Page 57 of Designs on You

“You should get back to work. Goodnight, Eugene.”

She clicked off, and the sound was like cymbals clanging in his ears.

Fuck. He’d screwed things up so badly. So not only was his work totally shit, so was his love life.

Great. Just fucking great.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Delilah shook her head. “Men. They get into their heads about work. Or sports. Or a hundred other things, and then we slide on down to the bottom of their so called ‘things that are most important to me’ list.”

“Yes, well, I don’t ever intend to be put at the bottom of any man’s list ever again.”

“That’s an excellent way of thinking, honey. Always prioritize yourself. And me. And your clients.”

Natalie laughed. Delilah definitely had her priorities on straight.

She went over her checklist with Delilah to finalize the design on Paula and Fred’s house. They were out of town for the next few days, which was perfect timing. Everything should be delivered to the house by late this afternoon, and she’d have two days to get the design in order. It was a huge order, and unfortunately, Delilah had a major design of her own to finish off for another client and would be unavailable to help her, which meant Natalie had to do this alone.

She’d already enlisted the help of her mother and Hazel, who said they’d take care of the kids and the dog while Natalie concentrated on getting her clients’ house completed.

Delilah laid her hand over Natalie’s arm. “You got this, honey?”

Natalie nodded. “I’ve totally got this. You don’t need to worry about a thing. Paula and Fred are going to love everything.”

“Oh, I don’t worry about you and your design expertise. I meant personally.”

She shrugged. “I’ll be fine. I’m always fine.”

Delilah gave her a half smile. “But maybe indulge yourself with a spa day after you finish this design, okay?”

“Definitely.”

Natalie spent the rest of the day coordinating with the various vendors. She made her way to Paula and Fred’s house to await the first delivery, which, fortunately, arrived promptly as scheduled. She was just about to dig into the first box when her phone buzzed.

It was a call. From Eugene.

He’d texted and called her multiple times over the course of the past few days, and she hadn’t answered. Still furious with him for not bothering to send her one simple text saying he couldn’t make it, she figured she wasn’t important enough to bother with. And now, neither was he.

She let the call go. Except he called again. Which she ignored again. But then he called again.

Dammit. She thought about turning her phone off, but shewas waiting for delivery services to call and text, so she pushed the button. “Stop calling me.”

“I’m not going to stop calling you until you agree to see me. We need to talk.”

“No. I’m not going to see you, and we have nothing to talk about.”

“Natalie. I’m sorry. I know I screwed up. Give me a chance to apologize.”

“I’m working. I have a huge client and barely enough time to finish this design on time.”

“Then let me help. We’ll talk things out while you work.”

She frowned. “What? No.”

“I can be your manual labor. I’ll do whatever you say.”

She so wanted to hang up on him and never speak to him again, but she could really use the help. “Fine. I’ll text you the address.”

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