by Kaley Colter
Penny started dry-washing her hands, searching for an answer. “Oh, was that you? It was…dark in the pub. I didn’t recognize you.”
Ethan looked unconvinced. “Mhmm, and that’s why your jaw dropped when I turned around just now, right?”
Penny wanted to die. She was humiliated. This man was her superior, and she had gotten off on the wrong foot with him before she had even officially started working there.
She turned her eyes to the floor, defeated. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to offend you. Can we just put this all behind us and be professional?”
Ethan’s face softened. “Sure thing, Penny. Why don’t you take a seat.”
Penny dropped into the chair in front of his desk as he sat down across from her. The arrogance was gone from his eyes, but he was still looking at her in a way that made her feel vulnerable. Exposed, even.
“So,” he said, leaning back in his chair and propping his right foot on his left knee, “you’re the new assistant superintendent. Nick tells me you have a very impressive academic history.”
Penny smiled, glad he knew about her accomplishments and hoping that it would make him respect her as a coworker. “Yes, I was very successful in my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I worked really hard to get here.”
“From your long list of awards, I have no doubt that that’s true,” he replied genially. “And I have to say, it’s refreshing to have a woman join us. The only woman we’ve had in our presence up until now is Ellie, Nick’s wife. I think it’s about time we balance out the gender ratio around here.”
“You do? Well that’s nice to hear. From what my professors told me, there’s a bit of hostility toward women in this field.”
“Well, when I said we should balance out the gender ratio, I meant like adding one or two women at the most. Us guys wouldn’t be too happy if a bunch of girls started whipping us into shape and telling us what to do,” Ethan said jokingly.
Penny laughed. “Well, you men do have such large egos.”
“Yes, and they bruise very easily,” he added with a grin.
Penny smiled, scooting her chair closer to the desk as Ethan pulled out the booklets he had prepared for her.
Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought. He was being extremely kind, setting her at ease and joking with her like she was a friend. At least, she hoped he was joking, because she’d definitely have to beat him to a pulp if he actually refused to respect her as an engineer just because she was a woman. If there was one thing she wouldn’t stand for, it was being talked down to because she wasn’t a man. And she would be extremely vigilant to make sure that that wouldn’t happen.
* * * *
Ethan put his truck into park and turned off the ignition, rotating in his seat to look over at Penny. He had driven with her for over an hour to get to Novum’s newest wind turbine project, and being in such close quarters with the woman he desperately wanted to get his hands on had been an extremely challenging task. And she certainly hadn’t made it any easier for him, seeing that she’d given him a rock-hard erection every time she trailed her fingertips absentmindedly along the neckline of her blouse. And when she wasn’t doing that, she was sweeping her fingers along her plump bottom lip, or crossing her arms over her chest and unintentionally pushing her gorgeous breasts up against the thin, straining fabric of her shirt. Christ, she was lucky he hadn’t pulled over on the side of the road and forced her head down on his cock. It was all done out of innocence, of course, but for Ethan, her obliviousness only made the heat in his groin build up higher.
He still couldn’t believe that fate had dropped Penny into his lap so quickly after he thought he’d lost her. After she had escaped from him at the bar last Friday, he had returned to work in a bit of a foul mood and spent the weekend doing little more than moping around his house searching for excuses to be irritable. And so it was no great surprise that seeing her standing in his office on Monday morning had rendered him nothing short of euphoric. He had his mystery woman in his hands. He was her supervisor, and she was stuck with him from now on whether she liked it or not.
He also had to congratulate himself on the exceptional insight he had demonstrated in the bar when he’d assessed her character during their little staring contest. He had been absolutely spot on—she was every bit as feisty and strong-willed as he had predicted. And every bit as vulnerable behind her tough front, too.
Penny was leaning forward in her seat and staring through the windshield at the construction site in front of them. It was quite an impressive scene to behold, but the frequency of Ethan’s visits to places like this meant that they had lost a bit of their magic for him. Not for Penny, though. From the way she was staring at the construction workers milling about, at the excavators and bulldozers and 400-foot crane, and at the three completed 260-foot turbines and dozens of other partially erected ones, Ethan could tell that this was an entirely new experience for her.
He cleared his throat, jerking Penny out of her apparent trance. “Pretty neat stuff, huh?”
“Um, ya,” she answered, trying to conceal her fascination by darting her eyes around the interior of the truck. “Pretty neat.”
Ethan shook his head. God, she was stubborn. And her behaviour was all too transparent. She didn’t want to let him see her excitement because she feared that it would alert him to the fact that she was lacking in job experience, and appearing as an inferior in any way was not something she’d allow.
“Okay,” he said, “we have a ton of stuff to do here before we head back into the city. First, one of the turbine generators has failed. This happens from time to time, and the first thing we do in this situation is check the—”
“Stator,” she finished for him. “I know, check the stator. I have a graduate degree in mechanical engineering, over here. Not some ignoramus fresh out of high school.”
Ethan felt his lips crack into a grin. “Jeez, you’re touchy. I just thought I’d go over the basics with you. That’s what I’m here for, you know. To train you. Answer your questions. Show you how things work…”
She huffed and rolled her eyes—none too subtly, Ethan observed. “Ya, well it would be nice if you didn’t have such low expectations of me. I’m pretty smart, you know.”
“Oh, I know.”
Penny jerked her face around to look at him. “Was that you being sarcastic?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
Ethan threw his hands up in surrender, trying to suppress his growing amusement. “Jesus, Penny, no I was not being sarcastic. I know you’re incredibly smart. Probably smarter than I was at my first job. I’m sorry for not realizing that you would know to check the stator.”
“Well, it was just a pretty insulting assumption, that’s all,” she mumbled under her breath.
Ethan bit down on his cheek. He’d had just about enough of her sass. “Okay, so before we check the goddamn stator on the generator,” he went on, “we’re going to have a word with some of the construction workers. I called ahead and they’re waiting for us in the trailer. Their work’s been getting a little shoddy lately, and the boss wants us to emphasize the importance of checking the turbine bolts, aligning the gear boxes properly, pitching the blades right, and all the little stuff in between. This is also the perfect time to introduce you to everyone.”
“All right,” she replied. “Sounds good.”
Ethan had parked in front of the large trailer they had rented for the duration of the project. He stepped out of his truck and headed for the door, opening it and standing to the side so Penny would go in ahead of him. There were ten or so workers standing around drinking coffee, and they all turned to face the newcomers when Ethan and Penny stepped inside.
“Hey, Ethan,” John, one of the foremen, called out. “Didn’t bring us any doughnuts this time, I see?”
Ethan let out a laugh and shook his head. “No, John, no doughnuts. I don’t want to fill you guys up with junk. It’ll slow you down out there.”
“That your new se
cretary?” John said with a wink as he gestured over at Penny.
Oh, God. That poor, poor man.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Uh, no, John, that’s not my—”
Penny put out a hand to stop Ethan from continuing. She stepped forward and placed the clipboard she had been holding on the front desk, her movements menacingly slow and methodical.
“Excuse me?” she asked, her face drawn taut with ire. “What was that, John?”
John’s eyes widened in alarm. He clearly hadn’t expected the “hot secretary” to fire back at him, and his body was so seized up that it looked like he was suffering a small stroke. “Uh, uh…” he stammered.
“Why don’t you go ahead and explain exactly what you meant by that comment? Because your sly little wink was so obvious that I’m sure everyone in the room saw it. So what did you mean, John? Do you think I’m some bimbo who takes Ethan’s calls and brings him his coffee and sleeps with him on the side?”
“Uh, no ma’am, I do not think that. I don’t think that at all. Not a bit.”
Ethan smiled. He had to hand it to her, she knew exactly how to command the respect of guys like this. They were all grizzled, churlish men in their forties and fifties, and they certainly did not respond to people who tiptoed their way around confrontation and relied on the arts of soft-spoken courtesy to assert control.
Ethan stepped forward and crossed his arms over his chest. “This, gentlemen, is Novum’s newest assistant mechanical superintendent. Her name is Penny Winters. Say hello, guys.”
“Hello,” they all said in unison, looking shiftily at the ground.
“So who among you has been in charge of checking the bolts on the turbines?” Penny asked, getting straight to business.
“That would be Ted,” John said quickly as he pointed to the man standing beside him, clearly motivated by a desire to shift her attention to one of his coworkers.
Penny looked over at Ted and gave him a small nod of greeting. “Ted, are you aware of the fact that a lot of the bolts aren’t torqued properly?”
Ted rubbed his nose with his finger and looked down at his feet. “Uh, ya.”
“And why has that been happening?”
“I guess, uh…I guess I’ve just been slacking a bit with that lately.”
Penny shook her head in disapproval, and Ethan had to hold back a laugh when he saw the look of shame on Ted’s face.
“Well, it really needs to stop,” Penny went on. “I suggest you be more rigorous with your inspections from now on. Is that something you can do? Or will we have to hand over this responsibility to someone else?”
“Yes ma’am, that is most definitely something I can do,” he answered promptly.
Wow, Ethan was pretty impressed. Whenever he confronted these guys about a problem, he only ever got a list of excuses. On every single construction site he had ever been on, when the workers slipped up, they always refused to claim responsibility. And now, first day on-site, this little newbie had them all on their best behaviour. He might just be a little jealous.
Penny flipped through her clipboard and turned to Ethan. “Do you want to go over the gear box issue?”Ethan smiled down at her. “No, Penny. You got this. I’ll stand here and pitch in if you need me.”
Chapter 3
Ethan walked through the front doors of the building and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. It was his lunch break, and he planned on having his usual meal of roasted salmon and sautéed greens at his usual pub across the street. His coworkers often mocked him for his loyalty to the same menu item and the same restaurant day in and day out, but Ethan liked order and regularity. It was an expression of his need for control, he supposed, and another way his inner dom made itself present in his everyday life.
As he neared the crosswalk, he stopped himself when he saw Penny sitting on the edge of the fountain in front of their building. Her small backpack was sitting at her feet, and she was picking at a sandwich in her lap. She was alone, and from the looks of it, it was a condition that she wasn’t unused to. She didn’t know anyone was looking at her, and Ethan could tell that her guard was down. There was an air of resignation about her, as though she had forced herself to accept being alone—and lonely. Ethan was positive that, deep down, she wanted to let somebody in, but he was just as certain that she was too damn stubborn to let herself realize it.
He strode over to the fountain and sat down beside her, making her jump in surprise and nearly drop her sandwich onto the ground.
“Hi there, Penny,” he said, smiling at her flustered agitation.
“Oh, um, hi,” she answered, folding the tinfoil over her sandwich and tossing it into the trash can beside her.
Ethan frowned. “You hardly touched your sandwich.”
He looked at her more closely. She was wearing a skirt and blouse, and their thin fabric and relatively tight fit clearly revealed her slender frame. She looked quite thin—too thin for his liking, and he planned on making sure she ate more from now on.
“Oh, ya,” she said after a pause. “I wasn’t too hungry today.”
Ethan could tell she was a little nervous around him, and that was probably due to the fact that their conversation was not only taking place outside of a work-related environment, but was also lacking in work-related subject matter. After their little encounter at the bar, she was so desperate to preserve the professional sanctity of their working relationship that she had become very unsure of herself, and he knew that that self-doubt was something rather unusual and uncomfortable for her.
“Why are you sitting all by yourself? You know, a lot of us go to The Foxhound for lunch. You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“It’s okay, I always eat lunch alone. And I wouldn’t want to spend money on pub fare anyways.”
“But you can still sit and talk with us. Why don’t you come and join me?” Ethan encouraged.
“No thanks, I’m going to head back and start reading through those hefty safety manuals. Have a good lunch.”
She sprang to her feet and headed for the building, forgetting her backpack on the ground. Ethan quickly grabbed it and trotted over to her, calling out her name. When she heard him and turned around, a look of embarrassment flashed across her face as she saw what he had in his hands.
“So stupid of me,” she said after Ethan handed her the bag. “Thanks for seeing it.”
Ethan was about to scold her for being so hard on herself when he saw a couple of teens tossing a Frisbee nearby. The Frisbee was flying toward them, and one of the kids was running backward in an attempt to catch it, heading straight for Penny.
Ethan quickly pulled Penny into his chest and whisked her to the side just as the kid dove to catch the Frisbee. The boy landed on the ground with a loud thud, crying out in victory at his successful catch.
After the boy bounced to his feet and ran over to his friends, Ethan brought himself back to his senses and looked down at Penny, blinking just to double-check that she was really nestled in his arms and that he hadn’t concocted this scenario in his desire-laden brain. But she was, and her body was so delicate against all his hard muscle that he wanted to wrap his arms around her forever just to make sure that she wouldn’t break.
She was standing stiffly against him, clearly taken aback. Her large, full breasts were pushed firmly against his chest, and her pelvis was pressed hard against his. Desire whispered through his veins, and he could feel his groin tighten, feel his cock harden as the sensation of having her body flush against his fully registered in his mind.
He knew she could feel his erection against her belly, because she broke her stillness and flinched away from him in an instant. Gathering her wits about her, she turned up her face to glare at him.
“What are you doing?” she asked, shoving herself away from his body.
Nick looked down at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her pupils were dilated, and he could clearly see the outline of her hard nipples pressing against her thin blouse. She could try and cov
er up her arousal with anger all she wanted, but she couldn’t conceal her physical signs of desire.
“I pulled you out of the way of those kids,” he answered. “One of them almost barreled into you.”
“I saw them!” she fired back. “I would have moved myself out of the way. You didn’t need to ‘rescue’ me. I’m not some ditzy damsel in distress.”
Ethan decided it would be no use to argue with her—she was too confused by her arousal that she would do nothing but lash out, regardless of what he said.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure that kid didn’t slam into you. And trust me, I certainly don’t think you’re a damsel in distress.”
With a huff, she whipped around and strode to the entrance doors, flinging them open and storming inside. As he watched her disappear into the building, Ethan crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.
What a spitfire.
Chapter 4
Penny pulled her long auburn hair out of its usual ponytail and let it fall around her shoulders and down her back. She hated the feeling of her hair against her neck, but she supposed she had to wear it a little more elegantly than usual for Nick’s dinner party.
She sighed. She couldn’t believe Nick had demanded she attend the dinner, especially considering she had only worked for Novum for a mere two weeks. But Nick wouldn’t take no for an answer, and now here she was dressing herself up for the big event.
She owned a total of one dress, and so deciding what to wear hadn’t been that big of a challenge. It was a simple, inexpensive black dress that fell just above her knees and had a cute, sweetheart neckline. Penny didn’t do high heels, so she paired the dress with some black ballet flats and called it a day.
As she stared at herself in front of the mirror in her shabbily lit bedroom, the thought of whether Ethan would like how she looked suddenly popped obtrusively into her head.
She immediately turned away from the mirror and flung herself onto her bed with a frustrated sigh.