Chapter 2
Swallowing nervously, she glanced down at the table, gathering up all the leftover papers.
“You ready?” Logan asked.
Gaia glanced up at him, startled to find him so close. “Ready for what?”
He handed her a couple more papers. “We were going to head over to the factory, check things out.”
She quickly backed up a step, but almost tripped over the table. Good grief, was there any time when she wasn’t going to almost fall on her butt around this man?! “Um…I wasn’t…”
His smile was swift and devastating. “You can’t back out now, Gaia,” he interrupted, knowing exactly where she was heading as he took her hands to stop her retreat. She was nervous. He recognized that with the trembling of her slim, elegant fingers. But he wasn’t letting this woman get away. She was slender and sexy and he suspected there was a hell of a lot more underneath her serious demeanor and ugly suit. And he was determined to discover both.
He wanted her. Plain and simple, this woman was going to be his next lover. He’d seen the interest in his twin brother’s eyes, but had silently told Luke to back off. Luke was a player of the worst sort, but he never stepped in one of his brother’s territories. And Logan had marked the lovely Gaia as his. Both Teague and Luke had recognized his boundary. Of course, Teague clearly had eyes only for his lovely Gabby, but Logan’s older brother had understood the sexual tension that was vibrating in the air between Logan and Gaia. It was pretty hard to miss and even Luke had grasped the situation. It appeared that only Gaia was the one ignoring the issue at the moment.
Her eyes widened and he almost laughed at how pretty she looked despite her nervousness. “But…I’m not ready to…”
“Do you have to head back to your office?”
She shook her head. “No but…” Too late, she should have used that as an easy excuse to get away from this man. If she could just break this connection, she could get on with her day. But being with him, traveling to the old factory site, definitely wouldn’t help break this…awareness that seemed to be weaving itself between the two of them.
“Good, then you have time today to head over there and check things out with me. I just texted Marcy and she’s already contacting the legal department and coordinating a purchase offer. We’ll get that ready in case Teague and I think the project will work. But we have to move quickly.”
Gaia’s eyes widened with surprise and she held her hands up, palms out as if trying to slow the man down. “Why don’t you hold off on contacting the legal department?” she suggested.
She didn’t like that idea for two reasons. First, she didn’t want him to spend money on a project that really shouldn’t go forward anyway. And second, she didn’t like the image of lawyers at all. She could already picture them surrounding her and her brother, drowning them in legal problems in the future, simply because Freddy thought this renovation would be a good way to get back at people who didn’t deserve his anger. “Just until you’ve seen the building. The site could be a huge mess.” She knew it was a mess, with weeds and trees growing up, windows broken and damaged support systems everywhere. The idea of the old building morphing into something new and productive was just a beautiful possibility in her mind. She’d come up with a general plan and expenses, but only after Freddy told her what he was planning. That had meant two different estimates, altering the estimated costs enough so that the project didn’t look as lucrative as it might be.
So why was this man moving forward anyway? What had she done wrong? She needed to think fast, to figure out a way to discourage him from taking on the renovation project. Freddy was only doing this for revenge. She was only pretending to help Freddy in order to get him help. Her brother had promised to get counseling if this project didn’t work out.
Everything seemed to be out of control!
Logan directed her out of his office and Gaia seemed to move closer to him, intimidated by all of the very official looking people moving efficiently about in the hallways.
“The lawyers will be on standby. If the factory infrastructure is everything I think it will be, then I want to move forward on this quickly.” He pressed the elevator button and Gaia looked up at him, craning her neck because he was so tall. “An offer letter needs to be submitted before a bidding war starts and the owner increases the price.”
“But…what if it isn’t?” she asked, trying to find some hope in this huge mess.
“Let’s just find out, shall we?” he said, not committing to backing off of the legal aspect.
Gaia wasn’t sure what to say. And in the end, she wasn’t really given a choice. She’d already packed up her portfolio and her purse was on her shoulder. So, Logan simply put a hand to the small of her back, and nudged her forward when the elevator doors opened up.
In the close confines of the elevator, he pressed the button for the parking garage and then stepped back. Unfortunately, he was still too close for Gaia’s peace of mind! She tried to move away, but the doors opened on another floor and the dratted man pulled her back towards him, ostensibly to make room for the others as they each stepped into the elevator. Gaia couldn’t stop the shiver of awareness that traveled through her at his touch and she hated to admit it, but there was definitely a thrill when his arm shifted around her waist.
But then he did something even worse! “Cold?” he asked, bending down low so that his lips brushed her ear.
For a long moment, she simply stood there, frozen in place. When she felt his hands on her waist, his fingers spreading wide, she almost melted back into him. Trying to be strong, to remember that he was her brother’s enemy, she stood stiffly in front of him and shook her head, denying that she was cold, but the movement only caused the sensitive shell of her ear to brush against his mouth again. She tried hard to control the next shiver but he had a hand on her waist and he caught it immediately. When he chuckled softly at her reaction, she gritted her teeth and tried to step away from him.
He wasn’t allowing it. More people entered the elevator and she just about groaned when he pulled her back even further. She could feel him, all of him, against her shoulders, her back and…yes, even her bottom. Closing her eyes, she stood as still as possible, controlling her mind and her desperate need to press even closer to him but…goodness, how inappropriate was that?!
She almost ran out of the elevator when the doors opened on the parking level. With her keys out, she was rushing towards her car. But he stopped her by grabbing onto her arm and spinning her around. As he looked down at her, a pulse seemed to beat between the two of them. Something throbbed, an awareness that wouldn’t be banished even in the dim light of the concrete structure. “No need to drive two cars. We’ll take mine.” Did his fingers just caress her arm? Was she imagining things?
A moment later, he had the doors to his beautiful black Tesla open and waited patiently for her to get in.
She looked at the supple, dark leather of the car’s interior, then up into his green eyes, actually afraid to get into that vehicle. Not because she thought he would harm her in any way. But because there was something going on, something she couldn’t acknowledge. “I need to drive myself. I’ll need to get back to work after this.”
“I’ll drive you back after lunch. We have a lot to discuss.”
“But…”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What’s your boss’ name?”
She shook her head, not willing to give him that information. “I can’t…”
“Donovan?” he asked and winked when her mouth fell open in shock, confirming that Donovan was her boss. “I’ll call him and ask him to assign you to us temporarily. We need several condos decorated and lobbies updated, so we’ll use your services until the warehouse renovation project needs more of your time. We already have a consulting agreement with your firm, so it won’t be a problem.” A moment later, he was talking to her boss who seemed overly pleased to assign Gaia to the Steele Industries projects for the foreseeable future. Less than two minutes after making the call, he slid his phone back into his pocket. “Done. You’re mine now.”
Gaia’s breath caught in her throat with those words. The idea of being his woman, of being entitled to touch him…
No! That can’t happen! This man was strictly off limits! Why did she have to keep telling herself that?
“I’m my own person,” she said, glaring up at him. “But I’ll concede that you’ve gotten your way this time.”
He chuckled when she stepped into the soft leather interior, slamming the door before walking around to the driver’s side.
“You cheated,” she announced as soon as he slid into the driver’s seat.
He laughed again. “I want to win.”
Glaring out the front windshield, she refused to look at him. But she couldn’t ignore his laughter or the tension that was even stronger in the close confines of the vehicle.
The purr of the engine roared to life, vibrating right along with the tension inside the vehicle. She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him. Thankfully, she didn’t need to give him directions to the warehouse location because she wasn’t sure she could have done that. Her mind was too focused on not allowing her body to lean in towards his, to keep her eyes from glancing down at the hard, male thigh so painfully close to her hands. When she realized that her knees were pointing towards his, she quickly shifted away from him, pointing her knees towards the door instead and ignoring his chuckle, which told her he knew exactly what she was doing and why she’d shifted her legs.
“What made you think this location would work?” Logan asked as they pulled up outside of the warehouse. The parking lot was no longer accessible by regular vehicles due to the damage from time and lack of resources to fix things. So instead of parking in the damaged lot, he chose a space on the street, smoothly pulling into a spot.
Gaia looked around, shielding her eyes from the sunshine. “I’ve always loved the challenge of trying to bring old buildings back to life,” she told him honestly, leaving off the part about her brother’s revenge. She didn’t think this project would work because of all the neglect. The building was too old and, most likely, unstable so she was almost certain that Logan would reject the idea.
“You’re going to need to look carefully at all the exposed steel,” she warned him. “I mentioned several potential problems earlier in your office, but I’m sure you’ll see other issues that I’m not trained to notice.”
“What other problems are you anticipating?” he asked, coming around to her side of the vehicle and standing beside her as they both looked at the structure.
She stepped away from him slightly, trying not to be too obvious about her efforts, and slipped her sunglasses on, hiding her eyes from his too-knowing gaze. She was getting tired of this dance, trying to put some distance between them only for her efforts to be foiled by his maneuverings. So she wasn’t as diplomatic when she answered him this time. “I don’t know. That’s up to you to figure out. I just did the designs. You’re the architect.”
He moved in closer, a slight smile on his lips. “I think I like this feisty side of you,”
She backed up, trying to pretend like her lungs weren’t gasping for air. “We need to hurry.”
A dark eyebrow went up with her words. “We do?”
“Absolutely.”
His smile widened. “Why do we need to?”
She was having trouble thinking when he was this close. “Because we’re…because…” Those green eyes were lethal! Once again, she thought about the devilish side of him. Her initial thoughts weren’t so far off, she suspected.
“Because?” he prompted again, that annoying amusement lighting his eyes and she wanted to punch him. She had never advocated for violence before, but there was just something about this man that turned things around in her head.
Lifting her chin, she straightened her shoulders and fought the attraction. He was using it against her for some reason and she refused to let him play his games. Whatever he was doing, she wasn’t going to allow it. Not anymore. “Because it’s time to work. I don’t like wasting someone else’s money.”
He chuckled. “Then by all means, let’s discover what is inside this old building.”
Gaia breathed a sigh of relief when he backed away and started towards the warehouse. She looked up at the building, admiring the enormous windows and the view that looked out onto the water in one direction and Mount Rainier in the other direction. She could even see Century Link Stadium where the Seattle Seahawks played. It was an awesome sight and she would love to live in this area.
“Talk to me, Gaia. Tell me your vision.”
They walked into the dark building and she sighed with the images flashing through her mind. For the next two hours, she forgot about her brother’s idea for revenge against the Steele family as she and Logan walked through the building and she discussed her ideas, right down to the large central staircase and the condominiums that would be on either side. She lost herself in the potential beauty of the building, the possibilities. Each unit would have at least one of the large windows, giving the living area light and views, some would even have two or three and all would be able to see either the mountain or the ocean. The top floor would have the best views and she’d laid out a penthouse for that floor, but she had no idea if anyone in this area could afford what she’d imagined.
She wasn’t aware of Logan watching her as she told him of her vision, or the way he admired both her creativity as well as the practical obstacles she brought up. Nor was she aware of how his body was reacting to her beauty, her passion, and the softness around her eyes and mouth when she explained her dream for this old pile of rusted steel and dilapidated bricks.
“It sounds like you’ve given this a great deal of thought,” he said as they stood out on the wooden dock that was above the sea, held in place with massive pilings. “What made you think of it?”
Gaia pushed her sunglasses higher onto her nose and looked away. She didn’t want to admit that the plan’s genesis was revenge. Not to this man. It was easier to think of following through on Freddy’s plan when there wasn’t a face to the revenge. The abstract “Steele Family” had been an amorphous devil until today.
Not any longer.
“Well, it’s just an interesting building.” She turned to look up at him. “It isn’t going to work though, is it?”
“You’ve pointed out several reasons why over the last few hours. But now that you’re here, seeing the structure, why do you say that?”
She glanced up at the bricks that were weathered with black now. “The pollution and the saltwater, haven’t they damaged the edifice too drastically?”
He looked around, noticing the damage, but it was mostly superficial from what he could see right now. “No, in fact, just the opposite. For some reason, this building appears to be in good condition. I’m guessing that, because of the direction of the wind most days, the saltwater hasn’t had as much of an impact on the bricks as it normally would. There’s some mortar damage that will need to be investigated, but overall, the building is in surprisingly good health.”
Her mouth fell open and she was stunned. “It is?”
He nodded. “Probably the reason the building hasn’t been bought up and renovated before now was because others assumed the same as you, but they lacked your creative ideas to even start to investigate. No one has bought the land, probably because of the appearance of the old factory, thinking it would cost a great deal of money to tear down the building.” They were standing outside now and he looked up at the huge windows and the old bricks that made up the outside of the building. “But this beauty was built to last. Whoever designed it had anticipated the effects of saltwater and erosion over time. I’ll have to investigate further, but right now, we’ll still consider it an option.”
Gaia wasn’t sure what to say or how to convince him not to follow through. It seemed…outrageous. She’d only been sitting across the street, drinking tea, when the idea had come to her a few weeks ago, and now he was considering it as a possible project for Steele Industries to take on? “Yes, but…what about the traffic patterns? The roads, won’t it cost too much to rebuild the roads?”
He shrugged. “We’ve worked with the city in the past. For the most part, they take on the burden of repairing the roads and we build the housing. They get the extra income from the property and sales taxes, and we have more buyers coming to purchase. The gentrification of this area wouldn’t even displace anyone since the area has been abandoned for so long,” he explained, looking towards the other buildings that seemed to be empty as well. “In fact, there might be various ways to expand the project, buy up some of those buildings,” he said, referring to a line of old-fashioned looking brick buildings that were empty but had interesting front windows that had obviously been used for a market place at some point in their past. Further down the street, there were coffee shops, bakeries, and flower shops intermingled with the normal small businesses that surrounded compact communities across the nation.
She stared across the street, coming up with ideas on how to make each of those buildings into a quaint boutique-like area, which could prosper with the addition of high-end condominiums, as well as the elimination of an eyesore in the form of an abandoned factory. Looking from those buildings to Logan, she was stunned by all the possibilities. “It really might work?”
He moved closer, chuckling at her amazement. He could see her excitement even through her sunglasses. “Yes. It might. I’m not making any promises, but you’ve come up with a good idea.”
Gaia couldn’t believe what this gorgeous man was saying. Restoring this building might actually work? “Wow!” And she smiled, thinking that her life had just turned rosier.
Logan was fascinated. She was a breathtaking mix of intelligence and innocence, creative genius and logic. And it was all wrapped up in a pretty package meant to make a man drool.
All of that was before she smiled. Dimples! Damn, but he hadn’t been expecting that! Dimples!
He stared, unable to look away. She was possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He really wanted this project to work because it would mean spending more time with her.
And he was definitely going to spend more time with this gentle beauty.
“Lunch,” he announced. And just as she opened her mouth to argue, he said, “We’ll go over some numbers while we grab something at Pike’s Place Market. I know the guy who makes the cheese down on the corner market. You’ll love it!”
He once again put that big hand to the small of her back and Gaia wasn’t sure if she wanted to twist away from him or turn into that touch. The heat coming from his hand sent shivers of amazement racing through her body and she felt his touch all the way through her suit jacket and silk blouse. But she couldn’t really move fast enough to get away from him.
She was hurrying forward, just wanting to move his hand so she wasn’t so flustered. Unfortunately, she didn’t see the crack in the sidewalk. If it weren’t for his hands, she would have gone flying forward.
“Easy,” Logan cautioned and pulled her against his hard length. She looked up into his eyes and she lost her train of thought. “Can’t fall yet.”
His green eyes were no longer laughing at her. They were looking down at her as if…like he might…? “Not yet?”
“Nope. That comes later,” he told her mysteriously. He moved slightly and opened the door to his car again, waiting until she’d tucked her legs inside before he closed the door for her.
She took the few moments it took him to walk around the hood of his car to pull herself together. He was just a man, she told herself. She dated. Well, sometimes. Not often but…
Okay, so she hadn’t dated in a while! And this guy was…nope. He was the enemy, she reminded herself. He was the very handsome, very intimidating, very mysterious man she was…she was…going to bankrupt with her idea.
Darn it, this was a mess! Any other time, she might have enjoyed the attentions of a man like Logan Steele! He made her feel things that…that she’d never felt with another man before, but had always hoped she would feel! Why had she let Freddy get her into this craziness? Why had she done something so stupid as to put herself in this man’s path?
He was too…everything!
“You okay?’ he asked as he pressed the button to start the vehicle. It came to life with an expensive sounding purr.
“I’m fine,” she said and crossed her legs, wishing she could just walk back to her car from here. But it was a long drive back to his office and she was wearing heels. Logan Steele wasn’t that bad of a guy that she would put her feet in that kind of pain.
He drove through the heavy Seattle traffic easily. And of course, he found a parking spot only a couple of blocks from the famous Pike’s Place Market. While some tourist traps were not all they were cracked up to be, Seattle’s Pike Place Market was everything anyone might hope for. Only individual vendors were allowed to sell their wares here. No restaurant chains and no big investors were allowed. This was a small business paradise. So, lots of interesting arts and crafts were intermingled with florists, fruit vendors, food vendors, and just about anything else one could imagine.
“This is it,” he announced, as he held the door to a small corner restaurant. One side of the building was reserved for making the cheese and, through the window, passersby could watch as a guy stirred an enormous vat of something that looked like thin milk, but would eventually be some sort of cheese. They walked in and Logan was immediately greeted by an older, Italian-looking woman who hauled him into her strong arms. The older woman was barely half his height, but Logan bent over and hugged her back, laughing as she rattled off something in a foreign language.
When they were finished, he stood up and turned to Gaia. “This is Elena Santos,” he said to Gaia. “She’s been making cheese here for the past twenty years, and no one makes a better grilled cheese sandwich.”
The woman scoffed, but Gaia could see her cheeks turn red with the compliment. “Ah, you go sit down and I’ll bring you something.”
Logan laughed, not missing anything, and bent lower to kiss her again, but then moved on because there were others waiting to get inside for lunch.
They found an empty table in the back near the window and Gaia was charmed when he held her chair out for her. She was so used to men just sitting down, that she wasn’t exactly sure what to do when a man held her chair for her. But she sat down and then he sat across from her, looking at her with a strange glint in his eyes.
“What?” she asked, lifting a hand to touch her hair. “Am I a mess after that tour?”
“You’re beautiful.”
She blushed, just like Elena had. This man was wicked, she thought. “So what kinds of numbers did you want to discuss?”
He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table as he watched her carefully. “How about your numbers?”
Gaia didn’t understand. She was pulling a notebook out of her bag and looked at him curiously. “My numbers? I don’t…”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.” She leaned back in her chair, not sure where he was going with this line of questioning. “Why is that important to this project?”
He laughed softly, shaking his head. “It has nothing to do with the project and everything to do with the two of us.”
She shook her head nervously. “There is no ‘two of us’,” she told him, even as that annoying trembling started up again. Those green eyes could make a woman’s stomach do strange things, she thought. “I don’t really…”
He finished for her when she seemed to stumble. “Date? Why not?”
Elena arrived and set down two plates each containing a sandwich that was oozing cheese on both sides with thick, crusty bread, grilled to golden perfection.
Gaia looked down at the delicious sandwich, then up at the man. There was a gleam in his eye that she didn’t fully understand, but it made her stomach muscles quake with awareness.
“Okay, please, tell me what’s going on,” she beseeched, ignoring her sandwich since she’d have trouble swallowing it anyway. With this gorgeous man sitting across the table from her, she wasn’t sure any of her body parts would work.
Hmmm…maybe some would, she thought as her breasts tingled when his crystal green eyes moved down her figure.
“Stop doing that,” she told him. She’d meant for the words to come out harshly, but even she could hear the breathless quality of her voice.
That gleam softened, shifted, and the result made her trembling increase even more. She couldn’t handle this man being nice to her!
“I’m making you nervous. That’s not my intention.”
She swallowed, trying to read his mind, but those green eyes weren’t telling her what she wanted to hear, what she needed to know.
Or maybe they were and she just wasn’t listening properly. “What’s your intention?” she asked bluntly.
He laughed. “Not much for subtlety, are you?”
She shook her head. “No. Never. I want it spelled out.”
He leaned forward, his green eyes capturing her golden ones and not releasing her. “Okay, here’s the deal. I want you in my bed. I think you’re smart, brilliant, and beautiful. I would love to peel all of your clothes away and look down at you spread across my bed. I want to know what you taste like, everywhere. I want to see what you look like when you climax in my arms when I’m buried deep inside your body. And I want to know what kinds of sexy sounds you make when that happens.” He paused, looked at her golden eyes. He saw fear, shock, and…desire. Yeah. She felt it, he thought with triumph. She might not want to. Not at the moment, but he could see it there, just like she was sensing it.
“That makes you nervous,” he acknowledged. “But we’ll take it slowly.”
He watched with fascination and…that was anticipation, as she shook her head, still trying to deny their mutual attraction, even as she fought it. “No. We…” she waved her hand between the two of them. “No. No sex. No climaxes,” she whispered that last word then looked around to see if anyone had heard her say that word. Or him!
Damn, she was adorable. That pink staining her pale cheeks just made him more adamant. As if his body, hard and ready for her, wasn’t enough.
“Good!”
He almost laughed when she blinked and leaned back as if he’d slapped her. “Good?” she squeaked.
Oh, she was so tempting. “Yes. I like a challenge,” he explained as he picked up half his sandwich. “I’m tired of aggressive women. You’re different. I’m ready for different.”
Gaia’s mouth fell open as she absorbed those words. “Wait,” she sighed, lifting a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache. “So if I say yes, you wouldn’t want that?”
He laughed. “Oh yeah. I’d like that.”
Her lips were soft, opened as her eyes looked back at him with confusion. “I’m not sure I understand you.”
He winked. “Say yes, Gaia. And we can enjoy each other sooner.”
Gaia could barely breathe. “So I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t?”
He laughed. “An interesting perspective.”
“I don’t want you,” she hissed, lying through her teeth.
“Yes, you do,” he contradicted and his eyes glanced downward.
Gaia gasped and crossed her arms over her breasts. “You’re being crass.”
He laughed. “No. I’m being honest. Care to tell me why you’re not?” He took a bite of his sandwich, nodding that she should try hers as well.
Gaia sighed, frustrated and not sure how to handle a man this blatantly sexual. He was aggressive and charming, but scared the bejeezus out of her!
“Can we just change the subject?”
“Sure,” and he put his sandwich down. “Let’s talk money. If this project goes through, you’ll earn a ten percent finder’s fee on the profits.”
Gaia had just delicately picked up her sandwich and was about to take a bite, but his words had her coughing and she dropped her sandwich back to her plate. She felt his hand moving against her back and tried to pull away, shaking her head, but he ignored that and kept on rubbing her back until she stopped coughing.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” and she shifted her chair so that he couldn’t reach her back. When she looked back up at him, she knew that he understood exactly what she was doing. And the silent message conveyed that she wasn’t going to get away from him so easily. “I told you before, I don’t want a finder’s fee.”
“Tough,” he said and took another bite of his lunch. “You will also be earning the commissions on any design services. I’m picturing several luxury penthouses and several smaller spaces. We’ll also use you for the lobby, office, and decorating several of the showpiece areas.”
Gaia’s mind was spinning with his words. “You don’t even know if I’m any good. Why would you…?”
“You have vision. You looked at an old, rundown building and knew that it had something special in it. You also looked across the street when I mentioned the other buildings and I know you already have ideas running through your head. I’ve driven by that area every day for several years and I never thought about renovating the warehouse.”
She was still overwhelmed. “You don’t even know if the project will be feasible. The walls of the factory, they might come down with any sort of construction.”
He shook his head. “I still have to do some research, but the building was made with a type of construction that wasn’t always applied. It was much more expensive during the era in which that building was constructed, but the crossbars and support systems, not to mention the type of concrete that was used, has made the building more structurally sound than most. And believe it or not, the mortar that needs to be replaced will help make the building more earthquake proof.”
There was that sparkle again and it made her stomach quiver with awareness and excitement. Had it ever gone away?
“Relax,” he urged, that teasing back in his voice. “It’s going to be okay.”
Gaia lifted her sandwich and nibbled but didn’t reply. No, everything wasn’t going to be okay, because there were too many things wrong with that building. He was going to green light a project that would bankrupt him.
“So, why did you quadruple the costs for the renovation?” he asked, taking another bite of his sandwich, looking across the table at her.
Startled, Gaia carefully set her sandwich back down on the plate. “Um…the costs aren’t…”
“Yes, they are. It was a mystery as to why a proposed renovation project would cost so much, but when I started to look into the numbers, every single one of them is four times what the supplies would actually cost.” He paused, watching her lovely features carefully. “That was on purpose, wasn’t it?”
Again, Gaia struggled to answer. She didn’t think she could come up with a believable answer. Honesty was probably the best way to deal with this man. “Yes,” she finally said, sighing with relief. “Yes, I think that moving forward with the project is dangerous. I don’t know enough about building structures and materials. As much as I would love to see that beautiful building brought back to life, I don’t think that the idea will work. My brother brought my drawings to your foreman without my knowledge.” She shrugged slightly as she said, “As I’ve told you, I dreamt up the idea while sitting in a coffee shop. I never thought my drawings could become reality.”
He smiled slightly and she saw the admiration in his eyes. Admiration? For being honest? Or was he admiring her for her discouragement. Neither possibility made any sense.
“What made you go into interior design?” he asked, changing the subject. Thankfully, that was a subject she could discuss that didn’t cause her to tremble like a leaf. For the next hour, they discussed how each of them had gotten into their chosen professions. His tales of math and buildings fascinated her, the way he and his brothers had designed their first, second, and third tree houses. She laughed and relaxed…well, as much as a woman could relax around a man as attractive as Logan Steele. But she couldn’t deny that she was relieved when he got a call about a meeting and he had to drop her off.
Getting into her own car that afternoon, she smiled, shaking her head at how funny the man was. She really was shocked that she’d been able to laugh at some of his quips.
But that was over, she told herself. No more alone time with Logan Steele. Yes, he was gorgeous and funny, intelligent and surprisingly kind for such a hard looking man. But he was dangerous. Devilishly dangerous.