He watched her wrestle between not wanting to seem incompetent and not wanting to share her personal business. Competence won, exactly as he’d predicted it would.
“I also have the bills for my father’s care. Everything has come together at the same time in a perfect storm of financial need. Top that off with the fact that your framers are slower than molasses and holding me up on the rough-in inspections, and I’ve found myself in a temporary tight spot. It’s okay. I can handle it.” She looked at him with steel in her eyes, daring him to challenge her.
So he did.
“How? It’ll be at least another month before you get the next draw on this job.” More like less than a month the way her crew was moving but he saw no need to cede that ground. “You have to do the asbestos right away, and the kitchen or you’re going to be sitting on your investment, paying your potential profit out as interest to the bank. Add in insurance and payroll.” He remembered what it was like, trying to juggle projects, robbing Peter to pay Paul so he could keep everything moving forward. And he’d done it during the boom when people made money simply by buying property and holding it for sixty days. It was a lot tougher now, and a lot easier to lose everything. “And you wouldn’t have even mentioned your father if his bills were easy to take care of. It sounds like you’re in over your head. I can’t risk you screwing things up here because you’re preoccupied with another project.”
She whirled around, planting her feet and clenching her fists. “Screwing things up! I saved your ass. I could have just done the lighting the way it was drawn and then let you pay me to fix it.” This time it was theyou bastardthat was silent. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at her. Fuck. She was fantastic.
“That’s true,” he said with a condescending nod. “But that doesn’t mean I can afford to take chances with the rest of this job.”
“What chances? I’ll do what you’re paying me to do, better than anyone else you could hire.”
“Maybe, but if your distracted, I’m not getting your best work.” He bit back a grimace at the pot kettle aspect of that argument.
“I’m not distracted. The framers have us tied up in the residences. I’ll pull my crew down here and we’ll finish the rough-in on the public spaces. You pay me my draw and problem solved. You’ll be ahead and I won’t be waiting on anyone else.”
“I don’t think you can get this done that fast, and the schedule of payment has the draw for the condo rough-ins first. This doesn’t come until later.”
It was the first time he’d seen her falter. Everything he said was true, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t authorize payment out of order of the contract. It wasn’t uncommon. Jobs got tied up. Sometimes it made sense to move crews around. It didn’t mean he had to do it either. For the first time he had some leverage over her and a very good reason to say no.
“There’s not one good reason for you to hold me up on this.”
She was angry, but he could tell she was also worried. He hated himself a little bit for stringing her along, but not enough to give up on what he really wanted. Claire naked in his bed. Spread out for him to feast on so he could make her come over and over before sinking balls deep into her tight wet heat. Surrendering to him so he could give them both the pleasure they deserved.
“Maybe not to you, but I have an order I like to have things done. It may seem rigid, but it’s worked for me. I’m not inclined to change it.”
Expressions moved across her face so quickly, he barely had time to name them. Anger, frustration, worry, trepidation. He stopped her when she got to desperation.
“Why don’t you let me give you the money for your dad’s care? That should take enough of the pressure off of you so that you can do the project in the order we agreed on. That way we both get what we want.”
He watched with a perverse satisfaction as she stuttered, trying to get the words out.
“Why would you do that? What do you want from me?”
He couldn’t wait to show her. On her knees, on her back, behind her, with her legs spread wide while he explored all the many ways he could make her come.
CHRIST, HERDAY had gone from crazy to crazier. One minute she’d been singing along with Adele, pulling wire and working off the stress from her morning. The next minute, Luke, the man she couldn’t seem to stay away from, was kissing her and offering to pay for her dad’s nursing home care.
She’d gone to the jobsite to try to get ahead on the rough-in. She wasn’t sure she and her crew would be able to get it done in time, but she was out of options. And she was sure his excuse about not wanting the pay her out of order, was just that – a bullshit excuse. She didn’t know why he wanted to help her, but she knew he’d want something from her in return. And if the way her body responded to his kiss was any indication, she didn’t know if she’d be able to deny him anything. She hadn’t been able to so far.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t try.
“Give it up, Luke. What do you want?”
He looked at her with that damn cocky grin that made her feel like Red Riding Hood to his Big Bad Wolf.Here it comes, she thought.
“Nothing really.”
Yeah right. She could practically hear the singsong voice sayingcome here, little girl.
“Three days,” he said in a perfectly reasonable voice. “I’ve got a building opening in two weeks. There’s the dedication and a few parties. I want you to come with me.”
She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle an unladylike snort. But seriously, he could have any woman in the city on his arm. What the hell did he want with her? “Why?”
“Because for those three days, I want you to be mine-- no holds barred, no holding back. You can't deny that there's something between us, and I have every intention of fully exploring that. And if you’re with me, you’ll be paying attention to me and what’s going on, not worrying about ending up on page six or how you photograph. It’s worth it to me, and it gets some of the worry off of your shoulders.” His eyes softened as he looked at her, and her stomach tightened.
She was used to cocky Luke and the Luke who pressed his luck and maximized every situation to his advantage. She didn’t know how to handle the tender Luke, and he scared her more than all the others combined. When he looked at her like he wanted to lighten her burden, a part of her deep inside wanted to believe it. That was dangerous thinking – a sure way to a broken heart.
“Not going to happen. Find yourself some arm candy. I appreciate you thinking of me,” she said in a tone that showed she didn’t. “But I can take of myself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to work.”
“The offer stands if you change your mind.”
“Thanks, but I won’t. Don’t forget your hardhat if you’re staying on site.” She put the earbuds in and turned the music back on, drowning out anything else he had to say.
