working off a debt. Adalynn didn’t want to make her feel that
part of that payment had to come in the form of selling her
body.
So, she just stood there and watched while Cassia pushed
back a lock of errant hair and grinned at Jason as he attempted
to talk about how tomorrow was going to be blisteringly hot.
“Speaking of blistering,” Cassia groaned, and held up her
palm. “I have a few of those myself.”
“Just rub some ointment on them. Don’t bother with
bandages, they’ll just fall off. Your hands will toughen up after
a few days. Maybe gloves would help?” Jason was kind. He
was also blushing even deeper, turning his face thoroughly
scarlet.
Cassia looked like she found him adorable. She set down
the scraper and touched a few of the blisters gently. “Right.
Thanks. Gloves.”
Cassia’s sweater hid the lines on her arms where the stitches
had recently been removed. Most of her bruises had faded. All
of the guys were probably wondering where Cassia had come
from, since she wasn’t local. Adalynn hadn’t thought of some
kind of story. She’d have to talk to Cassia about it tonight,
now that she was going to be working amongst them.
“Jason? Hey, Jason, you coming?”
That was Bob, head of the crew, packing up his stuff for the
end of the day. Adalynn let out a sigh of relief that she felt
ridiculous over as soon as it came out. Jason waved at Bob,
nodded at Cassia, and grinned.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. If you don’t have a pair of gloves, I
can lend you a set.”
Adalynn cleared her throat. She’d been standing there,