Made For Us (4 page)

Zoe felt like a deer in the headlights for a moment and quickly did her best to mask it. “I think it went well.”

Martha nodded. “Did the two of you discuss what needed to be changed?”

That
was
one
way
of
putting
it
. “We did a full tour of the house, and all of the issues were pointed out.”

Eyes narrowing, Martha studied her until Zoe started to squirm. “Hmmm…and how did you feel by the end of the meeting? Is this something you can handle?”

Unable to speak, Zoe simply nodded.

Martha sat back in her leather chair and frowned. “Well, honestly, Zoe, I thought you’d have more to say about the whole thing. I mean, Aidan Shaughnessy called here after you left.”

Zoe cringed. She opened her mouth to start her lengthy apology, but in typical fashion, Martha waved her off.

“He made me promise that you aren’t going to handle anything but his houses until the project is complete, and all you can do is nod?”

“Wait…
what
? He wants me to do the job?” It would have been nice if he had mentioned that to her rather than making her sweat it out.

“Well, of course he does. Didn’t he tell you that before you left?”

Sarah’s tip about ESP came back to Zoe, and she felt the urge to find Aidan and strangle him. It was one thing to pull that kind of nonsense after she’d become familiar with his methods—she’d had plenty of practice from decoding Martha’s demands—but she was not okay with it right out of the gate. Not cool.

If he wanted to work with her even after she had pretty much ripped his house apart, though, Zoe figured she must have done something right.

“You’re looking pretty fierce, Zoe,” Martha said quizzically. “I thought you’d be pleased.”

Putting her attention back on her boss, Zoe tried to relax. She’d deal with Mr. Aidan Shaughnessy later. “I am pleased. I’m just surprised he called you already,” Zoe said, even though it was the decision, not the phone call, that surprised her. Aidan Shaughnessy was full of surprises, it seemed.

Martha waved her off. “He’s just like that. We’ve worked with Mr. Shaughnessy on small projects in the past, but this is a huge opportunity for the firm. After the way things went down with Sarah, I’m glad you were able to salvage the situation.”

“Did you think he was going to fire the firm over it?”

“No,” Martha said, but she didn’t sound too confident. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. The biggest obstacle to overcome is doing so many houses for one client. We need to keep it fresh and new and exciting and make sure we’re not just cloning the first house. Do you know what I mean?”

“Absolutely. I haven’t had the opportunity to look over the specs of the rest of the models, but I’ll get on that tonight so I can be prepared.”

“There’s a lot riding on this project, Zoe. I chose you because you understand what that’s like. I know you and your firm were highly respected back in Arizona. It’s going to be nice not to have to babysit you.”

Zoe wasn’t so sure. After all, they might still have the job, but she was certain it was going to take a little while for everyone to settle in and get comfortable working together.

And reading each other’s minds.

Oh good Lord
, Zoe thought for a moment,
good
thing
it
doesn’t go both ways
. The things going on in her mind when she’d gotten her first look at Aidan were less than professional.

I
have
got
to
stop
thinking
about
that
, she told herself.

“I appreciate your confidence in me, Martha. I won’t let you down.”

Her boss visibly relaxed. “Okay, well, I have the schedule that Mr. Shaughnessy emailed over.”

He
already
sent
over
a
schedule?
Zoe thought. “I’ll check it out when I get into my office.”

“No worries. I’ve already printed out a copy for you so you can get started
right
away
.” She handed it to Zoe almost reluctantly.

It took less than a minute for Zoe to realize why. “Is he crazy?” she cried. “This schedule is impossible! There is no way to get everything done in that time frame!” When Martha chuckled, Zoe looked up at her. “What? What’s so funny?”

“You’ll understand once you get to know Mr. Shaughnessy. He’s a bit of a…”

“Tyrant? Control freak?” Zoe supplied.
Sexy
distraction?

“I was going to say enigma. Everyone may chafe under the way he handles things, but they put up with it because his methods produce spectacular results. He gets things done when no one else can.”

That was easy for Martha to say, but it didn’t do a thing to make Zoe feel any better about working with him or his ridiculous schedule. With a smile and a promise to keep Martha up-to-date, Zoe took her things to her office and shut the door.

“Enigma, my ass,” she muttered. “Just another way of saying that he’s difficult.”

It was after seven when Zoe finally left the office, but she was considering going by the Shaughnessy model home one more time for inspiration. It would require only a minor detour, and then she promised to reward herself for a hard day’s work with some takeout for dinner.

“Minor detour” proved to be a bit of an understatement however. The sun was still shining as Zoe slowly drove along the main street through town, and she was still not yet accustomed to all of the tourist traffic. Droves of people were milling about, looking as if they’d just left the sand and surf. Zoe felt a pang of envy. She had purposely rented a house right on the beach, yet she hadn’t had much time to enjoy it since moving in. And from the look of Aidan Shaughnessy’s schedule, she wouldn’t be enjoying it anytime soon.

Up ahead she could barely make out the sign indicating the entrance to the Shaughnessy community. But it wasn’t tourist traffic blocking her way; it was construction vehicles.

What
in
the
world?

Slowing down, Zoe carefully maneuvered her car through the numerous large trucks and found a spot to pull over. Climbing out of the car, she saw a steady stream of workers going in and out of the house. A loud, booming voice yelling orders immediately brought her attention to the man standing on the front lawn.

Aidan.

Maybe it wasn’t the best time for her to be here, but if she was going to work with him and try to keep on schedule, it only made sense for her to find out exactly what was going on. She opened the small, white picket gate, which seemed pointless considering the construction team had ripped out most of the fencing for easier access to the house. Still, she was trying to go for the more civilized approach as she entered the yard.

As if sensing her arrival, Aidan turned and looked right at her. “Miss Dalton,” he said casually, although his voice told her that he was somewhat taken aback by her sudden appearance on the site. “Did we have an appointment?”

“Apparently we have several,” she said briskly. She tried to hide it with a smile, but Aidan’s knowing smirk told her otherwise.

“So Martha gave you the schedule.”

Zoe nodded. “I would have appreciated you just going over it with me while I was here earlier. Obviously you already had it written up and ready to go.” He shrugged and went back to talking to one of the contractors, and Zoe had to count to ten to keep calm. “I don’t mean to be rude here, but what’s going on?”

“Excuse me a minute,” Aidan said to the worker before turning back to Zoe. “What does it look like, Miss Dalton?”

Oh, so it was going to be like that, was it? “It looks like you’re tearing apart a perfectly beautiful house!” she said, a tad loudly. Numerous people stopped moving, but as soon as Aidan turned and looked at them, they went back to work. “I know we talked about some of the issues on the
inside
of the house, and I’ve gone over your schedule, but this seems extreme.”

Aidan was taken aback. Was she arguing with him? No one argued with him. Well, except for his family. On his job sites, however, no one dared. Folding his arms across his chest, he scowled at her. He waited for her to apologize, or at least squirm, but she didn’t. She held her ground.
Score
one
to
Zoe
.

“The mess your former colleague made put me behind schedule. This kind of action is needed to move forward and still be able to reveal the models on time.”

Keeping her earlier opinions about a lot of the problems not actually being Sarah’s fault to herself, Zoe gave a mild shrug. “I suppose. But…if I could…maybe make a suggestion?” The stormy look in his eyes almost stopped her. Almost. “Okay, I can see why you have the drywall guys here and why you’re taking care of all of those issues, but the rest of it can wait. We can still use most of the furniture, if not all of it, with some creative decorating.”

“You said it didn’t work,” he reminded her.

“No,” she said, “I said we could do better. That can be accomplished without going through the hassle of replacing everything. Here. Come with me.” She started walking toward the front steps, but Aidan reached out to stop her. She looked at him quizzically.

“You can’t go in there.”

“Why not?”

“They’re taking down drywall. You’re hardly dressed for a construction zone.” And she looked sexy as hell. How was he supposed to concentrate on the job at hand?

Zoe looked down at her black pencil skirt and heels and knew her outfit wasn’t ideal for navigating the debris littering the ground, but she’d walked through worse. “So I’ll put on a hard hat. I’ll be fine. I want to show you what I have in mind, and hopefully it will put your mind at ease on at least part of the project.”

“How about a compromise?” he said before she had gone two steps. The last thing he wanted was for her to break an ankle on his construction site. “I promise to leave the furniture alone for tonight if we can go over it first thing tomorrow morning.”

“But I’m here now.”

“And you’ll be here tomorrow,” he reminded.

“Yes, but my way, I can sleep in beyond five a.m.”

A sudden image of Zoe in bed snapped to Aidan’s mind and his throat went dry. So. Not. The. Time. “Is my schedule going to be a problem for you? The early hours?”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? No, the early hours aren’t going to be an issue. I was merely suggesting that because I’m here right now, I can get some of the things on your list crossed off and put you
ahead
of schedule.” For a minute, she thought she had him.

He shook his head. “It’s not on my schedule for tonight, and I have enough to deal with. We’ll meet tomorrow morning as planned. But I’ll leave the furniture alone for tonight.” And then he turned back to the drywall worker who had been standing there the entire time waiting on Aidan’s next set of orders.

He had dismissed her.

Again.

And she didn’t like it.

Muttering under her breath about inconsiderate people, Zoe walked away with her head held high and even managed to walk out the gate without slamming it. When she got back to her car, she cursed her rotten luck.

Flat tire.

“Seriously?” she murmured and crouched down to look at the tire. It had been fine when she’d left the office. Looking around the street, she saw construction debris—dirt clods, rocks, bits of drywall that still had screws in it—strewn all over the road. “Damn it.”

Grumbling, she pulled her phone out of her purse and scrolled through her contacts until she found the number for the auto club. Having just moved to the area only a month before, she didn’t have a mechanic yet.

“You are caller number eight in the queue. Please hold,” the automated voice rambled on.

“Of course I am.” She sighed as she leaned against the car and waited.

And waited. And waited.

The automated voice bumped her up to number six, so she figured she still had a while to wait. A quick glance at her watch showed that it was now almost eight o’clock. Dinner was slowly becoming a thing of the past. If she was lucky, she’d find a cup of yogurt at home.

If she ever
got
home.

“What are you doing?”

Zoe didn’t have to look up to know Aidan was coming her way. “Flat tire. I’m on hold with the auto club.”

Aidan looked around the road, and even though the sun was starting to go down, it was obvious what had happened. Without another word to Zoe, he stalked back toward the house and began barking orders to get the street cleaned up.

It
was
impressive; Zoe watched in amazement as workmen instantaneously began scurrying around and sweeping up the street. It would have been more impressive, however, if that had happened
before
the damage was done to her car.

“You are caller number five…”

“Aces,” she muttered and saw Aidan heading back her way. He stood there looking at her expectantly. “I’m on hold.” Her intention was to look away and dismiss him just as he had done to her several times today, but then he took the phone out of her hands and disconnected the call.

“
Hey!
” Zoe exclaimed indignantly.

Still without responding to her whatsoever, Aidan pulled out his own phone and made a call. “What’s your address?” he asked when he turned around to her. The shocked look on her face was almost enough to make him smile. She stood defiantly with her arms crossed over her chest. “My brother has an auto body shop here in town,” he explained. “They’re going to come and replace the tire. But it’s going to take a while. They’ll bring it to your house when they’re done.”

“And what am I supposed to do in the meantime, walk home?” The correct response to his statement was probably
thank
you,
but she didn’t like his high-handed attitude. She was independent and knew how to take care of herself. She didn’t need or expect anyone to swoop in to save her. Especially not Aidan. The last thing she needed was for him to see her as incompetent.

“I’ll take you home.”

Zoe considered his words, and her lips twitched into an unexpected smile. “That’s not on your schedule.” She was more surprised when his mouth twitched in response.

“I made sure to include some time for…things beyond my control.”

She laughed out loud at that one. “Is that what this is? A flat tire merits your use of extra time, but my desire to get ahead of schedule doesn’t?”

He shrugged. “What’s your address?” he asked again. Zoe rattled it off and he repeated it into the phone and hung up. “I can’t give you an accurate time frame, but you’ll have it back tonight.”

“You’ll have to tell me where to find them so I can stop by tomorrow and pay them.” It was an expense she hadn’t counted on, but it had to be done.

“This happened on my job site and because my guys were careless. I’ll take care of it.”

There was that tone again. “I’m more than capable of paying for a new tire,” she said defensively.

“I’m sure you are,” he said, squaring off with her. “But that’s not in question here. You work for me, your car got damaged on my job site, and it wasn’t your fault.”

“Technically, I’m not on the clock.” She stepped forward until they were almost toe-to-toe. “So it’s my own fault that it happened. I saw all the trucks here in the street and I came through anyway. Therefore, my responsibility.”

Aidan studied her for a moment. “Are you always this argumentative?”

“Yup.” She tilted her head and studied him right back. “Are you sorry you decided to keep me on to do this job?”

He threw his head back and laughed, unable to remember a time when anyone had bantered with him quite like this. It was refreshing. “Not yet.” That seemed to satisfy Zoe. “Give me five minutes and we’ll be on our way.”

“Sounds good.” She watched him turn and walk away and then called out to him. Aidan turned around. “Thank you,” she said simply and was rewarded with one of his rare, authentic smiles.

True to his word, five minutes later, they were climbing into his pickup and pulling away from the work zone. “Will they be all right without a supervisor?” Zoe asked.

“I’ve got three of them there to make sure nothing gets missed.”

Turning to look at him, she was certain that she’d misheard him. “Three?” He nodded. “Then…then why were you there too? Don’t you trust them?”

“I like to be there to make sure everyone knows exactly what needs to be done and what I expect of them. I’ll go back and check on them later just to keep them on their toes.”

“You know that they’re probably going to be there all night, right?”

Aidan turned to her and nodded. “Then they should have done it right the first time. All of my crews know that. If it isn’t done right the first time, then they have to come back, when I say it’s convenient, and fix it to my exact specifications. Trust me, these guys will make sure every house that goes up in that community from now on will be perfect.”

“Wow,” she said, turning away from him. “That’s…that’s just…wow.”

“What?” Brows furrowed, he wondered at her comment.

“So basically these guys are working for free tonight, is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t know about for free—they’re subcontractors. If they want to pay these guys for being incompetent, that’s on them. I, however, will not be footing the bill.”

So many things were on the tip of Zoe’s tongue, but she kept them to herself. No need to cause an argument. In another ten minutes, she’d be at her door and saying good-bye to him. Surely they could go that long without arguing. Maybe.

“Have you eaten dinner?” he asked casually.

“As a matter of fact I haven’t. I had planned on grabbing some takeout and going home. You know, before the whole tire thing.”

Aidan nodded and turned in the parking lot of the local pizzeria. He parked his truck in front and climbed out, walking around to open Zoe’s door. “This place has the best Italian in town.” Once Zoe’s feet hit the ground, Aidan turned and walked toward the entrance.

Zoe stood there for a moment, a little shell-shocked. He hadn’t asked if she wanted to eat with him or if she even liked pizza!

“Um…what if I don’t eat Italian?” she said, arms crossed.

So much for going ten minutes without arguing.

Aidan turned and looked at her as if she had grown a second head. “What do you mean? Everyone eats Italian food.”

Zoe shrugged. “What if I don’t?” She tried to keep a straight face and not giggle at the indecision on Aidan’s face. He clearly didn’t know what to do with people not just immediately going along with everything he said.

Taking a step toward her, he said, “We can grab something else if you’d like.”

Ah, there it was
. He was actually taking a moment to think about someone else’s feelings. She considered him for a moment, then walked by him to the restaurant entrance.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I actually love Italian food. But I prefer being asked first if I’d like to have dinner someplace, or with someone.” Before he could respond, Zoe went through the door and up to the hostess, who led her to a corner booth. Aidan joined her, his expression guarded.