Kouga had been prepared for the pompous ass parading around as a CEO when his foreman had mentioned the surprise inspection. They were all the same—ignorant swine who had no business ordering them around when they had no idea how the intricacies of putting a building together actually worked.

What he wasn't prepared for was the pompous ass's younger brother to show up instead—and to actually know what he was talking about.

Already distracted by how his rolled-up sleeves showed off toned forearms, Kouga attempted to dumb down his explanation of their current timeline, thrown off when the hanyou started using the regular lingo Kouga and the rest of his employees used on a daily basis.

The brother smirked at Kouga's surprised look. "Pays to know your shit."

"You'd be the first," Kouga said after a moment, moving to the next room.

"Probably why the bastard sent me in the first place." He cursed under his breath, undoing the top buttons of his shirt. "Probably wanted to keep his suits clean too. What's the fuckin' point in wearin' this shit on a construction site, anyway?"

Kouga would've laughed if his eyes hadn't been pinned to the drop of sweat that slid down his neck and under his collar. The urge to follow it with his tongue was intense, and he swallowed hard. "It's supposed to separate you from us meagre peons," he managed, stuffing his hands into his bright yellow vest.

The hanyou snorted. "Just another way of sayin' the people in charge of your paycheque are more important than the ones actually doing the work."

Damnit. He actually liked this guy.

Forcing himself to focus, Kouga managed to get through the rest of the inspection without staring. The work was good, the employees competent, so there's no way the CEO's brother could find fault in anything.

"Everythin' checks out," he said, tapping the top of his clipboard, writing down a few last-minute notes before handing it back to Kouga.

The wolf initialled next to each box, nearly tripping over his boots at the message scrawled at the bottom of the page.

Next time ask for my name before you stare at my ass all day.

There was a little doodle of the hanyou blowing him a kiss, along with a phone number, a chuckle echoing around the empty floor as Kouga's head whipped up.

"I'll expect a follow-up before the week is out," he said, giving him a backwards wave as he pressed the call button for the elevator. Kouga's feet remained rooted to the floor, heat tinting the tips of his ears as the hanyou met his gaze, smirking as the door closed.