Free Face Value by Cheryl Douglas

to stay focused on the job.
    “No, I don’t
think so.”
    Tucker started
eating, waiting for her to elaborate on what was troubling her. He
didn’t know her well, but she read like an open book. “Wow, this is
really good.” He meant it. It was delicious.
    “Thanks.” She
laughed. “It’s our housekeeper’s recipe. She kept it simple so not
even I could screw it up.”
    He loved that
she didn’t take herself too seriously and wasn’t afraid to admit
her flaws. He was so used to dating women who pretended they were
perfect. Lauren, on the other hand, didn’t seem overly concerned
with impressing him, which did. A lot. “You gonna tell me what
happened when my guys stopped by?”
    “Nothing.” She
put a forkful of pasta in her mouth and chewed carefully.
    “I don’t
believe you.” He’d always found the direct approach to be best, and
since he and Lauren had already established the boundaries of their
relationship, he saw no reason to pull punches.
    She glared at
him before a smile finally lit her face. “Do you always call your
clients liars?”
    “I call them
out when I need to.” He lived by one steadfast rule: be who you
are, no explanations or apologies. He’d spent most of his life
being told he wasn’t good enough, first by his stepfather, then by
his wife. Now he was finally at a place where he liked himself, and
those who didn’t like him for who he was could keep their
distance.
    “I like that.”
She pointed her plastic fork at him. “I appreciate the direct
approach.”
    “Good. Now are
you gonna tell me what happened to piss you off?” He ate as he
waited for her to continue. He set the beer bottle she’d placed in
front of his plate aside and reached for a bottle of water
instead.
    “Nothing.” She
shook her head, pretending to concentrate on her food as though it
was worthy of her undivided attention. “Honestly, it was
nothing.”
    Tucker frowned.
He got the feeling she was keeping something from him to avoid
offending him or getting someone else in trouble. “Is there a
problem with my crew? You don’t like them?”
    “No, it’s
nothing like that.” She looked him in the eye as she set her fork
down. She picked up her water bottle on a sigh. “If you must know,
one of the guys asked me out. It was kind of… uncomfortable.”
    Tucker curled
his hand into a fist on the tabletop. He couldn’t believe one of
his crew had been stupid enough to hit on a client their first day
on the job. He told himself he wasn’t jealous. He was just
concerned about his professional reputation. “I’m sorry about that.
If you tell me who it was, I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
    “No, it’s okay.
I handled it.”
    “How?” He
wanted to know everything that was said, word for word. He’d sent
Will to the site with the guys, so if Lauren left out any details,
Will would fill him in.
    “I just told
him I wasn’t interested.”
    “Who was it?”
He felt his irritation mounting, so he forced himself to take a
deep breath and count backward from ten. He’d learned the anger
management technique in his mandatory therapy, and it had served
him well.
    “I’d rather
not-”
    “I asked you
who it was, Lauren.” His voice was low and deceptively calm, but
the wary look in her eye told him she knew he was on the verge of
losing his temper. “I’d appreciate an answer. Now.”
    “Rob,” she
blurted, refusing to look him in the eye.
    Rob was a new
hire, the nephew of one of the older guys on his crew. Rob hadn’t
worked for him long enough to know that crossing Tucker was the
epitome of madness. “I’ll speak to him about it tomorrow. Don’t
worry, it won’t happen again.”
    “I don’t want
to get him in trouble, Tucker,” she said, reaching for his hand.
“Please, can’t we just let it go?”
    He looked at
her hand before meeting her eyes. “You want me to sit back and
watch one of my employees make a play for you?” His eyes drifted to
her lips, and he knew he was venturing