Page 3 of Built to Last

I just nod and follow her out of the construction area. This time of day, there are people milling about in the halls.

“Ready for the weekend?” I ask her.

She lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “I’ll just be home with the boys.”

I grin. “How are they? I don’t think I’ve seen them since they were kittens.”

The V between her brows deepens and then she smiles. “Oh right. You came over and helped install that new light fixture I wanted. They’re good.”

“Gary and Goby?” I ask.

“Close. Garibaldi and Goby.”

“Gary,” I say with a wink, because, yeah, I know the names of her cats. Just like I know that she takes her coffee with two creams and two sugars and that her favorite cake is Boston Crème Pie. I know the things that are important to her. I know the things she loves.

Am I bummed that I will never be one of those things? Yep.

But I’ve made peace with it—mostly because she doesn’t seem interested in romance with anyone.

There are already a couple of people in the break room, one of which is Tina, the front receptionist who has been after me since the day I came in to visit with Sadie about this project.

“Finn,” Tina says. She doesn’t even look over at Sadie, who I’m pretty sure runs this whole damn lab.

I nod but follow Sadie to a table. Sadie indicates that I should sit, then she moves over to the fridge.

Tina comes over, walking, her hips wiggling more than necessary.

“Hey gorgeous,” she says.

Sadie sits at the table and opens a bakery box. “Okay, so I’m sure you get these all the time since your sister is the donut genius, but every Friday I like to bring some in as a treat for everyone.” Her brown eyes meet my face, then she notices Tina leaning over the table.

“Did you need something, Tina?”

The receptionist frowns and looks at Sadie. “What?”

“Do you have a message for me?” Sadie asks.

“No,” Tina says with a shake of her head.

“Then why are you in here? Your break isn’t at this time, Tina. We can’t have no one answering the phones. It’s unacceptable,” Sadie says. Her voice is not harsh or angry, just firm. Bossy.

NowI’mfirm because she just unlocked a new kink for me. Fuck. I shift in my seat to try to get my erection more room. Is there anything this woman can do to make menotwant her?

Tina gets the message though and turns on her heel and flounces off.

Sadie looks back at me.

“That was sexy,” I say.

She frowns. “Yes, Tina is very popular with the guys. Especially the delivery men.”

I chuckle, “No, Velma. You. Being all bossy like that. It was hot.”

She stares at me, then looks down at the donut box. She opens it. “This Nutella, pretzel crunch is the newest creation.” She picks it up and hands it over to me.

“You have it.”

“Oh, no. I don’t eat them. I just buy them. And sometimes I sniff them.” She says the last bit quietly like she’s exposing a dirty secret.

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