Hunks, Hammers, and Happily Ever Afters

by Cari Quinn

  "Have we called the police?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. Hell no, Hal hadn’t called the police.

  "I don’t see any reason to call the police. It was an accident!"

  "I need coffee," I said, digging my cell phone out of my purse and dialing 911. Hal and I had our own little scowl battle while I reported the possible vandalism.

  "It’s your job," he muttered after I hung up.

  "Yeah, it is. Now what about the brick layers?" They were supposed to have finished up this week. I slowly started my initial walk-through, wanting a chance to assess the damage before the boss showed up.

  "Sent ‘em home." Hal shuffled along behind me. Whether he liked it or not, it wasn’t just my reputation on the line but Hal’s, too.

  My steel-toed work boots made little sucking sloshy noises as I silently walked the length of the building. The sight of the damage had a sobering effect on all of us.

  By the time we stepped back into the bright morning sunshine, all three of us heaved a sigh of relief. We watched as a shiny black Lincoln Navigator with dark tinted windows pulled into a space beside my Chevy. If it had been just Wade and me, I might have cracked a joke or something to ease the tension, but Hal didn’t have much of a sense of humor. So we all just stood silently waiting as Jerry and Junior Dolan slid out of the shiny SUV. Jerry wore his customary cowboy boots, jeans, a pearl snap shirt and a ferocious frown on his rugged face. Junior, a younger taller version of his father, just looked concerned.

  Jerry slipped off his sunglasses and silently greeted us, as if we were all attending a funeral. And I suppose in a way it was. Someone’s funeral.

  Now normally Jerry was a likeable man, full of good humor and quick with a joke. He’d earned his money the old-fashioned way and insisted his sons did likewise. He respected people who got the job done, but today he didn’t look like he respected much and none of us had answers for him.

  Junior gave me a nod and an understanding smile. "Morning, Alex. What happened?" he asked, as Jerry stepped around us and inside the building. The water on the floor came just shy of hitting the snake skin on his boots, as if it knew better than to slosh.

  "Friday—" Hal began.

  "We already know about Friday," Junior said. The other reason Hal hated me? He wasn’t my boss—Junior was—and Junior Dolan, who had also hired me, liked me. I quickly filled him in, earning another understanding smile at Hal’s sputtering when I got to the part about calling the police.

  "Let’s not go assigning blame yet. Wade," Jerry sighed, "How long you think it’s gonna take your crew to redo that sheetrock?"

  "At least a week; ten days at the outside," Wade quietly said. "And that’s just a guess."

  "How far behind will this put us?" Jerry pulled a cigar from his pocket and clamped it between thinly compressed lips.

  I dreaded saying what I had to say but I knew Jerry was man enough to take it and besides, he what was coming even if none of us liked hearing it. "We’ll have to have another electrical inspection, and all the insulation will have to be replaced. Ten days with overtime, and that includes fixing the hole."

  "If they can get all the old sheetrock out by Thursday, I can have two insulation crews here to work all day," Junior said.

  I didn’t even have a chance to ask where he’d find the insulation so fast.

  "Do it." Jerry turned my way with a shake of his head. "Get the electricians out here ASAP, and get this job in as close to on time as you can. With no more fuck-ups!"

  ~*~

  The rest of the morning was like something out of my worst nightmare as I watched Wade’s crew remove the saturated sheetrock they’d spent weeks installing, patching and sanding. And when I wasn’t supervising, I was dealing with the police, who finally showed up, or on the phone screaming at the electricians. After enough threats and cajoling, they agreed to get their asses out on Tuesday and check our wiring, though they made no promises about how long fixing anything would take.

  I collapsed in the chair in my tiny office nearly deaf after a morning of listening to heavy equipment suck out water and the sound of my little window air conditioning unit drowning out everything else. I was hot and tired and sure as hell not in the mood for anyone’s crap when Wade showed up at my office door.

  "How come you’re not eating with your crew?" I asked between bites of my meatloaf sandwich. With his jeans and t-shirt covered in white smudges from the damp sheetrock, he looked as stressed and worn out as I felt.

  "Thought I’d come see how you were doing." He dropped his cooler on the desk and collapsed in a chair across from me.

  "Finally got the fucking electricians straightened around."

  "And the police?"

  "They said there’s probably not much they can do but file the report and get us some extra patrol cars."

  Wade pulled his lunch out and set it on the edge of my desk with almost military precision. "Did you tell them about that pack of skateboarders?"

  "They’re not a pack," I said with a laugh, then asked, "You really think it was them?" I nibbled on a Dorito, waiting for his reply. I had nothing against skateboarders. Hell they were up and down my street all the time and their tricks were...well, they took more skill than I’d ever have. But I didn’t want them darting in and out of a busy construction site and risk getting run over or hurt—and of course, suing us.

  "I think anything’s possible, darlin’. They got mighty pissed at you last week." Grinning, he eased back in his chair, a small plastic cup and spoon in his hand. "Between you running ‘em off and Hal nearly getting into a fistfight with another one of ‘em on Friday, anything’s possible."

  As if Friday’s mess hadn’t been enough, the three skateboarders, who’d been a total nuisance from the day the concrete had dried, had appeared out of nowhere to laugh at The Hole. Hal hadn’t taken it well, but then there wasn’t much Hal did take well, and a heated argument had ensued.

  "It’s a wonder we all still have jobs."

  Nodding, Wade slipped a spoonful of something between his lips.

  "What are you eating?" I frowned over the pile of paperwork at his lunch.

  "Chocolate pudding."

  "You eat your dessert first?"

  "I gotta sweet tooth," he replied with a grin that said he had more than a sweet tooth.

  I chuckled and shook my head as Hal appeared in the doorway, the perennial frown on his face killing my desire to flirt with Wade. "How’s it going out there?"

  "We’re making good progress." Wade didn’t bother to turn around, just sighed and slipped another spoonful of pudding between his lips. I didn’t miss the hard assessing look Hal gave the both of us. Or the way Wade slowly licked the spoon clean, a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

  "Electricians are scheduled for tomorrow."

  "Good." With one last nod, Hal turned and headed down the tiny hallway, his footsteps reverberating through the tiny trailer.

  "Do me a favor," I said once the door slammed, announcing Hal’s departure.

  "What’s that?"

  "Don’t call me darlin’ when we’re at work...or honey either."

  I hadn’t meant to say it quite so harshly but Hal just did that to me. With a curt nod, Wade had gathered up his lunch and quickly retreated from my office, leaving me all alone and pissed off at myself for not having more tact. I made it a point to stop him when they knocked off work for the day, then found myself hemming and hawing under his scowl until all of them finished streaming past.

  "I have a reputation—"

  "As a ball-buster. Yeah, I know."

  Before I could respond, Hal went trolling by, giving us both another long hard look like he’d done earlier. "See you both tomorrow."

  We said our good-nights then watched him climb in his dusty Ford. The sound of the diesel engine starting up drowned out anything else we might have said.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  If anything, Tuesday was worse. The stench of sour mud hit me the minute I got to work a
nd stayed with me the entire time I walked the site with the electricians who, of course, confirmed my worst fears. We had wiring problems.

  I stepped outside the building in time to see Wade, who’d ignored me all morning, coming my way with two biscuits and two cups of coffee, a smile on his handsome face. Sure, it was probably for the best that he’d ignored me, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

  "You look like you could use this," he said, handing me one.

  With a sigh of relief and a smile, I accepted his peace offering.

  "Where’s mine?" Hal boomed from behind me with a raucous laugh. "Or do you just treat the ladies to breakfast?"

  From nearby a few men chuckled and I swallowed a lump of dread as I picked up a few sly glances shot my way. As business-like as possible, I filled Wade in on the electrician’s verdicts while I ate.

  "They’ll need at least two days to fix the wiring."

  "It’s a wonder Dolan hasn’t shown up back out here to supervise." Hal stepped past Wade, giving him a slap on the shoulder.

  "Any other bad news you’d like to share, darlin’?"

  More laughs, and louder to boot; this time from Wade’s crew and the electricians who streamed past us on their way to the catering truck. It wasn’t even noon yet and the humidity was so thick I could feel it pressing me into the sidewalk. My feet were so heavy, I couldn’t move as fear and anger stiffened my spine. Somehow or another I had to make him understand that being at work meant business as usual. Though that didn’t make me want him any less.

  I sipped my coffee, and then gave him a cold, hard stare from under my hardhat. "You’re guys are gonna have to work this weekend." I couldn’t hold back a smirk at the sound of groans that accompanied my statement.

  "I ain’t working this weekend," Wade said with a shake of his head.

  "’Fraid it looks like you are."

  "I got a hot date."

  I wanted to ask who with, since he hadn’t asked me out, but I didn’t.

  "Your hot date will have to wait. You’re working this weekend to get that sheetrock finished up. And you’re probably working late this Friday night."

  "Which means you’ll be here, too, right?" He shot the crew a grin.

  "Nope, but I will be on call." I made to step past him and escape to the relative peace of my office where I could hide out and forget he’d called me darlin’ again.

  "What if we can’t reach you?"

  Because, of course, I’d be at Jimmy Z’s while he was here hanging sheetrock by spotlight. "I’ll have my cell phone."

  "So we can just call you you if something goes wrong?"

  There was no missing the threat in his voice. If there was an emergency and I had to come straight from the bar all dressed up in high heels and a skimpy dress, I was busted. I wadded up the biscuit wrapper and threw it in a nearby trash bin. "Let’s take this in my office, shall we?"

  On shaky legs I led him across the parking lot to the trailer and flung the door open. One of Hal’s flunkies sat at a rickety corner desk, talking on the phone in a low voice. At my scowl, he set his feet on the floor and turned his back to us, obviously not in the mood to be disturbed.

  I led Wade back to my office, slammed the door and threw my hard hat in the corner, thankful Hal was still outside. Kicking the extra chair out of my way, I leaned against the desk beside Wade.

  "Do you think I asked you not to call me sugar or darling or honey just to be a bitch?" I asked, scowling down at him.

  He set his biscuit and coffee next to mine and eased to his feet so I had to look up at him. "I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing."

  "Nothing? How long have you worked for Dolan?" I hissed, wishing I could holler at the top of my lungs and throw stuff instead, but I damned sure didn’t want anyone finding out the real reason I’d yanked him into my office.

  "This is my first job, but I’ve worked construction all my life."

  "Ever work with a woman?"

  "Yeah," he said, with a slow nod. He stepped in front of me so his legs straddled mine and reached up to give my shoulders a firm squeeze. Talking was nearly impossible with him distracting me.

  "Wade, I’ve worked my ass off for the last three years just to earn a little respect. Just a little and you’re putting all of that in jeopardy. You see how Hal—what are you doing?"

  He was unsnapping my dusty work shirt. Then he was untucking my tanktop. Fear and desire slid up my spine, competing with one another as his firm, warm hands grasped my ribcage. "No, Wade! Not here. We can’t," I whispered as he leaned closer. What I could do and what I should do were two very different things. What I should do is chase his ass out of my office.

  "The door’s not even locked," he murmured, his lips curving into a smile.

  Even though I knew I shouldn’t, that I could kiss my job good-bye, if we got caught, I let him kiss me. His mouth was as warm and firm as I remembered as his tongue slid smoothly against mine and his fingers dug deep into the sore tired muscles of my back.

  "You know if we get caught—" I stammered once he let me up for air. I felt hypnotized by his deep green gaze, my legs were heavy and my cunt damp and eager, in spite of, or because of, the possibility of getting caught.

  "We’re not gonna get caught. We didn’t get caught Friday night," he added, unzipping the fly of my jeans.

  I cupped the erection outlined in worn denim. "That was a bar, though."

  "Yell at me," he said, pulling a condom out of his pocket.

  I snorted in shocked laughter at the little cellophane package. "Yell at you?"

  "Yeah, and turn around, while you’re at it."

  I could barely remember why I’d dragged him in here in the first place. Biting my lip to keep from laughing, I spun around in my heavy work boots. He moved up behind me and leisurely unfastened my jeans and pushed them over my hips, as if he had all the time in the world. I closed my eyes and leaned against him as soft worn denim caressed my bottom and caused my nipples to strain against my bra. His hand at the small of my back coaxed me to bend over my desk. Frigid air to drift across my backside and sent another shiver up my spine. I moaned and grabbed the edge of my desk for support as he bent me over and slid a finger inside me.

  "Yell," he hissed, leaning over to cover my body with his. Anyone who walked in would have no doubt about what we were doing.

  I sighed at the feel of his cock pressed against me, then forced myself to follow his instructions. "Y’all are working this weekend whether you like it or not!"

  With one hard thrust, Wade was buried deep inside me, and I wasn’t laughing anymore. I struggled to adjust to the feel of him inside me, stretching me, finally pushing myself up on my toes and arching my hips to better accommodate the both of us.

  "No we’re not! That sheetrock can get hung—"

  From somewhere nearby a door slammed. I tensed slightly until my sex-fogged brain didn’t pick up footsteps.

  "This weekend, Goddamnit!"

  The window A/C unit hummed loud enough to drown out the moans we forced ourselves to stifle as Wade pumped in and out of me like a piston, filling me, only to pull back and tease me, then thrust inside again until skin slapped against skin.

  "Harder," I ordered from between gritted teeth.

  "Yell some more," Wade replied on a thrust I felt at the back of my throat.

  "It’s your turn."

  "If you ain’t workin’, I’m not either." He pressed his face against my shirt so I could feel him laughing against my back.

  "I’m not the drywall foreman," came out somewhere between a yell and a screech at another extra-hard thrust. I could barely force the words out as I got closer and closer to climaxing. "And don’t call me darlin’ again or I’ll have your ass!"

  "I got your ass," he ground out softly.

  Now we were both laughing. I shifted enough to get to my clit with my fingers and stroked myself while Wade raced to keep up. "Come on, baby," I hissed, ready to finish it before we did get caught. Groanin
g, I pressed my face into a stack of paperwork, crumpling some of it with my free hand. "Hurry, Wade...oh God."

  "Like that," he panted in my ear.

  A door slammed again and footsteps bounced down the hallway, stopped, then started again and a door closed. Hell! "Hal."

  "Hurry up, darlin’," Wade hissed.

  "Call me darlin’ again," I yelled for our audience, "and I’ll have your fucking job!" I reached around and dug my fingers into his bare ass as my pussy clenched and my legs nearly gave out beneath me.

  Wade didn’t waste any time. A few sharp thrusts and a groan he muffled by biting my shoulder and then he sagged against me. The harsh, raspy sound of our heavy breathing filled my ears but I didn’t miss the sound of the floor creaking somewhere nearby. I sat up as much as I could and tapped Wade’s shoulder then pointed toward the wall that separated Hal’s office from mine. He gave me a nod of understanding.

  We hurriedly dressed, then I sank down in the chair next to Wade on shaky legs.

  "Does it smell like sex in here," I asked with a nervous laugh.

  "Probably," he replied with a soft chuckle. "But ya gotta admit, it was worth it."

  "You’re damn good, but you’re not worth my job, Wade."

  CHAPTER SIX

  Wade and I had quickly reached an agreement about work. I agreed to go on a real date with him Thursday night and he’d leave me be to have my fun at Jimmy Z’s on Friday. Which is how I found myself standing outside of Houston’s premiere gentleman’s entertainment establishment two nights later.

  An evening breeze pressed the skirt of my paisley halter dress against my legs as Wade and I crossed the parking lot of The Dollhouse. She’d never qualify as a genteel southern belle. She was more of a Yankee carpetbagger type mansion lit up like Christmas and flaunting her presents.

  I quirked an eyebrow at him as I stepped inside. "Wade, in case you haven’t noticed, this is a strip club." Our dinner date had gone off without a hitch. In fact he’d been a perfect gentleman all evening, but I could see now why he’d been so secretive about our destination plans. As dates went this one was definitely different.

  "They have pool tables." Grinning, he rested a hand at the small of my back and guided me toward the cover charge girl. I got in for free. "And this is the classiest strip joint in the whole state, which means the chances of us getting caught together are slim to none."