Hungry For More(24)

I roll my eyes because these guys are all the same. It’s a hurry up and wait mentality and it’s tiresome. I’m a workaholic and travel all the time to oversee projects I’ve got going on all over the country. I’m not one to take a break, but even I’m surprised the builder is working this late the day before a holiday. I guess it’s a good sign. I’ve never done a development with this company before. It’s one that Jensen found for me. He’s got a brilliant mind and I can’t begin to understand how it works. I just know he comes across as an asshole, which is why I’m the one that talks to the clients.

When the cab pulls up to the vacant lot, I get out and glance around at the chain-link fence.

“Leave the meter running. I’ll be back,” I tell him. I close the door and walk towards the gate.

I see a light in the distance and I think I see someone there, but it’s so dark out.

“Hello!” I call out, holding my hand over the light so I can see where I’m going.

“It’s about time,” I hear called out, and I’m surprised it’s a woman’s voice.

I hear gravel crunching as she comes closer and I put my hand down. I blink a few times at the blinding light, but finally she’s in front of me. I’m shocked silent at the sight of her because I’ve never seen a woman so stunning before. She’s got blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun with a scarf around her neck. She’s wearing a construction jacket that looks too big for her, and baggy jeans with boots. She’s dressed like a much larger man gave her the clothes, but she’s so goddamn beautiful anyway.

Her bright blue eyes stare at me for a second, then they narrow. “Do you have the plans or not?”

Her abrupt tone takes me off guard so quickly I actually laugh. “Yeah, I do,” I say and hold them out for her. “Are you Aaron Slate?”

“No,” she says, taking the plans from me and tucking them under her arm before she shoves her hands in her pockets.

I wait, but she doesn’t offer anything else. It’s cold enough that I can see her breath in a soft cloud in front of her, and I wonder why it makes her look like an angel. Something about this woman has me trying to figure her out, but she’s not giving me an inch.

She looks so sweet, like the girl next door, but the way she’s glaring at me between her shivers makes me think there’s a wild streak in her.

“Okay, so if you’re not him, then who are you?”

“The person you’ve been texting about getting these plans. I’m taking them to Aaron now.” She turns to leave, and I grab her arm.

“Wait a second.” I panic because I don’t really have anything else to say to her but I’m not ready for her to leave. “I was supposed to go over this with him.”

“He said he’ll call you,” she says, jerking out of my grasp.

“So that’s it?” I say, desperate for some reaction from her.

“I’ve been out here freezing my butt off for the last half an hour waiting on you. Yeah, that’s it. I plan on getting some hot chocolate and then taking a bath so hot I get third degree burns.” She digs her hands deeper into her jacket. “Sorry to be snappy, but I’m in a hurry.”

“Wait,” I say again when she starts to move. She stops, but this time she doesn’t turn around. “What’s your name?”

She peeks back slightly and her bright blue eyes look me up and down. “Claudia,” she says, and before I know it she’s gone back into the dark. The cab driver honks somewhere behind me and I wait until I can no longer hear her footsteps in the gravel.

There’s a throb in my chest and for a moment it feels like something just happened—something big. Who was that woman and what has she done to me?



Find out who Sage’s brother Brian is obsessing over in Naughty or Nice… coming December 2018!