jim the asshole.”

“Isn’t the first time it’s happened,” she muttered. “We take care of each other here.”

“And we don’t give a shit about swearing,” Beatriz replied. “We all cuss like fucking sailors.”

Daniel laughed, a warm throaty sound that sent another dart of very inconvenient arousal into her core. At this rate, she’d need to bring fresh panties to work if she hired him. Unfortunately, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and she needed another pair of hands if she wanted to finish before her soldier got home.

Well, not hers, but her friend Mel’s brother.

Close enough.

Hoping she wasn’t making a mistake, she asked, “Can you start right now?”

He gave her another smile, this one making her knees wobble. “I’m all yours, Ms. Windham.”

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