Man at Work Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Okay.” She looked at the
bucket of thinset. “I think one problem is that you are not tapping
the tiles in place with the rubber mallet.”
    “ I don’t have one.” She
didn’t add that she was not going back to Sampson’s to get
one.
    “ I also noticed you’re not
using those pegs to keep the tiles in place at the corners. I saw
Ga—uh, that guy in class using them.”
    “ Aw, shut up.”
    The shrill ring of Candace’s cell phone cut
off any smart remarks Toye might have had.
    Candace didn’t recognize the number, but she
answered anyway. She hoped it wasn’t anyone from Faith Industries.
She wasn’t ready to give them a status report. She answered in her
most professional voice. “Candace Jones speaking.”
    “ Hello, Candy.”
    Warmth rushed between her legs as his
familiar, deep voice called her by his self-imposed nickname. Her
pulse raced. Her mouth went dry. A thousand thoughts ran through
her mind. But the one thing that came out was, “Why do you insist
on calling me that name?”
    Gabe’s sexy chuckle filtered across the
line. “I told you, you’re like candy to me.”
    She imagined him licking
his lips as he spoke. Images of him
drizzling hot chocolate syrup across her most intimate body parts
made her stomach flutter. The man turned her on! She had to get her
horny ass in line before she drooled all over her cell phone. “To
what do I owe this pleasure, Gabe?”
    At the mention of his name, Toye, Marlowe
and Ronnie stopped their idle chitchat and turned toward Candace.
In unison, three mouths dropped open. Candace almost laughed at
their reaction. She was just as shocked to get a call from
Gabe.
    “ I got your number from
the info sheet you filled out,” he answered.
    “ Oh really? I guess it’s
true. You’ll stop at nothing to get what you want.”
    “ Hmm. I like your train of
thought, but it’s not like that. It’s perfectly normal for me to
contact our customers and follow up after they’ve attended a
class.”
    Uh huh. I’ll bet!
    “ So,” he cleared his
throat. “How did your kitchen renovation turn out? Did you use what
you learned in class?”
    When Candace eyed the floor, the despair of
her forgotten failure washed over her like a cold tide. “Not
exactly,” she admitted.
    “ Oh? Why not? Didn’t the
products I suggested work?”
    “ It wasn’t the products.
It was more like a user error.”
    He chuckled again. She closed her eyes,
letting the sound wrap around her. Everything about him was
sexy—even his laugh. She opened her eyes to find her family staring
curiously at her. Toye had a knowing smirk on her face. Marlowe was
stifling a smile. Candace rolled her eyes and turned away so they
couldn’t see how giddy she felt.
    “ Toye says I didn’t use
the mallet or those little peg thinga-ma-jigs between the
tiles.”
    “ They’re called tile
spacers,” Gabe supplied.
    “ Yeah, those.”
    “ Well, I’d be happy to
take a look and get you back on track.”
    Her heart flip-flopped at the thought of
having Gabe here in her personal space. Would he brush up against
her backside again? A thrill of sinful excitement rushed through
her. She couldn’t have that man here making her panties wet every
time he made a move. “No, no,” she protested. “That’s not
necessary. Besides, I’m sure you have a lot going on.”
    “ Nothing that’s more
important than making sure one of my customers is one-hundred
percent satisfied.”
    The way he said the
word satisfied hung in the air like an open invitation. Candace could feel
three pairs of eyes boring into her back as she spoke. She looked
over her shoulder to see a trio of hopeful faces staring back. When
Toye mouthed the word please , guilt flooded through
Candace. No matter what her feelings about Gabe, she owed it to her
cousin and her sisters to get some professional help. It was
obvious they could not do this alone. They were all frustrated. If
she was going to take a chance on someone, it may as well be