Page 8 of Tempting Me (The Asher Family #3)

“I think we need to start with that room. At this rate, maybe finishing one at a time so I can slowly reopen different areas is best. The whole grand reveal isn’t part of the plan anymore.

Plus, the cabins still need to be updated once the main room is done.

” She looks defeated as she speaks, but then she smiles.

“Despite you being the one to help me, I can’t wait to see this place when it’s done. Let’s go.”

She walks away, ready to get to work.

It’s obvious that Shay and I don’t see eye to eye on just about everything in our lives, but this place is different.

So instead of coming up with some quick comeback the way I normally do, I follow her and get to work.

It’s going to be a long night if I want to get all the measurements in this room done so I can plan for tomorrow night.

An hour later, I’ve finished measuring everything I need.

Now, I’m comparing it to the notes the last contractor left behind, all while Shay hovers over me.

She’s been watching me since the moment I stepped into this room, and the only reason I haven’t told her to get out and let me work is because occasionally she takes pictures of things and then plays on her phone, so I assume she’s running through new ideas.

Plus, she hasn’t said a word to me, and that’s been pretty damn nice .

It also proves that we can be in a room together and not fight.

Who would have thought, huh? Not me.

I check off another measurement and sigh. The guy she hired is turning out to be a total moron.

“Oh my god, Luca, if you sigh one more time, I’m going to scream.”

“Scream then. I might like it.”

Her gaze snaps to me as I grin.

“Just. Stop. Sighing.”

I cross my arms and challenge the glare she’s giving me.

“Don’t you even want to know why I’m doing it?”

“Not really.”

“You should.”

“Then tell me.”

Good to know that even after much-needed silence, we haven't lost our touch.

I step toward her, and she backs up.

I roll my eyes and wave my clipboard in front of her.

She takes a beat to think it over, and then she comes to stand by my side. The smell of cherries, like the super sweet ones you put in drinks, surrounds me.

Damn. She smells good.

“What am I looking at?” she asks, interrupting my internal compliment.

I point to all my check marks where the measurements I just took aren’t the same as before.

“See, it’s a good thing I remeasured this. He was off by eight to ten inches in just this one spot.”

“So. ”

“So?” I ask, baffled at her casualness to this huge error. “That’s a big deal.”

“Ten inches isn’t that big of a deal.”

I gasp. “It’s a big deal to me.”

“Of course it is.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re a guy. Eight or ten inches means a lot to you.”

I cross my arms.

“Are we still talking about the remodel?” I ask.

She mirrors my stance.

“What else would we be talking about?”

“Well, by the smirk on your face, I’d say right now we're talking about the size of a dick, Shay.”

I expect my blunt comment to put her off her game, but it does the complete opposite.

She laughs.

She laughs so hard she snorts.

I’d smile if this weren’t a topic I’d dreamed of arguing and winning with a woman someday.

“Okay, I’ll bite.” She grins. “Ten inches for the rebuild doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but ten inches in bed, preferred.”

Her gaze meets mine with another challenge.

My next words are important. They’ll be the basis of the entire argument. An argument that isn’t going to get very far because, is she fucking serious right now?

“You want a ten-inch cock, Shay, I’ll get you a ten-inch cock.”

I grab my phone and open the internet.

“What are you doing?” She tries to peek at my screen. “ Aww, that’s cute. You have to order me one because yours is too small.”

The hand with the phone drops to my side as I turn to face her.

I rush forward, so close that she has no choice but to back up until her backside hits the wall.

She sucks in a breath when my body presses into hers.

The smell of sawdust and cherries consumes me as I lean into her.

I position myself so close that our noses touch, and the moment my eyes see the need and want that fills her dark eyes, there is no controlling the words that fall from my lips.

“If you want to know how big my cock is, Shay, all you have to do is ask. It might not be ten inches, but it’ll make you feel so fucking full that you won’t just be screaming my name when your pussy shatters around it, you’ll be begging me for more.”

Her lips part as she sucks in a breath, and I swear to god, her hips move forward to brush against mine. She closes her eyes for a millisecond. Long enough for me to quickly run through the consequences of kissing her right now.

But before I can think too hard about it, her eyes pop open and she pushes me back.

“Well, now that you’ve got the correct measurements, I take it this means we can get started with actual work, right?”

She steps around me and crosses her arms as she looks around the room. At what, I'm not sure. She’s looking everywhere but at me, which is fair.

I might have just crossed a line by stepping into her space. If she calls me out on it, I won’t argue.

“Yeah, we can get to work.”

For the next hour, we confirm plans on this room specifically, and we agree on what I should plan to bring with me tomorrow night.

When I leave, it’s just around eleven. Not as late as I expected, but still much later than I usually work.

I back out of the parking lot, and just as I turn the wheel to drive away, I catch sight of Shay walking down the road to her house.

I know it’s not far, and I shouldn't give a shit after the way we treat each other, but I still wait, watching until she reaches her front door.

After all, I might say inappropriate things and I argue with her nonstop, but at the end of the day, I’m nothing but a gentleman.

I chuckle.

I'd love to hear Shay’s reaction to that.