All the while, of course, he was half-naked, his muscles and tanned skin—and no, there was no farmer’s tan on this guy—all rippling and tempting and ogle-worthy.

She blamed the strawberry bar.

Dax grinned and moved to pull the t-shirt over his head. While his face was covered, Max lifted the button-down to his nose and breathed in.

“Oh my God!” she hissed, swatting him.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Not sorry.”

She was totally jealous of that little whiff Max had just taken.

She shook her head and looked at Dax again. Yes, she’d noticed Max and Dax rhymed. That could not be a good sign. Max was a bit of a handful. Not usually for her, but he had every potential to be. Like getting her into trouble by encouraging her to lust after her boss. And Dax was definitely a handful. She didn’t even know him very well and it was already very clear.

“You okay?” she asked as Dax slowly pulled the shirt down his body. “Does it fit?” He was taking a very long time putting that shirt on.

Was it hot in here?

“Yeah, fine.” He finally pulled the bottom down over his stomach and smoothed a hand over his chest. “What do you think?”

“Looks great,” Max told him without pause.

It did. It really freaking did. The guy was good looking. That was just a fact. In his shirts and ties and everything, he was definitely a guy who made woman look twice. But in that black t-shirt? The soft cotton molding to his pecs and shoulders, emphasizing his flat stomach, wrapping around those biceps? She wanted to strip it right back off of him.

She literally saw dozens of men in those shirts every single day, and she’d never had that reaction before.

“I should get you a baggier one,” she decided.

Max gave her a frown. “Don’t be crazy.” He turned back to Dax with a smile. “Wouldn’t want it getting caught in the machinery. The fit of this one is perfect.”

Dax stretched his arms overhead, the bottom of the shirt inching up on his stomach. His flat, hard, tanned stomach with the very start of the trail of hair that would lead…

Jane blinked. Somehow. “What are you doing?”

“Checking the fit.” Dax bent side to side and then twisted right to left. “What do you think?”

“Yep. Absolutely perfect,” Max said appreciatively.

In much the same tone Jane would use to praise Zoe about her strawberry pie.

She watched Dax twist and turn and bend for another twenty seconds. Then asked, “Are you going to be done anytime soon?”

“You get a good look?” Dax asked Max.

Max shrugged. “I mean. Yeah. I looked. But I’m not going to say there’s really a time limit on something like that.”

Jane crossed her arms. “What are you doing?” she asked Dax.

“Well, I figured I needed him to take a full inventory of my assets,” Dax said, finally dropping his arms.

“You wanted Max looking at your abs?” she asked. She frowned and looked back and forth between the two men. “I’m missing something.” Like the fact that Dax swung in Max’s direction, possibly.

She’d like to say she’d be happy for her very good friend, but she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to pull that off, honestly.

“I figured Max was going to be talking to you about me later, and I wanted to be sure he had plenty to gush about,” Dax said, tucking his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I mean, I intend to dazzle him with my wit and charm and intelligence, of course, but if I’m lucky enough to have him also appreciate my abs, then I’m not above using that too.”

Max nodded. Then looked at Jane. Then back to Dax. “I’m fully on board with this.”

Jane sighed. Of course he was. Yeah, she’d been completely right about them each being a handful and together being way too much for her.

“Maybe Max will just talk to his guy buddies about you,” she said, noting that not only had Dax clearly figured Max out right away, but he was obviously not threatened by Max’s sexuality at all. She liked that about him, she had to admit.

“Hey, you say whatever you want to your guys, but be sure you go on and on about me to her too, okay?” Dax asked, pointing at Max.

Max eyed Dax’s bicep. “You got it. Not a problem.”

“And be sure to check out my ass later too.” He shot Jane a smirk. “Elliot says that’s my best feature.”

Max nodded. “Can do.” Then he paused. “Elliot?”

“Best programmer I know,” Dax said. “Not bad at Ping-Pong either. But don’t tell him. There’s not room enough in my office for both of our egos as it is.”

Max thought about that for a moment. “Is Ping-Pong a euphemism? I’ve never heard that one before.”

Dax shook his head. “Just Ping-Pong. Actually Ping-Pong.” He mimed swinging with a Ping-Pong paddle.

Jane sighed.

“So Elliot says your ass is your best feature,” Max clarified.

“Right.”

“And he’s seen your abs?”

“He has,” Dax confirmed as if they were discussing what he was having for lunch rather than what other men thought of his body. “But tattoos are really his thing.” He looked pointedly at the tattoo wrapping around Max’s right biceps and the one that extended down his left forearm.

“Yeah?” Max looked very interested. “Is Elliot single, and is he coming to visit you any time while you’re in Appleby?”

Dax nodded. “Yes and yes. But I should warn you, Elliot is only twenty-three and is definitely looking for a… daddy.”

Max, with a little gray at his temples and in his beard, slapped a hand over his heart. “Stop it.”

“Seriously.”

“This is going to be a good day,” Max declared.

Jane rolled her eyes. “Max, you realize he’s just kissing up to you to get to me,” Jane said. Not that she thought Max would care. Dax was obviously heterosexual. But if he was cool talking about this all openly and didn’t have a bit of discomfort when Max checked him out, then Max wasn’t going to pass up the chance.

“I’m okay with that,” Max said.

She blew out a breath and shook her head, looking at the two of them. Dax was grinning at her as if he’d just won some kind of victory. And maybe he had. Max would definitely talk her ear off about Dax. He was, actually, kind of Max’s type. Muscled, short beard, funny, confident, comfortable in his own skin, friendly, and charming. Max was a bit older and gruffer, had a lot more tattoos and probably more piercings—she sure hadn’t seen a nipple piercing on Dax, and she had definitely studied his naked torso thoroughly in the few seconds she’d been given—but he was also funny and didn’t have many personal boundaries and loved to have a good time.

“The good-looking ones who know they’re good looking are such pains in the ass,” she finally said.

“Are we?” the two men said in unison.

Then they laughed.

Jane groaned. “This is such a bad idea.” She pivoted and started walking away. Really, that was her only choice.

Dax and Max could bond all day. Max would tell her all about it. She’d think Dax was great and be even more attracted to him. Fine.