Monday morning arrived with a full schedule of meetings. Blake had met with all the lead contractors that morning along with Uncle Henry and Lucy as they got caught up on all the projects they were managing. Abe hadn’t hung around for long after the meeting, but Jose, Tim, and Shawn, the other foremen, all stayed for a few minutes to meet him. His mind boggled at just how many moving pieces they all kept organized.

After that, Uncle Henry had sat him down with the three other folks who worked in the office. These were the people he’d be working with every day. Everyone had given him a rundown of their duties. He was lucky that his part happened at the end. He’d basically been put in charge of signing the checks at this point. That much he could manage, at least until he got a better idea of all the different aspects of the family business.

Blake sat in the conference room with a stack of project folders in front of him. He jotted down a few last notes to help him keep everything organized in his mind before heading back down the hall to his office. Uncle Henry really did need his help. Blake couldn’t deny that part of him had thought his uncle and aunt were being kind by giving him the job at the family business. He’d taken them up on the offer less because of needing the income and more to actually help them. Their motto really had always been family first, and Blake had forgotten that for a while. He wanted to make sure they knew he wouldn’t be forgetting again.

The past week in the office had opened his eyes to the fact that the business really did need someone able to make financial decisions at a higher level. Uncle Henry wouldn’t trust their money to just anyone, and with Uncle David retired, all the responsibility had fallen to him.

The office staff had welcomed Blake with open arms as well. With him there full time, it made getting their questions answered a lot easier. The foremen still had Uncle Henry’s expertise to lean on and, once Blake was fully up to speed on the business side of things, he wouldn’t have to worry about those details any more.

It gave Blake a burst of pride to realize how much they really had needed him. He was making a difference, and part of him felt like he was making it up to them. The disappointment everyone had felt when they found out he’d lied to them about his marriage for so long… well, that was fading now that he was back in the fold.

Funnily enough, it was exactly the way he wanted it to be. Having spent his entire childhood surrounded by the safety and security of family, Blake never wanted to go back to the loneliness he’d brought on himself for the past year. His secret keeping days were over.

He shook his head as he dropped the stack of folders onto his desk. He’d never keep his daughter away from their family again. She absolutely came first.

“You okay?”

Blake raised his head and found Linc standing by the door to his office.

“Yeah. Sorry. Just lost in thought.”

“I just wanted to stop by real quick and confirm our plans. You’ll stop by around lunch time?”

“Yep. I really appreciate you doing this, Linc. You don’t have to take time out of your day if you’re too busy.”

“It’s good. Unless… are you sure you’re okay about last night? If you don’t want—”

“No, no. It’s fine. I swear. I was more embarrassed than anything.”

“You shouldn’t be. I like that you responded to me like that.” Linc grinned. It was just short of being a leer.

“Get your mind out of the gutter and get to work. I’ve got things to do.”

Linc laughed and shot Blake a flirty salute. “Whatever you say, Mr. Bartlett. See you in a little while.”

His brain turned to mush. And he really needed to concentrate. He waited until he heard the outer door to the office close before forcing himself to stop thinking about Linc and start thinking about budgeting spreadsheets.

By the time lunch rolled around, Blake was more than ready to take a break. He hadn’t realized how big their family business had become. The teams managed multiple projects, and the company earned in the millions each year. By the time he made it over to the house to meet Linc, he’d managed to clear his head of contracts and subcontractors and licenses and supplies, but the thought of seeing Linc again had tied his stomach in knots. He sat in the car for a few minutes after he arrived, just trying to settle his nerves. He hadn’t been this affected by a man in a long time.

After taking a few breaths, he turned off the car and stepped out into the oppressive noon air. He heard some banging coming from inside of the house so headed in that direction. There was only one truck parked outside, so Blake figured Linc was the only one working at the house.

He tested the front door and found it unlocked. Pushing the door open, he called out. “Linc?”

“Hey! I’m back in the master suite. Come on in.”

Blake followed the sound of Linc’s voice and found him in the master bathroom. He was lying on the floor under the sink with his legs sticking out. His shirt had ridden up so his muscled abs were showing. Blake couldn’t tear his gaze away, no matter how much he tried.

“Hey,” he said again. His voice only cracked a little.

“There you are. Sorry, I’ll just be a second. The seal on his drain wasn’t holding so I redid it. I’m almost finished.”

“Take your time.” Blake leaned back against the wall and watched as Linc’s muscles flexed with each movement. God, he really needed to get laid. This was bordering on ridiculous. He hadn’t reacted to anyone this strongly in years— not even when he first met Michael.

His ex-husband had been everything Blake wasn’t at the time. Confident, charming, sure of his place in the world. And smart. Michael had been so damn smart. Already in law school by the time they met at a party, and it had only taken one night of extremely hot sex for Blake to decide he’d met the man of his dreams. He’d pursued Michael, but it hadn’t taken long for Michael to pursue him right back. At the time, they’d wanted the same things. Michael would get his degree, then pass the bar, then get some high paying job that would make his family proud. He’d needed a husband to help establish himself as a strong, steady, responsible young attorney. Blake had been more than happy to fill the role.

It turned out that neither of them actually had a clue what they really wanted, although in time they’d learned that it hadn’t really been the other. That thought settled Blake’s libido a bit, but then Linc wiggled out from beneath the sink, his shirt riding up further, and Blake’s body immediately responded. He turned away, pretending to inspect the tile in the shower. He couldn’t have said what color it was if asked.

“What do you think?” Linc asked.

“Huh?” Blake risked a glance and found Linc standing beside him, looking at the tile as well.

“About the tile.”

“Oh. It’s nice.”

Nice. The kiss of death word. He couldn’t have thought of something else, something better?

“Good. Glad you like it. We always go pretty neutral on these flips unless the buyer is involved pretty early in the process. I like the grays and whites but not everyone does.”

Blake forced himself to focus. Yep, the tile sure was gray. And white. There was white too.

“I like the insets,” Blake managed to blurt out after barely a pause. There were a few areas cut into the shower stall that had small square tiles that looked more like glass. He’d seen them a few times when he’d managed to watch something other than cartoons with Caroline or the nighttime dramas he had an addiction to.

“Great,” Linc said. His voice was all business and Blake had no trouble imaging how well he worked with other clients of Bartlett Construction. “So we’re planning on laying the same floor tile throughout the house right now. It’s ceramic, so pretty durable, but looks more like slate, so you have some nice variations in the tile. Makes it less boring, I think. Come on, I’ll show you what it’ll look like.”

No matter how well Linc kept the conversation to business, Blake couldn’t keep his mind on the task at hand. Blake followed Linc out to the garage where stacks of boxes were stored, his eyes locked on Linc’s ass and how great it looked in his well-worn jeans. He really needed to get himself together before he embarrassed himself.

Linc pulled a multi-tool off a holster on his belt and used it to open the box. He pulled out a swirled gray tile and held it up. “What do you think?”

“I like that.” Blake reached out to run his hand over it. It looked like it had texture but was actually smooth. “I don’t want anything Caroline can stumble over.”

“So you want this all the way through or do you want to change things up? We can put something different in the kitchen or bathrooms if you’d prefer.”

Blake thought it over for a minute. “No, let’s keep it the same throughout. I’ll get some rugs, especially for the bathrooms and Caroline’s room.”

“Sounds good. I have the guys scheduled to start in a couple days. They’re finishing up another job today and probably most of tomorrow.”

“What’s left after that?” Blake asked.

“We’ll need to get painting done. I was hoping you’d have some colors picked out?”

“I do. At least for Caroline’s room. I’ll take suggestions on the others. Whatever we can get and still meet the deadline. I’d rather have the furniture unloaded directly into the house than into storage for me to move again, if we can manage it.”

“We can. So I’ll get the painters over tonight. My guy prefers to work in the evenings. He uses a sprayer so he’ll knock it all out tonight and tomorrow. That’ll free us up to get the floors laid. After that, we’ll get the trim up, appliances and cabinets in. Electric and plumbing is done except for the kitchen sink. The cabinets were delayed so we had to do some rearranging. Normally they’d be in by now, but you’ll learn that we’ve gotta roll with the punches sometimes. Anyway, my plumbing guy will get back over here to do the sink once the cabinets are in.”

“So not much left.”

“Not a ton. Once we’re at this stage it’s just getting it put together. All the building work is done, so it usually goes pretty fast from this point on.”

Blake nodded, getting a better idea of the remaining work. The more time he spent in the house, the more it seemed like home. As usual, Aunt Paula had chosen wisely. The house was cozy enough that he wouldn’t be too far apart from Caroline if she needed him, but he had enough space that he wouldn’t spend his days tripping over toys at every turn.

"Why don't we head out to lunch, and then we can go pick out appliances?"

As they made their way out of the house, Blake started envisioning his furniture in the rooms and where he could hang the few paintings he loved. Yeah, this was a good choice. Once they locked up, Linc headed for his truck and gestured for Blake to follow him. Linc climbed behind the wheel and Blake got in the passenger seat.

“So what are you in the mood for?” Linc asked.

“Hmm. Not fast food. You know a good place where we could sit down and get out of the heat?”

“Yep. I’ve got a place in mind.”

He drove them to Hurricane's, a popular sports bar in Havendale. Blake hadn’t been there in years, but he’d been a frequent customer before he left home. Inside the restaurant, Blake recognized several people he'd gone to high school with. He hadn't seen most of them in over ten years, but waved and returned the greetings many of them sent him.

Their server sat them near the back in a booth that gave Blake a great view of the place.

"I haven't been here in so long," Blake said. "It hasn't changed at all."

"Don't need to fix something that ain't broke," Linc joked.

"Are the wings as good as I remember?"

"They're better."

"That's good enough for me."

Blake waited for the server to come back their way for their order, then opened his phone so he could show Linc the appliances he'd been considering.

“Well that was easy,” Linc said once they’d gone over all of the appliances he’d tagged as possibilities. “Although I’m really surprised that you didn’t want stainless.”

“Yeah, well, everyone wants stainless until they have a three-year-old who leaves fingerprints on everything. Plain old white is easier to clean.”

Linc laughed and held up his hot sauce covered fingers. He gave them a wiggle before licking them clean.

“Gross.”

“God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt.”

“And the puns just keep on coming today. You think you’re funny, huh?”

Linc grinned. “I know I am. Hey, have you ever been to Benders?”

“Uh… no? I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a club over in Jacksonville. A bit of a drive for us, but they have great stuff over there on the weekends.”

“It sounds like a place where they do line-dancing and that’s really out of my league. Besides, I’m not really the clubbing type these days.”

Linc frowned, looking disappointed.

Had Linc been asking him out? Blake thought frantically over the last few minutes of conversation.

Then Linc winked at him, his frown changing back into his familiar grin. “You really should reconsider. Nothing looks better than a pair of worn in jeans and a nice pair of cowboy boots.”

Blake’s entire body heated at the vision of Linc in just such an outfit. He already had the worn in jeans down pat, but adding in boots? Blake didn’t even know he was into it until that moment. His imagination worked overtime on the vision of just such an outfit on Linc. Fortunately, Linc stopped teasing him before he embarrassed himself further and they were able to get through the rest of the meal without any major dilemmas.

They finished lunch, got the appliances ordered, and Blake was headed back to the office before he thought back on the conversation. He stopped the car and shifted it into park.

Was he so out of practice that he’d missed Linc asking him out?

With a groan, Blake dropped his head to the steering wheel and decided to put the sexy, winking, jeans-wearing foreman to the back of his mind.