Naked (10 page)

“People love it.” Carly looked at her like she had three heads.

She was right. People did love it. And didn’t that just speak to the character of the women she was forced to interact with on a daily basis? The gala was just an opportunity to show off a new dress, or hairstyle, or man. An opportunity to mix and mingle with their own kind and maintain the status quo. Well Violet knew all about shaking up the status quo. Especially when it happened without warning.

She planned on shaking things up at work with the residential project, something Walker Industries had never done before. It was a way to invigorate not only the company but her life. A way to step out of the four walls she’d been stuck in since birth. Her father was a huge supporter and it was the first time she’d ever felt like she could do something on her own. But she had every reason to believe it was because of his illness. He was being soft, easy. And that wasn’t going to help her win over the board of directors.

“You don’t want to change it do you?” She heard the terror in Carly’s voice. “Because everything has been finalized.” Now her voice was an octave higher. “We’d have to cancel everything. We’d lose all of our deposits and—”

“Carly…” The girl froze at the sound of her name. “We’re not changing anything.”

She knew it was too late. The website had been published and the invites had been sent. Carly breathed a sigh of relief.

They spoke while eating their ice cream, and when all the boring plans had been finalized, they parted ways.

Violet was not looking forward to this event. The thought of having to spend time with ungrateful socialites when her father was literally forgetting who he was right before her eyes was sickening. Of their insincere condolences and inquiries about her newfound love of scarves. How was she supposed to handle their comments when she couldn’t even handle herself?

The entire time she’d been hiding out, she’d used silly hobbies as a distraction between work projects in order to not look in the mirror. Amazon Prime’s two-day shipping had been her best friend. She’d bought knitting needles and yarn, learning from a video on YouTube. She’d purchased a cake decorating set with twenty-five different tips when she’d decided to make a wedding cake. She’d even bought an easel and paint when she’d thought art was going to take her mind off things.

But the moment Noah fell off that roof, the only hobby that piqued her interest was being on her back with him on top of her. Preferably naked. Preferably…All. Night. Long.

In order to do that she was going to have to change. She was going to have to figure out how to let a man see her…all of her.

She pulled out her phone and stared at Noah’s number. She’d added it to her contact list as soon as he’d left her panting in the foyer.

Invite him over.

Her fingers were frozen above the screen.

The accident had put her entire life into perspective. What she loved. What she hated. What she needed to change. And those answers were like a noose around her neck, a shadow of guilt over every decision, every thought. Because some of the answers didn’t fall in line with the future she’d thought she wanted.

But Noah was her chance to call into play the woman she’d kept hidden under the covers.

She was going to follow through with her proposition, follow her father’s advice and get it out of her system. But first, she needed to find her sexy again.

And she knew exactly who was going to help her.

—

The sun beat down on Noah through the glass. This was his favorite time of year. The air was frisky with the effects of spring. Flowers and leaves were in bloom. Not to mention the men on the job site were a little less grumpy, a little less irritable.

He returned the lathe to the equipment supply. Organization and preparedness were two key tools for maintaining an efficient and effective job site. Not being able to find a tool or piece of material when needed was enough to cause the calmest of construction workers to go off.

The last two floors of the office building were almost complete. Which meant some of his men were stationed on various floors below finishing the drywall, electrical, and plumbing.

It had taken a while to get used to being in a commercial environment. But as he stared at the blueprints of the twenty-third floor, he realized he barely had to read it to get a sense of what still needed to be done. He was a quick study.

In just a few minutes, Lewis would be taking off for the day, and when Noah was in charge, he liked to put in an appearance on the various floors. His own way of keeping visible with his workers.

Just as he stepped onto the elevator, someone called out his name.

Sal, the youngest member of the crew, placed his hands on the doors, preventing them from closing. “Bates is MIA again.”

Christ.
For the past two months only one employee has caused him problems.

Bates.

“How long?”

Sal shrugged. “Couple hours.”

He fell back against the wall of the elevator. “Thanks for letting me know.”

Sal stepped back, gesturing behind him. “Better hurry, the guys on five and six are one incident away from a grievance.”

Exactly what he needed, to take on the union. But he understood. Construction was a team effort. Some tasks couldn’t be completed while shorthanded and it could set the entire project back.

“I’ll call someone in then go talk to the guys.” He held out his hand. “Thanks for the heads-up, Sal.”

His gut told him to call Lewis before he put his plan into action. But he’d been given the opportunity to prove his management skills. And he needed to stand by his decisions.

He took the elevator down to fifteen and followed the sounds of hammers and nail guns down the hallway into one of the units. The distinct smell of drywall flooded his nostrils.

When he walked up to the group of men who were more interested in talking than framing, all but one of them tensed and grew silent.

“I heard she had a breakdown,” Stan said. “I also heard she’s coming back and taking over for the old man.”

“Where did you hear that?” Noah asked.

Stan’s shoulders shot up to his ears then he turned with a guilty look on his face. “Um…” He scrambled to put his hard hat back on.

He was right. He’d been told by corporate that Ms. Walker would soon return from her hiatus and oversee the build. He didn’t have a problem working for a woman. He’d heard good things about her, at least from head office. It was his men that had other, more derogatory things to say.

“Doesn’t matter who’s in charge. The job still needs to get done.”

Now Clark was eyeing him. “Aren’t you concerned about the rumors?”

He’d heard the rumors along with everyone else. A year ago, Ms. Walker had been in a car accident that had taken the life of her fiancé, and almost her own. Then…she’d disappeared. Or so the rumors stated. Who wouldn’t need some time to regroup? He wasn’t going to hold that against her. He knew just how devastating it was to lose the thing closest to you.

“As long as she shows up and wants the same thing as the rest of us—to finish this building on budget and on time—we shouldn’t have a problem.”

He wasn’t going to say one bad word about the new boss. Information had a way of migrating to the one individual you didn’t want to hear it. Put a bunch of men on a site twelve hours a day, and they turned into teenage girls.

Besides, he had an example to set. He was much younger than most of the guys, and to be given the opportunity to be junior foreman was a big opportunity. He needed to put his money where his mouth was and lead by example. Bad-mouthing his new boss wasn’t going to achieve that.

“You’ll be counting the days between her visits to the site,” Clark said. “She is a nice piece of ass.”

He’d heard that, too.

“Sex in stilettos,” One of the other men said, as they all practically high-fived one another.

Noah didn’t care one bit about her looks. He was here to do a job. Besides, a woman like her wouldn’t look twice at a man like him.

They shot the shit for another few minutes, finally talking about more important things like sports and beer. This was one of the better parts of working at a large construction firm. The camaraderie. The chance to interact with coworkers on a regular basis. If he went into business for himself, he’d be on his own.

“Noah.” The familiar voice called from the open doorway.

Noah acknowledged the group of men then turned, his eyes settling on his mentor and not-by-blood uncle, Lewis Bender.

Lewis had been his dad’s best friend. After his father had died, Lewis continued to show Noah how to work with his hands and he’d been sort of a guardian angel ever since. He was the one who’d advocated for his position as junior foreman. There was no such job, but Lewis had worked for Walker Industries for years, knew Ward Walker personally, and had negotiated a training initiative. And so here Noah was, with just one more line to add to his résumé that would impress his personal clients once he started his own business. If he ever started his own business. Just the thought of failure churned his stomach.

“Lewis.” Noah held out his hand. “You off for the day?”

“I’m done.” Lewis clasped it hard, with one heavy downward movement. “You have everything under control?”

He wanted to mention the human resource problem, but Lewis had given him permission to make decisions, and he didn’t want to seem incapable.

As a junior foreman he was given the shitty shifts. Lewis worked from six in the morning until five at night and Noah stayed until it was too dark to see. Unfortunately, the closer they got to summer, the longer his days became. But the one good thing about working for Walker Industries was that the company paid attention to their employees and made sure that work was balanced with life. Although the typical day included five to six more hours than a regular nine-to-five office job, working shifts and alternating weekends made a big difference in employee morale and work ethic. When your employees knew you cared about them, they worked harder and went above and beyond to get the job done. And Ward Walker used that to his advantage. There was a long list of men and women just waiting for a spot to open up in his company.

“Are you able to come in early tomorrow morning to help unload?” Lewis asked. “I’m going to need another set of hands.”

“Sure. I’ll be here.”

“And I’m going to need you full days and afternoons next week. We need to get the units ready on one and two. Move-in date isn’t too far away.”

The more Noah worked, the more time it took away from the renovations on his mother’s house. And now the more he worked, the more time it took away from Violet. He’d show up to work tomorrow morning bright and early, but he had every intention of being dead tired.

“You’re doing a better job than even I expected, kid.”

Noah laughed. “Thanks. I think.”

Lewis clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ve been talking to Ward Walker about you.”

“Why would you do that?” He was a temporary employee, testing out a new training initiative. What could possibly interest Ward Walker?

“For your future.” Lewis was as concerned about Noah’s future as he was about his own. Some days Noah hated that.

“You know I want to go into business for myself.” He shook his head. He found it hard to mask his feelings and that included the look of confusion when he talked about being an entrepreneur. “Eventually.”

“I don’t see you in any rush to do that.” Lewis gestured for him to follow as he made his way to the elevator, out of earshot of the men. “Besides, what if an opportunity presented itself? One you couldn’t pass up?”

“I…” His first instinct was to say “too bad.” He took this job because it was temporary. A learning opportunity.

“Lewis. I appreciate you looking out for me but—”

“Just think about where you want to be in five years.”

Knowing where he wanted to be in five years meant he’d need to commit to something and that just seemed unfathomable, but he knew where he wanted to be five hours from now.

Tonight he hoped he and Violet were going to finish what they’d started in her foyer.

Having women proposition him for sex wasn’t new. But Violet’s proposition, her entire attitude toward sex, was refreshing. It was like she’d been touching a cock for the very first time. And it was sexier than anything he’d ever experienced. Getting Violet into his bed had become less about staving off the loneliness and more about witnessing her reactions.

Committing to this meant getting close to the fire, but her kiss had been intoxicating, and totally worth braving the heat.

But he’d respect her wishes. Take it slow. And if it meant keeping it in his pants tonight, so be it. So he needed to fill the evening with something other than sex.

Violet was competitive and he knew exactly where to take her to bring out that nature.

He took out his phone and found her name in his contact list.

Get your game face on. I’ll pick you up at eight.

The flash of the cursor blinked at him, urging him to say more. Push it further. And with a few more words he hit send.

And maybe this time it’ll be your hands behind your back.

Chapter 8

Violet was nervous as hell.

She should have phoned. What if Harper wasn’t here? What if Luke was here? They worked in the same tattoo shop. He’d tell Noah.

Her brain was racing a mile a minute.
Shit.
Maybe her brilliant, impromptu plan wasn’t so brilliant.

Had she even been thinking when she’d jumped on the subway and headed downtown to Inked?

The tattoo shop was located in Queen West, a trendy neighborhood with a mix of independent stores and popular chains. The merchandise was eclectic, from hippie chic to goth. It was
the
place to go on a weekend when Violet was in high school. By the looks of all the teenagers on the streets, it was obviously still the place to be seen. Not to mention it was home to Much—Canada’s music station. She might have waited outside in the cold for six hours one afternoon just to get a glimpse of a certain boy band—although she’d gotten more than a glimpse. She didn’t wash her hand for four days because of a skin-to-skin hand swipe with her favorite singer. Roxy had had her T-shirt autographed right across her chest. No surprise. Even at sixteen Roxy’s breasts were out of control—just like her actions.