In some ways, I really missed the comradery I’d had in construction with all of my fellow builders. I’d been part of a team. Yeah, it had been tough, exhausting work sometimes, but I’d liked getting my hands dirty, and most of all, I’d loved being outdoors as much as possible.
It was my restlessness in the office that had drawn me outdoors. The walk to the Coffee Shack had helped some. It usually did, which was why I was here pretty often, working in a coffee shop.
I’ll get used to being in an office.
Eventually.
Having my own company had always been my dream. I guess I’d just never figured I’d be a player in international commercial real estate. Not even in my wildest dreams.
I could see the top of my office building in the distance. Then, my eyes drifted from my high-rise building, and back to the construction workers who had gotten themselves a table.
Where was I? Who was I? Somewhere in between the two worlds now?
Not a manual laborer, but not exactly comfortable in a fancy office in a suit all the time, either.
I wasn’t part of a construction team, but then, I didn’t exactly blend in with the old-money social scene, either.
I shook my head slightly. Hell, I didn’t know where the hell I should be. When a guy suddenly went from busting his ass to put food on the table to a billionaire with unlimited resources, it was more than a little mind boggling. Not that I was complaining. I liked being filthy rich. What guy wouldn’t? But I wasn’t the type to be happy with a very large trust fund, even if I could easily never work another day in my entire life and not put a dent into my inheritance.
I wasn’t built that way.
Never had been.
Never would be.
I needed to work. And I was pretty damn driven to be successful now that I’d been given the opportunity of a lifetime to do whatever I wanted.
“Mr. Sinclair!” an excited young voice called from the cash register. The woman waved like she knew me.
I didn’t respond to the pretty blonde. I didn’t even know the female.
Shit! I should have left before the place started to get busy.
The woman was with a couple of friends, and they were all eyeing me like a potential target they wanted to bull’s-eye.
I had to wonder whether the females were even drinking age yet.
But it seemed like I was sought out by every single woman in the city above the age of eighteen these days.
My gut hurt as I watched them elbow each other, knowing they were going to invade my table within moments.
Fuck!
I was almost into my midthirties. Did they really think I’d want to get busy with a female who was barely an adult?
Disgusted, I started to put away my laptop as the young women made a beeline for my table.
I was just wondering whether or not I should stand up and make a break for it when a familiar face dropped into the chair across from me.
“They’re getting younger,” my new companion observed in a familiar voice.
I relaxed and kept my ass planted on the seat.
I wasn’t about to lose my chance to chat with Riley Montgomery face-to-face.
In fact, the current situation definitely brought a sense of déjà vu.
The beautiful redhead across the table from me had rescued me just like this once before. Only the woman trying to get my attention back then had been a little bit older last time.
Same place.
Same circumstances.
Same woman who had sat down and pretended to be a love interest to scare away the woman who had been throwing herself at me.
I grinned. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”
Riley Montgomery rolled her eyes. “If you’d stop sitting in my favorite coffee shop attracting superficial women, maybe we could.”
I scowled as the gaggle of young women reached our table.
Riley put up a hand. “Scram, ladies. Mr. Sinclair doesn’t do jailbait.”
The pretty blonde glared at Riley. “I’m twenty.”
I watched as Riley held her ground and gave the younger female what I had to admit was a pretty intimidating stare. “He’s taken. Back off.”
The almost-teenager finally let out an indignant huff and moved away with her friends in tow.
There was no denying that Riley staking her claim had gotten my cock harder than it had been in a long time.
She was pretty damn hot when she was defending her territory, even if it was only pretend. My dick didn’t seem to recognize the difference.
She wasn’t dressed for business today. Riley Montgomery looked way more approachable than she had last time we’d met. Casual was a good look on her. I hadn’t gotten more than a glimpse of her blue jeans, but the light sweater she was wearing that fell off one shoulder made my eyes drop to her breasts, trying to figure out if she was wearing a bra. Today, her fiery hair was pulled back in a messy bun, with loose tendrils framing the creamy skin of her face.
Jesus! She was breathtaking. I was having a hard time not staring like a horny teenager.
“Eyes on my face, please,” she ground out, sounding extremely unhappy.
Okay. Yeah. I had still been focused on her breasts. I looked up as requested, and it was like a sucker punch to my gut when I met her eyes. They were hazel, but in the low light of the coffee shop, they almost looked green. The gold flecks I could see dancing around in her irises were pretty damn mesmerizing.
However, it was the sharp intelligence I could see in her steadfast gaze that really drew me in.
Riley Montgomery was the whole package.
Physically stunning.
Sexy . . . without trying to be.
Kind . . . well, at least she was when it came to endangered animals.
And way too intelligent for a guy like me who had barely graduated from high school.
Something told me that there was a plethora of emotions behind those beautiful eyes, even though she was still shooting me an admonishing look. One that would probably make a lesser man cringe.
Maybe I wasn’t college educated, but I was stubborn. And not the least bit intimidated by the gorgeous, redheaded vixen. No matter how fierce she looked sometimes.
“Sorry, not sorry,” I said with a grin. “It’s a little bit hard not to get distracted.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. I was pretty sure she was trying to make it look like she was angry, but I sensed a slight vulnerability there, too. So I was nearly repentant about getting caught leering at her chest.
Almost. But not quite.
“You really should stop sitting in this place,” she grumbled. “Unless you like the attention from all the single women in the city.”
I shook my head. “I think you know that I don’t.”
The distance between her brows narrowed, and the little crinkle that formed on her forehead when she was thinking was pretty damn adorable.
“Then why do you hang out here?”
I shrugged. “I get tired of sitting in my office staring at the same four walls. I work on the top floor of a high-rise, so there’s little communication with anyone except my secretary. Don’t get me wrong, I love Edie. And I don’t mind hearing about how cute her grandkids are, but sometimes I want to connect with the rest of the world. Sometimes I really miss doing physical work for a living.”
She tilted her head. “What kind of physical work?”
“Construction. Before I started buying sites and arranging to build on them, I was one of those guys busting my ass to build them for rich people.”