Page 3 of Built for Temptation

I stared at my phone screen as I typed out a message to Harbor, who’d given me her number before I walked her to her car. She’d only been there to get paper towels for her house, but it meant the damn world to me that she’d stuck around and helped me shop, spending time with me in such a lame-ass environment. She didn’t even get annoyed by all of my lame jokes and inability to really ever be serious.

She just rolled with it, which just made me like her even more.

Elliot: Is it too bold of me to ask for a date?

Harbor: If you didn’t ask, I’d wonder if you were sick.

I snickered at her message. She already had me figured out, clever little woman.

Elliot: You got that in just the two instances we spent time together?

Harbor: You’re more transparent than you’d like to think, Elliot. And yes, I’ll go on a date with you.

Elliot: There’s more to me than meets the eye, Har.

Harbor: There always is, silly man. And I’ll gladly uncover all of those layers. My next day off is Thursday. Nothing fancy that requires effort, please. Summertime always sucks for work, and I’m going to be exhausted.

Elliot: I’ll bring food, a movie, and some massage oil to your house. We’ll have a date in. How’s that sound?

Harbor: I’m going to marry you.

I barked out a laugh, my phone smacking me in the face when I lost my grip on it.

This woman was after my own fucking heart. No doubt about it.

And I was already holding it out to her, just waiting for her to snatch it from me.

3

Elliot

“Why the fuck are you ordering food when Athena just made all this food for everybody?” Remi asked me with a frown. I rolled my eyes heavenward and ignored him as I continued ordering food from the Asian spot down by Tractor Supply. Once my order was complete, I turned to face him, a frown pulling at my lips.

“Was it necessary to rudely interrupt my phone call?” I asked him. Sometimes, I was pretty sure some of the guys were raised my wild animals.

He pointed his fork at me. “Why are you ordering food? Athena just made lasagna. You love her lasagna.”

I sighed. “I have a date tonight,” I informed him.

Judging by the silence that immediately fell over the room, it was like I’d announced I was leaving the club or choosing to no longer be a partner in Storm Hogs Construction. Christ. It wasn’t that big of a damn deal. Sure, I didn’t really date—mostly stuck to one night stands—but Harbor was different.

She was real. Sweet but also very take-charge. She knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t afraid of making it known. I needed a woman like her. She already had me by the balls.

“A date?” Beau asked incredulously. “Since when do you fucking date, brother?”

“Since now,” I snapped, feeling a little defensive, which definitely wasn’t like me. I was the shit-starter. The clown. I let everything roll off my shoulders. Nothing got to me.

But for some reason, having them question me about dating bothered the hell out of me. Add Harbor into the mix, and I was basically a dog with raised hackles.

“Leave him be,” Seb quietly spoke up. I jerked my head in his direction in surprise. Athena was standing beside him, one hand resting on her swollen belly, the fingers of her other hand carding through his hair.

Adler stepped out of the kitchen, balancing three plates on his hands and arms like a true dad and husband. The sight of it had a chuckle escaping from between my lips. “What’s going on?” he asked as he carefully made his way to where Cecily was sitting with their son, Robin, who was in a high chair. Two of the plates he was carrying had lasagna, and the other one has some weird-looking, mashed-up food that made me grimace.

“Elliot has a date,” Harlan announced around a mouthful of food.

“Fucking gross,” Athena reprimanded him. “You want me to barf all over your plate? Chew with your mouth closed.”

He shot her an apologetic look. Seb turned his head to brush his lips over her swollen stomach. She was literally going to pop any freaking day now. Hell, as it was, she was already past her due date, but like hell would she let her husband keep her from doing anything she wanted to do. He trusted her to know her limits.

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