Raising one elegantly plucked eyebrow, she replied, “You said you still hadn’t heard about the building permit so I decided to come check on it.”
Shuffling the extra blueprints into one arm, he planted his hands on his hips. Here she was taking charge again without discussing it with him. “I told you because you wanted to be kept informed. But I also told you I’d be taking care of it. There’s no reason for you to miss your weekly tennis game formenial labor.”
Her eyes drilled holes in him.
“What? Not tennis today? The nails and hair look great so I figured it wasn’t them.” He stepped closer, right into her space then glanced down at her skirt. “Waxing.”
“I don’t…”
It was his turn for the raised eyebrow. He’d been downtown with her and she most certainly did. Had she forgotten what they’d done already? Her cheeks tinged a lovely shade of pink and she tooka deep breath.
“Why don’t we simply do this together and get it over with? The sooner we get the permit, the sooner the building renovations get started.”
“After you.” He swept his hand out to indicate she should go in first. He was a gentleman. And he liked to watch her sweet ass in the tight skirt sway from side to side. It was pure poetry.
The young man behind the counter looked up as they walked in and his face lit up. Yeah, Heather had a way of making people take notice. Maybe she could get further than he’d been able to. He’d already spent over an hour on the phone with someone, and they hadn’t told him anything about what had happened to the permit application.
“Hi, I’m Heather Silva. My partner and I have been waiting on a building permit, but it seems to have gotten misplaced. Perhaps youcould help us.”
Scott pulled out his receipt then handed it over. “This is a copy of the application.”
The man frowned. “That would have been sent to the Division of Building Codes. It’s down a flight in the basement. Room Twenty-Seven. Is there anything else I canhelp you with?”
His expression said he hoped there was. But it was directed exclusively at Heather.
Moving forward, Scott leaned against the counter. “I talked to someone in that office earlier and they have no record of it ever being there. They said it mightstill be here.”
“I sent everything we got to the appropriate offices. There’snothing here.”
Heather leaned over the counter. “Room Twenty-Seven, you said?”
He merely nodded, his eyes slipping lower. Scott grabbed her elbow and muttered a “thanks” as they walked out the door.
“You didn’t have to be rude,” she said, pulling her arm out of his grasp and marching down the hallway. He whistled, heading in the other direction. Her heels clicked on the linoleum behind him.
At the top of the stairs, he turned and grinned. “Did you want a ride down these? They don’t seem to be as rickety as the mill, but I certainly wouldn’t want you to fall.”
“I think I can manage.” She held tight to the banister as she went down, though. He controlled his tongue. There was only so far he could push her. He knew hislimit. For now.
They passed several empty offices and at Room Twenty-Seven, Heather gave a soft knock before she turned the knob. A thin man, approximately in his fifties, sat at one of the desks, his glasses resting low on his nose.
“Hi there.” She went into action. “We’re looking for someone who can help us with some blueprints sent here for a building permit.”
The man waved around the room. “We’re all about blueprints here. I’m Ted Farmer. What canI do for you?”
“Heather Silva.” She extended her slender hand and shook Ted’s. “This is my partner, Scott Holland. We sent some drawings here a few weeks ago with an application for a building permit. They seem to have disappeared.”
“They’d be listed under Holland Construction,” Scott informed him.
Ted scanned down a page in a large book sitting on his desk. He flipped the page and scanned some more. “Nothing with that name in the last month or so. When was thecheck cashed?”
“It wasn’t. Not yet.”
Ted’s mouth twisted. “Then we must not have gotten them. The check usually gets cashed within a day or two. You sure they came to this office?”
Ted’s eyes stayed on Heather, but Scott answered. “I delivered them upstairs myself.”
Bending over, Heather placed her hands on the desk in front of Ted. “Do you think you could take a look for them? They might have gotten misplaced.” Her voice was soft and sweet. Damn, she knew how to play.
