Bex was going to kill all of them. Ruth for letting Gabe past the front desk, Emma for giggling when Bex walked Gabe into the Quality Department as part of the tour, and herself for caving in around Gabe in the first place. For letting her greedy eyes drift over his face and his body every time something in the building captured his attention. For touching his arm to steer him in the right direction as they stepped toward the doors to the production floor.

She couldn’t help it.

He looked good.

He looked…well, actually, with his hairnet on he looked ridiculous.

“Are you sure I have to wear this?” Gabe asked, touching a finger to the gauzy material that covered his dark, thick hair.

“Production floor rules. Gotta keep you safe.” Bex grinned and pressed a plastic packet into his hands. So, yeah, she let her hands linger on his a minute longer than necessary. Who was counting? “And don’t forget the earplugs.”

She pushed through the doors and stepped into one of her favorite places in Las Vegas. Was it lame to think your work was awesome? Bex didn’t care.

All around them the production floor hummed with activity. Huge machines clanked and rumbled, spitting out a rainbow of sex toys, while the coworkers scattered around different workstations chatted as they trimmed, polished, boxed, and shipped the inventory.

Bex pointed at the nearest machine. “We use injection mold machines for most of our products, and the base of most of our toys is liquid silicone rubber. You can get all sorts of textures out of it, and it’s a perfect material for sex toys because it’s non-toxic, non-reactive, and not prone to microbial growth.”

Gabe lifted an eyebrow. “And it feels good.”

She smiled. “That, too.”

“So, what products are the easiest to make?”

“A really basic silicone dildo.” Bex walked him toward one of the production lines. “We use a simple mold to create them, and we pour the silicone directly, so there is less material waste. That makes it a very cost-effective process. Once the silicone has cooled into shape, the toys come out of the molds and get hand-trimmed to reach the smoothest, highest-quality shape.”

She pointed at a row of erect, shiny silver penises being marched along a conveyor belt in an almost regal procession. “Some of the toys also get hand-painted for extra detail. And from there they get moved over into the packaging department.”

“Is the whole company based at this facility?”

“Nope. We’ve got all the business-y departments at our Seattle headquarters. You know—Sales, Accounting, Marketing. But the production magic happens here. We have our designers and Quality Team here, along with the people out on the floor who run the shop and pack and ship the toys.”

She led him through the huge room, and Gabe studied everything with eager eyes, asking thoughtful questions as they walked. His interest in the manufacturing process seemed genuine, and his smile made Bex soften. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

Gabe paused in front of a shelf that held an assortment of dildos and vibrators. Above the shelf hung a few posters of human anatomy, like the kind you’d see in a doctor’s office. Cross-sections of a female pelvis were displayed next to a line drawing of the male form. At the end of the day, you were making products that went inside real bodies. The biology had to work out.

“How’d you even get into this job?” Gabe asked.

“Well, I went to college for industrial engineering and design. But while I was there, I happened to come across a promo video that our owner had put together to announce that the company was building a manufacturing facility in Vegas. It was big news. Anyway, let’s just say I had a personal interest in seeing the facility, so I managed to get myself a tour. From there it was history.”

Gabe smiled at Bex in a way that made her insides dip. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you like your job.”

She shook her head. “No, I love my job. It combines all my favorite things: creative design, technology and electronics…”

“Sex,” Gabe supplied with a rakish grin.

There was no use denying it. After all, when she hadn’t thought she’d see him again, she’d been very, um, enthusiastic about the subject.

“Sex,” she said, her face flushed. Why did saying that feel like making a contract with him, like agreeing to sneak into her office together and rip each other’s clothes off? And why did she still want that?

She dropped her eyes to where Gabe’s pulse fluttered in his neck as he swallowed hard. A small silver scar rippled at the base of his throat as he moved. What would he taste like if she swirled her tongue there now?

Gabe broke the tension, gesturing at a row of slim dildos behind her head. “I see we’ve made it to the elusive baby dildo area.”

Bex remembered to breathe. She made her voice go light as she replied. “Indeed we have.”

“So does this particular baby dildo keep you up at night?” Gabe touched a finger to one of the toys.

His gentle probing was a test, but two could play this game.

“Oh, yes,” Bex said. “That one is exhausting. Needs lots of attention.”

Gabe’s eyes widened, and air hissed out of his mouth. “See, you can’t talk to me like that and not understand why I’d get the wrong idea.”

“Sorry,” she said, but she didn’t feel bad about it at all. “My brain is wired for dick jokes. Occupational hazard.”

“You might be the coolest girl I know.”

She basked in the compliment. “Why thank you. Anyway, that just about concludes the tour.”

She pointed out a trash can for Gabe’s hair net and ear plugs as she led him back to the front lobby. They stopped just out of earshot of Ruth.

“So,” he said.

“So.” She wasn’t quite ready to let him walk out of here, but he couldn’t stay either. She needed to get back to work, and anyway, that was the whole problem with him—he was distracting her from the job she needed to do. The prize she planned to win.

Gabe dropped his hand from the door to the parking lot and took a step closer to her. Bex fought the shiver of desire that wanted to sweep through her body. “What would it take to make you change your mind about seeing me again?”

She snorted out a laugh because it was easier than giving in to that tempting mouth of his. “Patience.”

“I’m being serious.”

“I know.” She frowned and smoothed a hand over her skirt. “I’m in the market for a friend right now, Gabe. I can’t promise you anything else.”

“Okay.”

She jerked her head up. “What? You just spent the last hour trying to convince me that there’s more than friendship between us. And I don’t know that I can give you that.”

Gabe nodded and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’m willing to make some concessions.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re fun to be around. Because the sex was amazing. Because if you spend enough time around me, you’re going to change your mind.”

Ah. So that was his game. “Do I look that easy to push over?” she asked.

Gabe swept a heated gaze over her face. “You look like someone who’s very good at making up her mind. But you also look like someone who wouldn’t throw out a piece of evidence just because it didn’t suit her argument. And we both know the evidence points to something incredible.”

“Stop talking like you want to get into my pants,” she grumbled. She gave his arm a light shove, which was a mistake because all it did was give her a clear reminder of how ripped he was. Which of course made her remember those arms wrapped around her, holding her against the rest of his hard body.

Dammit.

Gabe’s eyes danced with laughter. “It was just a compliment.” God, he was persistent. And—yes—it felt kind of nice to be wanted for more than just a fling. Maybe she should revisit her position. On the other hand, if she was craving a connection, she could always adopt a cat. Really hit that spinsterhood stereotype home.

She couldn’t help smiling at Gabe as he slipped on his molten grin, amused and confident at the same time.

“It was a compliment with a purpose.” Bex sighed. The more she defended her single lifestyle, the more stupid it sounded. Especially when he wore that sexy look so well. Another five minutes with those eyes raking over her body and she might cave in.

Gabe leaned close and lowered his voice so no one else could hear. “You’re more than one night for me, Rebecca Kingsley.” His breath heated her whole body, made her want to forget all reason and just say yes already.

She shook her head, more to convince herself than anything. “You can’t know that.”

“Why?” He caught her eyes, and his face was warm and full of desire. But it didn’t change anything. He was still a bad idea.

Her lips trembled. “Because you don’t know me.”

“But I will,” Gabe said quietly, his face so serious, so stubbornly sure.

He turned back to the door, ready to push out into the sunlight. His linen button-down shirt hugged the sculpted muscles of his back and highlighted every controlled movement he made as he walked away from her.

“Wait,” Bex said, and Gabe turned with the tiniest lift of his lips. Oh god, please don’t make her regret this. “If you happened to show up in a place where I happened to be hanging out, we could probably hang out together.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Gabe nodded, and her stomach fluttered. “It could be awkward if we were both competing against each other in, say, a trivia competition in a random but well-appointed bar.”

She twisted her hands together so she wouldn’t reach for him. “Yeah,” she agreed. “We should probably avoid awkward at all costs.”