Major Renovations (Ritter University #1) by Vanessa M. Knight Page A

people— maybe he’d meet someone to take his focus off work. Two birds. One stone. And all. At least that was the plan. But no. Her phone rang nonstop. He did not relax. He did not meet a nice woman. He did, however, torment her till her phone limped home each night, the battery spent.
    “Ugh. It was a scary place. Desperate people looking for summer flings. Not my scene.” Her father walked toward his truck. “Don't let her work too hard.” Famous last words from a man who worked so hard he made himself sick. His tires spit up rocks as he headed out of the lot, and then silence.
    She turned her head to look at Ski, but he was staring at the building. “The windows are closed,” he said slowly.
    “Yeah, you have AC.”
    Ski smiled. Gorgeous pink lips...
    Bam ! She hit the trigger on the nail gun, holding it inches from her thumb. Crap. She liked that thumb and she was an inch away from losing it. Focus . She turned to him, and those lips had stopped smiling. Stop looking at his lips !
    “So, how's everything going?” Ski shoved his hands into his front pockets.
    She could see the muscles of his chest bulging through the tight cotton. Hard, well-defined ridges making way to a taut waist. Or maybe that was just from her memory. The memory of that naked chest, water making tempting rivulets down smooth skin and firm muscles. Sweat beaded and dripped down the side of her neck.
    Well, at least she wasn’t looking at his lips. Wasn’t there a question in there somewhere? “Ummm…”
    “How’s it going? Did the inspection go all right?”
    “Fine. He gave us the go-ahead, so we're back on track.” She hated talking to the top of his head, so she stepped down from the ladder. “I was kind of surprised you weren’t here.”
    “Seriously? After last time, I didn’t think I was welcome.” Ski rocked from side to side, his eyes on the floor. “Well, I'll get out of your way.”
    Ouch. Out of her way? Sounded vaguely familiar. She never should have gone off on him like that.
    Ski turned and headed around the side of the building. She stared after him. Watching him from the front was a delicious view, but the back wasn’t bad either. She couldn’t decide which she liked best. But right now, it didn’t matter which was best. She needed to stop him. She still owed him a grovel. Crappity-crap. “Um, Ski?”
    He stopped, a sad excuse for a smile on his face. “Yeah?”
    She was pure evil. Poor guy. His eyes looked so sad, his posture so defeated. How could she have hurt this beautiful man? Oh, right— the pure evil thing. “I'm sorry about the other day. I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you. The job. The inspector. It was all my issue and I was a total bitch. I'm sorry.”
    He stood there. Dark brown eyes staring. His silence was a knife to her psyche. The sweat on her neck prickled. Crap. She ran a hand from her head to shoulders, trying to ease the discomfort.
    “No worries. I understand. It was tough day and I’m sorry.” A grin curved his lips. A real smile, not that fake crap he’d been selling the past week. “Thanks.” He went around the back of the house and disappeared. Interesting. Words of understanding and a thanks, and then an immediate disappearing act. She shook her head. It was probably for the best. He was way too nice a guy to be looking for the type of no-strings relationship she wanted. Or needed.
    She’d made a mistake on the job and she was still paying for it. But it wasn’t going to happen again. She couldn’t let her dad down. He was all she had left. And hell, her mom let him down enough for an entire lifetime.
    She didn’t have time for gorgeous Polish-speaking fratties with beautiful, sad eyes. She didn’t have time for anyone long-term. The occasional good time was fine. A night on the town, a movie. No emotions. No attachments. No one to let her down— or leave— or both.
    “Yeah.” She sighed and looked around. The rough day looked more like a rough week.