Page 21 of Waiting for Tuesday

My phone rang with an incoming call and I answered it.

“What do you mean, he’s your project manager? I thought it was Mr. Tall Dark and Married?”

“So did I.” My butt fell to the pavement and I stretched my legs out in front of me. “What am I going to do?”

“What do you mean? Is there anything youcando?”

I shrugged. “Hire someone else?” I wanted to cry, to kick my arms and legs and have a big old fit in the middle of the alley.

“How long wouldthattake you?” Becky asked.

I whimpered. It had taken months to find Jake, to track down his references and make sure he was the man I wanted for the job. And he was. My breathing quickened.

“Okay,” Becky said in a calming voice. “The first thing you need to do isstay calm.”

I blew out a breath and nodded. She was right. Panicking now would only lead to more trouble. “I’m trying…”

* * *

John

Jake turnedto me and raised one brow. “Do you know anything about this?”

I crossed my arms, adjusted my feet, and leaned my back into the desk. “I may have an idea.”

Jake braced his legs apart and stroked his chin between thumb and forefinger. “Did you sleep with her?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“Are you sure?”

“Look.” I grinned, cleared my throat, and pushed myself to stand. “It was a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

I nodded and scratched the back of my head.“I’ll go smooth things over. Don’t even worry about it.” I held up my hand, telling him to give me five minutes, and headed for the doorway. The truth was I’d been as shocked as she was. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to see her again. Never in my wildest dreams had she looked so pissed, either. I laughed, even though the situation I found myself in wasn’t the least bit funny.

The guys were all busy at work when I pushed through the tarp to the product floor. “Eddie!” I shouted.“Hey, Eddie!”

He turned around and lifted his chin.

“Did Ms. Patil come through here?”

He placed his sledgehammer on the counter before facing me. “You mean that cute thing with the hair? She went back there ten minutes ago. Carrying a little pink toolbox with her.”

I frowned. “She didn’t come back here just now?”

He shook his head. “No, not that I noticed.” His grin widened. “She left us donuts, though.”

I nodded, glancing down to the flakes of sugar that covered the front of his shirt. “Thanks, man.”

I pushed myway to the back room, wondering where the hell she’d gone, and spotted her little pink toolbox on the counter. I scratched my head and opened the box. A little saw, hammer, a few screwdrivers, and a bottle of lotion.What the hell she was thinking?She’d hired a whole construction crew to work for her, yet she’d brought her own toolbox with her to work. I wasn’t sure if that made me like her more or think she was completely crazy.

I finally found her in the back alley a minute later. She was sitting on the dirty pavement, her legs splayed out in front of her, her hand gripping her phone so tight her knuckles were white.

Without saying a word, I adjusted my tool belt and sat beside her. Judging by the way her back stiffened, she wasn’t happy about it.

She straightened up, pulled one knee to her chest, and spoke into the phone. “Becks, I gotta go.” She cleared her throat then threw her phone into the same oversized bag I remembered.

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