THIS GIRL IS too innocent and sweet to be hanging out at a construction site. When I woke up this morning, that was the first thought that came to mind after reading her text. Most people would just say ‘home, good night.’ And for some reason, as I wait for the crew to show up for the morning meeting, I’m still smiling at Jade’s message.
Jade is due here an hour after I talk to my crew about expectations and our timeframe. One by one, everyone starts filing in with their coffees in hand. They plop into the folding chairs I set up at my home base, which also happens to be the garage at my house. The job site isn’t fit for this meeting, which is going to consist of a lot of going over contracts and paperwork that needs to be filled out and signed for both myself and Jade.
I take a head count to double check that everyone is here and accounted for at nine on the dot. My first rule—if you don’t arrive on time, don’t bother coming at all. They all know this since I’ve worked with everyone here before.
“Listen up; the quicker we get this done, the better, so save your questions until the appropriate time. Each of you knows your role from previous jobs, and the paperwork from me is no different than the past jobs we’ve worked on. They just need updating for the current year,” I tell them as they pass around the forms.
We spent the next hour going over policies, workers comp, sick pay, holiday schedules, and all the other red tape that I need to. I see Jade sneak in quietly, looking too sophisticated for the bunch of thugs we are. Everyone here is dressed in our ratty jeans and shirts made for getting dirty, but she’s dressed for the office—in that dress I told her was fit for the PTA. Only, in person, it looks nothing like in the picture she sent and shows way too many curves than the angle the photograph did. Goddamn, I’m glad these guys signed the sexual harassment forms because I need to keep them in line around her. One female amongst a crew of mostly men is just asking for trouble.
“All right, I’m going to hand the meeting over. You all know that the town is documenting this project. I’m going to introduce you to the woman who will oversee that. I expect you to be on your best behavior when she’s around. That means keep your foul language to a minimum and treat her with the same respect as any other crew member here. Ms. Foxton, you’re up.”
Jade walks forward. When she stands right next to me, she takes control of the room. “Thanks Jeremy for that little intro, but there’s no need for you guys to hide who you really are. In other words, swear away, unless I’m wearing my don’t swear t-shirt. Anyway, your amazing boss filled you in on the what and the why we are filming before this or else you wouldn’t be here, so I’m not going to bore you with that again.”
The guys chuckle at her. “Seriously, I want to capture real moments with each of you, and if a cuss word slips, I can always have our wonderful editing team work around it. So feel free to say suck it all you want.”
She reaches in her briefcase and takes out a stack of papers to hand out. “I’ve put everything into one big book for you. Sorry for all the reading homework, but if you don’t sign, you won’t be photographed or filmed. You lose your five-minute claim to fame. Make sure you read everything—not that there is anything overcomplicated in here; it’s just your standard give up your rights to any sort of private life while on the job. Are there any questions?”
No one responds. “Great. That’s about it for me. I will be collecting these from Jeremy in two days, so you have a little time to read it over. One last thing, my number and email are on the last page if you have any questions while you are enjoying your contractual reading. Thanks, everyone.”
I announce, “Class dismissed. I want those papers in my hand in two days like the lady said.” I look at Jade as everyone leaves my garage. “Suck it. Really, Jade? Have you been around a construction site before?”
“You are very bossy. I’m not big on swearing. So that’s about all you are getting from me.”
“I am the boss, and we’ll see. I’m thinking since you lifted the ban on language, in a month, you’ll be talking like us.”
She looks at me with a sideways glance. “I doubt that.”
I start folding up the chairs, and Jade starts helping me. As I stack them in the corner, I ask, “How did the date go?”
I shouldn’t. It’s none of my business, but seeing as she texted me when she got home, I’m assuming she was alone.
“It went well.”
“Well or really well?”
“He was nice,” she says with a shrug of her shoulders.
“That’s the kiss of death for men.”
“What is?”
“The N-word. No man wants to be told that,” I joke, but at the same time, I’m completely serious. The nice word basically means you’ve entered the friend zone.
“I think you are nice.”
“Ouch. You wound me,” I say as I grip my chest.
“It’s true. You act all rough and tough here, but I heard that caring side of you last night when you panicked about me. Okay, maybe it was a bit growly, but it was nice to have someone care.” She smiles.
“Don’t tell the guys here about that. They would lose all respect for me if they thought I was a nice guy.”
Jade comes over, wraps her arms around me, and squeezes. For a second, I stand there like an idiot, wondering what I should do. My arms dangle at my side in an awkward position and dangerously close to her ass.
“Thanks for caring,” she whispers against my chest. Even though she’s tall, her head tucks under mine.
When she says that, I wrap my arms around her. Last night, I had no right to feel possessive of her even though that was exactly how I felt. I didn’t want her to go out with a complete stranger. It’s not safe. I also didn’t want to think about that guy touching her in any way either, but I couldn’t stop it. And when I did, that’s when I sent all the messages to check on her. That guy didn’t deserve a single touch from her, especially one of her amazing hugs, which feels too good right now. I release my arms from around her after only holding her like for a moment, but it was long enough to get a whiff of her shampoo. It smells like sweet peaches and fresh, exactly like her. This girl shouldn’t be making me feel these things. I shouldn’t smell her like a goddamn dog, and I definitely shouldn’t react to her scent like I am. Which is half hard and aching.
I clear my throat as she steps away from me and shove that feeling I have deep down. I already told myself I wouldn’t let another woman get to me for a long time. My heart needs to stay locked up tight. With Jade, it needs to have a chain wrapped around it too. Our friends would kill me if I did anything to hurt her. Staying in the friend zone is exactly where we need to be. “You know I’ll always be here if you need me, Jade. You want to tell me about Mr. Nice guy?”
“There’s not much to say. We had a few drinks, dinner, and that was it.” She plops down next to the chest I am building. The one I still haven’t decided what the hell I’m going to use it for.
“What was wrong with him? Did he smell? Did he have bad breath? Oh, I know; he was tattooed and pierced head to toe and looked nothing like his picture,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
“Nothing, no, no, and he looked exactly like his picture. There was just no spark. We both knew it, but it was a nice first date to go on.”
The first date implies there will be more, and I don’t think I can handle her going out on more of these match dates. I feel like I need to keep her safe from each one of these guys. “Are you going out with him again?”
“No. I meant first of many first dates when I go out with a different guy from Intuitions.”
Fuck.
“But I think I am going to wait before I do. Did you get the email from them last night?”
I probably did, but the truth is, I couldn’t give two shits about the dating site. In fact, I only signed up to check the place out. When she said I was the only one who knew she signed up for this, I needed to take on the role of what I knew her friends would do and make sure she stayed safe.
“I haven’t had a chance to look at my personal emails yet. Did I miss something important?”
“Intuitions is hosting a speed dating night. I think I want to try it out.”
“Hell, no,” I all but blurt out. I have better things to do with my time than that. I could sit in my workshop, choking on sawdust, and have a better time.
“Why not? It sounds like fun,” Jade says.
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Well, I’m doing it. They only have so many spots, so I paid this morning. So instead of one date, I get to go on close to fifty dates.”
The thought of fifty men pawing at Jade fucks with my head. I think of her best friends, and what they would say to me if they knew I could have been there to watch over her.
“Is there alcohol?” I ask because I have a feeling I’m going to need a shit ton of it to get through the night.
“Yes, and it’s included with the registration fee. So, you’ll go?”
“I guess,” I say as I run my hand through my hair.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For going when I know you really don’t want to.”
I’m a sucker. I’m a chump. And I have a feeling, when it comes to Jade, I’m going to be doing a lot more things that I wouldn’t normally do just to keep an eye on her. I’m doing it for her friends. At least, that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.