Page 7 of Outside the Lines
“Never got any complaints from my ex-boyfriends.”
Simon met my gaze, and his smile was wicked. “Really?”
Gotcha.“Really.” I opened the Dutch doors to my Clubman. “Ten more inches than the regular Mini, and I know how to use every extra inch.”
“Wow.” Simon’s eyes never left mine. “Your exes must have been fools.”
Some of them, yeah. But I was far from perfect. I bumped Simon with my shoulder. “Let’s get thisstuffunloaded before it starts raining again.”
His smile was a nice combo of turned on and shy. We pulled out bags of supplies and boxes and ferried them all into his shop. Didn’t take long to unbury the base of the set.
“It’s bigger than I thought.” Simon rubbed his chin.
“Too big?” I didn’t want to overtake his store with my problem. The guy still had a business to run.
“No.” His grin was toothy and melted my bones. “I can take it.”
Holy shit. My turn to have screaming hot cheeks. I totally deserved that line, and the smirk Simon gave me.
“Mostly, I’m worried about getting this through the door.”
We managed, though, with a bit of maneuvering and help from comics gal, whose name turned out to be Dexy.
“That short for anything?”
She sighed. “Yeah. Dexys Midnight Runners, the eighties band. Dadreallyliked them.”
When I glanced at Simon, he held up both hands. “Honest to God, it’s true.”
Dexy showed me her license. Given that her middle name was Eileen, Dad must have been a huge fan. “I’ll be damned.”
She gave a little rueful smile. “I like it now. It’s unique.”
Sure was. With her help, we got everything back to the tables Simon had been painting on the day before. “You boys have fun,” she said, before sauntering off to the counter.
“Um. Is she actually old enough to call us boys?”
Simon shook his head. “Notnearly.” His delightful smile was back and it warmed my blood.
I focused on the table, rather than on Simon, and that kept me from being too obvious. I hoped. “Well, this is it.” I waved at the base of the model and all the bits. “Looks great, huh?”
Silence. I chanced a glance over, and Simon was rubbing his chin. “You’re gonna build a grove in a week out ofthis?”
“Yup.”
His gaze met mine. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“Hey! I’m a professional!” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Trust me.” Beneath my hand, he was warm and tense, and I loathed to let go. But that seemed the best move.
Such an adorable smile. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Oh, somuch. But the clock was ticking, and Anna’s exacting filming schedule needed a set more than I needed a blowjob. The latter could wait. “Start unpacking the bags, and I’ll show you the plans and the photos of what this looked like before a stunt dude fell on it.”
We got to work emptying the bags and setting out the supplies I’d brought, plus my tackle box of tools. Yeah, I could have used one of those expensive art boxes, but I liked going old school—with an expensive fishing box, instead. At one point, Dexy called Simon to the front of the store, and I took a moment to admire his back and ass as he headed to the counter.
I took another second to catch my breath. When this day was through, I was going to need a beer. Company too. Preferably the tall and lanky kind. Maybe nothing would happen other than flirting, but I wanted to know what was going through his mind. Or body. Whichever.
I dug out the set plans, my notes, and found an open space on the table. Simon returned while I was rooting through my supplies for paint. I had to have a bottle of the color I’d used under everything. Except I didn’t. “Damn.”
