Page 30 of Heat Force
She seemed unfazed. He frowned. Served him right for staying away. She’d put him out of her mind, got on with herwork—like he ought to be doing. Instead, he was driving himself crazy with thoughts of her.
“I bought you something.”
“Oh, yeah?” Lexi set down the pen she was using and stood up. He almost groaned. She was wearing tiny shorts with a sheer, white T-shirt that said, “Save the Gorillas.” Her skin glowed with perspiration, and she’d swept her hair up in a messy bun, with tendrils escaping on either side.
He set the box on her desk and watched as her eyes widened. She stared up at him. “You got me a MacBook?”
“Not just any MacBook. It’s the latest model—M3 chip, insane battery life, lightning-fast speed. You’re going to love it.”
She tilted her head, skeptical. “Hawk, all I do is type notes and send emails. This feels... excessive.”
“Nah.” He waved off her protest. “This is more than just a work computer. You can video conference, keep better records, and maybe even start sharing some of your work online. A blog, maybe? Raise awareness about what you’re doing here.” He gestured around the office.
Lexi hesitated, her fingers trailing over the cool, smooth box. “A blog? I don’t know if I’ll have time for that, but... thank you. It’s thoughtful of you.”
“Don’t mention it.” He shrugged. “Besides, your old laptop looked like it belonged in a museum.”
She chuckled, shaking her head. “Robert’s going to be jealous.”
“Not for long,” Hawk smirked. “I got him one, too. His old clunker needed to go.”
“Good call.” She bent over and moved a stack of papers aside to make room. “Want to help me set it up? I’ve got half an hour before I need to check on the animals, and I’d rather not risk breaking it right out of the box.”
“I’d be offended if you didn’t ask,” he teased.
She opened the box, her face alight like a kid at Christmas time. When she pulled out the streamlined laptop, she was practically glowing. “It’s beautiful.”
“You deserve it,” he said, and walked around to her side of the desk to help her set it up.
“How’s the construction work going?” she asked, as he turned it on. He could feel her heat beside him, sending his own body temperature over the edge. His skin prickled, he felt on edge, hyper aware of her presence, almost aroused. Shit, he had to get some semblance of control. He took a steadying breath. “It’s coming along nicely. We broke through the back wall earlier—that’s where most of the noise is coming from. But that part’s done now. We’re focusing on the extension.”
“Thank goodness,” she muttered. “The dust has been killing me.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Necessary part of the process, I’m afraid.” He dug in his pocket and handed her a small USB-C hub. “Here, start transferring your files while I get this beauty powered up.”
Lexi busied herself with the file transfers, while he focused on setting up her laptop. Despite the humidity, he could still smell her floral shampoo, it seemed to cling to him in the heat, envelop him making it hard to concentrate.
He forced his focus back to the screen.
“Done,” she said, a moment later and handed him the USB stick back. Then she bent to unplug the old desktop. “I take it I can get rid of this one now.”
Christ. He could almost see her pert butt cheeks sticking out from underneath those teeny-tiny shorts. An image of her bending over like that while he drove into her flashed before his eyes, and he had to squeeze them shut to get rid of it.
“You okay?” she asked, giving him an odd look.
“Yeah,” he croaked. “Just hot.”
“It is sweltering today,” she acknowledged with a nod. “I keep splashing water on myself to cool down, but it doesn’t last for long.”
That was another image he didn’t need. He turned away so she wouldn’t see the humungous bulge in his pants.
She moved the old computer to the corner of the room, near the door.
“You do the honors,” he said, when she got back. He moved back to the far side of the desk. It was almost a relief to put some distance between them, even if it was just a flimsy table.
She ran her finger over the finger pad and smiled. “Perfect. Thank you so much.”
“You might have to install some software, but it should be good to go.”