Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
She raises up when I get close. “You okay?”
I grunt and nod my head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s finish this, and then we need to talk.”
She puts her hand on her hip. “Talk?”
I nod. “Yeah, talk. If you’re going to live with me and work for me, we need to have some ground rules.”
“Ground rules?” she asks, and she doesn’t look happy.
I nod. “Are you going to repeat everything I say?”
She huffs and gestures to the dock. “Can I finish now?”
I nod, and when she walks away, my eyes go straight to her ass. The pants she’s wearing leave nothing to the imagination, and my dick comes to life. Fuck me, I’m not going to be able to survive this.
We work side by side, and I do my best to keep my head down and my eyes off her. When I nail in the last board, she’s looking at the finished project with pride on her face. “Wow, it looks great.”
Gruffly, I stand up beside her and inspect it. “You did a good job.”
“Thanks. We make a great team.” She lifts her elbow and hits me in the side playfully.
I turn to look at her. “Now we need to talk.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, and doing so pushes her cleavage up to the opening of her sports bra. Don’t look, don’t look, I tell myself, and I have to move to put some distance between us. “I’m going to clean this up. I’ll meet you at the house, and we’ll talk there.”
“Geez, Kanan, you’re making this ‘talk’ sound really bad or something. I promise you it’s going to be fine. I’m a hard worker. I’m punctual. I give everything a hundred percent.”
I’m nodding my head. I already know everything she just said, and honestly, she works harder than some of the men I’ve already hired, but that’s not what this is about. “I know all that. We’re going to talk about boundaries… and clothes.”
She scrunches her nose up in distaste. “Is there a uniform?”
I shake my head and pick up my tool bag. “No. Go ahead, I’ll meet you at the house. And change clothes while you’re at it.”
She looks down at her body and then back up at me. “Change clothes?”
I nod. “Yes, change clothes. You can’t walk around here like that, Emerson.”
She laughs, but I see the hurt on her face. “How exactly am I supposed to dress?”
I shrug, forcing my eyes off her. “I don’t know. But you need to cover up. I do know that.”
She purses her lips together. “I’m sorry. You want me to cover up?”
I’m barely hanging on here. “Yes, you can’t walk around here like that.”
She juts her chin at me, and her eyes are sparking mad. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I hadn’t planned on walking around here. I’m going for a jog.”
She turns and starts jogging away. I shouldn’t watch, but I do, and no matter how much I know I shouldn’t be looking at her, nothing could make me take my eyes off her right now. Fuck, I’m in so much trouble.
CHAPTER 10
EMERSON
The nerve of him…
I’m jogging way faster than I’m used to, but I guess being pissed off gives you an adrenaline rush. I’m into my third mile before I start to calm down. I’m drenched in sweat, and I stop running to try and catch my breath.
I don’t know why I’m so bothered by this, but I am. It’s not like it's the first time a man has been disgusted by my body, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. But to hear Kanan tell me I needed to cover up almost broke me. I never expected him to treat me like that.
As I round the path and Kanan’s cabin comes into view, I see him sitting on the porch, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, and instantly I feel guilty. No matter how he feels about me, he’s still willing to help me. He could have told Walker no, that I couldn’t work for him, and he could have had me go somewhere else to stay. But he didn’t.
By the time I get to the cabin, the anger is gone. In its place is a world of hurt, but that’s not Kanan’s fault. He can’t help the way he feels.
When I get to the bottom step, he lifts his head to look at me. Before he can say anything, I start to talk. “I’m sorry for blowing up. You’re going out of your way to help me, and I’m acting shitty. I mean, you literally just gave me a job and I went for a run. That’s not me. I apologize. If you can give me ten minutes, I’ll shower, get dressed, and be ready to do whatever you need me to do.”