Truth and Humility

by J. A. Dennam

  “Morning, boss. Sis.” Mac strolled in, wrapped an arm around Sue’s shoulders and stood with her to admire his purple tools.

  Danny looked up from the oatmeal she was preparing and finally realized what everyone’s problem was. Her tone was incredulous. “Mac, what did you do?”

  “Took a page from your book, Monkey. What do you think? Pretty?”

  She choked on a laugh and shook her head. “Adorable.”

  Monkey? Took a page from her book? What the hell was going on? Austin was suddenly uncomfortable with the camaraderie between two people he considered close friends – and the Bennett who should be suffering. “Sue, my office.”

  Sue knew what was bothering her boss. When he closed the office door behind her, she opened her mouth to speak. “I gotta tell you, boss – ”

  “What the hell is going on, Sue?” They spoke over each other, but Austin held up a hand, silencing her. “Tom’s gone. He took his last two weeks of vacation and split. Without my spy, I’m as good as blind.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything! I have no clue whatue, Klueou s transpired here, let alone if Bennett’s in communiqué with her brother. For two nights in a row, she’s marched into my office and thrown money at me. Last night it was quite a wad and I can only assume she’s taking the members of my crew for all they’re worth.”

  “And earning every penny.” Sue shrugged and leaned against the desk while Austin paced. “Mac’s been filling me in. Her job performance was about as weak as everyone else’s until she found out she could capitalize on her skill.”

  “Wagering?”

  “Mostly. But folks quit betting against her, so she’s been helping out anyone willing to pay her. Not afraid to get in people’s faces if they pull a stupid move, either. I can see her supervising her own crew. Easily. There’s a lot of male pride in that yard, boss, and her presence alone keeps 'em busy just so they can claim to measure up.”

  Bennetts worked. So what? Should he be impressed just because she was a woman? “What about this monkey thing?”

  “The girl likes to climb shit. I won’t even go into how she changed the lights in the equipment building. But, a wind kicked up and blew Frank’s Powerball ticket out of his hands and into that big elm by the house? Danny practically walked up that motherfucker and rescued the ticket before the next gust came along.”

  “Oh. Come. On!” The nickname wasn’t even meant as an insult!

  “Torsten made some rude comment about her ability to ‘bend’ and she shot him down with some comeback about his limp prick.” Her shoulders shook with amusement. “Even my brother blushed. Would’ve loved to seen that.”

  Austin threw her a killing look. “Watch it, Sue, or I might think you’re turning on me.”

  “Well…” Sue knew her boss well enough and decided he needed the truth. “I’m sorry! She’s a doer and the guys respect her for it. And you’re the first to admit you didn’t hire them for their job performance. You only hired Mac as a favor to me.”

  “They needed work.”

  “Exactly. And you’re the softy who arranged it for them. You knew exactly what you were getting. But you can’t blame Danny for taking advantage. She is clearly determined to pay you off.”

  “And at this rate, she’ll be out of here by next week.” Austin slammed his palm against the wall and leaned against it in thought. “Has she been making any calls?”

  “Mac says her phone Kys e berings, but she never answers it.”

  “I need to get Derek’s attention somehow.”

  “You promised her you wouldn’t tell him.”

  He chewed his bottom lip and turned to look pointedly at his assistant, hands on hips. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t.”

  Sue let out a troubled breath, winced. “I could, but I wouldn’t feel right. I do like her. May even be crushing a little.” She laughed when Austin’s face contorted. “Hell, Mac is worse. Those two are practically joined at the hip because she makes him feel worthy.”

  “Sheee-it.”

  “She’s winning over your crew, boss. Like it or not.”

  “Well, I don’t!”

  “And, maybe if you two would quit tossing around your last names like they’re dirty words, you’d actually get along.”

  That one put an end to the conversation. If his assistant kept spewing gibberish, there was no point in it.

  The workday was over and Danny was stuck with empty pockets. The Cahill had chosen to work the yard in order to keep an eye on his crew, crack the whip and prevent her from further capitalizing off their incompetence. It was all part of the personal vendetta, she was positive of it. Hot, irritated and raw, she removed her hardhat as she followed the others across the yard.

  “Keep it on until you’re inside, Bennett.”

  She’d been hearing that damned voice all day, barking at her at every opportunity. She plunked the hardhat back on and silently cursed the Cahill from which the order came. He was impossible to deal with. “Nothing’s gonna fall on my head,” she mumbled to herself.

  But Austin heard her grumpy comment. “I take safety seriously here,” he replied sharply while he followed her. “Any time I catch you without it, I’m docking your pay.”

  “Of course.”

  In the locker room, Mac rubbed her shoulders and gave them a sympathetic pat. “It’ll get better, Monkey.”

  Truth be told, it was getting better. Danny had found a comfortable rhythm in her nightly maintenance duties and was completing them much quicker now. Her laptop even got some use the previous night, even though she’d gasped at the amount of neglected assignments.

  “He didn’t pay much attention when the other guys took their hardhats off,” she mumbled sourly.

  Mac chuckled, ripped open the snaps of his red denim shirt and struggled out of it. “Try to look at it this way. You’re special.”

  As she rolled her eyes, Austin issued another order from behind.

  “In my office, Bennett.”

  Danny ground her teeth together, hooked her phone to her waistband and slammed her locker door. “Right away, boss.”

  “I don’t want you taking any more money from my crew. They can’t afford it.” Danny glared at him from across the desk. Austin noticed for the first time her tan had deepened and the sun had intensified the golden highlights of her hair. The hardhat had spent more time on the ground than on her head. “And you obviously haven’t been following safety protocol.”

  “I know what I’m doing.”

  He leaned forward and clasped his hands on the desk. “That cocky attitude of yours will catch up with you some day. It’s how accidents happen, I’ve seen it way too often.”

  “Is that a threat, Cahill?”

  His jaw clenched. “That’s ‘boss’ to you. And if you imply I have it in me to hurt a woman - even you - you better have proof to back it up.”

  Danny crossed her arms and looked away. “That didn’t stop you from accusing my brother.”

  He sneered at the blatant disrespect for her position. “It’s different between me and Derek, or when men accuse each other of violence. When a woman does the accusing, it gets more serious from a legal standpoint. Just making that clear.” When she remained tight-lipped, he moved on. “Now, since I can hardly control how the crew blows their paycheck, I’ve decided to offer you an alternative. In exchange, I want your word that you’ll refrain from betting against my men.”

  Danny spared him a glance. “I’m listening.”

  “My uncle used to own a popular pizza shop in town. When he closed it up we moved the pizza oven here. It’s been in the kitchen for almost ten years and it’s considered a family heirloom. But it needs repairs before I can use it Sunday.”

  “Sunday?”

  “Family gathering. Once a month after church. But the thermostat is broken and Torsten tore the shit out of the side when he tried to move it out. Your application stated you’re certified to weld on stainless steel. Tha
t true?”

  “Yes...”

  “Then, follow me.”

  He goes to church, Danny thought as she followed him through the inclined breezeway that connected the yard facilities with the old house. Through the back door, past the old servant’s quarters and deeper into the two-story colonial home, they entered the kitchen.

  That was something she missed, Sunday services with the family. She and Derek would mainly horse around while pretending to pay attention only when eyes were upon them. But they managed to absorb enough religion to appreciate it.

  She wondered just how spiritual Austin’s family was since the “merciful and gracious” part of the faith completely eluded them. After all, her parents had taught her and her brothers to forgive. Part of the conditioning to ignore the feud as much as possible. Let the uncles and cousins fight it out. But her parents always tried to keep their distance from it. Until the personal feud between Derek and Austin erupted, that is.

  The kitchen was a spacious room with a gigantic island, natural wood cabinets, granite countertops, breakfast nook and tall windows that bathed the space in natural light. Her jaw dropped when she spotted the pizza oven sitting cock-eyed in the corner. There were sheets and towels covering the floors and countertops to protect the area from flying sparks. The space was cluttered with welding equipment, filler rod, grinding tools, a pair of heavy gloves and a hood.

  The oven was so tall the stainless heat hood above it recessed into the ceiling. “A dual conveyer oven,” she observed in awe. “In your own kitchen.”

  Austin detected a hint of wonder in her voice and appreciated it. “I’ve tried fixing the stainless myself but I’m doing something wrong.”

  “Why didn’t you just hire someone?” she asked, peering around the side and running a hand over the length of the broken seam and the burnt sugar-textured welds.

  “Because I wanted to do it myself,” he snapped defensively.

  Ignoring his attitude, Danny refrained from commenting on the ugly bubbles protruding from his failed attempt to weld on stainless. In fact, she felt a small swell of admiration for the man. He was a Cahill, after all, but he obviously thrived on personal accomplishment.

  And, Danny thought, it was cute how he scribbled measurements on his work gloves when he needed to remember one. “You need argon gas.”

  “What?”

  “Argon. You’re getting this sugary texture because of oxygen exposure. Argon pushes the oxygen away and allows you to achieve a smooth bubble, but I’ll need you to hold the hose against the back of the seam while I work from the front.”

  Austin crouched beside her and looked where she was pointing through the empty storage compartment below and at the inside of the broken seam. “There’s a cylinder of argon in the equipment building. I Kdinnd th’ll have Tom bring it up and we can start on it tomorrow morning.”

  “And it would help if we can roll it out all the way. Give us more room to work.”

  Now she was talking like they were partners, as if she understood his need to be involved. It took him aback and he found himself studying her profile. “It’s stuck,” he explained absently.

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know. I’m afraid to force it and none of us can get back there.”

  She backed up a step and surveyed her options. It was sandwiched pretty good between the wall and the cabinets, taking up every available inch of space. “I can get behind it.”

  “I don’t see how, it’s too narrow.”

  Danny sent him her best poker face as she began to unbutton the snaps of her denim shirt. It was a challenge she couldn’t ignore.

  “Before I do this, Cahill, I need to know how much this job is going to pay.”

  He couldn’t tear his eyes off her hands as each button came undone one-by-one. What the hell was she doing? “Five hundred.”

  “Any welder would charge twice that. Plus, if I can get this beast out, I’m saving you from having to hire out for it.”

  In truth, the figure she threw out was a bit out of the ballpark, but it left her room for negotiation.

  “I’ll be doing half the work,” he countered. “Six hundred.”

  Her long-sleeved shirt came off revealing a lace-edged camisole top. The white opaque fabric was wet beneath her breasts where sweat had trickled down the channel between them, collected in a wide arc beneath their curvature. Austin’s throat constricted a little when his eyes skimmed downward to a narrow waist, then back up again to the outline of two small nipples. Apparently, Danny Bennett didn’t feel the need to dirty a bra when facing eight hours of hard physical labor. And she obviously kept very fit due to that physical labor, as the detailed lines of the lean muscle in her arms boasted no fat whatsoever. The camisole hugged her middle tight enough that he could even make out the edges dividing her abs and obliques, which highlighted a very tone, very feminine and very appealing body.

  She pulled a chair out from the island, threw her shirt over the back and sat down to take off her boots. “Holding an argon hose is called grunt work, boss. It’s hardly worth $20 an hour. Make it nine hundred.”

  “Seven-fifty and you don’t get paid until the job is done.”

  She must have noticed his interest because her face took on a heated look. “I don’t want to get snagged on the corners of the conveyers,” she offered, dispelling any notion she was stripping for him. Kpin shirt “There isn’t much clearance.”

  Austin’s gaze moved up and down her length, though he knew he shouldn’t be openly ogling an employee. But Danny was a Bennett. She was here under deceptive means and deserved no respect from him. Or so he told himself. “You’ll still snag. Maybe you should lose the undershirt, too.”

  His comment made her blush and instead of gloating over it, he was charmed. In fact he was dying to see the bare skin beneath the white fabric. His pants began to tighten at the crotch and he moved behind the island to hide it, planted his elbows on the surface and motioned for her to continue.

  Her neck was burning. Danny had suffered through countless ogling looks over the last five days, but that one made the blood rush to her ears. For once, she had no comment.

  Austin watched as she lifted her arms high, sucked in her breath and squeezed through the opening. Her waist deflated another few inches, but it was still a tight fit and, sure enough, the camisole snagged and ripped on the jagged corner of the lower conveyer. But she continued on regardless. Her neck was level with the top conveyer and she barely made it through by turning her head. But made it through she did.

  “The cord is hooked on one of these pipes back here,” she announced from behind the oven. “Good thing you didn’t try to force it or you’d have plumbing issues.”

  Austin, deeming it safe to emerge from behind the island, moved to help her push the oven just enough to put some slack in the cord. Then he pulled it out when it was free. With her pushing from behind, the huge oven rolled out effortlessly. Then his penis jumped back to life when she appeared from behind the oven and tore off the large square of cloth that was dangling loosely from her tattered camisole. Her bared midriff was covered in tanned firm skin and she had an adorable belly button that presented itself just above the waistband of her jeans. Before he could stop the thought, he wondered how many men in her past had tasted that navel. When he opened his mouth, his voice was rough. “Put the shirt back on, Danny.”

  Her heart discharged at the sound, for his command was heavily laden with sexual tension. The thought of him being aroused by the site of her bare midriff caused her own insides to heat up. It was ridiculous, of course. He was a Cahill. But he was an incredibly sexy one, and the thought of his bare flesh crept into her brain.

  She had to admit it happened frequently. After all, she was a female and he was built like a brick shithouse. It was nothing but base animal instinct… and it was completely unfair.

  Danny jumped when her phone came to life in the midst of slipping her arms back through the long sleeves.

&
nbsp; “Aren’t you going to answer that?” Austin asked smoothly behind her.

  Danny knew it was because he was hoping for a call from her brother. She removed the phone from the clip at her waist, turned to hide it Ked cau from him and checked the name. “Yes, in fact, I believe I will.” She held it up to show him it wasn’t Derek calling her after all, but a female. “But I’ll do it privately in my room.”

  Now, his parents had always taught him not to eavesdrop, but Austin couldn’t help it. His drive to lure Derek out into the open was more powerful than his urge to respect Danny’s privacy.

  “I’ve been working,” he heard through her closed door. “God, I miss you, too ... I know, I know, I just can’t call him yet ... I can’t explain it, maybe some day ... How are they? ... No, don’t tell them you talked to me ... I’d love to, but I can’t ... Because I have a night job, too, and I’ll never get done in time ... Nine? I don’t know … I know it’s Friday, Melanie, but I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on and ... Oh, man, I could sure use one of those ... Okay, I’ll try ... Someplace further north ... Isn’t that a gay bar? ... Oh, Kelly’s. That’s fine ... Love you, too.”

  From her half of the conversation, Austin deduced Danny had just made plans for the night. At the thought of meeting this Melanie friend of hers – so

  meone he just might introduce himself to – he decided he’d found the way to lure his old pal, Derek, out into the open.

  Because nothing traveled faster than gossip between girls.

  Chapter 6

  It was no easy feat, but Danny managed to complete her evening duties by eight o’clock. She showered, scrubbed the smell of disinfectant from her skin and shampooed the diesel fumes out of her hair. As usual, the showers were empty by the time she was ready to take one, which worked perfectly with her schedule. Once back in her room, she located her make-up bag, threw on some shadow, liner, mascara and blush and decided the lip gloss could wait until she got to the bar. With the style brush and blow dryer, she was able to coax some body into her layered waves. A few more flicks here and there as she directed it artfully around her face, then she turned to survey her appearance in the closet mirror.