Trina parked in the lot of the new Ride & Surf building. The only other car here was Spencer’s. How was she supposed to act around him? Professionally? Friendly? What if he got the wrong idea?

He wasn’t like that. Or he was, and she’d read him wrong.

She slapped her palm lightly against the side of her head, to make her brain shut up. The ambivalence spilling inside her was a dark cloud, compared to the glee she felt when Cody told her she could work on this install.

It would just be a couple of weeks, and as long as Mason wasn’t the one who filed the complaint against her at work, he was probably the safest person for her to be shadowing.

She shut off her engine, bottled up her uncertainty, and made her way inside.

Spencer was seated on a plastic chair in the unfinished lobby, jabbing the screen of his phone. He looked up and smiled when she approached. “Hey.”

“Morning.”

“Coffee and bagels in the temporary break room.” He nodded toward an open door behind him. “Help yourself.”

Her stomach wasn’t going to let her eat. Why did he have to look so good? And be so nice? “I’m okay. Thanks.”

The swoosh of the doors opening gave her an excuse to look away, and the faint churn in her gut turned to borderline nausea when Doug walked in.

She froze her smile in place. “I didn’t realize you were on this installation.”

Cody joined them as well.

“Change of roster.” Doug’s reply was ice sliding down her spine.

“Mason isn’t with us any longer. He’s moved on to another job,” Cody said.

“I hope everything’s all right.” This didn’t have to do with the conversation yesterday, did it? Trina didn’t want to get Mason fired. He hadn’t done anything.

Cody scowled. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

That sounded bad. She found an empty spot of wall to lean against, far enough from everyone she didn’t have to make conversation, but not so much it looked like she was retreating. Over the next ten minutes, the rest of the install crew joined them. It was a little more time of them wandering in and out of the break room, bagels and coffee in hand, before Spencer stood and gave a sharp whistle.

Every head swiveled in his direction. She liked that he could do that.

“Here’s the deal.” His voice carried easily through the lobby. “Four floors, and Cody tells me there are two of you for each. I want to talk to the pairs individually about specifics, but overall, this is how things will work for the next two weeks.

“And as an aside, there are cameras installed throughout the building. They’ll be tested intermittently while you’re working, not as a big brother is watching kind of thing, but so I know if they work.”

He ran through the install plan, leaving them the leeway to do their jobs, but providing appropriate information it would be difficult to misinterpret how he wanted things wired.

She was happy to watch him, as he moved and talked. There was a quiet self-assurance in the way he held himself. He knew everyone was listening. And he looked incredible in jeans and a T-shirt. Did she make a mistake, telling him to stop the other night?

He broke up the group and asked all of them to wait until he’d talked to each pair.

Doug nudged her. “Close your jaw. You’re drooling. Or are you looking to destroy another career?”

She snapped her head up and pointed a narrowed gaze at him. “I’m not drooling,” she whispered.

“Right. Oh holy shit. He got you this job, didn’t he?” Doug’s flat tone didn’t reflect the shocked words. “Did you...?”

“Did I what?” She let the edge creep into her question. If he was going to make lewd remarks or accuse her of sucking someone off for her job, she wanted him to have the balls to say it to her face.

“You know what.”

“If you mean, did I prove I was competent and good at my job, then yes.”

His smirk set her on edge. “You’ve got a few days to prove it, but I don’t buy it. Don’t think I’m going to give you any excuses to tattle on me.”

Did he know? So much for guaranteed anonymity. Or she was overreacting. He was a douche, and he was looking for ways to rile her up. She didn’t know if she could ignore him for the next two weeks, though.

*

SPENCER WAS PLEASED with the progress the group had made, as they took a mid-morning break. True, it had only been a few hours, but the team seemed to understand his vision, all of the hardware had been moved to where it needed to be, to start wiring, and the overall vibe was positive.

Trina was the exception. She hadn’t made eye contact with him all morning, and as her colleagues stood around the cooler full of soda, joking and laughing, she hung back near the wall. She took tiny sips from a can of Mt. Dew, and flicked her gaze at the pack every few seconds.

He took the spot next to her. “Need help holding up the wall?”

She jumped and looked at him, eyes wide, before turning back to her drink. “It’s your wall.”

“How’s your first day?” he asked.

“Great.” She sounded like it was anything but.

He didn’t like seeing her this way. Which, on an all people deserve sympathy level, made sense. But there was more to it—the quiet drive pulsing under his skin to find out what was wrong and crush it, if that would make her smile again. “How are you?”

“Great.”

“That’s great,” he said in a teasing tone.

She glanced sideways at him. “Please don’t keep asking me questions.” The desperation in her voice and gaze tore through him.

He didn’t understand where it came from, but he wouldn’t ignore her request. This wasn’t the place to force the issue. “Okay. I’ll leave you be.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was so quiet, he wasn’t sure he heard her right.

He quelled his uneasiness and the strange protective urge screaming for his attention, and stepped away. If they weren’t at work, he’d push her a little harder to open up.

When break time was over, everyone split and headed back to their floors. He returned to his laptop, to get some work done. He wouldn’t be onsite for the entire installation, but he wanted to be available for the first few days, to make sure things headed in the right direction.

He’d been at it for about an hour, when the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs caught his attention. He looked up, to see one of the crew jogging toward him.

“Do you have a first aid kit in the building?” Brian asked between gasps for breath.

“I have one in my truck. What’s wrong?”

“Shawn sliced his hand open, and we need some gauze or something.”

“Have him sit tight until we get him bandaged.” Spencer was already sprinting outside to grab the kit.

When he found the group on the second floor, a short while later, Trina was kneeling next to Shawn, pressing a wad of tissues against his wrist.

She glanced over her shoulder. Her sullen expression from earlier was gone. She turned back to Shawn. “Keep pressure on this,” she said softly, but with assurance. “I’m going to clean things and wrap it up, and then you can go to the hospital and see if you need stitches.

“Sure.” Shawn nodded and did as ordered.

She took the nylon bag from Spencer without hesitation and unzipped it. He watched her work, impressed with the way she cleaned the wound, then sealed it up, talking calmly to Shawn the entire time.

“Brian.” Cody waved down the tech. “Make sure he gets to Instacare all right.”

Brian helped Shawn to his feet. “Will do.”

“And put on all the forms that this was work related, and my company name as the client,” Spencer said. That would ensure the clinic charged Workman’s Compensation instead of Shawn.

The two men left.

Trina packed up the first aid kit and handed it back to Spencer. “Thanks.” Her smile was freezing over again, but the warmth he caught underneath was worth the glimpse.

She left to wash her hands, and Spencer chatted with Cody about insurance details, before Cody excused himself to check on the other floors.

When Trina returned, she said she was going back to work, and Doug fell into step beside her.

“You’d better not run to HR about this.” Doug’s muttered threat floated to Spencer, as the pair walked away. “The last thing he needs is you bitching that he made you touch him.”

Spencer clenched his teeth at the remark and whirled, but Trina and Doug where halfway up the stairs. He could follow them. Pin the jackass to the wall and tell him to watch his mouth and attitude. That was an almost overwhelming impulse.

One which carried possible assault charges. He could warn Doug to keep his fucking attitude to himself, but from the snippet of conversation he’d heard, that wouldn’t help Trina any if she had to work alone with the guy.

Something Spencer wasn’t proud of, when it came to his past, was that his best friend growing up was a bully in every sense of the word. He had a feeling Trina didn’t know that about her brother, and Tristan changed as he grew up.

But Spencer learned a few important lessons, and stepping into this could make Trina’s life a lot more miserable.

Fuck if he didn’t hate that inability to act and resolve.