Page 14 of Thrill

“Smooth,” Danny said.

“Cost me a bloody fortune but I was determined,” Andy said. “Cheaper than buying a little red Corvette though.”

Danny shook his head. “A very weak dad joke. You can do better than that.”

“What’s the interest?” Andy asked. “You got on your eye on someone? It’s about time.”

“Nah. Nothing like that. Just wondered, that’s all.”

Andy took another swig of his beer. “Right. The only shit thing about fajitas is all the bloody chopping. Come on, you. Let’s make it a team effort.”

“Fine.”

Andy went into the kitchen. Danny allowed the sun’s heat to wash over him one more time. The opening bars of Prince’sKissbegan to play.

Danny laughed.

Someone had caught his eye indeed.

FIVE

TYLER

Tyler had woken up and walked straight into a fashion crisis. He had no idea what to wear for a day in the warehouse. He’d shoved his suit to the back of the wardrobe for some considerable time.

Even so, he didn’t want to put on his decent clothes and look totally out of place. In the end he’d opted for cargo trousers and a denim shirt. Ancient enough that he didn’t care if they got ruined.

Really, he wanted to impress Danny. Knowing Tyler’s luck, it would be Danny’s day off or something.

After saying hello to the team and leaving his bag with them, Tyler followed the directions given by Christine to the warehouse.

He found himself in a vast space with pallets piled up to the ceiling. In front of them were smaller shelving areas. People in hi-vis jackets were grabbing items and taking them to a packing area.

The whole place reminded Tyler of bees. Everyone flitting around the colony. They were all totally clear on their jobs and intent on keeping the place running.

“Hey, you.”

Tyler straightened up. A hulk of a man stood at the top of some steps that led to a portacabin.

“Me?” Tyler said.

“Yes, you. Why are you in here without the correct safety wear?”

“I…”

Tyler turned around and saw a rack of neon yellow waistcoats.

“Get one of those on immediately.”

Tyler nodded and retraced his steps. With a slightly shaking hand, he grabbed the nearest vile piece of clothing from the collection and put it on. It was about twenty sizes too big for his slim frame. He shuddered to think who had worn this before.

God, I hope these are clean.

“I don’t think that one’s for you.”

Danny came over to him. Lopsided smile in place. There was not a gadget in the whole warehouse that could have made Tyler’s stomach flip quite like that.

“Hi,” Tyler said. “I think I’m in trouble already.”