Made For Us (6 page)

Slowly, Zoe opened her eyes and turned to look at him. “I’m not normally up this late, but now that I am, I’m going to take advantage of it and do something I’ve been dying to do since I moved here.”

Aidan said the first thing that came to his mind. “You’re not going in the ocean at this hour.” His words were deep and harsh and fierce. He stepped in close to Zoe and gripped her by the shoulders. “Do you know how dangerous that is?”

Tilting her head slightly, she looked at him curiously. “I was going to say I was going to walk on the beach barefoot.”

He immediately released her and took a step back with a nervous chuckle. “Oh. Okay.”
Smooth, Aidan. Real smooth.
“Well, you shouldn’t do that alone either, not at this time of night.”

“I live right here, Aidan. I don’t think it’s a big deal to walk around the back of my house.” She watched him carefully. “You could walk with me for a while. If that would make you feel better.”

Well, since it was
her
suggestion…

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” He was going for casual, but it came out sounding on the grumpy side. Hoping that Zoe hadn’t noticed, he started walking toward the sand. Looking over his shoulder, he asked, “Are you coming?”

She stood there for a moment, trying to get a grip on who exactly Aidan Shaughnessy was. Earlier today he had been a complete ogre, someone she was dreading working with. But now? Now he seemed like a really decent man who cared about other people and maybe just didn’t know how to express that without coming off as being bossy.

Or grouchy.

Aidan was standing in the sand, and Zoe noticed he’d left his shoes and socks on the stairs that led to her deck. Kicking off the heels that had been the bane of her existence for the entire day, she dropped her purse on the step and then caught up to him.

It was the perfect night—the moon, the stars, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and the sand between her toes. She almost let out an orgasmic moan at the feel of it. Why it made her so happy, Zoe couldn’t say. All she knew was that relocating her life was totally worth it for this feeling alone.

“So…you like walking on the beach?” Aidan finally asked as they strolled closer to the shore.

Aidan’s fumbling attempts at small talk made Zoe smile. “I do. And I’ve been so busy since the move with getting settled and work and life that I just haven’t made the time to come out here and do it. I’ll stand on the deck and watch the waves…” She stopped and sighed. “I just don’t seem to make the time to do what I want the most.”

He could totally relate. Oh man, could he relate. Hadn’t he just had the same realization Friday night? There were things he wanted, things he needed, and he kept letting life dictate how he spent his time. And it was never for anything fun.

“Can I ask you something?” Zoe said, stopping in the sand.

Aidan turned to look at her. “Sure.” It came out more as a strangled croak than a word, and he quickly coughed to make it look like there was a reason for him to sound that way.

“Am I crazy?”

Loaded
question
, he thought. “In what way?”

“I’ve made work my entire life. I love what I do, but what kind of person moves to a house on the beach and then doesn’t take the time to walk down a dozen steps to put their feet in the sand? I mean, how lame is that?”

“It’s not lame,” he said quietly. “And you’re not crazy.” Zoe kept looking at him to continue. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I can’t remember the last time I came to the beach. Now
that’s
crazy.”

“Well, the weather has been beautiful for the last month, and I’m just hoping it will stay that way so we’ll have plenty more opportunities.” Turning, she looked out at the ocean and sighed with pleasure. “If I could, I’d sit out here all night and listen to this.”

He nodded. “I had forgotten how peaceful it can be.”

A yawn escaped before she could stop it. “But unfortunately, it’s been a long day and I’ve got an early meeting in the morning.” She smirked, but was glad when he didn’t seem to take offense. They had avoided talking about the model home project all night, and she certainly didn’t want to start now.

“What kind of imperious jerk would do such a thing?” he teased and couldn’t help but join in Zoe’s laughter. It was a pretty great moment, in his mind.

It was broken a moment later when headlights flashed by in front of Zoe’s house. “That must be my car,” she said as she looked toward the house. Taking a step away, she was about to head back up the beach when Aidan reached out a hand to stop her. Zoe looked at him and felt the same disappointment she saw on his face. Truth be known, she wasn’t really ready for the night to end. If it weren’t for the fact that they had a job to do in the morning, she would probably stay outside and talk with him until the sun came up.

“I had a really good time tonight, Aidan,” she said softly. “Thank you for dinner. And for getting my tire fixed. I really appreciate it.”

“It was my pleasure,” he said gruffly. His fingers were gently wrapped around her wrist; she could move away any time she wanted to, but Aidan hoped she wouldn’t. He knew it was late. He knew he should go.

He knew he wanted to kiss her.

But he also knew he couldn’t, not only because she was going to be working for him, but also because it was too soon. They’d just met that afternoon, and Aidan wasn’t the type of guy who liked to rush things. He didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Very carefully, he pulled his hand away, his fingers gently grazing the inside of Zoe’s wrist, and he felt her shiver. Their eyes met and held, and he had to force himself to look away. “Come on. Let me walk you back to the house.”

Zoe looked over her shoulder and saw that whoever dropped off her car was already gone. “It’s just right there, Aidan. You don’t have to.”

“Not up for discussion,” he said as he came to stand beside her. They fell into step with one another until they reached the back steps to her house. A typical beach house, it was up on stilts and there were about a dozen steps up to the deck. Aidan sat on one of the steps and put his shoes and socks back on, and Zoe picked up her purse. “Good night, Zoe. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Zoe watched him walk away and contemplated standing there until he pulled out of the driveway. But she had a feeling he’d sit in the car until she went inside.

Climbing the stairs, she pulled her keys from her purse and went to unlock the door. By the time she was inside, Aidan had pulled away.

Normally, she was someone who enjoyed solitude. Except for right now. For a brief moment there, she had thought Aidan was going to kiss her.

And she was going to let him.

Stepping away from the window, she sighed happily. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she was actually excited about going to work tomorrow.

For once, Zoe didn’t mind being up early. After the time she’d spent with Aidan, she was anxious to meet with him and start working together on the model home project. She decided that Aidan was just a little misunderstood. He wasn’t really a pain in the butt to work with like she had been warned—on the contrary. Working with him might be challenging, but Zoe found that prospect exciting.

She was dressed more casually today, since she knew he had torn the model home apart the previous night. It was better to be prepared for flying dust and debris and dress down rather than show up dressed like she had yesterday and not be able to get anything done. Climbing into her car, which now sported four new tires, she smoothed her black slacks, righted her green sleeveless sweater, wiggled her toes in her ballet flats, and got on her way.

Unable to help herself, she sang, way off-key, to the songs on the radio and had a silly grin on her face. She felt good, happy even. Who would have thought, after the way their meeting had initially gone yesterday, she and Aidan would have hit it off so well? He could be charming and sweet and downright funny when he wanted to be. She supposed she understood why he didn’t show that side around the job site; the workmen would take advantage of that in a heartbeat. Still, she knew she certainly wouldn’t do that, and started to speed up to get to the site faster.

As she turned onto the street, the first thing she noticed was that the road was immaculate. That was a good sign. It looked brand-new compared to the state it was in the previous night, and she was pleasantly surprised.

Parking her car, Zoe also saw there weren’t nearly as many trucks on this particular site as there had been last night. Another good sign. Climbing out of her car, she grabbed her briefcase and shut the door. For all of the workmen who had been here and walked all over the front yard, it still managed to look pristine. Even the white picket fence was completely back in place. So far, everything was looking up.

“You’re late, Miss Dalton.”

Zoe turned to where Aidan was standing on the front porch of the house. Actually, she was five minutes early, but there was something in his tone that kept her from arguing the point.

The high-handed jackass of yesterday was back.

It was like dealing with Jekyll and Hyde. Well, if he was going to be that way, so was she.

“Forgive me. I was just taking mental notes on how the front yard looks completely put back together after all of the crews coming and going last night.” She kept her tone clipped and professional. Walking through the front gate and closing it behind her, she walked up the front steps and into the house without so much as a greeting to Aidan.

When he joined her, she was standing at the granite kitchen island with her sketch pad, pencils, and tablet waiting. She was going to make damn sure this house would be the most spectacular showcase she’d ever done.

“As you can see, the drywall has been repaired so that every room in this house is plumb.” Aidan looked up and caught her curt nod. “Painters will be coming in later today to start repainting.” He pulled a sheet of paper from his briefcase and placed it down on the counter. “Here is the list of all the colors that I want used.”

Zoe picked it up and scanned it before putting it back down and grabbing a pen to make some notes. A minute later, she slid it back to him. “I’d like you to sign and date this, please.”

He shot her a look. “Excuse me?”

“I’d like you to sign and date this piece of paper,” she repeated dryly.

“What for?”

“I want to make sure you remember that
you
chose these colors—without my input—so if the colors go up on the walls and you aren’t satisfied with them, you take full responsibility for it. I will not bear the burden of your wrath for things I had no hand in.”

“
Burden
of
my
wrath
,” he deadpanned. “Seriously?”

Crossing her arms across her chest, Zoe gave him a level stare. “You have a reputation. We’ll leave it at that.”

He snatched up the paper and signed where she had indicated and then slid it back across the counter to her. “Anything else?”

“That depends on the next piece of paper you give me.”

He sighed—loudly—and raked a hand through his hair. “Is there some sort of problem here? I mean, you understand that I’m the boss and that you’re working for me, right? The only reason you’re here is because your firm screwed up.”

If he had slapped her, she wouldn’t have felt this bad. Relaxing her arms at her sides, Zoe cleared her throat and picked up her tablet. “What time are the painters coming?”

He went over the schedule for the day with her. Together they walked through the house, and this time it was Aidan who did most of the talking while Zoe took notes. An hour later, when they were done, he gave her his business card with his cell phone number on it, in case she had any questions about the house, and left.

“Well, that was totally awful,” she said, sighing after she heard his truck pull away. She tossed his business card in the bottom of her briefcase and vowed that unless the house was on fire, she wasn’t going to call him. Pulling out her paint chart, Zoe quickly began going through it to find all of Aidan’s selections. She had a lot to do, and with the paint samples in hand, she could move forward with accessorizing and redoing everything Sarah had done.

A glance at her watch showed that it was still early, so she gathered her things and walked out to her car. There was plenty of time to go through the showroom back at the office and do some online shopping in the comfort of her own space. She’d come back and meet with the painters later to make sure they had all the correct colors.

She
prayed
they’d have the right colors.

It was too early in the job for her to have to do battle with Aidan Shaughnessy…again.

* * *

She’d worked at a feverish pace to stay on schedule, completely consumed with the need to make everything perfect on this job. By the end of the day, Zoe was exhausted, and she looked it. Martha happened to walk by her office and did a double take. “Good grief, Zoe, it’s only been a day. Surely it’s not all that bad!”

Slouching in her seat, Zoe combed her mass of curly hair away from her face with her fingers and tugged as if to pull it out. “The man is infuriating. I’m second-, third-, and even fourth-guessing every single item I pick out for this house. It’s…it’s…”

“Maddening?”

Zoe nodded. Pulling up a chair, Martha sat and looked at Zoe with a reassuring smile. “You have to be confident in what you’re doing. I think men like Aidan Shaughnessy feed on other people’s weaknesses. If you go in there with confidence and present what you’ve done, he’s not going to give you a hard time.”

“Are we sure about that?” Zoe asked. “Because it seems to me that I could get every single item he handpicked for this place and he’d still find a problem with something.”

Martha chuckled. “I know it seems that way, but things just got off to a rough start. You’re going to go in there and fix it and make it right. How can he have a problem with that?”

Letting out a breath, Zoe sat back up in her chair. “Okay, you’re right. I know you’re right. I let him get under my skin and I should know better. Sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. I think it’s great that you want to make this work so badly, but don’t make yourself crazy,” Martha said with a laugh. “I knew you were the perfect person for this job. It’ll get easier. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right, Martha.” Zoe knew she wasn’t but was too tired to argue about it. With a quick wave and a smile, Martha left.

Zoe looked at her watch and saw it was almost six. There was no way she was staying any longer and no way she was going to stop by the model home on her way through town.

While her computer was shutting down, she pulled the schedule from her pile of paperwork to see what was planned for tomorrow. Earlier when she had spoken to the paint foreman, Charlie, he hadn’t been opposed to Zoe lending a hand. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

Making a mental note to dress in jeans and an old shirt tomorrow, she gathered up all of her paperwork and closed up her office. With the hectic schedule that day, she hadn’t had a spare minute to herself. Knowing that there still wasn’t much to eat back at her place, it meant another night of takeout.

She’d starve before she ate Italian again.

Okay, maybe not
starve,
but it would be a long time until she willingly went out for Italian again. Except Friday night was pizza night, and now she knew where to get good pizza.

“I despise myself,” she muttered as she climbed into her car. “I am too weak and my love of carbs is too strong!”

In the end, Zoe went for Chinese and drove home, wishing she had a convertible. The sun was still out, so she ate her dinner out on her deck and listened to the waves crashing on the shore. Then she went for a long barefoot walk along the shore until the sun began to set. It was the perfect night.

Even if she was alone.

* * *

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Oh
good. Aidan’s here
, Zoe thought to herself from her perch on the six-foot ladder. “I’m painting.”

“I can see that,” he said with a huff of frustration. “What I want to know is why. I have an entire paint crew here for this. Painting isn’t part of your job!”

Ignoring his temper tantrum, Zoe continued to cut in the paint at the ceiling line.

“Get down from that ladder, Zoe. I’m not kidding.”

“No can do,” she said lightly. “We’re on a schedule here. Dark red is tricky to work with, and while I’m sure Charlie himself is capable, his crew of college students is better suited to spraying the easier, more neutral colors in the rest of the house. Much better for their skill level. I’d rather handle this myself.”

“What do you know about painting?” Aidan was completely ticked that Zoe wasn’t listening to him and staying put on the ladder. If she didn’t step down soon, he’d bring her down himself.

“I used to paint every house that I decorated back in Arizona when I was starting out. It cut the costs and I’m good at it.” Most people found it to be tedious, but she had always found it relaxing.

“But it’s not your job. You’re here to—”

“Fix what my firm screwed up?” She threw his own words back at him and only wished she could have seen the look on his face.

“Zoe, please come down,” he said in a deep voice, nearly a growl.

“If I don’t finish cutting this in with the brush at the trim line and get the rest of the wall rolled out, the colors won’t match. It’s important to follow through quickly.” She brushed her way to the corner before leaning back and making sure there were no brush strokes or streaks. Only then did she start to climb down from the ladder.

Aidan watched her movements. She was wearing a snug pair of jeans that hugged her curves perfectly. He hadn’t noticed just how nice of a bottom she had until now. The skirt hadn’t done her justice. But here and now in jeans, her figure practically had him salivating.

But that wasn’t all.

The black tank top fit like a second skin. Her hair was up in a ponytail high on her head, leaving her neck completely exposed. There was a paint smudge on her cheek that his fingers itched to wipe away.

Focus
, he reminded himself. This was his company and he had a job to do. Maybe the lines had gotten a little blurred the other night with Zoe, but he knew better than to indulge in that again. He couldn’t get involved with her. They were colleagues of sorts, and anything beyond that would be unprofessional.

And it sucked.

“And just what are you wearing?”

“Oh, for the love of it,” Zoe muttered and bent down to grab her bottle of water. “There isn’t a dress code in our contract. I checked.”

“Very funny. Are you aware that you are working in a house with about two dozen men?”

Keeping her back to him, Zoe downed half her water bottle before she responded. “Is there a point to this line of questioning because I’ve got a wall to paint—pronto.”

Looking around at the one wall Zoe had already completed, Aidan had to admit she’d done a damn-near perfect job. “Well, I still haven’t gotten to see how this new crew is doing, and now I won’t because you interfered,” he said, even as she put more paint on the roller and began painting the next wall.

“Look, Mr. Shaughnessy,” Zoe said. “You’re a businessman who knows the importance of getting the job done right and on schedule. I needed to make sure this room was going to get done right the first time. There isn’t a whole lot for me to do until all of the painting is done, so I’m helping to speed up the process. I’ve been informed that I’m not allowed to have any other clients while I’m on this job, so that means I’m going to jump in where I’m needed to keep us on track.” Looking over her shoulder, she glared at him. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Right now Aidan had about a dozen problems with that, but none of them were rational.

“We’re not insured for you to be painting.”

Zoe’s painting didn’t even falter. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“You could fall off the ladder.”

“I could also fall off a ladder while hanging drapes, a picture, or placing decorative items up in high places. Nice try.” Turning to face him, she dipped the roller back in the paint and expertly removed the excess. “You should be thanking me. Some of those guys don’t even know how to properly use a roller. They just spray it on. All. The. Time. Now that’s all fine and good for an inventory home that you just want white walls in, but there is no way they can spray this red paint. It needs to be rolled out carefully, and it needs to be done several times. Trust me. In the time it will take me to get this room painted three times, they’ll have the rest of the house almost done. Okay?”

He knew she was talking to him, but Aidan’s attention was suddenly honed in on Zoe—more specifically, her breasts. Right there, in the middle of Zoe’s tank top, splashed across her magnificent breasts, was a daisy.