Page 7 of Built for Temptation

Elliot: I hope you’re having a good day, baby. I can’t stop fucking thinking about you.

Harbor: Me either. Yesterday was great, and I don’t just mean the sex, which was phenomenal by the way. I enjoyed your company.

Harbor: Care to do it again tonight? No massage needed. Just food and a movie. I’ll order—just please pick it up on your way over.

Elliot: You just give me the details, baby, and I’ll do the rest.

I was going to fall head over heels for this amazing man. I knew it without a shadow of a doubt.

I just hoped he didn’t wind up leaving me heartbroken once it was all said and done. Because I already knew Elliot would be impossible to recover from.

6

Elliot

“Look what the fucking cat dragged in,” Remi announced when I stepped into the building we were doing a remodel on. The guy we were working for had purchased two stores right next to each other in the strip of stores beside Walmart, and he wanted the wall separating the two stores knocked out to make it into one big store. Not really a complicated job—just a lot of hard labor.

The city had a fucking field day with that one, but the lucky son of a bitch eventually managed to get them to agree to his plans. Hadn’t been without a long fight though.

I looked around before bringing my to-go cup of coffee from McDonald’s to my lips. “I don’t see a cat anywhere, fucker,” I retorted.

Remi rolled his eyes. I just cracked a grin before walking over to Harlan so we could finish what we started yesterday near the back of the store.

“So, you finally tap that?” Harlan asked me.

I bristled. Probably shitty of me since I used to talk about all their conquests like they were nothing, but I didn’t like making Harbor out to be anything less than extremely special.

“Not any of your business,” I retorted as I passed him a nail.

“You used to make the women you fucked around with everyone’s business,” Beau said, letting himself into our conversation. “What’s different about this one?”

I sighed, hating that he was right. Because I did. “It’s not… Fuck, it’s not like that,” I told them as Adler and Seb walked into the store, both of them looking a bit cheerful, just as I had before these fuckers started bugging me about Harbor. “Harbor is different.”

“Leave Elliot the hell alone,” Adler ordered, sensing my unease, “and get back to work.” He clapped me on the back as he passed by me. “I assume everything went well last night?”

I nodded. “Everything went fantastic.” I looked at Seb. “Was Athena offended that I didn’t eat last night?” I asked him, worried about that. She said she didn’t care, but she also put in a lot of work to be able to feed six men who basically had bottomless pits for stomachs, which meant she cooked a lot. Despite the amazing night I had with Harbor, I did feel guilty for not staying. Especially since she cooked for all of us while pregnant—past her due date at that.

Seb shook his head at me, one side of his mouth tilting up into a smile. I breathed a sigh of relief. Seb wouldn’t lie to me. He wasn’t one for caring when he hurt someone’s feelings, even if they were family. He never lied to Athena either, even if it sometimes made them fight.

Adler gently squeezed my shoulder before dropping his hand. “It’s good to see you happy and getting settled, Elliot. And I mean that. You’ve been too wild for too long.”

I snorted. “She’s good at being bossy and reining me in.”

Harlan choked on the sip of coffee he’d just started to swallow, and I barked out a laugh before pushing him out of the way so I could take over.

Harbor might have been taming me, but I was still the same Elliot everyone knew under it all. And that was never going to change.

My smart-ass remarks weren’t going anywhere.

Harbor had called in an order for food at the Mexican grill in Tennille, so after I swung by and grabbed it, I headed straight out to her place. I was sweaty and dirty from work, but I was hoping she wouldn’t mind. I could’ve gone back to the clubhouse and showered and changed so I was the best version of myself for her, but I was exhausted. I had a feeling if I walked into my apartment where my bed was, I wouldn’t leave.

We’d worked hard as hell today, and my body was feeling it. I wanted to eat, shower, and curl up with my woman in my arms before I was knocked out for the evening. And that wouldn’t take me long. To be honest, I could probably place money that I wouldn’t make it past the first thirty minutes of whatever movie she picked.

Harbor was sitting in a rocking chair on her porch when I pulled up her driveway, and she instantly smiled when I stepped out of the truck, the bag containing our food in my right hand, my small duffel containing my pajamas and my work clothes in my left.

She met me by the front door, and I leaned down to softly smooth my lips over hers. “Hey, baby,” I greeted. “Sorry I’m a mess.”

She shook her head and pushed open the front door, walking in ahead of me. I quickly followed her inside, shutting and locking the door behind me. “Don’t apologize for being a working man, El.” Fuck, I loved the way she shortened my name. No one ever had before, which made her doing it extremely special. “We’ll eat, and then you can shower. Sound good?”

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