Free Sweet Reflection by Grace Henderson

the perfectly sculpted abs. His arms are lean and defined but toned and strong, his chest is glistening with sweat as he reaches up to hammer at a beam above him. The grin on his face gets wider as he talks to Blake whose standing against the wall next to him with his arms folded. Together they’re a killer duo, both their bodies are pretty much male perfection. I’m blatantly staring at him but he’s so engrossed in working and chatting that he hasn’t noticed me yet. I’m snapped out of my trance by a whistle that sounds from behind James and it catches his attention too.
    “Oi J, you should start charging.” One of the other workers nods over to me and I want the world to swallow me up. Shit. I quickly start walking forward as though I’ve just arrived and act as cool and calm as I can muster.
    “Didn’t know this was in your job description, Dawson,” I shout across the site trying to shrug off the embarrassment of being caught ogling him like a creeper. He looks over with a scowl but it softens when he sees me and the corner of his lips pull up in a smile; it may just be my imagination but he looks pleased that it was me watching him.
    “It’s not babe, but I’m always willing to get my hands dirty.” He winks; my heart beats too fast, I feel like it’s either going to crash out my chest or fail suddenly. Why does he have such an effect on me? No other man has given me these butterflies or got my pulse racing as much as he does. In comparison to this, Darren feels like a schoolgirl crush. But at the time, he had definitely crushed me. Maybe he didn’t mean as much to me as I thought.
    Blake follows James walking over to me, and picks me up in a bear hug, lifting me off the ground and twirling me round. He reaches down and kisses me on the cheek dramatically, “Hey gorgeous.” He smiles and the dimples come out.
    “Always the charmer Mr Richards.”
    “Of course Miss Matthews, the future Mrs Richards wouldn’t have it any other way.” He says playfully.
    I laugh and nod in agreement, “That’s true. I’ve just left her at the florists, she gave me a message for you but I don’t think you’d want the whole world to hear.” I gesture to all the guys that have gradually closed in on us and are working at half-speed, pretending not to listen. He grabs my arm and pulls me through the non-existent doorway of the next room, leaning his ear down close as I relay the message she gave me. I pull away and bite the inside of my cheek as his eyes widen at my words. The sparkle in them would be enough to make me melt if he wasn’t my best friend’s fiancé. He stares at me, his lips pursed as he considers what to do next and in an instant he’s stalking back to James and I have to put a hop in my step to keep up with him.
    “Mate, gotta go.” He starts to pack up some tools and stretches his t-shirt up over his head, pulling it down to cover his abs.
    James looks to me accusingly, “What the hell did you just say to him?” He frowns and looks between us again then narrows his gaze on Blake. “Thought we were gonna have this bedroom finished today? I need the guys to start painting it soon or we’ll get behind schedule.”
    “Just put Dean and Ryan on it now. They’ll be fine.”
    James shakes his head and voices his protests again, “Mate, seriously you can’t just leave. There’s too much to do.”
    Blake smirks, “I’ll be here early tomorrow. But right now my bride-to-be needs me. You know how it is. Gotta keep my woman happy.” He wiggles his eyebrows and James stutters but it’s too late. Blake is out the door with one last wink in my direction before he can get the words out.
    “Idiot.” James mumbles to no-one in particular and slumps back against the wall. He looks over at me whilst I struggle to keep the smile from my face.
    “You women are all the same; nothing but trouble.”
     
    James
     
    She’s got the biggest smirk on her face I’ve ever seen. It makes me want to grab