Page 61 of Work with Me

Jackson glanced at his bedroom door. He must’ve had the same thought I did, to continue where we’d left off. But we both knew it was a terrible idea. Tyler had caught us. Good thing he was too drunk to remember in the morning.

“Jackson, I—” God, I wanted to. My body hummed for him. Two weeks. We had only two weeks until the project was done.“I’m going to go now.”

“Okay.” With a whisper of whiskers, he kissed my cheek. “See you Monday.”

“See you Monday,” I said. “Thanks for—for everything. I had a good time.”

He gave me that smirk again, the one that set me on fire. “Me too.”

Before I melted right there into his carpet, I forced my feet down the hallway, out the front door into the night. The cool air prickled against my cheeks, an echo of the abrasion of his beard.

We’d agreed to be friends. I touched my skin, still warm from our kisses. But after we finished the project, was there a chance we could be more?

23

JACKSON

I gazedup at the stairs to the second floor, my lower half already twinging from the short walk to the office. Why hadn’t I said anything during our ride yesterday, asked Cooper to stop for five minutes to adjust my bike?

Because he was Cooper, and I was me, and that was how we worked. And now I was paying for it with shooting pain in my legs and…other areas.

But I didn’t have to be brave today. I took a shuffling step toward the elevator.

“Jay! How was the ride?” Tyler bounded up beside me.

“Excellent. Thanks for the tip.”

I’d had to boot him out of my apartment late Sunday morning because of my scheduled ride with Cooper. When I’d told him our plans, Tyler had recommended the bike rental place near the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

He tilted his head toward the stairs. “Going up?”

I glanced at the elevator and sighed. “Yeah.”

My achingly slow pace didn’t escape Tyler’s notice, and by the time we made it to the kitchen, he had the whole story out of me.

While I went for coffee and ibuprofen, he went to the fridge. “Want an ice pack while I’m in here, old man?”

I shot him the finger.

He had the balls to laugh. “Just thought you’d want a faster recovery so you can perform at your best with—morning, Alicia.” He stuck his head back in the refrigerator like he didn’t already have a can of Mountain Dew in his hand.

“Morning, Tyler.” She lowered her eyebrows at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt y’all.”

My pulse pounded in my ears, and not in a good way. Not like when I’d kissed her the other night. “You didn’t interrupt anything,” I said. I glared at Tyler, daring him to call me “old man” again.

Tyler closed the refrigerator and came to stand next to me at the coffee counter. I repressed a growl. He didn’t drink the stuff. Why was he getting between Alicia and me?

“You’ve got something on your face,” I grumbled.

Blushing, he rubbed his hand over his chin. “Did I get it?”

I squinted. “No.”

Alicia sighed. “Tyler, he’s ribbing you about your beard.”

“That’sa beard?” Kid looked like he had dryer lint stuck to his face.

He went even redder. “It’s a work in progress.”

---