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Sola was more serious, though. “Why do you think they haven’t made a move yet? I keep telling her, like they told me, that the guys are interested, but she doesn’t believe me. And I don’t blame her.”

James tapped his fingers on his pursed lips. “Not sure, but I think there’s something between them that might be tripping them up. I’m on the case, though, don’t you worry.”

Aarav laughed. James on a matchmaking mission was far more terrifying than the rest of the Shields on a covert operation.

Across the seating area from them, Blakely looked up from the pictures she was taking of Knox’s back and his now-healed masterpiece. She was using it as a cornerstone of her portfolio for her tattoo studio, which was opening as soon as the building was finished. It was a massive project, though, and was taking longer than expected due to the town pushing back on some of her permits. Their interference had delayed construction for months, irritating both her and Mike, the head of the Powertools crew, who was the foreman on the job.

James had often declared he was never so glad he’d decided to change careers and work with Shields instead of dealing with that legal nightmare once the Powertools had shifted their focus from manual labor to becoming foremen of individual crews.

Ace ambled over to Blakely, gesturing to his cast. “Once this is off, how long do you think I’m going to have to wait for the scars to heal where they put the pins in before I can cover them up with ink?”

“It could be a while.” She winced. “Let’s see what it looks like when the plaster is gone.”

Ace grumbled. He hated the cast, and Aarav suspected he’d despise the reminder of his injury just as much. The Shields took it personally when they perceived they’d failed, and Ace still hadn’t quite gotten over being in the wrong place at the wrong time that day or how his recovery had sidelined him from working with Liam in the field these past months.

Aarav could see why they might have some shit to work through before taking things to the next step with Ruby. But maybe he’d pull a James and offer them his perspective sometime when there weren’t quite so many eyes and ears around.

James sighed when he spotted the next two people to come through the lounge doors. His wife, Devon, and husband, Neil, who grinned at James. “We’re done upstairs if you’re ready to go home. It’ll be nice to have an early night for once. Maybe we can swing by Devra’s and pick up some take out to eat in bed, huh?”

James had an apartment on site for all-night ops, but his primary residence was in the cluster of homes the Powertools had constructed along the lake behind the Hot Rods garage. Joe and Eli were cousins and their extended families sprawled through the wooded area. Close yet with their own personal space too.

“That sounds like heaven.” James held his arms up and Neil bent to lift him out of the bean sac. James put his legs around Neil’s waist and kissed his husband before sliding down his front, then spinning to treat Devon to an equally enthusiastic greeting.

“So did they finally make their mind up?” James pointed over their head to where Kennedy and Marcus’s apartments were being combined. They had the other two units on the same floor as Aarav and Sola, and Aarav would have been lying if he said he wasn’t wondering what their similar options might be down the road if things worked out as he hoped they would.

“For the moment.” Devon shrugged. “Don’t bitch, baby. You all just continue requesting renovations and keep Powertools in business. Job security.”

Blakely shook her head at that. “Between my shop, this place, the work on Bare Natural 2 for Kayla, your own damn houses, and who knows what else, I think you have more work than you could handle with a hundred crews.”

“She’s right.” James sulked. “It’s going to take twenty years to work through it all and I hate it when you work late.”

“So say your goodbyes and let’s take advantage right now.” Neil took James’s hand in his and squeezed. “You can ride with us and leave your death-trap pea on wheels here. I’ll drop you off on my way in tomorrow since I’ll be spending another month or so on the site upstairs.”

James crossed his arms and huffed. “I’ll have you know it’s been reinforced. Not even a head-on collision could do anything to it.”

“Let’s not test that theory.” Neil winced. Their close friend, and sometimes lover, Dave had suffered a near fatal accident. Though it had been over a decade ago, some memories never faded enough.

Mark—a teenager James had taken under his wing, who was now Devon’s protégé at Powertools—trotted in as he caught up with them. He stared at James with abject admiration. “This place is so cool. Can I stay and hang out with you?”

“You’re always welcome at Shields, same as Powertools.” James fist-bumped him. “But I’m actually leaving. I need to find my keys and then I’m heading out.”

Neil shook his head at James’s stubbornness. When James patted his pocket, a rumble that certainly should not have come from a tiny car like his reverberated off the plate glass of the lounge, which faced the side parking lot. James had refused to park in the back since the tree had crushed his car’s roof in a freak summer storm.

“What’s that?” Mark asked.

“Oh no! I think I hit the remote start button.” James fished the fob from his tight jeans and smashed it a thousand times in a row, trying to get it to turn off again.

“What’s the big deal?” Aarav asked around a chuckle.

“It’s moving! I must have forgotten to set the parking brake this morning.” James howled as he dashed to the window. All their friends ran behind him in time to watch the absurd auto trundle across the inclined lot, picking up enough speed to hop the curb at the end of it and plunge down the embankment into the retention pond at the bottom of the hill with an impressive splash.

The aeration fountain at the center sprayed cheerily over the vehicle as it began to sink, giant bubbles disturbing the family of ducks swimming past. They hopped up onto the hood and promptly took a nervous poop on James’s fresh paint job.

James plopped onto his ass on the floor, his legs crossed as he wailed in disbelief. Everyone else in the room, however, roared with laughter. Aarav doubled over, Sola shaking against his side, until moisture gathered at the corner of his eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you all?” Cash asked as he stared in disbelief.

“We’ll explain later. When I can breathe.” Sola clutched her ribs.


Tags: Jayne Rylon Powertools: The Shields Erotic