“Muscle would be helpful with loading the trucks.” She didn’t even try for subtle as she ran her gaze up and down the length of his muscular body. From what she could see, there wasn’t an ounce of excess fat on him anywhere. A strong urge to rub up against him took hold of her, but she pushed it away. I have to shut this down—now. “But I’m good for now, thanks. We have a good system going here, and someone new would slow us down.”
Laughing, he threw his hands up in mock surrender. “I get it. I’ll get out of your way and come back when you’re less occupied.”
“You do have an interesting habit of being persistent, don’t you?”
“As if you don’t like it.”
Flushing down to her toes, she tried to keep her facial expression neutral. The more she was around him, the harder it was getting to pretend he had no effect on her. This is just a fun flirtation, nothing more. It can’t be. If she didn’t stop egging him on, Sexy Man would decide he needed her digits in his phone and her panties hanging on his wall of conquests. And since she wasn’t a one-of-many type of woman, it was better to shut it down now.
“If I said I liked it, that would only encourage you, and I don’t think you need the extra ego boost. Every single woman in this room has looked at you at least once tonight. I don’t do competition.”
There—that was clear. Now he knew where she stood. Lena rarely had a problem telling it like it was. Over the years, she’d found that trait could be an asset and a curse, depending on who was on the other end of the conversation. Most people didn’t know how to handle her bluntness, but Tank seemed to manage it just fine. Everything rolled off his back, to the point where it was almost a challenge. The idea that he could handle her made her abruptly think of all the ways he could handle her in bed. She wiped her damp hands along her pants as heat flared through her body.
Tank jerked his head back. “Does it look like there’s competition? Or that I’m looking for anything serious?”
“No, but I just wanted to clear the air. I really have to get back to work, so go. Do whatever it was you were doing with all the fancy people, and I’ll act like I’m not watching your butt as you walk away. Okay?”
For a split second, Tank’s expression looked triumphant, and then he nodded. When he walked away, she could have sworn he put a little extra swagger in his step. He looked back to see if she was watching him, and she was. His smirk sunk low into her belly, spreading waves of warm, throbbing arousal throughout her body.
“It’s been a while since that’s happened,” she muttered under her breath.
There was only one way to get herself under control and back in check, which meant some serious manual labor was in order. And since Becky had called in sick, they were short a set of hands. It was time to get down and dirty.
A little over an hour later, feeling like she was sweating buckets, the truck was loaded up while her staff waited for the go ahead to leave for the night. She closed her eyes, letting the cool night breeze wash over her damp skin. Blooming night jasmine filled her nose as she took a deep, calming breath.
A busy life had taught her to savor the little moments. Caught up in the day-to-day stresses of running her own business, Lena had to remind herself to slow down. But most of the time, she didn’t take her own advice. She had tunnel vision, focusing on every step of her career. There was more to life, but her goals were unwavering, and she was determined to conquer them all. Above all else, Lena wanted to make her parents proud. She was an extension of their amazing legacy, abruptly cut short when they—
“You doing okay?” At Tank’s gruff voice, her eyes snapped open and found him standing in front of her. “You look like you’re somewhere far away.”
“You could say that,” she replied.
She studied him. His shirt was unbuttoned down to his chest, his white undershirt peeking through and highlighting his chiseled torso.
Running her fingers through her tangled hair, she smiled at him. “It looks like you may have found a bit of fun while I was hard at work.”
“Nothing more than relaxing and listening to the waves.”
“Relaxed looks good on you.”
He stared at her intently. “And working hard looks damn sexy on you.” His voice pitched a bit lower, tickling the base of her spine.
Impulsively, she took a step forward, and so did he, until the heat of his body could be felt against her clothes. With less than an inch between them, she determined he was even more lethal up close. His face was clean-shaven. His eyes beneath the moonlight shimmered with an intensity that made her skin pebble. Wanting to take a step back, she hesitated, unsure if her body remembered how to move.
Tank’s lips tipped into a slow, easy smile. He skimmed his fingers down her arms and claimed her hand, causing her to shiver. “Are you cold? I can help you with that…”
The promise trailed out into the sexually charged air between them. A million ways Tank could keep her warm played at the forefront of her mind in an erotic loop. Everything faded away except for the rush of the waves, the twinkling lights in the trees, and the honeyed scent of evening primrose.
“I’m not cold, but I’m sure you could help me with a lot of things,” she breathed, unable to look away.
Her throat tightened as arousal twisted low in her belly. Half of her was hoping he’d make a move, while the other half wanted to push him away. But when he inched closer, her body responded like a magnet, fusing to his as one of his powerful arms snaked around her lower back, making her intimately aware of every muscle beneath that tight undershirt.
“Yeah, I could,” he murmured against her lips. “You’re so beautiful. I couldn’t keep my eyes off you tonight,” he whispered before covering her mouth with his.
Looping her arms around his neck, she drew him closer, falling into the searing kiss. His tongue glided along hers in a tantalizing dance, stoking the fire.
Fisting her hair at the nape of her neck, he pulled her head back, hard, and thrust his tongue even deeper into her mouth. Arching against him, she moaned when he broke the kiss and trailed his lips along her jawline, licking his way down her neck when she tipped her head back.
“I like that,” he groaned.
The light scraping of his teeth against her tender skin made her nerves snap with desire.
“So soft.” Nibbling on her lobe, he ran the tip of his tongue along the length of her neck
while tracing the skin behind her ear with the end of his finger.
He claimed her mouth feverishly once more, causing her knees to tremble. There was nothing else like it. She’d never been kissed so thoroughly, so hungrily, that it made her feel like she could explode at any moment.
When he drew back, they were both trying to catch their breaths like a couple of sex-crazed teenagers.
With his arms still locking her body to his, he said in a low voice, “Do you have to go back with the truck tonight? We could go somewhere else.” Resting his forehead against hers, he stared into her eyes. “This doesn’t have to end.”
She ran her hand down his arm. “It does, Tank.”
Her reply surprised even herself, but he seemed to take it like a douse of cold water.
Tank took a quick step back and cleared his throat. “Sure. No problem.”