Strictly Business (8 page)

“I won’t tell you what you nearly scared out of me!” Tony exclaimed, laughing with him.

“I can imagine,” Nick said, wiping tears from his eyes. “Poor Jess. We really shouldn’t be laughing. It isn’t fair.”

They gazed at each other, then doubled over again with laughter.

“So where was the cat?” Nick finally asked.

“She doesn’t have one. She was so convincing that I asked about one after you left.”

Nick shook his head. He thought about Atlantic City, and, despite being one of the victims of the joke, he could see the humor in it. “Her face that morning in the hotel was priceless.”

“So was yours,” Tony said.

“I don’t doubt it.”

“Especially when she thought you were gay.”

“I had a tough time getting past that one with her,” Nick admitted, still chuckling.

Tony smiled. “She makes you feel good, doesn’t she?”

“Yes.” Nick smiled back.

“So, my brother who is fooling no one, what are you going to do about Jess Brannen?”

“What do you think?”

Tony grinned.

“If you hit the house, I will personally take it out of your hide!”

Jess smiled at Nick as she climbed onto the back-hoe. “It’s just a little backhoe, and I’ve got a license to operate it. Would you like to see it?”

“No, I’d rather get your hide!”

“As long as we understand each other.”

After he went into the model house, Jess slapped the earphones over her head, pulled on her red gloves, and started up the vehicle. The din, she knew, was horrendous, but fortunately the ear coverings deadened the worst of it.

Pushing controls and shifting gears, she concentrated on getting the front property contoured into its general shape.

No more hiding in bathrooms, she thought in relief. The incident with Tony and Nick last night had taken ten years off her life. This morning she had steeled herself and marched right up to Nick to tell him of her day’s plans. Actually, it hadn’t been too bad. In fact, he’d been quite nice, never even mentioning that he’d stopped by. And although she’d felt the pull of attraction, she had managed to dampen it to a mere ache.

She was now thinking and acting like an adult, instead of a crazy woman, she acknowledged proudly. From this day on, she’d be able to handle herself as a true profes—

Duane suddenly ran in front of the backhoe, frantically waving his arms. She stopped the machine and pulled the earphones off.

“What?” she shouted over the noise of the engine.

He pointed to her left. Glancing around, she saw that she had contoured her way past the model and onto the adjoining property. She hadn’t hurt anything, but still…

Giving herself a mental slap, Jess backtracked the vehicle and began again. Okay, she thought, so she had a few glitches to work out.

She managed to finish the general contouring without further incident, although her mind occasionally wandered into forbidden territory. Once she was done, she turned the machine onto the dirt roadway and brought it to a halt in front of the trailer. Jumping down to the ground, she dusted her hands off and surveyed the front property. The sloping she’d created was so gradual, it was almost unnoticeable. There was only the nice deep gouge on the property next door to mar her work. Good thing the house was barely framed out, she thought. She would have had a heck of a time explaining her boo-boo to the buyers.

Somebody pulled away her earphones.

“I said, ‘How about lunch?’ ”

Startled, she whirled around to find Nick grinning at her. “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

He chuckled and flicked a finger at the earphones. “I noticed. Now, for the fifth time, how about lunch?”

“I thought you needed to lose a few pounds.”

He laughed. “I’m off my diet today. Besides, it will give me a chance to see those sketches you mentioned.”

She found herself becoming mesmerized by his charming smile. Mentally shaking herself, she realized that the invitation was for a business discussion. That she could handle.

“I’ll go get the sketches.”

Ten minutes later, she was sitting in the office trailer, eating a sandwich. Although neither of them had been dressed for a restaurant, she had envisioned a McDonald’s. Instead, Nick had produced a packed cooler.

“More ‘wine’?” he asked, holding up a bottle of ginger ale.

She shook her head as she took a bite out of her hoagie.

“I like these very much,” he said, studying the sketches. “You must have worked all night on them.”

“Mmm,” she said around a mouthful of tomatoes, lunch meat, bread, and onions. She swallowed. “I wanted them ready for today.”

“Very professional,” he murmured as she took a sip of her soda. “It’s exactly how I imagined the property. You know, I think we’re going to work very well together.”

She immediately choked on her soda. She waved him away when he stood up to help her.

“I’m okay,” she gasped. “I just swallowed wrong.”

“Are you sure, Jess?” he asked, sincere concern in his eyes.

Was this, she wondered frantically, the man who, only a short week ago, was ready to throw her off the job the moment she did something out of line? Something was definitely wrong, and it wasn’t her this time. Why was he being so … friendly? Not that he’d been mean or difficult before, she admitted.
But he had been very suspicious of her in general, and dubious of her abilities. His being nice terrified her.

“By the way, I got a little present for your cat,” he said, shocking her out of her musings.

“My cat?” she echoed when she finally managed to find her voice. “You bought a present for my cat?”

“It’s just a little ball stuffed with catnip,” he said, handing over a small paper bag. He shrugged. “I was feeling bad that I scared him into the bathroom.”

“Oh … ah … well, thank you,” she said, staring at the bag. “I’m sure hell like it.”

“I’ve seen dogs who are scared of humans, but never a cat before. Usually, they just ignore people. Was yours abused as a kitten?”

“I’ve often wondered that myself,” she said, groaning inwardly. “I got him from a shelter.”

“Then he could have been abused as a kitten,” Nick said, munching on some chips. “I would love to take the sick people who torture helpless animals and give them a little return lesson. People like that ought to be hung.”

Jess wondered what her chances were of a tornado coming along and whisking her off to Oz. The man was ready to defend a nonexistent cat! Shakespeare’s admonition about tangled webs and deception rang through her head. There had to be a hundred other explanations for a thump in a vacant bathroom, and she wished she’d thought of just one. Anything was better than this cat business. She felt foolish about it now, but she wasn’t about to confess the truth. It was better just to slink away with a present for “Cat.”

“You probably saw that I plowed over the other
property this morning,” she began, hoping desperately to change the subject. “If the pile of dirt is in the men’s way—”

“You plowed it over? I hadn’t noticed, but I’m sure it won’t be a problem. And you have to put the dirt somewhere, right?”

“Right. I’ve ordered the rose bushes.”

“Great,” Nick said enthusiastically. “I really think you’ve given me an excellent selling point with this authentic English rose garden. I plan to make the most of the customizing, inside and out, with buyers.”

The telephone rang, halting anything further. As he answered it, she pointed toward the door, indicating that she would give him privacy. Picking up her sandwich and soda, she slipped outside.

She settled onto a small pile of cylinder bricks and admitted that she was the one who needed privacy. She just couldn’t understand Nick’s expansive mood today. Maybe he’d had some good news. Maybe someone had put Valium in his morning coffee.

“Nahh,” she answered herself as she remembered him arguing with Sam, his foreman, first thing this morning. Nick should actually be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. She usually was when hit with problems on a job site.

She sensed, too, a subtle change in his attitude toward her. She didn’t know what had happened or why, but it was there. That wasn’t good. Not good at all. Although she had had a few bad times with their business relationship, it was the only relationship they could have. Knowing that, she had been safe. But now he was treating her as a friend, and she was responding. She wanted to let down barriers
she’d let down before—with disastrous results. She knew herself, knew what she would eventually do. Nick Mikaris didn’t deserve that.

“There you are,” he said, settling down beside her. “I’m sorry about the call, but you didn’t have to leave.”

“It’s okay,” she said, edging away from him. She could feel the heat and strength emanating from his body, pulling her insides out. Attempting to keep the conversation light, she added, “Now what if it had been a supplier on the other end, demanding past due money? You certainly wouldn’t want me to hear that. I might pull my firm out of the job and leave you with your dirt piled up to the eaves.”

Nick grinned. “If it were a creditor, I’d already be hiding in the bathroom with your cat.”

“He wouldn’t let you in.”

“I’d like to see him try to kick me out.”

She looked away, staring at nothing.

“What’s the matter, Jess?”

Her appetite gone, she wrapped up the remains of her lunch and stood up.

“Jess?”

“I like you, Nick,” she said in a low voice.

“I’m glad.”

“Don’t be. You’ll hate me in the end.”

“Jess! You made it!”

“Of course, I made it,” Jess said. She kissed Marty Fitzgerald on the cheek. A din of voices and laughter flowed from the living room, and she glanced inside. “The party looks like it’s going strong.”

“Naturally.” Marty chuckled, as he helped her out of her black velvet coat, and raised his eyebrows. She was wearing a black dress whose skirt ended several inches above her knee and whose lace top gave the illusion of sheerness. “I’d leer, but I’m a happily married man.”

Jess grinned. “Marty, how can someone who looks so cherubic have the heart of a lecher?”

“Ask my wife.” He linked her arm through his. “Come on. I can’t wait to see the eyes pop when our guests see you in that dress.”

The living room was crammed with people, but she instantly spotted Sandy, who hurried over to her.

“I hope to heaven you don’t have a band hiding anywhere,” Sandy said, hugging her. “This is one anniversary I’d like to be nice and quiet.”

“
This
,” Jess asked, “is quiet?”

“Compared to your ideas for an anniversary celebration, it’s very quiet,” Sandy said tartly. She gave Marty a loving look. “Thank goodness, this was my year for the joke.”

“I noticed,” Jess muttered.

Sandy and Marty left her to greet more arrivals. She drifted among the guests, until she was standing alone by the mantelpiece, looking over the room. Animated conversations flowed about her, yet she found none enticing enough to join. She felt oddly out of place tonight, but she wasn’t sure why. She knew a number of people in the room very well, and she always enjoyed parties.…

Then she caught herself searching for a face among the guests.

She was looking for Nick.

Dammit, she thought, remembering her strange eagerness when dressing for the party. She’d taken extra pains with her appearance. Had she wanted to wear something spectacular in the subconscious hope he would be here?

She had to stop this. Only this afternoon she’d been warning him off … and herself as well. But knowing something or someone was off limits only made the wanting stronger. It was a very human reaction, she thought. Lately, she had been having a lot of them.

“If you wanted my attention, you certainly picked the dress for it,” a voice said.

She knew who had spoken even before she turned to face him.

Nick stared at the front of her dress with frank admiration. “How does it hide your … ah …”

“Prayer,” she said, chuckling at his consternation. His gaze seemed to heat her skin.

“Good thing I’m an agnostic.”

In his three-piece suit, white silk shirt, and elegantly knotted striped tie, he looked like he’d just stepped out of
Gentleman’s Quarterly.
But then Nick’s workclothes always seemed custom-made too. She almost asked when he had arrived, then realized it would sound as if she’d been waiting for him.

“Been here long?” he asked, taking her elbow. She tried to suppress her awareness of his touch as he steered her around through the crowd.

“Not too long. Where are we going?”

“To find a drink.”

He was acting as if she’d never said anything out of the ordinary this afternoon, she thought. In fact, he hadn’t uttered a word on the subject. She was more confused than ever. Still, she couldn’t refuse a drink without looking childish, and she’d been childish enough already.

“No Bahama Mamas, please.” She grinned. “The last time I had those I met you.”

“I consider that an endorsement.”

“I’ll take a club soda anyway.”

As they passed four men, one of them called out, “Who do you invest with, Mikaris?”

“John Deere,” Nick replied, without stopping. “When John Deere roars, you listen.”

“Nick!” she admonished, trying to choke back her laughter.

“The man asked, Jess,” he said. “Besides, I really have invested a bundle in John Deere equipment. When you start up one of their tractors, you can’t hear anything else.”

“You are a tease,” she said primly.

He grinned at her. “If we’re going to talk about teasing, then let’s talk about that dress.”

“I think I should have worn a gunnysack.”

“You’d still look great.’ ”

His compliment pleased her, and she knew it shouldn’t. She felt as if she were playing a dangerous game. How much freedom could she give herself before the hurt came?

Or was it already too late?

By the time they reached the bar, Nick had decided Jess had deliberately worn that dress to drive him insane.

The lace on the bodice barely covered the curves of her breasts, and the tiny flounced skirt enticed the eye to her beautifully shaped legs. A diamond choker sparkled against the satiny skin of her neck. Her hair was tied back with a black bow in a simple yet chic style.