Corrupting Chastity - Krista Wolf Page 0,79

way. He stopped scratching at the back of his head.

“Tell me you got it.”

“I got it.”

I nodded one time, firmly, never taking my eyes from his. “Okay, then,” I said warily. “Good.”

Oscar wandered off while I surveyed the rest of the massive worksite. The fifty-five room manor was more like a palace, almost even a castle. At one time it had a name, a history, a purpose. But right now, the only thing that mattered was getting it back into shape.

I made my way along the cobbled courtyard, dodging two groups of roofers and a man running a loader stacked with large clay shingles. A crane was operating on the north side of the property, delivering the stacks up to the roof some fifty feet high.

“Well hello there, boss…”

The voice was deep and beautiful, and immediately changed my mood. Stepping through the next alcove I came face to face with Camden, his arms folded, leaning against a smooth stone wall.

“Boss, eh?” I chuckled. “The three of you are paying me, remember?”

He was wearing his sleeveless shirt again — one of the black ones that hugged his beautifully-sculpted chest. With his arms folded, his biceps and triceps looked absolutely enormous. Like he could crush boulders just by hugging them, or—

“Karissa…?”

I snapped back from whatever daydream I was about to step into. Camden’s gorgeously-stubbled mouth was curled up on one side, his crystal blue eyes piercing me like two shimmering jewels. I felt myself growing warmer, even in the shadows of the alcove.

“Everything alright?”

I pulled out my clipboard and consulted it, temporarily setting my pencil in my mouth. “Peachy,” I mumbled around the writing implement. “Today at least.”

Camden glanced at my list without seeing it and chuckled. His laugh was velvety and masculine. “Good.”

“How about you guys?”

I could see the dirt of the day upon him. Camden’s deeply-tanned arms were covered with light brown hair, and that hair was covered in sawdust. He smelled like all good things: sweat and steel and freshly-cut wood. My gaze wandered down to the worn leather tool-belt, slung low around his waist.

“Can’t complain,” he replied. “Got off to a slow start waiting for an inspector to show up, but we still did a shit-ton of framing today.”

“A metric or an imperial shit-ton?”

His smile widened. “Whichever.”

“It matters, you know.”

“Uh huh.”

Our eyes had found each other’s, and now neither one of us was willing to look away. It was like this often. The flirting happened between our look, our movements, our body language. One day, soon I hoped, it would go even further than that.

“So… you got a guess for me today?” I asked, the pencil still clenched between my teeth.

“Not yet, but Bryce does.”

“And?”

Camden shifted from one foot to the other. “It’s a good one.”

“Okay.”

“I’m hoping he’s wrong of course,” he added hastily.

“Obviously,” I said slyly. “Because then he’d win.”

Camden took a half-step closer. The movement brought our bodies to within a foot of each other. “And I want to win,” he said. His voice dropped even lower. “Badly.”

I took the pencil and casually tucked it behind my ear. “Then make sure you guess correctly.”

“Wanna give me a hint?”

I inhaled, letting his deliciously manly scent wash over me. Basking in the warmth I could feel radiating off of his hard, muscular body.

Hell yeah, I thought to myself. Of course I want to give you a hint…

“No hints.”

Camden’s mouth went tight. “Too bad.” He leaned back against the wall again with an almost imperceptible sigh. “Bryce thinks you were a wedding planner.”

Silence. Dead silence. In the sanctity of our shaded alcove, I didn’t even move.

“Holy shit, he’s not right is he?”

I let my handsome employer stew for a moment, saying absolutely nothing as my own grin widened. I could feel his panic growing. His internal alarm.

“No,” I said finally. “I was never a wedding planner.”

Camden exhaled, long and slow through clenched teeth. His shoulders slumped in relief.

“Was he at least close though?” he squinted.

I smiled sweetly. “No hints. Remember?”

“Yeah yeah…”

I tucked my clipboard back beneath one arm and stared up into those gorgeous blue eyes. It would be so easy to make a move right now. So simple, to just close the distance between us and plant my lips on his.

But he was my boss. One of three of them, anyway. And not that it would’ve stopped me if he’d made the move, but for me to make the choice myself… well…

It would be like snubbing the other two.

Not to mention, opening a huge can of worms.

I sighed