Page 594 of Summer Heat
She looks down. “It actually explains why I heard some guys I’ve fired in the past call me that. Just thought they were being asses. Now I know.”
Her expression is so defeated, I want to yell at the universe. Men never have to worry about shit like this. It’s fucking unfair. I know how good she is. But the fact that all three of the contractors I’d called to find out more about her lead with her ‘reputation,’ and followed up with crass jokes about how she might give me the same deal as Harrington is totally fucked up. If I’d been asking around about a male project manager, no one would even mention shit like that. And crew members would never disrespect a man for something like this.
“Oh, no,” she whispers, her gaze flying up to meet mine. “You think the guys might end up saying the same thing about us?” She backs away from me, shaking her head. “W-we should do damage control. We’ll stay away from each other as much as possible; I can get another trailer on the other side of the lot. And no more meetings outside of the jobsite.”
I glare at her like she’s out of her mind, even as I feel something in my chest tug hard over her trying to protect me. “Summer, cut it out. There’s no fucking need for any damage control.”
She freezes in place. “Oh crap! This apartment. I need to start paying you rent.” She rolls her eyes. “What the heck am I talking about, I can’t possibly afford this place. I’ll move. Asap.”
“You aren’t fucking moving,” I all but bellow.
“But what if folks—”
“It was part of your employment package,” I cut in, feeling myself unraveling at the thought of her leaving. “No one will say shit about the loft.” I know that’s probably far too optimistic to be true, but if someone does make a comment, I’ll just kick their ass to clarify the situation.
“Even if it was part of my hiring contract. To be safe—”
“I said no. You aren’t going anywhere. Now calm the fuck down.”
I make a concerted effort then to take my own advice.
“I promise, Jason. I won’t let your reputation get ruined along with mine. I promise, nothing like what happened today will ever happen again.”
Goddamnit. No fucking way I’m going to be able to calm down now. I close the distance between us in two steps. “Don’t say shit like that, Summer. Just hearing it makes me crazy.”
When she backs up a step and looks at me like she’s going to repeat that fucked up promise again, I pull her into my arms. “You’re special, Summer. I’m not going to let stupid male chauvinistic shit stop me from seeing you.”
Her eyes soften, and she says with a gentle smile, “I think you’re special, too.”
Thank fuck. “So, nothing changes. We just…need to be careful.”
She looks skeptical at best.
“It’ll be fine,” I insist. “I just have to learn to keep my fucking hands to myself when we’re at work.” Easier said than done.
“Or,” she says, in a way that makes it clear I’m not going to like her suggestion. “We could just wait until the project is finished.”
Sometimes, I hate when I’m right. “You’re suggesting we wait almost a year to pick this up again?” I’m man enough to admit that I’m not strong enough to do that, not after having had her come in my arms already.
She mutters something under her breath that I don’t catch. The look on her face tells me it’s important. “What was that?”
“I said, ‘what’s one more year?’ For me, anyway.” She shoots me a meaningful glance like I’m supposed to know what she means.
I truly don’t.
“Summer, I know you’re wanting me to get something right now, but it’s going over my head. Spell it out for me, sweetheart.”
“I’ve never…done…that before. Not that I don’t want to. Well, I didn’t. Before. But now I do. With you, I mean. But I can still wait,” she rambles on for a bit before cutting herself off and biting her lip nervously.
It takes me a bit to process it all. When I finally get what she’s saying, I’m admittedly not very smooth about it. “Holy. Fuck. How the hell is that even possible? You’re so damn beautiful.”
She shrugs, embarrassment clear on her features. “You’ve met me, haven’t you? I’m weird around guys outside of my own crew. I’ve barely even been kissed before you came along.”
I somehow manage to keep another ‘holy fuck’ in. But I do want to make sure I get clarification on a few major details. “So, in the trailer, that was the first time a man ever…”
She blushes and nods.
Jesus. “And you really mean it when you say that you want your first time to be with me?”
