Ah, shit.

He wanted to kiss her.

When he first walked in, he’d been struck by the clean elegance of the hotel suite, with her as reigning queen. The penthouse was pure luxury, and damned if the carpet and furnishings weren’t white and vanilla cream. She looked like she perfectly matched her surroundings. The linen suit, heels, and smart bob drove him crazy. Who the hell hung out looking like that? The only weakness he deciphered was the tiny black ink spot on the edge of her sleeve. Probably from holding a pen that leaked. Her other saving grace was the loss of one earring. When she moved her head, subtle pearls caught the light at her ears, but one was bare. Maybe she’d lost it sometime today and hadn’t figured it out. The fact comforted him that she wasn’t a robot but real. Even better was her temper and her sharp tongue.

It was kind of magnificent.

Caleb watched her pretty pink mouth curl upward in a sexy kitten growl and her pretty pink nails curl inward as if ready to pounce. He locked his muscles down tight and rode out the fierce firestorm of pure want battering his dick. Well, this was not expected. He liked his women rough, tumbled, and messy. Morgan probably had sex with the lights off, under expensive sheets, full makeup on, and a wet wipe handy for quick cleanups.

But damn, she was kind of hot.

He studied her closely, and sure enough, there was a gleam of heat lasering from those china-blue eyes. Her cheeks flushed, and her breath came a bit faster than normal. A tight, swirling energy buzzed around them, a mixture of arousal, temper, and hormones. Hmm, interesting. She definitely felt the same connection, but like him, seemed determined to ignore it. Much easier to hold on to the prickly dislike they had for each other. He never slept with anyone on a job. Mixing business and pleasure was disastrous. He’d had too many close calls with women who liked the side benefit of banging their contractor, but Caleb wasn’t stupid. He knew when to use his big head rather than his little one. There were tons of other women willing and able, and not pissy enough to ruin the job over jealousy, possessiveness, or spite.

No. Nothing could happen between them, but it was kind of fun to push her limits.

Her pupils dilated when he suddenly leaned in real close. Their faces were inches apart. He caught her scent—a balanced mix of floral and citrus, clean and refreshing and completely addictive. Caleb barely managed not to take a huge sniff. Her lips parted, dewy and moist, and he clung to his iron-will control that had served him in all situations, including the time he’d been greeted by a new client with a welcoming smile and naked body. He’d tipped his head, told her they’d talk when she had clothes on, and left while she cursed his retreating back.

“I have one question for you.”

Her body stiffened. Her voice came out a tad ragged. “What?”

He smiled real slow. Let her wait for it. “How’d you get your hands on the koa wood? Were you building in Hawaii?”

She blinked. Shook her head as if to clear it, then stepped back. “Umm, no. We were in Texas, and we had a contact that got us on a list to snag a large inventory. That’s your question?”

He rocked back on his heels, satisfied. “Yep. Those contacts could come in handy, I assume?”

“Very.”

“Good. Now that we’ve got our financials squared away and Brady’s confirming the plans, why don’t we meet at the office tomorrow? My brothers, Dalton and Tristan, will be just as involved, and I want to be sure we’re all in agreement. We’ll walk the property, go over supplies, and I’ll assign my best team to begin Thursday.”

“Agreed.” Suspicion eked from her pores. “So, we understand each other, then? I won’t have to deal with any condescending remarks about my place on the site?”

Caleb knew when to back off and admit he was wrong. He might not like having to babysit her through the building of this home, but she seemed prepared. Hell, she knew about koa wood. That gave her points right there. He made a note to tell Dalton. His brother had wet dreams over koa wood and ebony burl. “Can’t promise we won’t butt heads, but if you earn your place, you get my respect. And I apologize if my comments came off chauvinistic. That was kind of an asshole thing to say.”

He almost laughed as her eyes popped out of her head. Oh, yeah, she had low expectations of him. Assumed he’d never apologize for anything. But Caleb was fair, and he had insulted her. Yes, she’d pissed him off, but it was a sucker punch. He enjoyed watching her gather her composure, reach up to smooth her hair again, and nod like she wasn’t surprised at his apology. “Well . . . good. Very good. I’ll see you tomorrow at nine?”

“Yep. See ya.”

He didn’t wait for a response. Just took his leave before the impulse to stay longer grew stronger. Best to keep personal stuff to a minimum with Morgan and keep his focus on the only thing in his life that he loved as much as his dogs and pain-in-the-ass brothers.

Work.

chapter five

At nine sharp, Morgan entered Pierce Brothers Construction and greeted the attractive redhead at the front desk. “Good morning. I’m Morgan Raines. I have an appointment with Mr. Pierce,” she said.

The redhead looked up with a warm smile. Freckles dusted her white skin, and her whiskey-colored eyes seemed to dance with an innate mischief Morgan immediately liked. “Nice to meet you, Morgan. I’m Sydney. They’re waiting for you in the conference room. I’ll take you there.” She jumped up from her seat and motioned toward the kitchen. “Oops, I forgot to offer you a beverage. Our receptionist called in sick today, so I’m on double duty. Can I get you water? Coffee? Tea?”

“No, thank you. I’ve maxed out my caffeine level for the day already.”

Sydney laughed. “Been there. Coffeepot works so much overtime here, we go through a new machine every few months.” With a natural grace, Sydney led her down the carpeted hall, tapped on the closed door, and pushed it open. “Good luck,” she whispered.

Morgan frowned at the conspiratorial tone that was all female.

When she stepped inside the conference room and the four men stood up from the table, Morgan finally understood.

She was a bit . . . overwhelmed.

Morgan straightened to her wimpy five-foot-three height—thank goodness for heels—and tried to pretend standing in the doorway while four ridiculously gorgeous men focused their laser-like gazes on her was a common occurrence.