A Second Chance (16 page)

He
did though, his smile widening as he looked into her face.
‘
That’s
a great idea, Laura. I should have thought
of
it right away.’

Jade
started shaking her head in
repudiation
, only to be confronted with his handsome face coming closer as he lean
ed
to
ward
her
.
‘
Hey
, Jade, don’t look so surprised. You do work as an interior designer, right? It
certainly
would be easier to deal with someone I know and trust, than hire people I have no
clue
about.’

So he trusted her. It
annoyed her to realize
how pleasant she actually
foun
d
the
notion,
th
e
five
-
letter word carrying more power than any
compl
i
ments
ever could. It didn’t change the
fact
she didn’t want to do it
,
though.

‘Liam, I can’t
.
’
She forced
her voice to sound stronger than she felt. ‘
I have
obligations back home, you know. I
’
m here just for a short break, to see Laura
.
I left a ton of projects
pil
ed
up on my desk
,
and they need to be finished as soon as possible.’

‘Come on.’ Laura
inter
ject
ed
, her face illuminated with the sunlight pouring through the open window
. ‘
Don’t
tell me you
’
re looking forward to see
ing
Brian and his girlfriend
.
You were telling me how much you hated the idea of working with them
again
so soon, remember?’

It served her right for sharing too
much
,
Jade scolded herself as she bit her lip in
embarrassment
. Leave it to Laura to hit
the
bull’s-eye
.
She
avoided Liam’s gaze
, for s
he didn’t want his pity and hated being exposed as the
abandoned
bride
-
to
-
be, however true it was.

‘You
said
you wanted to leave it all behind for a while, right?’ Laura
plo
w
ed
ahead, oblivious to her friend’s discomfort. ‘I
’
m sure they can take care of the office and
your
projects for a while. You
c
ould
get a breather and work on a great home
,
too
.
’

‘
Did
I ever tell you
that
you should work as a lawyer,
Laura
?’ she
asked
weakly, trying to be gracious about her refusal. It wasn’t Laura’s fault
that
she had qualms about doing anything that brought her closer to her brother. ‘I
’
m sure it would be a great opportunity, but I have to be realistic. As much as I hate the idea of working with my ex
-
fiancé at the moment, I won’t abandon the company I built from scratch to avoid him and his
green
-
eyed vixen.’

God, how bitter and spiteful
, she
thought
as she heard
the spontaneous remark
escap
e
her lips.

‘And you shouldn’t
.
’ Liam
’s
calm voice
sooth
ed
her strained nerves. ‘
It
wouldn’t be any different than taking on some home
restor
ation
project
like
you do all the time
.
And it would
n’t
be
a shabby advertisement for your company
,
either
.
’
H
e
grinned conspiratorially and added
,
‘
N
ot that I consider myself anyone of importance, but this is one of the most famous areas of San Francisco
,
and I
’
m sure that your potential customers would be impressed to know you worked on a project just a few houses aw
ay from Robin Williams or Cher.’

It was absolutely true. Her business relied on good
testimoni
als
and referrals
;
an impressive portfolio
was
definitely helpful
in
establish
ing
them as more than just another designing company.
C
ompetition
was high with
various studios popping up all over the place in the
p
ast few years. Jade knew how important it was to build up
a
client base
that extended beyond the boundaries of one city. Only, she didn’t
necessarily
want it to extend anywhere near Liam Latimer
.
In fact
, it was quite the opposite
—
she wished
she could
disappear as soon as possible from his life.

‘Just think about it, Jade
,
’ Liam insisted, his smile grazing her skin like a caress. ‘I understand that it
’
s too much of a job for one person, that goes without saying. It would be just great if you could lead a team of
whomever
you decide is needed to finish this project as soon as possible. This way you could concentrate on designing and planning,
and
leav
e the
execut
ion
to your team. I spent some time on the plane trying to figure out who I
should
contact about it, but to be quite honest
I
still have no clue. I could leave it to my agent again, but since you
’
re here
,
I think it
’
s safe to say we could skip
th
at
step.’

‘What Liam isn’t saying is
that
he’d rather not involve his agent in every aspect of his life
,
’ Laura chimed in again, her eyes mischievous. ‘
This
woman has a serious crush on him
,
and he
’
s scared to death of her making a pass
at
him, if you want to know the truth
.
’

‘Come on,
S
is, let’s not spook Jade
.
’ Liam smiled, though Jade noticed a
blush reddening his cheeks,
making him look utterly embarrassed. ‘Melissa knows it won’t ever go anywhere, and she’s fine with that.’

‘Right, believe what you want
to
.
’ Laura grinned and gestured to Jade, who felt her chest tightening as the memories of her own personal humiliation assaulted her with fresh force. ‘I
know when I see a woman in love
,
and Mel is certainly making sure
that
it
’
s out there for everyone to see
.
’

‘
O
K
, that’s enough
.
’
P
ulling
Laura
along, Liam walked out to the back door, Jade following them while her head spun with all those revelations. Every fiber of her body scream
ed
that she should
refuse his offer and return home as soon as possible. It was the only reasonable thing to do, she
thought
as she walked out to the deck, her heated cheeks cooling in the breeze from the ocean. The air tasted salty, and she heard the cries of the seagulls mixing with the deep melodic sound of the foghorn. It was absolutely beautiful
,
and to her utter despair
,
she felt
that the house was reaching out to her
.
T
iny
tendrils
were
winding themselves around her heart and senses,
undermining
her firm resolve to tell Liam to find someone else for this job. She
realized she
wanted to see it transformed, her blood already rushing excitedly through her veins as she imagined all the possibilities
for turning
this forlorn house into a home.

‘Jade, I
’
m running out of options here.’
An a
mused
voice woke her from her deep thoughts
,
and she saw Liam watching her with his dark,
mysterious
eyes.
Something in his gaze unsettled her more than she cared for, the almost analytical quality of his stare making it hard to remain cool and composed. ‘I
’
m trying to wow you with this view as
my
last resort,’ he added
with a grin
, leaning even closer. ‘
I
f this fails
,
there is nothing else but
to go
down
on
my knees and beg. Don’t think I
won’t.
’

He was teasing
,
of course, she thought feverishly as she steadied her breathing with almost inhuman effort. Still, the image of him on his knees in front of her conjured all kind
s
of forbidden fantasies, renovating homes being the most innocent one of all.

‘I don’t think
that
will be necessary, Liam.’ She
forced
herself not to step back, safely away from his dizzying presence. ‘I
’ll
tell you what
.
I have to call Brian and see how things are
,
and we
can
take it from there. If
—
and I say
if
—
it turns out they can cope without me for a while longer
,
I will definitely consider your offer. I
’
ll call him tonight so I won’t keep you hanging, all right?
’

This
would work nicely as an excuse
,
since she was sure that Brian would definitely flip at the mere thought of her taking any more time off from their office. She remembered very well how opposed he was
to
her departure in the first
place
,
reminding her repeatedly about the huge amount of work she was leaving behind.

‘Sounds good.’ Liam nodded, his unsettling gaze resting on her face
,
giving her the most uncomfortable impression he could read her mind as she plotted her escape. ‘
For
now
,
I better take you both home, though. I need to contact my
agen
t
and go over some of the plans for the coming weeks, which will take me a few hours. And Laura, I really think you should fill me in about what is going to happen with your surgery, don’t you think? I don’t want to be pushy, but I am here for you
,
and hopefully we can talk about it tonight, all right? Mom
didn’t
know everything
,
and I
’
m very worried
.
’

‘Sure thing, Liam
.
’ Laura sighed, her eyes clouded for a moment before she regained her composure. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, her voice thick as she
sai
d
,
‘I
’
ll share with you whatever you want to know, of course. And thanks for being so patient
.
Y
ou
are the sweetest brother
any girl could
ever have.’