Page 4 of Built to Last

I take the donut from her, then hold it up to her mouth. “I’ll eat it, but you have to take a bite first.”

“I can’t eat foods like this, Finn. They go straight to my hips and ass.”

“How is that a problem?”

She rolls her eyes at me, then licks her lips. She leans forward and bites into the donut. Her eyes roll back, and she moans.

None of this is easing the stiff pipe in my pants.

“Oh my God, so good,” she says. She looks behind me and tracks the man who just entered the break room. He’s wearing a lab coat like she does so he’s clearly another scientist.

I lean forward and swipe a dollop of frosting off her bottom lip. That brings her gaze back to me. I lift my thumb to my mouth to suck the frosting off. Her brown eyes nearly go black watching me do it. Maybe Sadie’s not so immune to me.

I take a bite of the donut and she’s not wrong, it’s fucking delicious. But my sister is a bit of a baking genius.

Sadie leans one elbow on the table and looks over at me. She blinks a few times or something.

I swallow my bite.

“You got something in your eye?” I ask her.

She laughs, but it’s this weird, high-pitched fake laugh.

Her gaze keeps flicking over to the man in the lab coat. I wonder, briefly, if she’s self-conscious about fraternizing with the help. I mean I’m no idiot, but I don’t have a college degree, let alone three. Also, Sadie’s never been pretentious about her advanced degrees.

I recognize the guy as one who went to the office happy hour last week. I haven’t chatted with him myself, but truthfully, I hadn’t wanted to. There was something about the man that oozed creep, with his pasty complexion and unremarkable features.

More than likely he’s just one of those arrogant scientist snobs who thinks he’s better than everyone because he has three letters behind his name.

He wanders close to our table, his white lab coat flowing behind him like sad little wings.

“Hey Sadie,” he says, tilting his chin up at me as if we’re bros.

“Oh, hi, Chet,” Sadie says, her voice a little more shy than usual.

I stare at the two of them while they share a brief exchange about some new kelp samples coming in from Galveston. Chet’s eyes linger over the generous swell of Sadie’s breasts. My fists clench against my thighs. That’s enough of this lab coat.

“Sadie, there’s actually something in the construction plans, I need your assistance with,” I say.

Sadie’s eyes round and she nods. She stands and nods to the box on the table. “Help yourself to any donuts left, Chet.”

I put my hand on the small of her back to lead her back to her office.

I don’t say anything to her until we’re once again alone in the plastic tarped area where I’ve been working. I lean my shoulder on the wall.

“I’ve known you a long time, Sadie McCall,” I say.

“You have.”

“So I think it’s fair to say that I know you rather well.”

Pink spreads up her throat and into her cheeks. “Probably so,” she agrees.

“What is going on? You were acting a bit strange in the break room.” I stare into her brown eyes, then reach over and squeeze her biceps. “Has that guy been bothering you? That Chet? You know you can tell me anything.”

She makes some kind of squeaking noise. “I’m a terrible person,” she says. Then she drops her face into her hands. “So terrible,” she says, her words muffled.

“What is it that makes you so awful?” I ask.

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