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working relationship should feel. It was a pity. She had to admit to herself that she enjoyed the time they spent together—the business dinners that always felt like dates, the time he spent beside her during construction hours. More and more, her free time was being spent with him. Neil didn’t know how to deal with how she was feeling, she only knew it had to stop.
    She told herself that the few steps to Jason’s truck were what she needed to get her head together. She could talk business without remembering how soft the lips were of the man talking to her. There would be relief that no images were conjured up by the sight of the man’s strong, capable hands.
    She approached the truck and listened to Jason as he wondered what they needed to do with the shipment of red bricks. The mindless recitation of what would happen soothed her worries about getting too involved with Gib.
    “Since putting up the stone is going to be delayed for a week, what do you want the men to do?” Jason asked.
    “Start on the interior, so when the shipment finally comes, all we have to do is put it up and the cottage will be done. Oh, and the men can go off to lunch in twenty.”
    “Cool. See you later.” Jason waved goodbye to them both and made a quick u-turn to the main site on the hill.
    Neil turned back to Gib. He faced facing the cliffs, looking lost in thought. Her throat constricted with an emotion she couldn’t easily ignore. Despite her belief in staying out of other people’s family business, she couldn’t help but ask the question she’d wanted to ask him earlier.
    “Have you enrolled in architectural school?”
    His focus went slowly back to her and he blinked a few times before answering. “I went by my old school and talked to the dean of the division, Perkin Stanley.”
    She smiled. Only he would be on a first-name basis with the dean of California Institute of Architecture. “I only have to do one more semester before I can be licensed.”
    Her brows rose, surprised at his answer. “I thought you had a long way to go.”
    “Yes and no. A semester can feel like a lifetime, when you have other pressing matters that need attention.”
    “Such as having a father in a coma, and running two multi-billion-dollar businesses.”
    “I’ll get around to doing it. I should only be gone for two days, at the most.” She’d finally get a break from him. Why wasn’t she happier with the news? “You’ll be back Monday?”
    Gib nodded. “I want you to go with me.”
    Neil’s heart lept into her throat. “I’m not like you. I don’t have the funds to go off and travel.” Knowing she wanted to go, Neil grabbed for other excuses. “I have a job to do here. The men and I…”
    He put a finger to her lips, stopping the flow of nervous chatter. “The men and you don’t have to work seven days a week. Plus, Linny would get grumpy if I told him about all the overtime you guys are putting in over here.”
    He rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. Her tongue yearned to flick out and taste it. Neil wanted to see his eyes darken with the same want she felt. He took back his thumb and her breath shuddered out.
    He continued speaking as though the action had been nothing more than a touch. “As you never let me forget, I have globs of money. My father is sending the jet for me. All you have to do is pack. I’m probably going to need a shoulder to whine on, after I meet with my father.”
    He would be low enough to psychologically blackmail her. She wanted to go, which was enough evidence for her to say no. But she was curious now. Who were his parents? How did they raise him? She wanted to know more about Gib, which was the second point of evidence that she shouldn’t go. “Is this trip strictly for pleasure on my part?”
    “Depends on you.”
    If it were up to her hormones, they would be in the back of her truck right that moment. He was close enough for her to feel the hair along his arm. The tingle moved through her,