Page 57 of That Kind of Guy

I wasn’t sure where staring at his forearms fit into that.

Focus, I reminded myself again.

“Your sign is falling apart.” I hammered another nail in and jiggled the post to make sure it was secure. “You should take better care of these.”

He stooped down to inspect my work. “Where’d you get that hammer?”

“I borrowed it from Jim at the hardware store.” I stood and brushed my hands off.

Emmett looked at me with a curious expression before a smile grew on his face. “Thanks.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t do it for you.” My tone sounded sharper than I intended.

“Oh, yeah?” His eyebrow went up. He didn’t believe me. “Why are you so grouchy today?” A devilish grin came over his features. “Miss me last night?” He winked and bit his lip.

Irritation spiked in my shoulders. “If you’re going to block my restaurant with this monstrosity, at least keep it in good condition.”

“It’s not your restaurant yet,” he reminded me with a grin, and I frowned at him.

His smile brightened. “Relax, Adams, everything will go smoothly today at the bank.” He reached for the hammer. “I’ll take that back to Jim. Thanks for helping out on the Emmett Rhodes campaign.” He leaned down and fast as lightning, tilted my chin up, and gave me a quick kiss before striding away, crossing the street, and disappearing into the hardware store.

From that fraction of contact, my pulse had picked up. My body had tasted Emmett’s mouth, and my body wanted more.

My grouchiness kicked up one notch.

I glanced around at the empty street. There were a few tourists out but no locals that I could spot, and the sign hid us from diners inside the restaurant.

I narrowed my eyes at the hardware store. What was Emmett up to? There was no one around to keep the charade up for.

The pressure that I tried to relieve last night? It was still there. I stared at the door of the hardware store that Emmett had disappeared through. I was still wound tight, thinking about his mouth on my neck, his teeth scraping my skin, his hands all over me, his fingers where mine were last night.

Shit. I think I had to sleep with Emmett Rhodes.

I barked a laugh and climbed the steps to the restaurant. Absolutely not. One hundred percent no. Never, ever.

“What’s so funny?” Max asked when I stepped inside.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

* * *

“Canyou not do that here, please?” I asked Emmett later as he returned to his stool at the bar from greeting a family who had just been seated. “This is a family place. They don’t want to see you schmoozing all over the place.”

“I’m just saying hello to some friends.” He took a sip of water. “Friends are people that you talk to on a regular basis and spend time with,” he explained slowly.

I gave him a blank stare, which only made him grin harder as I wiped the counter.

“Wow, you are just a wealth of knowledge. Thank you so much for sharing it with me.”

“For you, Adams? Anytime.” He turned as Holden took the seat next to him. “There he is.”

Holden nodded once at me in greeting. “Avery.”

“Hi, Holden. Can I get you anything?”

Emmett looked around. “Don’t you have staff that can take our orders? This doesn’t seem like an effective use of your time.”

“Relax, Jeff Bezos,” I scolded him. “I like talking to customers. It’s called customer service.”

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