“I’m Gretchen,” she said, offering Claire a limp hand.
It was almost as if she was holding it out for Claire to kiss. She certainly couldn’t shake it and uncertain what else to do, Claire gave her fingers a squeeze before letting go as quickly as possible.
“Claire,” she said, tipping her head. Two could play the ice queen role if necessary.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Gretchen said, but the words were barely out of her mouth before her attention had turned to Luke. “It’s so good to see you. It’s been too long.” She leaned in to kiss Luke’s cheeks, and Claire tightened her grip on the napkin on her lap. She could imagine the view of cleavage Luke was getting.
“Gretchen,” he said and she couldn’t read the expression on his face. “What a surprise. I didn’t realize you knew Ed Samson.”
“We’ve been close friends for years,” said Samson, sliding an arm around Gretchen’s waist.
Claire could just imagine how close of friends they’d been, and she wondered if that’s what had made Luke shield his expression. She hated to think he might be jealous of the sleazy contractor’s relationship with Gretchen. She believed him when he said nothing happened between them the night of the benefit, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t slept together plenty of times before. She’d seen years’ worth of pictures of the two of them together. Keeping her attention focused on Luke, Gretchen eased away from Samson, and Claire would bet money she didn’t have that, given the opportunity, the other woman would trade up in a heartbeat.
“Did I hear you talking about putting something out for bids?” asked Samson, bringing the conversation back to the beginning.
“It’s early days yet,” said Luke noncommittally.
“Be sure to let me know. We’ve made each other a great deal of money over the years. Every relationship hits rocky patches but there’s no reason we can’t make it profitable for both of us again.”
“Someone from my office will contact you. It’s good to see both of you,” said Luke, effectively dismissing them.
Samson took the hint and started to slink off, the dollar signs practically flashing in his eyes, but Gretchen cast one more look over her shoulder at Luke, ignoring Claire and the man with his hand on her back.
Claire took a taste of her now cold soup and set the spoon down, disappointed. It had been so good warm, but unintentionally cold seafood chowder wasn’t a good idea no matter how hungry she still was.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said, glancing at her rejected bowl. “Would you like another?”
“No,” she said not sure that she meant it, but in the wake of slim, lithe, incredibly toned Gretchen the last thing she wanted to do was get another bowl of cream based soup. That kind of body didn’t happen eating this kind of food.
Claire liked her curves. She’d made peace a long time ago with the fact that she’d never have a dancer’s body. Luke had been crystal clear how much he loved her body. He’d shown her over and over exactly how much. She was a grown ass woman, comfortable in her own skin, but she’d dare the most self-actualized woman on the planet to watch Gretchen walk away and not feel at least a twinge of jealousy at her perfect body.
It didn’t, however, stop her from digging into her soft shell crab roll when the server set it in front of her. The crab was crispy and sweet, and the wine Luke ordered was cold and fruity, the perfect partner for the spicy sushi roll. After a few bites, her stomach momentarily appeased, she’d mostly forgotten about Gretchen, and something Luke said rushed to the front of her mind.
“Will you put the project out for bids soon?” she asked before taking another bite of crab.
“It depends on how long it takes to finalize the deal and drawings, but yes, as soon as I can. Don’t worry, sweetheart. No matter who the GC ends up being, English has the electrical contract.”
She opened her mouth to protest, and he grinned at her, running the tip of his index fingers over her parted lips.
“Not because you’re sleeping with me, which is enough of a reason, or because I love you, which I do.”
The tenderness in his eyes, threatened to steal her breath. Having him look at her like she was everything to him, made it almost impossible for her to keep any kind of guard on her heart. She’d loved him for what felt like so long. Knowing he reciprocated made him practically irresistible.
“English has the contract because I know you’ll do a better job than anyone else I could hire.”
And that was it. The thing that closed her mouth.The way he respected her work and her opinion, her professional integrity, those were the things that blew through the last of her barriers. She couldn’t defend herself from him, not when he offered her everything.
“I’m sure Mr. Matthews will want to bid,” she said when she could speak again. “He’s not always the cheapest, but I can guarantee he’ll do what he says he will. His jobs are always good quality at a fair price.”
“I’m not interested in working with Matthews Contracting again.”
“Why? The only construction delays on the Ashton Court job were caused by the framers. They aren’t Matthew’s normal subs. They usually work for Samson. And surely you can’t fault the quality of the work.” She’d gained a great deal of respect for Mr. Matthews. In an industry that wasn’t always completely clean, he was one of the good guys.
“It’s not that,” said Luke. “Ashton Court’s the first time I’ve used Matthews, and there were more problems on this job than on any other project I’ve ever done.”
“None of that was Matthews or Spark’s fault,” she said. She knew the project manager was still stinging from the stolen ammo catastrophe and from Pete’s death, but she also knew he’d taken every precaution he could to minimize problems on the job. Someone had been working against him.
“Maybe, maybe not,” said Luke, leaning back in his seat. “But some people attract trouble. I can’t afford those kinds of problems.”
