Page 11 of You Can Leave Your Hard Hat On
When the waitress left, Samantha clasped her hands on the table in front of her. “I’m going to get straight to the point, Teague. I’d like for you to come back to the job site.”
He raised his eyebrows, keenly disappointed that the reason she had sought him out had to do with business. “Why?”
She squirmed in her chair. “Because the site foreman, Mr. Langtry, is in the hospital and won’t be able to fulfill his duties.” She wet her lips. “He recommended that I ask you to take his place.”
Teague was silent, distracted by the fullness of her mouth…. She had given him great pleasure with that mouth. And her left ring finger was empty—was she single? Had she ever been married? There had been women in his bed since Samantha, of course, some who had hinted at rings and weddings, but his heart had never been swayed.
“It’s a tricky excavation,” she continued, all business. “The site is narrow and steep, and I need someone who can implement my design for the retaining walls. According to Langtry, you’re that person.”
He studied her in silence until the waitress returnedwith their drinks. So now she needed him. Satisfaction infused his chest. “Why do you think I’d be interested in taking the job?”
She sipped from her wineglass and shook her head. “I don’t, especially after the note we…ended things on…today.”
And thirteen years ago.
“But,” she rushed on, “I hope that you’ll consider it. It will be a chance to work with some innovative materials and techniques.”
“Yourinnovative materials and techniques.”
“Yes,” she conceded. “And the site has to be ready in thirty days, rain or shine.”
He pursed his mouth. “Why the tight time frame?”
She hesitated, taking another drink from her glass. “To be frank, the board of directors isn’t convinced that the building I’ve proposed will work on the site, but they agreed to give me thirty days to prove my foundation design.”
The wheels began to turn in his head. “So if you don’t have the site excavated within thirty days, what happens?”
“I lose the project.”
Even without the intensity in her eyes, he would have known how important the project was to her. During the night they’d spent together when they were teenagers, she had talked about little else than becoming a famous architect, erecting buildings that would impress her father. At the time, she had seemed desperate to get her old man’s attention—he wondered if that was still the case.
“This is awkward,” she said, splaying her hands, “but if you take the job, Teague, you and I will be working closely together. That doesn’t bother me, but if you think it would bother you—”
“It wouldn’t,” he cut in. Was she so arrogant that she thought he was still hung up on her? Good grief, the woman was full of herself.
“Good,” she said curtly. “So do you think it sounds like something you could do?”
“Coulddo?” he asked. “Sure.”
She pushed the end of her ponytail behind her shoulder and Teague conceded that Griggs was right—she was a looker, all right. And the fact that he knew the passion that lay beneath her prim clothes and polished veneer had his sex pressing against his zipper.
“Butwouldyou, Teague? Are you willing to take the job?”
Willing to work side by side every day after being denied access to her when they were young? The thought of being close to her in a capacity where she would be seeking his advice left him almost breathless. It could be a way to explore his fantasies and prove to her what might have been if only she had given him a chance back when it would’ve mattered. In a way, he supposed he was as eager for her approval as she was for her father’s approval.
She cleared her throat. “I’ll pay you well.”
At her words, an unpleasant knot lodged in his chest—she’d pay him well. That was all he was to her—a laborer. A means to an end. But as he digested the finality of her words, an idea slid into his brain.
If ever there was a chance to put Samantha Stone in her place, to rob her of something meaningful, this was it. He could take the job and keep his crews busy while pacing everything so that they narrowly missed the deadline. The crew would then scatter and move on to more permanent job sites, where they’d rather be anyway. It was a win-win situation…for everyone but Samantha. She would get the comeuppance that she deserved, and he’d make sure that she knew he had planned it that way.
“I’ll take the job,” he agreed, hardening his jaw.
Her shoulders eased in relief and she smiled, an unexpected development that left him momentarily flustered as her face and eyes lit up. She thrust her hand forward, over the table, toward him. He stared at her manicured hand a few seconds before clasping it in his own hand, which was callused from wielding a shovel. Her skin was soft and cool, and her fingers squeezed his in a way that made his body clench with anticipation.
I’ll pay you well.Her words resounded in his head and would, he decided, become his mantra to steel himself from falling for her again. This time he was in control. Teague squared his shoulders and gave her hand a firm squeeze in return.Yes, Samantha, you will pay.
