Page 41 of Passion Restored

“And she probably would if she hadn’t just bought a house,” he replied. “Which she explained in detail after calling the car all sorts of names not fit for public. But I offered to drop her off here. She said she has a key to your car, and mentioned that she could take yours home after her shift so I can take you home now.”

Liz raised a brow. How nice was it that everyone was planning her life for her. Nancy, Lisa, Tessa, and now Owen.

“She texted all of this to you, aware you only answer work things during your shift.”

“I could have taken the bus,” she replied.

“But you don’t have to. So say, ‘thank you, Owen,’ and come with me.” He leaned forward so only she could hear him. God knew what others thought just then, but she truly didn’t care anymore. She’d said her piece. “I know I’m one of the last people you want to see right now, but I told you I wasn’t going away anytime soon. So, come on, Liz. Let me take you home.”

She let out a breath. “Okay.” He gave her a pointed look. “Thank you for the ride.”

Owen smiled widely, and she was pretty sure Lisa and Freddie gasped softly behind her. Yeah, Owen in a leather jacket was sexy. Owen smiling while wearing a leather jacket was something else altogether.

And, apparently, he’d claimed her as his.

Now Liz just had to figure how what she was going to do about it.

****

Owen was exhausted and yet exhilarated at the same time. Now that he was alone in his small hotel room with the TV on low, talking about the news of the day, he could undo his tie and try to relax a bit before things got interesting. He’d spent the entire day in meetings with the Roland Group, going over the final details of the upcoming project. He had a great feeling about it. They’d seemed truly excited about the proposal Owen had laid out. He didn’t have the final plans, as he’d need Murphy and Graham for that, but he had enough that he knew no one could walk away from this unless they were holding onto loyalties that didn’t make sense. He might not be in his own bed that night and was missing Liz something fierce, but as soon as he got home, he’d celebrate.

Well, as soon as Clive Roland signed on the dotted line, that was.

Gallagher Brothers Restoration worked on a varied amount of projects throughout the year. Sometimes, they worked on homes; other times, on large estates or businesses, doing their best to keep the history alive and honored while at the same time upgrading and modernizing some things for safety and convenience. It was a delicate balance, but it was what they excelled at. Between the four Gallaghers, they each got the job done, and had slowly but surely been gaining a reputation for good, solid work, as well as meeting their deadlines.

It was everything they had wanted in the first and second phases of their company projection plan. Okay, maybe it was Owen’s plan, but the others had been on board since he’d made them color-coded charts and graphs. Owen was the one who planned and set things up, Murphy made sure their ideas would actually work as well as stay in line with their goals, and Graham made sure things got done. And, in the end, Jake came in to make sure the other three knew what they were doing and could mesh it all together.

They always worked as a team on each part, which made the fact that Owen was here on his own a bit different. But the others had been so busy with their other projects that they’d pushed Owen into taking over the initial business proposals and getting things signed. They would come in later and finish the mock-ups as well as do the heavy lifting once everything had been signed. He’d shown his plans to the others, of course, and they’d agreed on everything, but this was truly on Owen’s shoulders this time. It wasn’t how they normally worked, but Owen hadn’t really minded. He liked the responsibility and knowing that he was actually producing something that could be worked with. Each of them knew how to do each other’s jobs in case they needed to switch off, but they also had their specialties.

It was nice getting his hands deep into the project from the start and knowing that he would be part of something that was his idea and that his brothers actually agreed with him. It wasn’t always easy to work with family—especially his family since they were all loud, bearded, and tended to punch first and ask questions later—but they got shit done.

And after today’s meetings, Owen would get even more shit done.

This project, in particular, was special because of the land it was on. It wasn’t just one house or one estate; it was an entire central town that needed to be restored. An entire Main Street in a small, Artisan, mountainside town outside of Denver that wanted to attract more tourists in the ever-competing market. Owen’s plans were to use what they had and enhance the history of the place while cleaning it up. He knew some would start from scratch and make it look as if it were a newly faced historical landmark. Meaning they’d bulldoze their way through it and build new while trying to make it look like it had been there the whole time. That was the faster way to get things done, but Owen didn’t like it. It wouldn’t stay true to the bones of the buildings, and the area’s rich history.

The Roland Group had seemed to agree with him, and now he only had to wait for Clive to call and let him know what direction the Group was going.

Of course, that meant Owen was alone in a hotel room, away from his family and the woman he wanted to spend time with. He’d call Liz his girlfriend, but that word would scare her so he would be a little more careful. At least, she hadn’t pushed him away recently. In fact, they’d almost been acting like a tried and true couple, going out on dates and spending time together rather than hiding what they had and what they were to each other in the bedroom.

Maybe he should call her his girlfriend just to see what she did.

And maybe he should stop thinking like he was in high school and get over himself.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand, and he scrambled to pick it up, only to deflate when he saw Murphy’s name.

“What’s up?” he answered.

“I’m just working late on the Jefferson project and was getting a little slap happy. I thought I’d call and see how things went.”

Owen sat up a little straighter, trying to get comfortable. Hotel beds were never as good as his own, in his opinion. Plus, he always did his best not to think about what kind of germs lived on the damn thing.

He held back a shudder before speaking. “How are the plans coming? I know you wanted to do that addition on the back, but the couple wasn’t sure about how big they wanted it to be.”

Murphy mumbled something Owen couldn’t catch, and he smiled. Murphy might look like the baby-faced Gallagher, but he cursed more than any of them. “These damn people keep changing their minds, hence why I’m working late. I finally figured I’d just draw up five different plans and see which one they like.”

“And if they choose none of them?”

“They’ll fucking choose one. Even if I have to have you add colored-coded charts onto it to explain how amazing my work is.”

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