“So, this is where you’ve been hiding.”

Marcel looked up at the sound of the voice, and his gaze locked with Riley’s, who was leaning on the door jamb of the room Marcel had turned into a makeshift office. It had been four days since the incident with the I-beam, and Marcel hadn’t realized how much he’d missed simply looking at Riley. The cowboy construction worker was dressed in a tight white t-shirt, jeans covered with construction dust, a well-worn pair of steel cap work boots, and the ever-present black Stetson.

Marcel sat back in the kitchen chair he’d snagged to work in and crossed his arms over his chest. “Saying that I was hiding would imply that I either A, had a reason to hide, which could imply guilt of some description. Or B, there was something or someone I was avoiding and was indeed seeking a place in which to hide. Now, as I am neither guilty of anything, nor am I avoiding anyone in particular, then I can assure you that I have not been hiding.”

Riley pushed off the doorjamb with a grin and walked into the room. “Then I guess I was wrong.” Marcel quirked an eyebrow and sent the man a pointed look, making Riley wince sheepishly. “Yeah, okay, not the first time I said the wrong thing to you. And that was what I wanted to come and talk to you about. And to apologize for.”

Marcel grinned back and leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the desk in front of him. “Really? Well, in that case, please go right ahead. I am, as they say, all ears?”

Riley moved closer to the opposite side of the desk and placed both fists on the surface, leaning forward. “That’s good, because I wouldn’t want to have to do this twice. When you came onto the site the other day, I should have called you back and explained that the site was now locked down. I failed in my duty as foreman to do that, because, well, to be perfectly honest, I was too busy looking at your ass and imagining it bare for my viewing pleasure as you walked away from me to think about what you weren’t wearing on the top half of your body.”

Marcel blinked slowly as shock filled his system. He had known that Riley was attracted to him. He wasn’t blind to the way the man watched him, and Marcel sure as hell wasn’t immune to Riley either. But this was the first time either of them had actually spoken about that attraction out loud.

“When Dale called out that there was movement in the chain holding the ridge I-beam and I looked up, I knew it was coming down. From my vantage point, I could see that it was going to land on you. I dropped what I was carrying and sprinted for you. I was so fucking scared that I wasn’t going to get there in time. Then, when I tackled you, if you had resisted at all both of us could have ended up seriously injured, but instead you rolled with me, which I am extremely grateful for.”

Marcel shrugged. “That’s what we’re trained to do.”

“Yeah, and that leads me into the apology portion of my visit today.” Riley leaned in slightly. “I am really sorry for what I said to you. I never meant to imply that you were an idiot and that shit about you lacking reflexes was a total pile of bullshit. All I can say is that I was acting out of fear, and if I had been thinking I would have caught myself before I shoved my foot so far down my throat I could kick my own ass.”

Marcel huffed a laugh. “You certainly have a way with words.”

Riley sent him a cocky grin that had excitement fluttering in Marcel’s belly. “Wait until I’m convincing you to go to bed with me, then you’ll get a real good understanding of just how good I can be with words.”