Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,24

they busted on each other.

I turned to Ty. “And how do you fit into this happy little family? I never hear you complain.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That’s because I hate both these fuckers.”

He slapped his knee and roared with laughter.

Christ, it felt good to just sit around and cut up. It felt like I hadn’t laughed in way too long.

“Oh shit,” Alden said, glancing at his watch, “I gotta get home to Rosie. My mom has a bridge game or something.”

He gathered his things and ran for the door. “Thanks for the beer, Esme. See everybody tomorrow.”

Case got to his feet, as well. “I have the pleasure of meeting with the clients who love to fight.”

I grimaced. “Really? Like they fight right in front of you?”

He took a deep breath. “You would not believe it. They disagree over everything and then turn to me to ask my opinion.”

Ty laughed. “So you’re their highly-paid mediator, then?”

“Hardly. I am the master of exiting when things get really awkward.”

God, I thought I had work problems. I’d never considered what it would be like to have fighting clients.

“Why do you work with them, if they’re so difficult?” I asked.

He laughed. “I ask myself the same thing every time I have to talk to them. It’s a big job that will be good for the company. But I doubt they’ll be together for long at the rate they are going.”

“Or they could be like my parents—happy in their misery,” Ty added.

“Geez. Maybe I’m lucky I grew up with only one parent.” I laughed.

Case headed for the door. “See you all tomorrow.”

I looked at Ty. “Another beer?”

He smiled and nodded. “Seems like we’re the only ones with no responsibility. At the moment, anyway.”

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” I asked.

He set his beer down. “Hey, there was something I wanted to show you on the front porch. Where I was making some wood repairs. Can I show you?”

“Let’s do it.”

I followed Ty to the front door, trying not to stare too hard at his butt. I was all warm and toasty from my beer-and-a-half, and the annoyances from earlier in the day were momentarily shelved.

“Okay,” he said, crouching and gesturing for me to follow, “this here is dry rot. We can either try to use filler on it, or replace the wood altogether—”

Just then a massive, hairy spider came creeping out of the empty space where the wood was missing. I shrieked, falling back onto my ass. Heart thumping, I scrambled to my feet and ran down the house’s front steps to get away from the creature.

Ty got to his feet and watched me, puzzled. “Um. Are you okay Esme?” he asked.

“Did…. did you see that giant… thing?” I asked breathlessly.

He nodded. “Yeah, of course. How could I miss it? It’s a wolf spider. They’re all over the place. When you do the kind of work I do, you run into them all the time.”

Oh god. I was going to puke.

“You have to deal with them all the time?”

He walked down the steps toward me and reached for my hand. “C’mon. Let’s go back inside. I think you sufficiently scared off the little guy, so it’s you who needs to calm down now.”

I took a deep breath and let him lead me into the house. Once we were back inside, I leaned against the closed door, still shaking.

Yeah, I had a serious case of arachnophobia.

He stepped closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder. With his other hand, he smoothed a lock of hair behind my ear. “You feeling a little better?” he asked in a quiet voice.

I nodded. “Yeah. I think so. Sorry about the freak out.”

“It’s okay,” he said, his warm breath whispering against my neck. “Just take a couple deep breaths.”

To hell with the spider—I had a gorgeous man in front of me who was trying to comfort me.

And other things.

I laid my head back against the door and closed my eyes as Ty’s lips brushed over my temple, then down my cheek.

Time stood still. There was nothing else in the world but the two of us. I put my hands on either side of his face and pulled him to me.

“Goddamn, you’re sexy,” he murmured, pressing his forehead to mine in a deliciously intimate gesture.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” I teased, taking him by the hand.

He smiled down at me and led me up the stairs to my bedroom. I couldn’t believe I was letting him, but at the same time,