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“Well, she certainly sounds eager.” My head whipped around to see a guy walk in through the conference room door.

Oh. My. God. Up until now, my brain had been a teeming mess of anxiety, complete with a slideshow of what life would be like without a job: Buddy dying from starvation, and me giving hand jobs in alleyways for money.

I was struggling to pay much attention to my surroundings or Kelly’s expressions as my heart pounded.

That all paused. It was like the world had stopped spinning, my heart had stopped thumping and instead, I experienced the most perfect moment of quietness.

He came inside, giving me a brief nod and a smile, but I just stared.

I’m sure with my mouth hanging open. Holy crap, this guy was gorgeous.

He was tall and on him, the ubiquitous uniform seemed to have been solely designed to stretch provocatively across his broad shoulders and chest. He had long, reddish brown hair that was tied back loosely at the nape, and his eyes were a pale grey that almost glowed in contrast to his warm brown skin.

He moved with an easy confidence, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.

My heart lurched in my chest, like it had all of a sudden realised it needed to beat to keep me alive. I blinked several times.

Get it together! I hissed internally. This is an interview, not a bar!

He didn’t seem to have noticed, just slouched down into his chair, resting his elbows on the arms and bringing his fingers into a steeple.

Then, those eyes turned on me. He seemed to look me over, impersonally, then with greater interest. His eyes flared wider, his gaze raking over my body from head to toe, though I had no idea why.

I wasn’t terrible looking, but I was well-aware I was the same middle of the road, mildly pretty that most women were.

“Ah, Finn. Was wondering where you got to.” He didn’t respond as he continued his inspection. “We don’t actually have a long line of post grad students, Miss Bronson,” Kelly said, with a smile. “We’ve found that university students are full of excellent ideas, but can lack the…”

“Common sense? Practical skills? Ability to follow even the simplest order?” Finn added, finally snapping out of whatever brain fart had him spinning his wheels.

“Quite. We are looking for someone with your sort of real-world experience, someone who has a proven track record of working hard. We’ve found locals from around the country tend to be the best fit for us.

” I fought down the surge of hope I felt in my chest. My brain was running ahead, seeing me in company housing, being able to feed Buddy decent quality food…

Keep it together , I snapped at myself, that doesn’t necessarily mean you personally.

“So, Julie, if you’re happy to take the position… ?”

“Oh god, yes,” I said, my breath coming out in a rush. Finn’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’re OK with this, Finn? She’ll be your employee.”

Fuck! Working for the hot guy? I knew this job was too good to be true!

Seriously, could women be accused of sexual harassment as well?

Because I didn’t know if I could stay professional around this guy .

He looked me over one more time, then nodded.

“Sure, it’d be nice to have someone who actually wants the job for a change. ”

“Well, there’ll be a trial period, it’s all written into your contract, paid of course. We’ll set you up with some uniforms and one of the bungalows, and you’re welcome to move in when ready.”

“I could start now, if that works,” I said, trying to sound calm and failing. “I’ve been staying in caravan parks, so everything is in the car.”

“Along with your dog? That was your beast out on the porch?” Finn asked.

“Uh, yeah, that’s Buddy. Is that going to be a problem? I meant to ask over the phone…”

“He will need to stay this side of the fence, for his safety as much as anything,” Kelly said. “There is a risk, keeping him here. This far out, we do have issues with wild animals.”

“I know he’s a Husky, and they’re bad for escaping, but Buddy’s never been an issue. But yes, I understand. I brought him here, he’s my responsibility.”

“OK, I’ll get Finn to set you up with uniforms and a place to stay.

Drop back in the morning. Karen will have some tax file forms to fill out, and I’ll need to do a little induction.

” Finn got to his feet, so I followed suit.

“This is a largely male-dominated workplace,” Kelly said, “but we have had very few incidents. I keep it that way by making certain all employees are aware of the processes.” God, was she talking to me?

Was my interest in my boss that obvious?

It was hard to tell as her gaze shifted slightly, so I wasn’t sure if me or Finn was the intended recipient.

“Of course, what would be a good time for you?” I asked.

“Come see me around 9 am, and welcome aboard.”

“Out this way, Julie,” Finn said, opening the front door of the reception building.

As we walked out, I saw the receptionist’s eyes jerk up and follow us, or rather Finn.

I empathised with her. My eyes wandered over to a strand of hair that had gotten free from its tie, falling down the side of his face, and felt a completely irrational desire to smooth it behind his ear.

Instead, I clenched my hands into fists.

He turned and smiled, probably wondering why I was just standing there.

He took a deep breath, nostrils flaring a little, the smile widening then smoothing away, as if he was trying to stop from laughing. “You coming?”

“Sorry,” I said, attempting to cover for my complete lapse in professionalism. “I’m a bit tired and overwhelmed. I’ll be much better tomorrow, I promise.” Get it together girl! I thought. Go to town, bone some guy who isn't your boss. You got this, you have to.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I stiffened slightly but don’t think he noticed. I didn’t want to be that girl, but I just stumbled along, not really taking in what he was saying, the warm weight of his hand getting all of my focus. “So, this is your Buddy?”

“Uh, yes. Hey, baby,” I said, dropping down beside my dog and giving him a scratch.

I hadn’t noticed because I was too busy trying to be cool as the boss steered me down the porch, but he was whining now he’d seen me, wanting off the lead and to be walking wherever I was going.

“I’ll be back soon and then we’ll get you settled. ”

“You can bring him with us, if you like. I’ll leave the proper orientation for when we’re both fresh and dressed appropriately.”

“Yeah, I guess pencil skirts aren’t real practical.”

“No…” his eyes slid down to look at the offending garment, seeming to linger on my legs, before he looked away quickly.

Dude, is this guy into me? I thought. I could not deal with this, no way, no matter how gorgeous he is. I needed a job, not a boyfriend.

“All the women here wear pants, so it makes for a change. Anyway, let's head to the shed, and I’ll get us a cart. I’ll show you around the facilities and then get you settled.”

I busied myself with unhooking Buddy’s leash.

The moment he was free, he started pulling me with his entire weight, wanting to walk, sniff, pee on everything.

“Buddy!” I snapped and gave his lead a jerk.

He looked back at me, shamefaced, but then went right back to sniffing around wildly, though not straining as hard.

Finn led the way, which was OK by me. I’m not really into guys arses, but even I could tell that this was a particularly fine specimen, showcased in perfect fitting pants.

I almost stumbled into him when he stopped suddenly, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

“So…” he scratched at his neck, “the shed is where we keep all of our vehicles. We sign them in or out, depending on who needs them. The mech crew service them, so they’re in tip top condition. So if you have any issues, talk to them.”

“Okay,” I said, not really getting what was amusing.

“The guys…well, there’s Stevie, but she can be just as bad. The guys are a bit…old school.”

“What? They’ll want to open car doors for me?”

“No, they’ll probably stare at your tits the whole time you’re talking to them. They’ll probably even make comments.”

“Oh!” I said, and then burst out laughing. “Hey, I worked in a diner whose main clientele were truckers. Trust me, I’ve had customers describe what they’d like to do to pretty much every part of my body. I’m good at busting heads if needs be.”

“Yeah? Look, Kelly’s going to go over this with you, but the long and the short of it is we have a lot of guys, straight guys mostly, working here and women…

well, sometimes they can be seen as fresh meat.

We used to not worry too much about fraternising, and then we had a few incidents.

This place is too remote for us to think about ruling out office relationships, but…

” He looked me square in the eyes, like this was really important for me to remember.

“Never feel like you have to do anything. If you feel hassled or pressured in any way, just let me or Kelly know, yeah?”

“Of course.” My eyes flicked over to the big green shed in front of us. All I could see was a range of vehicles lined up outside and a big, dark entranceway. “I’m a little nervous about going in there now.”

“Yeah, I think I built this up a bit. Let’s… grab a cart and go.”

“OK.” I looked down at Bud, who was wondering why the hell we were standing around. “C’mon boy.”