Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,57

he was supposed to come in and his phone wasn’t charged.”

“Do you believe him?”

Parul shook his head. “Nah. It was such nice weather, just think he didn’t want to come in.”

Cassie sighed. “Is he usually unreliable?”

“He’s only missed a couple, usually the weekend overtime. During the week, he’s a bloody hard worker.”

Knowing her father couldn’t afford to lose any more of his crew, she didn’t want to make the punishment too harsh. “Okay. So, talk to him. Tell him overtime isn’t optional once he’s signed up for it. He doesn’t have to work overtime, nobody does, but as soon as he agrees, he’s expected to be there, and it will be treated as him not showing up for any other day of the week if he doesn’t. The overtime could have been given to one of the others. Make sure he knows this is his warning.”

Parul nodded. “I was able to get an extra guy to come in. He got in about eleven and worked the day.”

“Great. What are the chances of you pulling the rest off today?”

“I’ll put a firecracker up some asses. See what we can do.”

“Thanks, Parul. Good thinking on getting a replacement in, and appreciate you getting shit moving today.”

“Problems?” Jake asked, as she watched Parul head back outside.

“Just some labor scheduling stuff. Oh, wait one sec. I forgot to call the site foreman about the scaffolding coming down.”

She pulled out her phone to call him but noticed Jake was studying her. “What?”

“You. You really do love this stuff.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake leaned back against the wall. “Sometime between our meeting with Em and Liv on Thursday, and this morning, you obviously gave it some thought as to how to make the process of reconfiguring this easy for me, right?”

“Right.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you think about it?”

“Well, it makes total sense for us to think about the project this way. And I didn’t want to waste the day trying to teach you the software instead of solving the problem.”

Jake nodded as if she’d just proved his theory. “And you switch gears to speak to Leroy.”

“Yes. Because he’s a critical hire. There’s a long list of procurement orders that I placed when I first got on top of things, but it needs a review. What arrived? What didn’t? When can we expect it? If I get Leroy in place first out of all the hires, he reduces my need to be in the office doing admin when this is where I add most value.”

“And labor issues?” Jake nudged.

“Well, we make assumptions about the duration of each step of the project based on labor availability. And when we have challenges with that, they need to be taken care of. It’s a constant balancing act to not overstaff a project, and not let the project be compromised by understaffing.”

“See that smile on your face?”

Was she smiling? Yes, she was. “What was your point? I’ve forgotten.”

“I can see how much you love doing this. How much you care about it. About the people you work with.”

Cassie sipped on her coffee. It had gone cold. “I do.”

“And you’re good at it.”

“I am.”

Jake turned back to the floor plan, circled two pieces of equipment, then turned back. “Your boss is a dick if he doesn’t see it.”

“I think the problem is he sees it, and he knows he benefits from it. He just wishes I was a guy.”

Jake took her hand, his gaze meeting hers. “Like I said. Dick.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, show me what you need me to do next.”

12

“If I keep going, would you stay in with me tonight?” Jake asked on Saturday evening, a grin on his face.

Cassie squirmed beneath him as he stopped mid-thrust to question her. She was close to the edge already. “If you don’t keep moving, you’re not going to live to see tonight,” she gasped, her hands running down his naked back.

He eased out of her at a glacial speed. “What if I keep going really slowly?”

“Jake.” The word came out on a growl. She threaded her hands around his back until she reached his ass and tugged him back into her.

“Mmm, I could come home from work to this every day.”

“I wish you’d just make us both come and be done with it.”

Jake tsked. “What’s your hurry?”

“Move,” she growled.

“Your wish is my command.” Jake gripped her ass, thrusting into her until she felt as if she were being pushed up the bed. His dick was the equivalent of rubbing a magic lamp,