I should’ve been gone an hour ago, but I couldn’t make myself leave. I glanced over at Paige, sleeping on her stomach with the sheet only covering half of her perfect ass. Turns out my Daisy was a restless sleeper and kicked the covers off the whole night. Her long golden hair fanned across her pillow as she moaned and rolled over in her sleep. Fuck. Now the sheet wasn’t covering a damn thing.

I was always up before sunrise, but when you spent the night making love to the girl of your dreams, the last fucking thing in the world you wanted to do was leave her in bed alone. I reluctantly got dressed, but couldn’t take my eyes off the beautiful blonde writhing around in bed. I wished like hell I could jump back in with her.

Paige was mine. I wanted to shout it from every rooftop and paint it across her jerk off ex-fiancé’s forehead. Paige brought out the animal in me in more ways than one.

I leaned down to kiss her forehead and she reached up to put her arms around my neck. “Sorry, Daisy. I have to go.” I wanted to dip my head down and suck on those perfect nipples that were begging for my mouth. But I knew once I did that, it would be hours before I left, and I had a job to do. Too many were depending on me and I couldn’t slack off now, no matter how tempting the offer.

“Don’t go, pleeease . . . stay with me. . . . I could make it worth your while.” In her sleepy haze, she pressed her lips to mine, giving me a slow, wet, and torturous kiss that made me want to rip my pants off and sink myself back inside her. This woman was my kryptonite.

“I wish I could Daisy, but I have to go. I want to be on the job site when the delivery gets there and check on a couple more jobs this morning. I left early yesterday so there’s a lot of shit to catch up on when I get back to the office. I’ll come back tonight, I promise.” I kissed her swollen lips as she whimpered.

“I’m sorry. You left work because of me—” She put her head down and I took her face in my hands.

“I had to get my girl back.” I kissed her lips and backed away. I needed to make a quick getaway if I was going to get to that job on time.

Paige lay back down and pulled the covers up to her neck.

“I like being your girl. A lot.” She beamed at me as she settled onto her side.

“I like that, too. A lot. I’ll see you tonight. I think you and I need a real date.”

“I don’t want to wait until tonight. I don’t have to be in the office today. Still need that logo?” Paige sat up, the sheet still covering most of her. As the early morning sun peeked through her blinds, I could tell she was giving me a little smirk.

I strode back to the bed. “I think we do. Around three o’clock. You and I could talk about it in the storage closet. The one with the brand new lock on the door.”

“Sounds good Mr. Jacobs. See you at three.” Paige grabbed my face and crashed her lips to mine.

I pulled at her hair, making her look up at me. “You’re killing me, you know that?” She darted out her tongue to lick my lips. I was going to blow in my jeans before I even had coffee.

Paige shrugged. “Just thought I’d give you something to get through the day. Have fun at work.” She gave me a light peck on the lips and curled back onto her side. I shook my head as I left her bedroom. Like Jack said, I was whipped—and I didn’t give a shit.

Functioning on forty-five minutes of sleep was tough. I didn’t know how many cups of coffee I needed before I was coherent. I trudged through most of my day exhausted but with a dopey grin on my face.

“I’m guessing you guys are okay now. I didn’t get any hysterical messages from Paige, and you look like the tired cat that ate the canary.” I laughed as Jack handed me another cup of coffee. I sorted out the paperwork from our recent influx of jobs. I knew my ‘not quite all there’ gaze came from being sated and fuck drunk.

“Thanks, bro. Well . . .” I smirked at Jack.

He shook his head and raised his hand. “Just because I’m happy you guys are together doesn’t mean I need play by play, or even hinting at play by play. You need to tell Paige about crazy train, though. And sooner rather than later. Yesterday was only the beginning of the trouble she’s looking to cause.” Jack narrowed his eyes at me. He was absolutely right. My past with Jenna was ugly, but Paige needed to know all the sick details before Jenna tried to drive another wedge between us.

I nodded. “I will. I’ll see her later tonight and fill her in. How are you feeling? We’ve both been pulling pretty long hours. I can take on more if you need some—”

“You took on plenty. I’m fine. I’ll let you know when I think it’s too much.” No, he wouldn’t. I’d have to watch and judge for myself, but from the looks of things he did feel okay. He was eating, had energy, everything seemed fine. I couldn’t help but think I was sitting next to a ticking time bomb, and dreaded picking up the pieces when it finally exploded.

“Hey there he is! Look who’s back from Philly and slumming it with us!”

“Oh hey, Sean. Thanks for coming in.” Jack motioned to the seat next to his desk.

Sean went to school with us, and worked with Jack when he needed extra hands. I never liked him much, but Jack insisted he was good at what he did. Although he was an arrogant prick that grated on my nerves, I could get past it if he could help us out.

I nodded at Sean. “Good to see you too, I guess.” I leaned back in my chair and drained the last of the coffee from the cup. Sean laughed as he took a seat in front of Jack’s desk, resting his feet on the edge.

“Here are the keys to the van. We took the old tile up already so all you have to do is—”

“Yeah, yeah, Jack. I’ve done this for you a hundred times. I don’t need instructions. So, does your cousin still come here to do work for you guys? I was hoping to run into her.”

Jack furrowed his brow at Sean before he leaned forward to answer. “Why do you want to run into Paige?”

Sean leaned his head back and laughed. “I heard she’s hotter than ever. And single.” Sean glanced at me with a sickening smirk on his face. “Have you seen her, Jacobs? I bet she still has the same huge—”

“That’s my cousin, who happens to be like my sister. Watch yourself.” Jack scowled at Sean who kept laughing with his head lowered. I ground my teeth as I glared at the back of his head. I’d been dying to knock him out since we were kids. I was giving him room to say one more stupid thing before I had the joy of getting in his face.

“Hey boys, guess who has the new sign proofs early!” Paige breezed into the office and set two large reels of paper down on Jack’s desk. Today was the first time I was annoyed that Paige wore a dress. Sean’s eyes traveled up and down her body as she leaned over to roll out the papers, and it was all I could do not to knock his teeth down his throat.

Jack stood to peer down on the designs. “Holy shit, Paige. These look awesome! Ev, come take a look.”

Paige peeked over at me with an adorable blush in her cheeks. It brought back recent memories of the last time her face was flushed, and made me grin as I rose from my seat.

Paige met me halfway, and I pulled her into a kiss. She stiffened at first, maybe a little embarrassed by my very public display of affection, but I needed the message to be loud and clear. She eventually melted into me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Point made, dude. You can stop groping the help now.”

“The help?” Paige kept her arms around me as she pursed her lips at Jack. She rested her chin on my chest to gaze up at me. “Is that all I am to you guys?”