A/N: Heeeeeeeey beautiful people! We're back.


"Bella, what the fuck?"

Bella smirked.

It was so gratifying when Edward's voice did that raw, sexy as hell, gravelly thing, as though the sight of her was so hot his mouth and throat went dry in an instant. Which… yeah. He had his back to her, watching her approach in the bathroom mirror. She was pleased with her own reflection, smugly satisfied with just how well she was pulling this off.

Work boots. Faded jeans. A tool belt slung low on her hips. A white tank. Her hair down, just a little scraggly. And the bright orange vest and yellow hard hat she'd stolen from his truck five minutes before.

Edward brushed his hand across his mouth, wiping away the remnants of his toothpaste as he watched her in the mirror.

She leaned casually against the wall next to the door. "Surprise inspection, Cullen," she said. She raised a hand and crooked a finger, beckoning him. "Come on over here. There are a few things we need to cover." She let her smile perk up wickedly in one corner. "Or uncover. You never know how these things will go."

He swung around to face her, eyebrow quirked. "You don't know how this is going to end up, huh?" he asked, stepping toward her with a swagger.

In spite of herself, as he came toward her with that sexy smile, shirtless with his muscular back on full display in the mirror, Bella had to work hard to stay in character. She stood up, straightening her shoulders, radiating superiority, even though she was short and had to look up when he got close enough. She swallowed, waiting a beat until she was reasonably sure her voice would be steady. She reached into the pocket of her toolbelt, pulling out a measuring tape. "First, we need to take some basic measurements. Make sure everything is up to code. You understand."

He snorted. "Baby, if you want to talk about how many inches I have, trust me. I have that number memorized."

"Pfft. Listen to you, assuming what pieces of your equipment I'm interested in." She reeled out a length of tape, holding it so it kept its stiff shape. She poked his right nipple with the end of the tape. "Maybe I want to know the distance from stud to stud."

"Stud to stud?" Edward put his hands on his hips. "I know you're not asking for a threesome, Foreman Swan, because I believe we've had this discussion several times before, and I've already told you..." He hooked a finger through the belt loop of her jeans and yanked her one inch closer to him as he leaned down, his voice low. "...I don't share."

Her heartbeat picked up a frantic rhythm, and she almost laughed, but she poked him a few times with the tape until he backed up a few inches. "You make it so hard to stay professional."

"Well, I can think of something you can make hard if you want to get back at me." He waggled his eyebrows, and she almost broke.

Instead, she made her eyes go wide, her expression bright. "Actually, hard is the only way I'm going to get an accurate reading." She took out the world's smallest level from her toolbelt and held it between two fingers. She gestured to his crotch. "All right, go ahead. Take out your equipment."

He pressed his lips into a thin line, though his eyes still sparkled with amusement. He looked at the tiny level, then back at her. He crossed his arms.

"Relax, you sensitive soul." She reached out, cupping him lightly between his legs, enjoying his gasp of surprise and his swallowed moan of pleasure a moment later as she started to rub. "It's not a commentary about your equipment." She slid his pants down just enough, licking her lips as his cock popped out. She looked back up at him, grin wicked. "You know you've got to use the right tools to get the job done." She stroked him once, twice, letting his cock achieve the proper level of engorgement. When it had, she used the tip of a single finger to hold his cock steady. "See? No need to put a big weight on such a sensitive bit of wood. This will do it just as well." She balanced the level on his cock and bent down to examine, enjoying the way his breath shuddered. She hummed and nodded. "Yep. Nice and straight."

Edward drew a finger along her side, but otherwise stayed still. "So now that you're assured my tool is in good-working order, do you have some kind of project in mind?" His finger played along the edge of her jeans. "A job that needs doing? A hole that needs to be drilled? Something that needs to be nailed or screwed?"

She shivered, heat and desire coursing through her, coiling in her belly. "Patience, Mr. Cullen. We need one more measurement." She brought out the measuring tape again. "We have to make sure we don't need a wide load warning."

His mouth did an up-down dance as he tried to decide how to react. "Wide…"

"Girth." With one hand, Bella trapped his cock against his belly and started teasing the underside of his cock with the tip of the tape, right at his base. "Girth is an important measurement, often overlooked by those obsessed with length. But I've found, a good girth does the job properly."

"Hmm." He drew his finger up and circled her nipple where it strained against the fabric of her tank. "You know, boss, sometimes you just have to go by feel. Try it out." His eyes met hers. "See if you got the right fit."

"That's a fair point." Her words came out with breathy quality as he slid his other hand down into her jeans, groaning when he found she wasn't wearing panties.

And she was wet.

Hot.

Ready.

"I think maybe we need to test the strength of that load-bearing wall." She features with her chin over her shoulder.

He didn't need to be told twice. In the next instance, Bella found herself propelled backward. She hit the wall, but Edward swallowed her gasp of surprise with his mouth hard on hers. His kiss was hungry, demanding. His hands squeezed her ass before finding the buckle of the tool belt. He had the buckle undone in a heartbeat, and she squeaked, pulling away from his mouth.

"Do you know how long it took me to figure out how to put that on so it looked all sexy and didn't drag my jeans down?" She wrinkled her nose at him, winding her arms around his neck.

He chuckled, bringing the belt back around her waist. "You want to ride me with a tool belt on, baby?" He leaned in, nipping at her lips. "I was going to take you here against this wall, which is not, in fact, a load-bearing wall, but if you want tools and leather just slapping against everything…"

"No. I can be flexible."

"Oh, baby..." He leaned in again, so his beard tickled her neck as he kissed the skin there. "...I know how flexible you can be."

He unbuckled the belt again and draped it over the laundry basket. Then he stood back, a finger under his chin as he studied her.

"What are you—" she started, but he cut her off.

"Shh. My ability to problem solve is part of what makes me so good at my job." He looked her up and down slowly, and her nipples tightened under his gaze.

"There's a problem?" she asked, and now her voice was doing the sexy, raw thing.

"Mm-hmm. See. The proper way to test the strength of a wall like this is to wrap your legs around my waist and just pound away." He made a sharp thrusting motion with his hips. "In which case, the hard hat will come in handy."

Bella bit the inside of her cheek, but she nodded solemnly. "That does sound like a solid plan," she said, eyes flicking down to his hard length.

"Right, but the problem is…those ridiculous boots are doing it for me." His eyes smoldered, and he ran his thumb over his bottom lip. "It'd be such a shame to have to take them off."

"Uh-huh. Is this what they teach you in Dr. Contractor class? How to have sex with your boots on?"

"No, silly. If they had, I'd be able to figure out this problem. Although, if I apply some math to the equation." He tilted his head. "If you bent your legs at the right angle for me to fit between them…"

Bella rolled her eyes. She flicked open the button of her own jeans and let them drop to the floor. She turned around and braced her hands against the wall, spreading her legs as far as her puddled jeans would let her go.

"That also works." He stepped up behind her, pressing against her ass and sliding his cock along her slick, wet folds. His hands rested a moment on her hips before sliding upward underneath her shirt. "As you can see, there's a versatility to a space like this." His hands cupped her breasts. He squeezed lightly, his fingers finding and rolling her nipples. "You like it like this, baby?"

"God, yes. You pass all the inspections." She wiggled her ass against him, rubbing herself over him.

"But we haven't tested our wall yet," he said, bending over her, his beard tickling her ear.

"Better get to it then."

"Yes, ma'am." He reached down, guiding his cock into her and sheathing himself with one deep thrust.

"Oh, god. Oh, hell. That's good." Bella moaned, losing herself to the sensation of his hands on her as he moved inside her. The scratch of his beard against her cheek. His voice in her ear. The rough skin of his fingers on her nipples. His cock, thick and hard, filled her, finding every sweet nerve she possessed.

Yeah. It was good.

His pace quickened so there was a thwack of skin hitting skin a split second before the sound of her hardhat bumped into the wall.

It was so good.

And she loved him, so it was so much better than good.

She told him she loved him. She chanted it as he pounded into her.

And when she came back down from the mind-blowing orgasm, wrapped in his arms, pressed between the wall and his hot body as they both caught their breaths, she told him again.

"I love you."

He cupped her cheek, pulling back from where his head had rested against the wall. He smiled—a beatific smile so full of tenderness. He kissed her gently. And then again, lingering, serious. "I love you," he said against her lips.

Then, he did help her out of her ridiculous boots. And the jeans. And the vest. And the shirt. And the hard hat. He swept her up in his arms, carrying her to his bed where he laid her down, then kissed her and touched her and licked her until she was ready for him again.

This time, she did wrap her legs around his waist.


A/N: Hope that was fun for you. Many thanks to Di for handing me a fun pun I somehow missed.

I think just one chapter left before we call this story done!