Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,45

out from under me. On top of that, I heard you had some new woman already. What the hell are you up to?”

He looked impatient at my questioning, but then shook it off. “Esme, I’ve been to therapy. And the other woman is gone. She wasn’t right for me.”

Okay, pretty sure that was a bold-faced lie. But I let him continue.

“You don’t believe me. I can see that. And I don’t blame you. But I’m here to try to atone for my mistakes. My horrible, regretful mistakes. I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been miserable. I haven’t been sleeping, and my work has suffered. I might even get… fired.”

He was really laying it on.

“I miss your voice and your smiles, and your kindness. Your dedication to the paper, your father, and your friends. I miss your smart-ass attitude—”

“I thought that bugged you,” I interrupted.

He held his hands up. “It did. But then I realized I respected it.”

Respect. He knew that was the magic word with me. Dammit.

Now I was beginning to feel for him. He did look miserable. Shit.

And next thing I knew, he’d pulled me to him, his lips pressing mine softly. He pulled back slightly, as if to gauge my reaction, and when I didn’t push him away, he kissed me with more passion.

I couldn’t deny it. I’d always been rendered paralyzed by Eddie’s kisses. It used to be, when we were together, that all he had to do was kiss me and I’d be begging him for sex. Even though he wasn’t much into it.

Fucking strange.

But the hold he’d once had on me?

Gone.

His kiss was as interesting as one of Adam’s staff meetings. Maybe even less so.

“Oh. Oh shit. Sorry. Didn’t mean to intrude.”

I looked up to see Case hightailing it out of the kitchen, his face covered in surprise.

“Wait, Case!” I called, but he’d grabbed his tools and headed to the back of the house.

Shit. I’d forgotten all about the morning arrivals of the guys. Jesus. Where was my head?

I put my hands on Eddie and steered him toward the door. “You need to leave. Now,” I hissed.

As we neared the door, he stopped. “Please, Esme. Give me another chance.”

I nodded to get rid of him. “I… I’ll think about it, Eddie. I’ll call you later. Or tomorrow,” I lied.

Esme, I love you. I really do.”

Shit.

I pushed the door closed after him and turned to find Case standing there, watching.

30

ESME

“You know, you can order some fries of your own.”

Charli narrowed her eyes and taunted me by swiping not one but two more fries off my plate.

She always did this. Claimed fries were way too unhealthy. Then ate half of mine.

I supposed she was doing me a favor by leaving only half of them for me to consume.

“Here, Charli, you can have some of mine. I ordered the large,” Matt said.

Charli shimmied her shoulders in victory and dug in.

I had to keep from laughing.

“So tell me, Es. You always say Matt is your ‘work husband.’ Does that mean you guys go at it in the storage closet when no one is around?”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Charli, that’s just what it means. You’ve got us figured out.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” I said, pushing the rest of my fries towards her. “It just means your best work friend is someone of the opposite sex.”

She looked between the two of us, eating our fries and doubting our claims.

“Maybe if you got a job someday, you’d know what we mean,” Matt said.

Oh no he didn’t.

Charli stiffened. “I’ll have you know, I do have a job at my mom’s boutique. She pays me… in clothes.”

Not a bad way to be paid, if you asked me, but pretty clothes didn’t cover food and rent. Or a mortgage in my case. Charli was lucky her mother was a champ at marrying rich men.

I tilted my head at her. “Char, Matt meant the kind of job you have to show up at every now and then. When was the last time you worked at To Die For?”

She screwed up her face, thinking. “Well, I was there just the other day with you—”

“Yeah, but we were trying on clothes. Not working.”

She threw her hands up in the air. “All right. Fine. I go in when Mom needs help. It’s been kind of slow lately since we’re in between seasons. When Christmas rolls around, though, I’ll be in there every day.”

She sighed like she was already tired.

“So, guys, you’ll never guess who I saw this morning,”