How did you sleep through all that noise?
Cami calls out my name, but I’m too focused on my mission to give her anything more than a quick morning kiss before running out the back door. I rush across the grassy law, my lungs heaving with each ragged breath.
“Wait!” I wave my hands in the air.
One of the workers looks up before signaling to the others. A few stop pounding their hammers while others start talking amongst themselves.
“Where is the old dock?” I press a hand against my chest as I try to regulate my breathing.
“We were told to get rid of it.”
Dammit, Cal.“Where did it go?”
“Our guy just drove off with the dump truck thirty minutes ago.”
My stomach dips. “He left?”
The man nods.
Oh, no.
“Get inside now,” Cal orders from behind me, sending a shiver up my back.
I spin around. “You destroyed my dock.”
“I’m about to destroy a lot more if you don’t get your ass in the house.” His voice is a deep rumble I feel in my gut.
Goose bumps break out across my skin when I glance back at him. “What’s wrong?”
“What isn’t?” His gaze flickers over my body, driving his point home.
I look down and register my PJs for the first time this morning.
No wonder my chest hurt while running. It’s not like I bothered to throw on a bra before sprinting across the lawn like a crazy woman. “Oh, shit.”
“Oh, shit is right. Let’s go.” He motions for me to lead the way.
We only make it a few steps before someone whistles behind us. I look over my shoulder to see who it is. Even without contacts, I can make out Ernie Henderson, the town’s resident redhead and nosy mailman, walking toward me with a box in his hands.
He stops to wave at me. “Lookin’ good, Castillo! Wanna run around a little more for me?”
That little…
Ernie isn’t even interested in women, but if it means getting a rise out of Cal, he will tease me in a heartbeat. He is just like his mother.
Freaking Isabelle.
I lift my middle finger in the air, which makes my shirt rise up. A fresh breeze hits my now-exposed butt. Cal grunts as he yanks his hoodie off before shoving it over my body, making a mess of my hair in the process.
The smell of him surrounds me like a cloak. I sneak in a second sniff, only to be met with Cal’s narrowed eyes.
“What?”
“Get inside.Now.”
I must not move fast enough for Cal because he smacks my ass, making the skin sting with the imprint of his palm.
I pause my ascent up the small hill. “What the hell was that for?”