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I nodded. “Yeah. Maybe.”
Clara laughed and moved toward me, pressing herself against my chest. My arms wrapped around her, and it felt like she was right where she belonged, like these arms were made for this.
“Do you think we should finish this project?” she asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I think it might take all week.”
Clara laughed and I held her like that for a long time, trying to memorize the way it felt to hold her, the soft vanilla scent of her, the way her body moved with each breath.
I’d kissed her only a couple of times, and I already knew I was in way too deep to walk away unscathed.
CHAPTER15
CLARA
PLAYING FAVORITES
Kissing Sly Remington was eighteen thousand times better than it had been in the last decade of imagining it. Back in my high school days, I’d pictured him demanding and directive, forceful and strong. And while there had been moments where he was all of those things (like when he pushed me into the couch and laid me down there...sigh), he’d been attentive and careful by equal measure. I now had zero doubt that sex with Sly would be unlike any experience I’d had before. Not that I’d had many.
But Saturday night seemed like the night when I’d finally find out.
The thought made me giddy and nervous, and I spent my last week out in the field distracted by quick texts back and forth with him.
I also spent it happy, despite my reluctance to leave Betty and my bears while I sat in an office.
“I’m going to miss you,” Betty said when I’d told her. “And I’m not going to call you boss.”
“Fair,” I agreed.
“But the truth is, you’ll be great. And I’d rather report to you than Paul any day. Less anecdotes about smoking meat, at least.”
“Guaranteed. I don’t even know how to smoke meat.”
“I think you just roll it in some paper and light it...but don’t inhale too deeply.”
“Funny.” I grinned at Betty as we drove back to the office that Friday.
“So we’ll see you tomorrow? Like four o’clock?”
Betty gave me a thumbs up. “I’ve already got the Barbie mansion set up and every Disney princess movie queued.”
“Sounds perfect,” I said. I’d enrolled Katie in every science and construction camp I could find for kids her age, but despite her devotion to dump trucks and forklifts, she also loved glitter and Barbie. I’d actually seen her wear a tool belt while hosting teddy bear tea parties. She was a perfect blend of fascinating interests.
We’d finished up our fieldwork early, and I was heading home instead of putting in a few more hours. I could catch up when I reported for my new job Monday. Until then, I was too distracted for work.
And when I got home, I was rewarded.
Sly was standing in between our driveways at the start of the fence that normally separated our backyards. Over the course of the week, the fence had slowly disappeared as he and Sam had pulled it down. Now he held some kind of equipment, and every muscle in his (shirtless!) back was flexing as he worked it into the ground.
I practically swallowed my tongue when I first spotted him, but I’d gotten it together before I approached, waiting for him to take a break before interrupting.
“Hey,” I called.
Sly looked up and then turned to face me in all his shirtless glory. He wore a pair of athletic shorts slung low and a Wilcox Wombats cap to shade his face, but it didn’t hide the wide smile he gave me when he spotted me.
“Hello supervisor,” he said. He’d been calling me that all week in quick texts, since he learned of my promotion.
“This looks pretty serious.” I pointed at the heavy machine he’d been using.
