Tsehay and Elias took their cues from me, and we all hurried out to where the teams were waiting by the vehicles. “I think this is a good plan,” I said as we got outside. “But let’s make sure we have a long debrief tonight.”

As everyone rushed off, I stood rooted to the passenger side of my vehicle. I realized that even though I was ready for the work, there was pang of loss in my chest that I would spend the day without Elias. Like he could read my mind, his voice called from somewhere behind me.

“Desta.” I tipped my head up to look at him, trying very hard to keep inside the things that wanted to come out of my mouth. “Don’t listen to Ari and Dante without me.”

My gut turned liquid at the conspiratorial humor in this voice. “Okay.”

He winked at me, and my extremities went numb while all the blood rushed up to my head. “I’ll see you tonight.”

I was sure that had only sounded like a promise to me, but still I watched him go. His long limbs eating up the gravel as he went to his vehicle, that gorgeous ass encased in dark blue jeans. He always wore his work shirts tucked in, making him look neat and trim and edible. He was a beautiful man and he seemed so completely unaware of it, which just made my thirst for him that much more pronounced.

“Are you really going to let them do this?”

Fucking Sam.

I sighed as I peeled my eyes off Elias’s powerful forearms pulling on the door of the Cruiser and turned my attention on Sam. “They didn’t do anything. You did. I suggest you apologize before you ruin the entire week for the team.”

I didn’t bother waiting for an answer and got into the truck, which already had Sam’s usual driver sitting at the driver’s seat since Elias would be driving for that team.

Our tiny convoy drove out of the gravel parking lot for the day in the field. I kept my eye on Elias’s truck until our own vehicle took a turn in the opposite direction. And when my eyes drifted to the clock on the dashboard, I barely managed to keep myself from counting the hours until I’d see him.

Chapter 8

I made myself go up to my room first.

The day had its low moments, but it had been mostly good. My team, despite the last-minute changes, got the work done, and from the texts I’d gotten from Tsehay and Elias, it seemed like they also did fine. Not that I expected any different. Figured that Sam being out of the picture would make no difference.

Except there had been one difference.

I’d missed Elias.