Chapter 1
Daisy nervously sipped her now tepid tea, staring across the street at the construction site. “Please be there today,” she whispered to herself, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed her talking to herself. Self-consciously, she tugged the tweed wool of her straight skirt lower over her knees. Did the outfit look pretentious? Was it too demure? She’d chosen this outfit hoping to look business-like, but did she come across as prudish? “I really want this guy!”
And she didn’t want to be robbed!
The last guy she’d worked with had stolen supplies and money from her, but her lawyer, Jason, was taking care of him! She hoped this man was a smarter choice. From the investigation into his background, it seemed that Rocco Barnes was the man!
Glancing at her watch, she noticed that the construction crew was already hard at work across the street, but the tall, broad-shouldered foreman she’d been waiting for hadn’t yet arrived. At least, he hadn’t arrived while she’d been sitting here. Unfortunately, she’d been here for a while, which was why her tea was cold and she really needed a bathroom. Could he have slipped in to the construction site while she’d taken a bathroom break? That was entirely possible since she was on her fourth cup of herbal tea. She’d hurried during her last bathroom break, but now she didn’t want to risk another one, unwilling to miss him.
Tapping a manicured finger against the faux-marble table, she considered her options. She could leave and try to intercept him tomorrow. Or she could…well, at this point in the day, that was probably her only option. After investigating him for several weeks now, she knew his routine and he was a conscientious worker, always showing up on time, even early many mornings.
Pulling the investigator’s file out of her briefcase, she opened it and checked the information again. Well, not the information so much as the man’s picture. Of all the candidates her business manager had found for her, this man had caught her eye. Thankfully, he was also the best qualified as well as being the best…
Hmmm, looks didn’t really matter. Not when she was considering him for a job.
Suddenly, there was a commotion across the street and Daisy looked up. The tall, fiendishly muscular man in question was arguing about…something.
How in the world had he arrived without her noticing?!
Pushing the question aside, she watched the argument with fascination. Both men were snapping at each other. The shorter man with the protruding stomach was waving his arms in the air while the other guy, the tall, dark haired behemoth, was gesturing to the building with what looked like rolled up architectural plans .
The shorter man was stomping his foot now and Daisy knew that this wasn’t good.
Sure enough, the shorter man gestured to the gate leading out of the construction site and stalked away, leaving a stunned man standing there.
Suddenly, the tall guy threw the plans down and stomped out of the construction site, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it. With what looked like fury in his every step, he looked back over his shoulder and paused, appearing to debate going back in and arguing his point further.
Daisy watched as the tall man walked down to the next block and entered a bar. She followed him, not sure what to do. She touched the file, reminding herself of this man’s recommendations. Still, it was only ten o’clock in the morning and the man was ready to drink? Pressing her lips together in disapproval, Daisy paced a few steps back and forth, not sure what her next move should be. And time was wasting. She had a schedule to keep and she’d wasted too much time already trying to speak with this particular candidate, mostly because he came so highly recommended but…also because…okay, Daisy sighed and looked up at the grey clouds.
She was intrigued.
And more than a little intimidated.
From the moment her business manager had shown her the file, she’d…dreamed…about the man’s face. She’d actually come down to this work site the last three days but his picture hadn’t mentioned his size. Or his muscles. Or that raw power that seemed to surround the man.
There was something about him that terrified and frightened her, but at the same time, reassured and captivated her.
She glanced at the door to the bar where he’d disappeared. Was she wrong? Was this person not the right man for the job? He’d come highly recommended and…
Daisy walked away, thinking that she was crazy. She couldn’t hire a man who started drinking at nine o’clock in the morning. Good grief, she hadn’t even known that bars opened this early!
Straightening her spine, she turned back to glare at the doorway of the bar. There was just one way to get to the bottom of the question. She walked back down the street and carefully picked her way through the mess of discarded building materials that littered the muddy entryway of the construction site.
“Excuse me!” she called out, lifting her hand to gain the attention of the shorter man.
He turned at the sound of her voice, looking angry and ready to blast whoever was bothering him now, but one look at Daisy stopped his tirade.
Daisy smiled, ignoring the man’s stunned look. “I hate to bother you, but the man who just left the work site…”
“Rocco Marks?” Short Guy sneered. “Ignore him. He’s a wimp and a pain in the as…uh…butt!”
Daisy blinked, thinking that the man in question didn’t appear to be wimpy in any way. She doubted that monstrously huge men like Rocco Marks would be wimpy in any aspect of their lives. “Yes, well, he just left. Could you fill me in on why he left in such a hurry?”
Short Guy stuffed chubby hands into the pockets of his filthy overalls. “Why do you want to know?” he demanded.
Daisy smiled, using her charms to get the information she needed. “Well, my sister is dating him and I just…”
Short Guy chuckled, lifting his hand to stop her explanation. “Say no more. Tell your sister to dump Rocco. He’s unemployed now and I doubt he’ll get a new job any time soon. Not if I have any say about it,” he mumbled, half to himself.
Daisy tilted her head, wondering how to get the information she needed without this man getting fired up. “Why is he unemployed? I was told he was the foreman here. Was he lying to my sister?”
Short Guy chuckled and the laugh sounded a bit malicious. “He was the foreman. But Marks is a bit of a worrier and was slowing down progress. He wanted a bunch of…” Short Guy paused, shrugging his shoulders. “Well, he just wants things his way and I disagree. Enough said.” He shifted slightly and the body language became menacing. “So, give me your sister’s name and I’ll take Rocco’s place.” He chuckled earthily, sending shivers of revulsion throughout Daisy’s mind. Thankfully, she refrained from cringing and silently patted herself on the back.
Immediately, Daisy was repulsed. Not just by his demeanor, but by his entirely inappropriate offer.
“I don’t think so,” she told him. And then her eyes narrowed as understanding hit her. “So you fired Rocco Marks because he wanted better safety measures for his crew. Am I right?” she asked carefully.
As soon as she finished speaking, Short Guy’s furious expression told her that she’d nailed it on the first try. “Right,” she continued, as his face began to turn beet red. “I understand. You don’t protect your workers.” And with that, she spun on her heel and walked out.
Making her way back across the street, she wondered if the man in question would still be at the bar. Surely he wasn’t really drinking this early in the day. Perhaps he’d just gone into the bar to have a cup of coffee. But as soon as she pushed her way through the heavy door of the bar, she spotted him. It wasn’t hard since he was the only patron here at this point of the day.
Rocco lifted the beer to his lips and ignored the Barbie-doll-look-a-like that just stepped into the bar.
Or tried to.
That strawberry blond hair and smokin’ figure were hard to ignore. And he was shocked to realize this, but he wasn’t in the mood. Not after the confrontation he’d just had with that ridiculous construction manager, Harry. Harry was one of those guys that tried to play both sides – telling the management company that he was saving money and telling his crew that they were doing a good job and would get bonuses if the work came in under budget.
Rocco snorted, taking a long sip of beer. Everyone on the crew knew that the only one that would get a bonus was Harry. The rest of his guys, the ones he’d brought on board to work the site would be left high and dry, and most likely injured because the site was so dangerous, lacking even the most basic safety precautions.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have another job that he could hire them onto. Most of the guys in his profession didn’t have a lot of choices, they took the jobs that were available. They needed the money, and his friends and buddies were trapped in a dangerous environment.
“Excuse me?”
Rocco tilted his head slightly as Barbie sat down next to him.
“Seat’s taken,” he muttered, not wanting to talk to this woman.
Of course, the woman ignored him and sat down anyway. He took a little pity on her when he saw her fingers tremble slightly.
“Tom!” he called to the bartender. Tom appeared around the corner, dishrag in hand as he polished glasses. “Get Barbie a beer, okay?”
He almost smiled at the offended gasp, but even that didn’t ease the anger that was burning a hole in his gut. He felt responsible for the guys. He’d brought them to this site from another because of the higher salary. What he hadn’t known was that the salary came with so many risks.
Prim little Barbie beside him huffed a bit and he almost chuckled at the sound. “My name is Daisy.”
He tilted his head to peer at her, shocked by the power in those dark brown eyes. Daisy was her name? Seriously? She’d been named after a weed?
“You’re kidding!” he replied, chuckling and shaking his head. “Bring me a whiskey, Tom,” he said when the bartender put a beer down in front of Daisy-Barbie.
“I don’t want a beer, Mr. Barnes,” she said. The fact that she knew his name caught his attention and he turned to face her. When she cringed back a bit, he felt a jolt of both satisfaction and lust. The pretty lady was even better than a Barbie doll, especially with those full lips and wide eyes. Surveying her closely, he acknowledged that Barbie really was an accurate nickname. The woman’s breasts were full and pert, her waist too small to be real, and…damn, those legs! They were long, lean, and sexy as hell! Her proportions didn’t make sense, but she was still hot. Some plastic surgeon had done an excellent job.
That didn’t eliminate the issue of the moment though. “How the hell do you know my name?”
Daisy-Barbie’s lips opened slightly and she looked more than slightly nervous. Good! Any woman who knew information about him before he offered it was trouble!
“I…umm…well,” those full lips opened and closed and the muscles in his stomach tightened. Was she trying to distract him? If so, she was doing a good job!
She took a deep breath and his eyes were drawn to those lips, thinking that they probably tasted pretty good. He could smell the strawberry lip gloss and wondered if she tasted…
Not an appropriate thought, he reminded himself.
Where the hell had she gotten that outfit, he wondered? On any other woman, the tweed material and prim cut of the suit would make a woman look dowdy. But on Barbie-Daisy, the suit made her look like a stripper in disguise. And not a very good disguise!
Daisy-Barbie’s shoulders stiffened and he almost chuckled when he realized that the gorgeous woman was getting a bit of gumption.
Those strawberry scented lips pressed together. “I have a business proposition for you,” she finally blurted.
He wanted to laugh. He wanted to just listen to her soft voice. But then again…he’d just been fired. So really, all he wanted to do was sit here and get drunk. “Oh yea? Well, I’m not interested.”
There was a long pause but Rocco could hear the darling thinking.
“I think I can make it worth your while,” she argued, her fingers wrapping around the mug of beer and she took a long swallow.
The chug of beer got his attention more than her comment about making the conversation worthwhile because Daisy-Barbie didn’t look like the kind of woman who would even touch beer, much less chug one.
Just because he was in a foul mood, he shrugged, knowing it would irritate her. “I doubt it,” he countered, but turned his head slightly, which was all the attention he was willing to give her. Any other day, he would have been in full charm mode. But today was bad. He’d messed up and he wasn’t in the mood to be polite, much less charming.
“You just lost your job.”
He turned away from her, taking the shot of whiskey and downing it before turning his attention back to his beer.
He heard her take a deep breath and it was difficult to stop himself from turning to watch her…chest…expand.
“I want to hire you.”
The beer was halfway to his mouth when it froze. Turning, he looked at the beautiful woman as if she’d just turned into a purple monster. “You’re offering me a job?” he asked, not believing her for a second.
That little huff of hers was cute, but he was too fascinated by her full lips.
“Yes. I have a job offer for you but…well, it’s not here in Louisville. It’s in LowPoint.”
Rocco stared at Daisy-Barbie for a long moment, his mind trying to grasp what she was telling him. LowPoint? Where the hell was…that tiny dump of a town? Was she serious? He snickered as he turned back to his beer. “I thought that town had died years ago.”
Daisy shifted impatiently on her chair, more than ready to lambast this jerk for his dismissive attitude. It took all of her self-discipline to remind herself that this man was extremely good at his job and came highly recommended by her business manager. He was the best and, even better than his skills, he was ethical. The fact that he’d walked off the work site a while ago because there were too many safety violations validated everything her investigator had noted in the file. As an honest person herself, she’d never thought to question someone’s integrity, but she’d learned over the last few years that there were some very bad people in this world.
“LowPoint is a small town and…well, it was dying. But things are changing there and the company I work for has been hired to help advance that change.” She took a deep breath, hiding her trembling hands as she said, “I’m authorized to offer you a position with health benefits, retirement benefits, and an excellent salary. You would be in charge of construction and have input into design, although the projects are on a smaller scale than what you have been working on recently. But on the upside, my company will authorized you to hire your own team.”
She saw the surprised interest in his blue eyes and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She’d got him! She could tell by the look in his eyes that she’d won!
He put down his beer and turned slightly towards her. A subtle sign, she knew, but one that told her that he was more interested than he was verbally letting on. “What’s the job?” he asked, his eyelids lowered, almost as if he were trying to hide the cautious interest that the rest of his body language was conveying.
She smiled slightly, feeling a bubble of excitement that seemed out of proportion to the big guy’s response. “I’d rather show you, if you don’t mind.”
Immediately, he turned back to his beer, taking a long sip before shaking his head. “Not interested.”
Huh? Daisy blinked, not sure why he was rejecting her offer when he’d been clearly interested a moment ago. He wasn’t interested now? But…he’d just lost his job! Why wouldn’t he be interested in another position?
“Don’t you want to know the salary?”
He laughed softly and she felt her muscles tense with awareness. The man had an amazing laugh! It was deep and rich and filled with…deliciousness! When he smiled, she shivered. The sound was just that good!
“Not really.” He peered at her from the corner of his eye. “It’s a scam, right?”
Relief surged through her as she realized where his mind was going. “A scam? No. My job offer isn’t a scam.” She pulled her purse around and pulled out a business card, sliding it across the polished bar towards him. “Here is my business card,” she explained. “Meet me tomorrow morning, ten o’clock, at this address,” and she wrote down the address to her latest project, “and we’ll talk more. I’ll show you what needs to be done, we’ll talk salary and benefits and you can decide if you want to take the job or not.” She stood up, pressing her damp palms down over the tweed skirt and tugging the prim jacket. Putting five twenty dollar bills down on the bar counter, she pulled her briefcase over her shoulder. “If you still think it is a scam after we talk tomorrow, then that money should cover your gas and time.”
With that, she stood up, slapped two more twenty dollar bills down on the bar to cover their drinks and nodded towards the man. “The extra twenty is for your next round. I hope to see you tomorrow, Mr. Barnes.”
With that, she spun on her heel and walked out of the bar.
Daisy stepped out of the bar and looked around, feeling wonderful. Powerful! The big, muscular jerk was going to work for her. A scam! Ha! If there was anyone who knew how to spot a scam, it was her! A few years ago, she and her four friends had bought one lottery ticket. The following morning, Daisy, along with her best friends and fellow diner employees Ivy, Tony, and Marilee, had woken to find that they were worth approximately two hundred million dollars…EACH! Ivy, Tony, and Marilee all lived and worked in LowPoint now, each living out their dreams.
They’d been careful though. They’d hired a lawyer that had assisted them in claiming their winnings while maintaining their anonymity. Then they’d traveled. For months, they’d traveled the world, bought clothes, and relaxed, enjoying life for a while.
Then they’d become bored and weary with the lack of goals in their lives. Daisy had always wanted to learn to decorate, loving the transformation of a dingy, boring room into something more spectacular. So she’d set aside some of her winnings to fund a foundation that bought up the houses in LowPoint and now she spent her days lovingly renovating all the abandoned, deteriorating houses, transforming them into beautiful houses in safe, wonderful neighborhoods.
The problem she’d run into was the unethical contractors that had overcharged her for supplies and materials. Hence the search for an honest construction manager. She’d come up with the idea of hiring a permanent staff, starting with Rocco Barnes. He would hire the rest of the construction team, allowing her to focus on the decorating aspect of the renovations. Only their lawyer, Jason Rayburn, and their business manager, Heath Sinclair, knew that she was actually the owner and controller of the foundation. She presented herself to everyone as simply an employee and she preferred it that way. It allowed her more autonomy.
Friend and fellow lottery winner, Ivy Taylor, had taken a completely different route with her winnings. She traveled the world taking pictures, returning to her gallery in LowPoint to sell her photos. They were always hot sellers and brought an almost constant stream of tourists to LowPoint, especially during the big “reveal” weekends when she returned from one of her trips to display her new photos. When she was home, she lived in a tiny, one bedroom apartment above her photography gallery. Her time not spent traveling for new places to photograph was spent training for marathons. Ivy was tall and lean…what most people would call willowy.
Tony had taken over one of the large buildings on Main Street in LowPoint and opened up his second restaurant, the first being a diner right across the street from the unethical diner the four of them had worked prior to winning the lottery – putting the evil woman out of business. His second order of business…he’d gone to business school, then to culinary school and learned to become a chef. Now his meals were creative, brilliant, and extremely expensive. People from around the country came to LowPoint to taste his cooking, bringing more tourists to the tiny town.
Marilee had gone a similar route to Daisy, also setting up and funding a foundation, but she focused on renovating the retail stores in LowPoint, hiring local talent to do the work as often as possible. Her foundation spent money beautifying the streets, adding window boxes to some of the stores, planting trees, cleaning up the small town square, and helping the seniors who lived at the senior’s center.
It was the perfect solution. Her best friends, Ivy, Tony, and Marilee – who were more like family to her than just friends, all lived and worked – most of the time – in LowPoint and enjoyed their anonymous philanthropy.
But she’d never tell the gruff Rocco who owned the foundation that would eventually employ him. At least, Daisy hoped he would accept the job. He really was the best candidate for what she hoped to create. And she doubted he would overcharge her for anything. From what Heath had uncovered, Rocco was a good, honest man who just wanted to earn a living.
Once out in the bright sunshine, she looked up at the building under construction across the street, wondering what safety precautions were not in place. Deciding that would be on her agenda this afternoon, she walked towards her Mini Cooper and slipped inside, immediately making a phone call to her business manager.
“Heath, could you get a building inspector over to the address I’m going to text you? Something isn’t right and I suspect that the workers there are in danger.”
“Absolutely,” he answered immediately. Heath was tall and lithe and always made her wonder what was really going on behind those sharp, grey eyes. He was also one of the few people who knew her actual net worth. In addition, the man was brilliant at finding solutions to the problems she, Ivy, Marilee, and Tony faced. He’d created and sold off more businesses than they could even imagine and had made millions doing it, which was why he was the perfect man to be their business manager. He was friends with Jason too, which added more credibility to his talent. “What do you suspect is happening?”
She hesitated as she turned out of the parking lot. “I’m not sure,” she answered. “I get the sense that there are major safety issues, but I wouldn’t put it past the construction site manager to be doing more than just cutting corners on safety.”
Daisy could picture Heath nodding his head. “I’ll get someone from OSHA over there to look around,” he replied, referring to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the safety inspectors that knew what each employer should be doing to ensure the safety of their workers. “I’ll let you know what the inspectors find as soon as they submit their report.”
“Thanks Heath. How’s everything else?”
“So far, all is good. The foundation is fully funded and my assistant will prepare the job offers as soon as you give me names.”
“Excellent!” she replied.