“You are a little rebel,” he said with a half grin, attempting to lighten the mood.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Little makes it almost condescending, but I’ll let it slide this once.”

“You’re little.” He raised their hands to prove his point. “But fierce,” he added, to keep the peace.

It seemed to work, because she said, “So instead of college and the family business, you decided construction?”

“I skipped my graduation ceremony and took a job in road construction because it was available. Found that the hard, manual stuff helped me block out my thoughts, but there was a lot of standing around, waiting, chances for the mind to wander, so I switched to buildings instead of roads.”

“Any regrets?” she asked.

Only a planet-sized abyss of them. “I like working at Dunn & Lowell,” he said, which was the truth, if only part of it. It was much easier not to get into the rest. And way past time to change the subject and the mood. “Decent boss. If you like bossy.”

“Best freaking boss in the industry,” she said with exaggerated conviction. “And you guys need bossy. And I need to elevate my ankle.” She scooted to the edge of the cushion, stood on her good leg, then, before he knew what her aim was, she climbed on top of him.

Chapter Fifteen

Cole sat there for a couple of seconds, with Sierra’s legs draped across his lap, her delectable ass planted on the side next to the end table and her legs pointing in the opposite direction of how she’d started out, letting his brain catch up to his body.

His body had already registered that she was on top of him. Need surged through him, centered in his cock, which was alert and pressing against his jeans uncomfortably.

Sierra let out a breath. “That’s better. For me,” she said and quickly met his gaze. “Is this okay? For you?”

So damn okay. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching for her, running his fingers through her nearly dry hair. “Yeah,” was all he said.

She averted her eyes, inhaled, which made her chest rise. He’d never had such a front-row view of her tits, and even though they were disguised by a bulky sweatshirt, he was entranced.

“Speaking of boss and work…” she said, and then she lifted her gaze to his, her long, pretty lashes framing doe eyes the color of milk chocolate. “I had good reasons for my rule about not getting involved with employees.”

“Smart policy,” he managed to get out as he fought the urge to pull her closer.

She nodded. “It was smart. But I’ve decided that sometimes you have to adhere to the rules so that you can recognize when they should be broken.”

The ache that centered between his legs, approximately point-two inches from her thigh, pulsed harder. “Strangely enough, I follow you.”