Damaged Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 1) (5 page)

              “Well come on, love. Let’s get to work.” I look over at him and see the smug look on his face. That is the look of the man from the other night. I have to give it to him; he changes from one to the other rather quickly. Simultaneously, my blood begins to boil from his smugness and my stomach gets butterflies from…well…him.

              “Y-yes, let’s get to work,” I stutter. I begin to follow him and look back at Liam who has an apologetic look on his face. I’m somewhat nervous to find out what today is going to bring.

When my attention returns to the site, I notice it looks very similar to the model that Mr. James showed me in the interview. I begin to hope that this day may get a little better when I hear someone calling my name. I turn to see Mr. James himself walking towards us.

              “Good morning, Piper! I hope you are excited to get working on the site.” His eyes move to Fenton and if I am not mistaken, they grow a little disgusted.

              “Hello to you too, Mister James,” Fenton enunciates every single letter of Frank’s name when he says it. All of a sudden, I feel like I can cut through the tension with a knife.

              “Keep yourself out of trouble today. Piper, please tell me if this one gives you any trouble.”  I hear Fenton curse under his breath as he walks away. Goodness, I know how he acted the other night but he talks about him like he is the sin of the earth, as if he isn’t standing right in front of him.

              “I am sure we will be fine, Mr. James.” I feel like I need to wrap my arms around Fenton and make him feel better. No one deserves that type of behavior from their boss. If he is that unhappy with him, why doesn’t he just fire him?

              “If you haven’t noticed, this is the schematics for the school you designed for me in our interview. I want you to go over everything with Fent, He will try to sway your opinion but do not let him. I love your design and so do the customers.”

              “We get it, she is the boss and I am the grunt. You can go spew your orders to someone else now and let us get back to work.” I don’t know what I am in the middle of but I do not like it.

              “Watch your tone!” I see a familiar fierceness in his eyes. I am getting a little aggravated myself with his repugnance towards Fenton. Maybe I should say something to smooth things over between them.

              “Mr. James, I am sure that Fenton and I will work well together, nothing to worry about.” I give him a convincing smile. I don’t know what it is between these two but it seems at any minute they are going to throw down.

              “Please call me if he gives you any trouble.” He hands me his card before walking away.

              “I am sorry.” I’m not sure why I am apologizing but I feel as though Fenton needs to hear it.

              “Why the hell are you sorry?” Fenton asks without looking at me, his rage still very evident by the tightness in his shoulder muscles.

              “I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, Fenton, and I feel like I have.” He waves off my concern. I follow him over behind the orange mesh fencing while looking at my job plans.

              “I don’t think you are as bad as they say.” I want to reassure him that I will make my own judgment.

              “There is your first mistake,” he says as he unloads tools from the truck. What a sad thing to say about yourself. The other night he was so full of confidence, I would never have thought I would hear such self loathing words fall out of his mouth. This man has many sides to him and I feel like I have only touched the surface.

After getting an annoyed glare from him, I walk over to help unload the tools. As I watch him work, however, he seems to be doing just fine on his own. Each time he reaches for something, I see a different muscle pop and I am pretty sure my heart skips a beat.

He is wearing work jeans and a white tee shirt that is very tight around his arms. I see some ink just above his shirt collar and my curiosity is starting to get the best of me. I manage to keep my mouth shut as this isn’t the time or place.

Sweat is starting to bead on the back of his neck and I just want to lick it off of him, he looks so amazing right now. I feel my body heat rising and am embarrassed that I am having these thoughts at work.

              “When you are finished eye fucking me, I could use your help over here.” I look around to see if anyone heard that but I don’t think that they did.

              “I wasn’t eye fucking you, I just noticed your tat and I am curious to know what it is,” I say with confidence, even though I want to kick myself in the ass for letting him catch me…again. It is kind of the truth, though.

              “Whatever you say, sweet cheeks.”

              Once I finally reach him, I tap his shoulder. He stands tall and turns to me, his eyes are full of intensity and question. I begin talking in a low voice so that only the two of us can hear.

              “I know I told you that I don’t believe all the shit they said about you and that is still true. But that does not give you the right to treat me like shit. You will call me by my name and you will treat me as a colleague.”

              His hands go up in mock surrender. He stares at me a second and I notice he is having some sort of internal struggle.

              “Your feistiness is really fucking hot and you should be careful around me while having that attitude. It is taking all of my will to not throw you over my shoulder and find a dark corner somewhere. I will do my best to control myself, but I am not making you any promises. Now please, put this hat on your pretty little head and this vest over that gorgeous chest so we can get some work done.”

The intensity in his words makes me quiver. I’m not sure why but I cannot think of any witty comebacks. So I just leave it for now and finally begin helping him unload tools.

I grab a tool box and start to lift it off the bed of the truck but he stops me.

“You can leave that, I will put it over on the dozer. That is where I usually keep it.”

“Ok.” Next I grab a couple of sledge hammers and am walking them over to where he is laying the rest of the tools. Before I make it to the pile, he takes them from me and places them neatly side by side. That is when I notice everything is in a single file line and placed from smallest to largest. I hide my smile. Dare I say something about his evident obsession? Nah, maybe I will just have some fun with it.

“Do we have anyone else helping us?”

“No ma’am, just you and me.”

“Oh…” I see the smile on his face from his profile.

“Once you and I get all of the plans coordinated, then you can go back to your plush little office tomorrow and I will make your stuffy little plans come to life.”

              How did we go from him wanting to throw me over his shoulder to working on ‘my stuffy plans’?

Fenton

              What fucking torture this day going to be. I thought seeing her, in those boots all day, was going to be rough. But when she climbed up in my dozer, I had to walk away for a minute. One thing I know for sure is I will have her in that dozer. I have been able to think of nothing else since I saw her walking toward me this morning.

I blow out a deep breath and readjust myself. I have to keep those kinds of thoughts at bay today, or I we won’t make it. I feel around the backseat of my truck for some water when I see her climbing out of the beast.

“I will have to teach you how to use it one day,” I holler over the loud site noises.

What the fuck, Fenton? Do you strive to torture yourself?

“I would love to learn how to drive one of these guys,” she says, patting the tire that is bigger than she is. She starts walking toward me and all I can think about is how beautiful her legs looked in that skirt the other night. She is smiling as she shields her eyes from the sun. I need to make sure she keeps that smile on her face.

“I know you think I am just going to be a pencil pusher at the office but I want to be out here as much as possible. I even want to help in the ‘grunt work’ as you so elegantly termed it.”

“As hot as that sounds and trust me it sounds pretty fucking hot, bossman isn’t going to let his prize student perform physical labor.”

“Why aren’t you in my position, Fenton?”

I laugh because she wouldn’t be able to handle the answer to that. Hell, I can’t handle the answer to it.

“I don’t have what it takes to be in your position.” That isn’t fully a lie.

“I think you do and I think you want to be.”

“Why don’t you ask bossman?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. He will probably tell her and IF she is going to find out, it needs to be from me.

“Seriously Piper, I just want to be where I am at the moment. Stress isn’t really my thing.”

“Fair enough.”

“So, let’s start over. I looked at your schematics for the school this morning and they are pretty impressive.”

“Before we get into work stuff, I want to thank you for the other night. I never gave Ty the impression that we were together or anything like that, so I am not sure where that came from.”

“He is a douche, I told you that. And, you’re welcome.”

I watch her squirm as she remembers that he should be here working. Then she looks around for him and I cannot help but laugh a little.

“Is he here now?”

“Nope, I fired him this morning.”

She gapes at me with those big brown eyes.

“You didn’t fire him because of me did you?”

“That is kind of a selfish question, isn’t it Piper?” I cock my eyebrow at her.

Her face flushes and I feel like an ass but does she ever look cute embarrassed.

“Yes, of course. From what I found out about him the other night, I am sure he is a horrible employee...”

“I fired him because of you,” I say, stifling a smile. Her eyes fly to mine with fire in them. It will never get old getting her all fired up; she is such a sexy little vixen.

“You’re such an asshole, Fenton.” She slaps me on the shoulder with the papers in her hand and walks back to the truck for some water.

“We really need to get to work on these plans or you will have to suffer out here with me tomorrow and I am sure bossman would love that.”

She nods at me as she takes one more drink. I can’t help but watch her neck as she swallows. I am instantly thrown back to a dream I had where I ravish her neck…

“When you are finished eye fucking me, I am ready to get started.” She winks and walks back to the site.

I groan, this is going to be a long day.

Chapter Five

Piper

            
 
“Fenton, I want you to teach me to drive that dozer.”

“Why do you want to drive this thing?” he wipes the sweat from his face with the damp towel he had wrapped around his neck.

“I know this is going to be hard for you to believe but I was never taught to drive any of the machines. And I feel like if I am going to be drawing plans for people and out here helping them, I need to know how to work the equipment.”

“You mean the great Piper doesn’t know how to drive a dozer?”

“I know, I know. It’s a travesty,” I jest.

The corner of his mouth pulls up. He looks from me to the machine then back to me again and if I am not mistaken, I think I hear him groan.

“I can teach you but it will have to be later. If any of the big shots were to stop by while you are driving this with no license, we could lose our job.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.” I forgot you have to have a special license to drive them.

“Hey, it’s ok. We can just stay over. I have no problem teaching you.” He smiles smugly.

“I’m sure you don’t.”

Once we get to work getting the land ready for the guys to begin working, everything really falls into place and the tension from earlier begins to dissipate. Only on the occasional glace do I find myself awkwardly smiling or feeling a little shy. Just a slight touch in passing reminds me that he is the man that had me in knots for a week before I found him. And this is the same man who thought I was a foregone conclusion at the bar just because he is used to woman falling at his feet. Now here we are two weeks after our initial meeting working together. Our universe works in strange ways.

For two people who have never worked together, we move flawlessly together. Marking and measuring, tearing down and putting back together, as though we have been a team for years. What his left hand needs my right hand grabs. What my mind can’t think of, his words guide me.

I look up and have to shield my eyes. My stomach and the midday sun remind me that it has to be getting close to lunch. Fenton must be thinking the same as he walks over to his truck.

“What did you bring for lunch?” he asks with a muffled voice as he digs in his truck for something.

“Just a sandwich and some grapes.” He pulls his body out of his truck and looks at me like I have lost my mind.

“You have to have more than that if you expect to keep up with me all day.”

“It is too hot to eat, Fent. I will be fine, I promise.”

“Ok, but no bitching about being tired later,” he says as he resumes his search. I walk over to my own car and grab my grocery bag that doubles for my lunch box. We meet back where we have been working and both sit cross legged right in the middle of the job site. As he begins pulling his lunch out of his lunch box, I see that he has also brought a sandwich but it has everything you can think of on it. I am not sure what shocks me more: the fact that he has an actual lunch box and not just a grocery bag, or the gigantic sandwich that he has.

“Are you going to eat? We only have half a hour,” he says absentmindedly. Along with his sandwich he pulls out a bag of chips and a little fudge cake.

“How are you going to eat all of that in a half an hour and not be sick?” I laugh.

“Very carefully,” he says, never taking his eyes from his food.

I un-wrap my peanut butter sandwich and begin eating.

“Have you been back to the club recently?” he asks.

“No. This may come as a surprise but it isn’t really my thing. Yeah, it is fun every now and then but I am a home body at heart.”

“It does get old after a while.”

“How often are you there?”

“I own the bar where we met, so I am there more often than I would like.”

“I do have to admit something and please don’t make me regret telling you.”

“What?” He raises his eyebrows and a smile creeps up on his face.

“You have to promise me first.”

“Cross my heart,” he says, as he literally crosses his heart. I can tell he is trying his very best to be serious.

This guy…

“You are an amazing dancer and I was disappointed when I couldn’t find you after I left to find my sister.” His lips twitch. He really wants to smile but he doesn’t, as promised.

“I would be lying if I said I have not thought about your body being close to mine again.”

I feel my cheeks heat. I am not going to admit this to him but I have thought about that more than once.

“Maybe we need to remedy that.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Piper?” He smirks.

“Um…”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch; I am just kidding around with you.” He chuckles. “You know, though, as sexy as you looked in that dress, I think I like you better out here playing in the dirt.” A goofy grin grows on his face as he takes a huge bite of his sandwich. If he only knew the feeling is absolutely mutual.

“Playing in the dirt is my favorite thing to do. Although I like to dress up, that isn’t really me.” 

“I will have to remember that. I won’t take you to dinner on our first date; we will go out in the backyard and make mud pies.” He laughs. My eyes fly to his expectant gaze and his goofy grin has now turned into a panty dropping smile.

I pick up my napkin and dab the corners of his mouth as he has mustard from his sandwich on the corner. His eyebrows shoot up and he smiles which makes my heart rate speed up. What began as a friendly gesture quickly went somewhere I didn’t want, so I pull my hand back. I quickly busy myself hoping we can forget that just happened. But he grabs my hand as I am gathering my trash, turns it over and kisses the back. I feel my body heat up and tell myself no more of that. I look around suddenly aware of everyone watching us as we sit in the middle of the job site together.

“It’s ok, Piper.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No one is going to tell Frank that you are sitting with me.”

“I…I am not worried about that. I just know what you want from me, Fenton. Not only do I think it is a bad idea because we work together but I don’t think we are looking for the same thing.”

“How do you know what I am looking for?” His serious tone has caught me off guard. I can’t keep up with this guy.

“I just mean, I am not your type of girl. I am not going to strip my clothes off and throw myself at you when you give me a little attention.”

“Well, since you have me figured out, now we can move on.” He stands, takes his and my trash and walks over to the site tent.

I blow out a long breath. This guy is giving me whiplash. Why can’t we just work without adding all this tension? I have a few minutes left of break so I decide I need to call Phoebe. She usually knows how to make me feel better. After it rings a few times, it goes straight to voicemail. I put my phone back in my bag without leaving a message. I walk back to put my stuff in my car and I feel my phone vibrating. It must be Phoebe.

“Hello? Are you just now waking up?”

“Piper, this is Frank. I was just wondering how things were going with Fenton?”

“Oh I’m sorry, Mr. James. I thought you were my sister calling me back.” I look in Fenton’s direction. He is making friendly conversation, so maybe he is ok after all.

“It is going great! I am learning so much from him, he really is a great teacher.” Considering what happened between them earlier, I feel the need to try and smooth things over. I hear silence on the other end of the line and for a moment, I think he has hung up on me.

“I am glad to hear that. I have decided that you need to stay out there a couple more days before coming back to the office, I feel it would benefit you to get more hands on training.”

“Oh. Yeah, that is a great idea.” I really want to tell him how much of an awful idea that is but I don’t want to give him the wrong idea; he and Fenton already don’t get along real well. I just don’t know if I can be around him for a few more days.

“Great. If you need anything, please call Liam or myself.”

“I will, thank you, Mr. James.” I remove the phone from my ear and am standing, staring at it when I hear a voice behind me. I turn to see a smile on his face and I know that he knows.

“I hope you are ready to not rip your clothes off and throw yourself at me for a few more days.” He winks and walks back to our work site. After I gather my wits, I follow him.

We work in silence the rest of the afternoon. I want to apologize to him. I want to tell him that I am not judging him as everyone else seems to be doing. But I feel like it will do no good at this point. I guess I will just have to make it a point to show him that we can be friends. As for today, maybe we should make it through and start over tomorrow.

When Frank first told me that I would be out here for a few days, I was dreading it. After thinking about it and experiencing the flow that Fenton and I seem to have, I would now be lying if I didn’t admit that I am a little excited. He keeps me on my toes, he is a smartass and his gorgeousness keeps me in knots but I feel comfortable around him. I know I can ask him anything without getting a judgmental stare. If Fenton is nothing else, he is at least real.

I am deep in thought when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up from what I am doing to see Fenton standing there with his arms crossed. I notice that everyone else is cleaning up and getting ready to leave.

“Wow, this afternoon went fast.”

“Yes it did. We got more accomplished than I expected.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I was just expecting to have to lead you around on training wheels.”

“I told you I grew up on a site.” He nods but doesn’t respond.

“Fenton, I am sorry for what I said to you earlier.” I can’t wait until tomorrow. Guilt is something that I don’t handle so well. So if I don’t handle this before I leave, I will never be able to sleep tonight.

“You don’t have to apologize for saying what you are thinking. I guarantee if I have something to say to you, I will say it.”

“Do you have something to say to me?” I am a little nervous for his answer.

“Yeah, get ready for your lesson. I have woman to take advantage of so I don’t want to be here all night.” I see the hurt in his eyes and the feelings that overcome me are ridiculous. I barely know him but I want to go over, put my arms around him and take away all of his pain.

“We don’t have to do this, Fenton. I can just wait until I have to get licensed and have Liam show more or something.”

“No you won’t. I promised I would teach you and I will. And if you want to learn the proper way to drive a dozer, you are not going to be taught by anyone but me.”

“Ok,” I say simply. I can’t argue with him because…well…I want him to show me. I already know he is an amazing teacher. And he can drive that dozer like no one’s business. I like listening to him talk about something he is so passionate about. It also helps that I kind of love seeing him in it. It maxes out his gorgeousness level.

Fenton

            
 
“So, tell me what you know about the dozer.”

              “Not much. I know it is mostly used to move the ground, or clear areas for building.”

              “Ok, that is a good start. Tell me what you know about driving it.” Her eyes move to the machine as if it is going to answer for her. I see embarrassment mar her face.

              “Its ok, Piper. I am going to teach you, I just wanted to know if there was somewhere we could start that you may know. But we can just start at the beginning. I am just going to teach you the basics. That way if you need to just move it out of the way, you can. If I decide you need to learn to use the bucket, we will work on that later.” She is quiet but she is listening. I need to get this torture going so it can be over.

              “You ready?”

              She nods without hesitation. Her eagerness has yet to disappoint me.

              We climb in the dozer and as we are both standing there, I am sure we are both thinking the same thing. There is definitely not enough room for both of us; this should be interesting.

              “I will sit and show you the controls and you can stand on the ladder, that way you can watch and we won’t be too cramped. When you are ready, you can sit here.” She nods but still says nothing. She is rarely quiet. I wonder what is going on in that pretty head of hers.

I move to the seat as she stands next to me. This may be a bit more difficult than I thought. I turn my head to see her brown eyes staring back at me and all I want to do is pull her in my lap. I have tried pushing this thought from my head all day, this is going to suck. I blow out a breath in hopes of redirecting my thoughts. When I square myself in my seat, I realize I was so completely caught up with her that I forgot the most important part.

“Ok, so we have to get back out,” I grumble, a little aggravated with myself.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I forgot to show you something.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that YOU, Fenton the great, forgot something?”