Page 7 of Tangled Desires

“Lyric Skye,” I tell her.

“Perfect. I appreciate your patience. Randy will see you Monday morning. Thank you for calling Jagged Edge.”

“Thank you as well. Have a great rest of your day.” I hit the end button, drop my phone to the table, then raise my arms and feet while remaining sitting on the chair to do a dance of sorts.

Now that I have the ball rolling, I need to send Naomi a text to let her know what’s going on. When I left North Carolina, she stayed back and is in the process of rifling through stacks of paperwork that I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with. She rented an Airbnb for the time being, and we brought the boxes to her place, where she’ll go through them and decide what’s important and what’s not. I’m hoping it won’t be too much, then Naomi can just ship one package and be done with it.

Me: Good morning, I have a contractor coming out Monday. I’m going to get the ball rolling on the landscaping even though I’m sure it’ll be a mess once a construction crew gets started.

When I called her last night after getting settled, she had plans with Mr. Bennett, so we kept our conversation short. I gave her the details of the house, told her to have a great night, and we’d chat today. I don’t see a response right away or a notification under the thread sayingread.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Naomi always has her phone near her. Even when she’s in Paris and our time differences clash, it’s always within reaching distance. I have my fingers crossed that maybe she had a late night and is sleeping in, or maybe she’s with a certain handsome lawyer and never made it back to her place.

I abandon my phone on the table, stand up, and stretch. I raise my arms over my head, move my body side to side, place my legs shoulder-length apart, and bend forward until my hands touch the carpeted floor. I do this a few times, trying to loosen the stiff muscles in my aching body.

Between the drive down here, the stress that’s been my life for too many years to count, and then sleeping in a bed that isn’t mine, it has made me entirely too tense. I should probably add a yoga mat to my list while I’m out shopping today. I’m sure there are going to be more days ahead when my muscles are absolutely going to protest.

My phone goes off on the table, an alert for a text message, and after walking my hands out to further stretchmy lower back, I do the reverse and stand up. The blood rushes to my brain, causing a slight dizziness to take hold. I take a deep breath and wait until it disappears. I really need to get a move on. The light dinner I had last night has long since worn off, and I’m going to need nourishment to fuel the calories I’m likely to burn.

I grab my phone and look at the notification while walking to the ensuite bathroom, an added bonus when a lot of bed and breakfasts don’t have this advantage.

Naomi: Ma chérie, that is wonderful news!

Me: I’m excited and nervous. How’d your date go?

Naomi: I’ll have to get back to you. I’m still on it.

Me: FINALLY! Love you! Chat later!

I toss my phone on the counter and get to work. I have my teeth to brush, clothes to change, breakfast to eat, a store to shop at, and a yard to tackle. I look at myself in the mirror. Even though the losses I’ve been dealt, I’m still standing, I’m still breathing, and I’m still smiling.

5

JAGGER

“The schedule is updated on the computer for next week. Also, you need to look over a set of contracts to see if any changes need to be made. Those can wait till Monday, though,” Joss tells me as she places a few folders on my desk. We’re slowly converging everything digitally. Our schedule has already been done, though we’re finding glitches in it, and I need to get Jude out here to take a look. The next phase we’re slowly integrating is contracts—less paper, less filing, and hopefully less hassle, and not only for Joss, for everyone. Our general contractors, project managers, and foremen will then be able to pull everything up on their tablet before too long.

The one downfall we’ve come across is plans. Reading them on a ten-inch screen is damn near impossible, especially if you need to add a certain detail. It’s a hell of a lot of scrolling and zooming in. Another task for Jude. He’s been on me forever to make it into this century. Telling him itwasn’t that simple didn’t help until he spent a day with Joss. Then his mind worked, and he came up with a program of his own to work at Jagged Edge.

“Thanks, I’ll look over them today or tomorrow. I’m still playing catch-up from last week, and no, you’re not on call this weekend. Don’t answer your phone, don’t come in, and don’t think about work. This place will be fine.” Joss pulled her weight big time last weekend while I was away. The guys pitched in, but had it not been for her, I’m pretty sure we’d be behind on most of our projects.

“I hear you. I’ll silence it, but seriously, if you need me, don’t hesitate. The only plans I have are to float around in my apartment pool, read gossip magazines, and eat my weight in chips and salsa.” She doesn’t mince words at all, she doesn’t take my shit, and she sure as hell doesn’t take anyone else’s. A few of the guys have tried to give her the run-around, but Joss put her foot down, stood tall, kept her shoulders back, and looked a man twice her size dead in the eye while telling him he better get his ass on the job site, or else. I was in my office, ready to intervene, but she handled herself. The employee stormed off, and when no one was around, I had a word with him myself. He didn’t like what I had to say, therefor I gave him his marching orders. Still, word got around, and ever since that day, no one has dared to piss Joss off.

“Sounds like you have a solid weekend.” I look up from taking a quick glance at the contracts, noting their names and which one is a priority.

“I do. Oh, that reminds me. We have an estimate on Monday morning. She dropped your mom’s name.” Thatgets my attention. I move my mouse around to wake up the computer. “Eleanor doesn’t give the company name out lightly or even suggests using her name, so I moved the client in right away. Randy is the only one with availability.”

“It’s all good. Get out of here, or you’ll never leave. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t answer the phone,” I remind her.

“Okay, okay. Don’t work too hard. I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning.” Joss waves as she walks out of my office, through the small room, and out the door. I wait until the door slams closed before looking at the schedule. I’m about to pull up the program to check who the mysterious person is my mom referred.

“Lucky me,” I mutter. My cell phone starts dancing around on my desk. The screen lights up, and I know there’s no ignoring this call.

I hit the accept button before pressing the speaker option. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, Jagger, you’ll never guess who I saw today.” I’d hazard a guess, except then she’d know my friends have been checking up on things and I’d have to answer questions I’m not ready to reply to yet.

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