Chapter 4
Gaia looked at the drawings and smiled. Every time she finished a design, a little bubble of excitement would shoot through her. Looking at this one, she wanted to stand up and dance around, do a little jig.
Dancing around her apartment wasn’t sophisticated, she reminded herself. And calling up a handsome, green-eyed devil would be a horrible idea. That thought shouldn’t have even popped into her mind. Probably the only reason it had was because he had e-mailed her some details about the warehouse renovation last night.
Instead, she stood up and pulled her hair up into a ponytail and started stretching. She’d go for a run instead. A much more sophisticated celebration, she told herself. No dancing around the room or laughing, clapping her hands over her head. She would not turn on the music. She would just go for a long, quiet run and center herself.
She’d already donned her exercise clothes, knowing that she would need this at some point during her evening.
“Hey!” a voice called to her as soon as she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby of her building.
Gaia swung around, feeling like she’d been doing something wrong. Which, in a way, she had been. She’d been working on the design to ruin a family. Not something she liked. It was wrong and she wanted to scrap the idea, move on. Since Freddy wouldn’t let it go, she was taking steps to make sure his plan failed while, at the same time, trying to figure out how to get him help. She felt like she was lying on every front during this campaign in an effort to do the right thing for everyone and, most likely, was failing in every way.
But the woman standing in the lobby was one of those vivacious beauties that everyone wanted to befriend. “Marcy! What are you doing here?” she asked of the petite dynamo that was currently working for the man who lived on the top floor of this building. Why the CEO of Steele Industries lived in a condominium instead of a fabulously beautiful house overlooking the water, she didn’t understand, but then again, it wasn’t any of her business either. Gaia knew that Marcy had married that handsome CEO a while ago, and had even heard that they’d had a baby.
Marcy rolled her eyes in response to Gaia’s question. “I’m just picking up something for Zeke,” she said, indicating the stack in her arms. “Going for another run?”
Gaia laughed as she glanced down at her leggings and wicking shirt. “Is it obvious?”
Marcy tilted her head, looking startled. “You have dimples!” she exclaimed.
Gaia put her smile away. She hated those dimples! They weren’t sophisticated in any way and she had worked hard to keep her smiles light and airy, which kept the ridiculous dimples from being so obvious.
“Yeah. A ‘gift’ from my mother,” she replied sarcastically, referring to the woman who had left them when she and Freddy had been too small to understand her desertion.
“Well, I think they’re great! I’ll walk out with you,” Marcy volunteered and the two of them headed to the parking lot. “What are you working on now?”
“Oh, I have several projects in process right now. There’s one in Tacoma that should be pretty interesting. But it’s a difficult drive.”
Marcy nodded her head. “I know lots of back roads if you need help there. I’ve mapped out several routes that would cut seven to eight minutes off your commute, depending on where the project is in Tacoma.”
Gaia blinked. “You drive down to Tacoma often?”
Marcy stepped out into the watery, afternoon sunshine. “I’ve actually never been there. I mapped out a route just in case I needed to go though.”
Gaia almost laughed. She didn’t know Marcy well enough to tease her about such a plan. They’d met several months ago and Gaia knew that the gorgeous beauty was married with a tiny baby, but Gaia really would like to get to know the woman better. She seemed very nice and someone she’d like to hang out with on occasion.
Deciding to just go for it, Gaia turned slightly. “Want to get a cup of coffee some time?” she asked, holding her breath. The woman probably had loads of friends and a crazy social life. Anyone with her kind of gorgeous looks and intelligence probably did lots of fun things.
Marcy’s crystal blue eyes widened a moment, then her features softened into a smile. “I’d like that! Or how about lunch tomorrow? I’d love to have an excuse to get away from the work site.”
Gaia laughed, forgetting for the moment to hide her dimples. “Is it that bad?”
“Worse!” Marcy gushed. “You can’t even imagine the current work schedule!”
Gaia swallowed painfully, intimidated by the idea of working for Steele Industries.
“About lunch, I would love to get out of the office, so it is a date! Call me when you know your schedule tomorrow and I’ll find a good restaurant near you.” A moment later, the woman was gone in a burst of energy.
Gaia almost laughed again, thinking that Marcy was great, if a bit nutty in her need to plan everything.