“Need some help?”
Jolted out of her thoughts, JJ jumped at the sound of Baz’s voice.
She spun around to glare at him. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” he said smoothly, stepping closer, those teal-blue eyes glowing with mischief. “I mean, you look good, but you look … preoccupied. Somethin’ on your mind?”
JJ hated the way her heartbeat took off at a gallop, her breaths became labored. It was all due to how close he was, how hot he made her. How freaking good he smelled. It pissed her off that he could play her so easily and then turn and walk away as though she didn’t matter.
The backs of his fingers brushed her cheek before pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Talk to me, JJ.”
Her attention shifted to his mouth. That oh-so-sensual mouth.
“JJ?”
When he closed the distance between them, she backed up, found herself up against the wall, trapped between it and his big, hard body. All that delicious maleness made her head spin.
“Stop lookin’ at me like that,” he warned, his voice similar to last night, dark and soothing, and laced with promise.
“Like what?” she managed, her words coming out in a gravelly rasp.
“Like you want me for dessert.”
So what if she did? It wasn’t like she would indulge. JJ was on a diet. No men, no matter how charming or sexy or…
She sucked in air when his head lowered, his breath fanning her lips.
“Tell me to stop, JJ,” he growled.
She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to.
Lie.
It was a lie she continued to tell herself to keep some distance, because she knew Baz would hurt her the same way all the men in her past had. She wasn’t special enough for anyone to put her first and she’d learned that time and time again.
“Push me away, JJ. Right now.”
Her brain warred with her body, but before she made a fool out of herself, the door opened. Their connection was instantly severed as Baz took a step back.
Brantley and Reese had come to her rescue and they didn’t even know it.
In an attempt to get her hormones under control, JJ grabbed the empty coffeepot and went through the process of starting another. By the time it was dripping, she felt better. Enough to join the others in the main room only to find the three men wielding tape measures and jotting down numbers.
“What’s goin’ on?” she asked, suddenly fearful they were about to undertake something beyond their scope of skills.
“We’re gonna build a conference room. A place for a bit of privacy if it’s needed.”
Her mind instantly went into the gutter. They were talking about professional privacy, not…
“Okay.” JJ considered the change, glanced around. “And what do you propose we do about all the desks you want added to this space?”
Brantley looked her way. “Desks?”
She grabbed the sheet of paper off his desk, waved it. “Remember this? We designed the new layout. You’ve got all these warm bodies you wanna hire. They’re gonna need a place to sit.”
His gaze shifted to the second floor.
“Oh, no. If anyone gets to work up there, it’s me.”
“Done,” Brantley said quickly.
“What?”
“Make it your new office. You’ve earned it.”
JJ wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Seriously?”
“Yep. We’ll move your stuff once you get it all taken apart.”
She’d honestly been joking, but now that he offered her the space, no way would she turn it down. There was a window up there. A freaking window.
It was enough of a distraction, JJ nearly forgot all about that kiss.
Key word being nearly.Chapter EightSaturday afternoon found Brantley, Reese and Tesha making a run to the hardware store to place an order for the materials they would need to build the conference room and to make a couple of adjustments to JJ’s new space in the loft. When Reese had suggested they take Tesha along, he’d been skeptical but to his surprise, she’d done far better than expected. It seemed she didn’t mind the leash as long as Reese was at the helm, and she took commands relatively well. With some additional training, Brantley figured Tesha had the makings of a canine partner.
Thanks to everything going on with the task force and the construction project they were undertaking, Brantley nearly forgot about his parents coming for dinner until Reese brought it up.
“I’m still on the fence about what to make,” Reese said, a hint of real fear in his voice as they studied the main floor of the barn, considered their options for rearranging and accommodating more people.
“No need,” Brantley told him. “I’ve placed an order at the diner and my parents are pickin’ it up on the way over.”
“I could go get it,” Reese offered, the words coming out just a little too fast. “You know, so they don’t have to. Play my part.”
Brantley reached for him, pulling Reese in and then backing him against the desk. “Are you nervous, Tavoularis?”
