Page 39 of Hired By the Enemy

“Max?”

“Yeah, let’s make a huge sandy dog. An ode to Max.”

Matthew’s face relaxes. “Okay. Great idea.”

For some reason, praise from Matthew lights me up.

I go to collect two spades, and when I come back, Matthew is pacing out and marking different points in the sand with sticks. At the same time, he’s consulting his phone.

My forehead wrinkles. “What are you doing?”

“I’m just making sure I’m getting the proportions correct.”

“I can’t believe you’re nerding out making a sandcastle.”

Matthew’s shoulders stiffen.

“I think you established that I’m a nerd fairly thoroughly back in grade school,” he says. He bites the inside of his cheek with a vulnerable expression that cuts at me.

Oh fuck.

I step closer to him.

“I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’re interested in proportions. I know how you’re all about enjoying superior proportions.” I layer my voice with innuendo.

He looks up at me, his blue eyes catching mine. “Are you back to bragging about the size of your dick?”

“Hey, you’re enjoying it, aren’t you?”

Matthew’s eyes heat slightly. “I have found your proportions are currently working to my advantage.”

“So let’s get on with this, build Max, and then we can get back to the villa to investigate both of our proportions.”

Matthew huffs a laugh. “You really need to work on your pickup lines.”

“They are currently getting me epically laid, so I don’t think I need to work on anything.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Epically?”

“There is definitely a touch of epic about it. There’s a chance our sex life might end up being made into a movie. It will be up there with all the epic classics.Ben-Hur.Gone with the Wind.21 Jump Street.”

“21 Jump Streetis a classic film now, is it?” he says.

“It is in the world according to Liam.”

I’m talking complete bullshit, but it’s had the effect I wanted.

I’ve made him smile.

I don’t want to closely examine why I feel the need to make Matthew smile.

“I shudder to think too much about that world,” he says.

“It’s the world where I’ll provide the grunt work and shovel sand as fast as possible, okay?” I say. “You map out the proportions how you want them, and then we’ll shape it together.”

“Okay, I’m prepared to take advantage of your muscles in that way,” Matthew agrees.

“Don’t mock what you don’t have,” I say.