I sigh out of frustration. “Shit, Allie, I have to go. Call me back and leave a message.”
“A message about what?”
“Your cousin Carly.”
“Carter.”
Zoe knocks on the window and points at the clients, who are walking into the conference room.
I shoot to my feet. “Allie, just call me back and leave a message.”
“She’s in San Francisco,” she says in a rush.
I fall back into my seat and massage my temples. “She wouldn’t happen to be an architect, would she?”
“Yes, she’s an architect. I think… yes, she is.”
“Did she cut and color her hair?”
Allie snorts, and I can picture her rolling her eyes. “She went through a rebellious phase. I think she’s over it. I’m not sure. Lexie had lunch with her in San Francisco last month, and she said Carter’s still riding that motorcycle. Why do you ask?”
I feel as if the wind has been knocked out of me. “No reason.”
“Don’t give me that shit, Tango. Are you screwing with her?”
“I got to go,” I say.
“Tango—”
I hang up.
Now that I can no longer delude myself, I allow myself to see the resemblance between the Carter of today and the Carly of yesteryear. Fuck, she is Vince’s younger cousin. I look at Zoe, and she’s staring at me. Her face has turned red. I show her the thumbs-up and slowly rise from my seat. When I walk out the office, Zoe pushes the meeting packet into my hands and follows me to take notes. Behind that smile of hers is a shitload of anal-retentive traits; one of them is being on time for meetings. Last Wednesday, she had a panic attack at a stoplight because we were five minutes late for an off-site meeting.
The door to the conference room is open. I step aside to let Zoe pass, and Carter and I lock eyes. She looks more tired than usual. Like the other principal architects, she’s been working around the clock. However, I now understand why she looks at me the way she does. She has been waiting for me to recognize her.
I shake the clients’ hands. “Nice to meet you, April and Celia.” The two women are building a yoga and spa retreat in the Santa Barbara hills.
April and Celia shoot each other a look as they shake my hand.
“Wow, you’re handsome,” Celia says.
April gives me a smoldering look. “Very handsome.”
Carter rolls her eyes.
* * *
Carter
Carter knew her clients, April and Celia, would make eyes at Robert Tango. Every woman in the office had a crush on him. Carter had tried to downplay the fact that he was gorgeous, sexy, and competent, which made him even sexier. In a matter of two weeks, he had changed everyone’s opinion of him. The chicks wanted to marry him, and the guys wanted to be his disciples. But Carter had a sneaking suspicion that Robert Tango had no idea he was quickly becoming a demigod for pulling Kennedy Creative out of the ashes.
Robert grinned at the clients and Carter. “So I’m sure Carter has been a great benefit to you.” He took a seat beside her.
“We’re not sure Carter shares our vision,” April said.
Carter wanted to scowl at her, not because April had thrown her under the bus but because she didn’t forget to bat her eyelashes at Robert in the process.
He opened the meeting packet and carefully scanned each page. “Carter has drafted six different blueprints for you. You initially went with plan number 3645, but three months later, you asked to make adjustments.”
“Right,” April said with a bite.
Carter avoided the desire to roll her eyes. Ever since she started working with April and Celia, they’d been a problem. They didn’t respect her knowledge and had been trying to figure out how to be assigned a new architect without outright asking for a man to handle their project. Carter saw them as the kind of women who felt feminine power was in the figure, face, and pussy, not the mind.
“These plans are solid, but I understand that you want to build a healing pool where the foundation has already been poured and the structure framed,” Robert said. “Did Carter explain that the contractors had difficulty with the foundation and what had to be done to stabilize it?”
“Yes, but it’s not hard to tear it all down and put a hole in the ground.”
Robert spread the plans on the table. “Actually, what you’re asking the builders to do is pretty difficult and very expensive.”
“I understand, but without the natural pools, our resort will be like any other hippie, orgy, bird-food destination that’s stuck in the woods,” Celia said.
Robert chuckled, and Carter cringed. Strangely, the fact that Celia could make him laugh made Carter jealous. The emotion alarmed Carter. She had convinced herself that she had gotten rid of the schoolgirl crush she’d had on him.
“By the way, when the resort is up and running, you have lifetime access,” Celia said now that she had him on her hook.
Robert looked at Carter with a hint of a smile, then he winked at Celia. “Thanks for the offer.”
Carter knew it was time to say something in her own defense, but her head was floating from the look he had just given her. “I tried to present another blueprint, but”—she threw up her hands—“they didn’t want to see it.”
“We thought six was enough,” April said snobbishly.
Carter felt like accusing April and Celia of making her job hard because not only was she a woman, Carter was an attractive woman. If she looked like Beavis, then they would have been kissing the ground she walked on. Her team had done superior work for them. Construction had had no problems implementing the plans. Appliance and fixture deliveries had been on time and installed without difficulty. The clients had purposely thrown challenges at Carter from the beginning, and she had answered every one of them.
“Do you have it?” Robert asked Carter.
“We don’t need another blueprint,” April said. “Just tear the fucking thing down and put in the healing pool.”
“It’s right here,” Carter said.
Robert grimaced at Carter’s shaking hands when she handed him the blueprint.
Celia looked at April with panic. “We were thinking we needed fresh eyes.”
“Did you know that Carter is one of our best, if not the best architect, we have on staff?” Robert looked up from the drawing. His gaze shifted between the two clients.
“Well, that’s great but—” April said.
“But she hasn’t made one mistake on this project. She’s given you everything you’ve asked for until you requested the outlandish. But even then, she figured out a creative and inexpensive way to give you what you asked for.”
He handed the blueprint to Celia, and Carter took an inward sigh of relief. Ralph would’ve never stood up for her like that. Ralph believed in giving the client what they wanted no matter what. He would’ve assigned a man to their account, and that guy would’ve presented Carter’s work to Celia and April. Then they would’ve dubbed him a genius. The bitches.
Celia reluctantly scanned the blueprint. “I don’t understand this.”
“Well, then, we’ll help you,” Robert said.
He called them all to the table and asked Carter to explain the addition, which she gladly did. Thirty minutes later, the clients had accepted Carter’s fix and agreed to pay for it. Robert also made them agree to make no more changes. On the way out, April and Celia shook Robert’s hand, flipped their hair, and grinned like crushing schoolgirls. It was clear that they weren’t going to say good-bye to Carter, so she gathered her meeting materials and headed for the door behind Zoe.
“Carter, could you stay for a few minutes?” Robert asked.
She turned around. April and Celia were giving her that repellent gaze that she was used to receiving from them. The expression said, “I wish I never had to see you again.”
“Sure,” Carter said and sat in the nearest chair. She opened her folder and pretended to study the blueprint on top
.
“So, Robert, are you single?” April asked.
He tossed his head back and chuckled. “I don’t date clients.”
“Well, how about you take me to dinner to discuss the healing pool?”
Carter caught the glance Robert shot her. She wondered what it meant. Maybe he was nervous and thought it was her job to keep her client on a leash.
Carter raised her hand. “Listen, I’ll sit down with you any time to talk healing pools. I’ve helped clients choose and install them before.”
April gave Carter that same expression.
Robert smiled. “Well, there you have it.” He put his hand on Celia’s back and guided them to the door. “Thank you so much for making the trip to meet with us. Zoe?”
Zoe was still standing outside the door. “This way, ladies,” she said with a mega smile.
April and Celia gazed at Robert as they followed Zoe. As soon as they were all of the way out of the room, Robert closed the door. Carter gulped, and anxiety seized her. She saw him walking as if he were moving in slow motion. He sat beside her and looked her right in the eyes.
* * *
Robert
I haven’t a clue of what to say. Carter is no longer the quiet little girl who studied everything around her. She’s a fully formed woman, and oddly enough, I want to get to know her.
“Thank you for sticking up for me,” she says, watching me with wide eyes.
She looks so vulnerable. I want to kiss her. “It was a no-brainer, although I’m going to call the contractors and ask if they can get it done in the next three days. I want those chicks out of your hair. They got the best architect for the lowest price. That won’t happen again.”
They were jealous of Carter, that was for sure. She’s hotter and smarter. I’ve said no to those loopy hippie chicks all my life. They think they’re different from women like Vince’s sisters and Emily Callahan, but other than their grimy unwashed yoga wear and see-through shirts with no bra, they’re pretty much cut from the same cloth.
Carter raised an eyebrow. “So you really meant that B.S. about me being the best architect on staff?”
“Hell yeah!” I say, grinning Zoe style.
“What about Brent?”
“He’s good, but you’re better.”
Carter studies me as if she’s trying to gauge whether or not I’m being truthful. The fact that I’m picturing her naked on top of the conference room table with my face between her legs makes me question my own sincerity. I look away from her face to banish the salacious thought.
“Well, thanks,” she says.
“You’re welcome. Hey, do you have lunch plans?” I ask.
She tilts her head. “No. Why?”
“I was thinking we could, you know, have lunch and talk.”
“Talk about what?” she says nervously.
“I want to talk about today and your future with this company.” I didn’t pull those topics out of my ass. Before learning Carter’s true identity, I had planned to sit down with her to discuss future projects.
“Well, okay then,” Carter says.
I’m relieved. “Okay then.”
I drive, and Carter rides shotgun. There are a lot of cars on the road during the lunch hour, but I plan to drive into the city and try a restaurant there. My passenger has been quiet, but she’s been rubbing her fingers together nonstop. She’s nervous. Probably because she still thinks I don’t remember her.
“So,” I say. “You’ve changed your hair, and you’re all grown up.”
I’m stopped behind a parade of cars. I turn to face her opened-mouth gaze.
“You remember?” she asks.
“I spoke to Allie.”
She turns her whole body in my direction. “When?”
“Before the meeting.”
She sighs as if she’s finally releasing the tension in her body. As we roll along, we talk about summer vacations in East Hampton. Carter and I laugh about how Vince and I used to pick up college girls when we were fifteen.
“I didn’t think you were paying attention,” I say.
Carter drops her face bashfully. “I was paying attention.” Her face has turned red, and she’s fiddling with her fingers again.
“Oh yeah?” I’m intrigued.
“I, um, I…”
I slam on my brakes to avoid running a light and shoot one arm out across the passenger seat to make sure Carter doesn’t slam into the window.
“Sorry about that,” I say as I check the car behind me. Good thing he maintained some distance. “You were saying?”
“Nothing, um, where are you going?”
“Downtown. There’s a restaurant across from my hotel.”
“It’s going to be hell trying to make it downtown. Why don’t we just go to Yao Fun?” she asks.
“Nice name. Where is it?”
“It’s in the Richmond neighborhood on Balboa. It’s only about fifteen blocks that way.” She points west.
“How can I turn down Yao Fun?” I say, sort of mocking the name.
She laughs, and I make a sharp right onto Balboa. Carter seems more comfortable in my presence now, and I like it, a lot. I get lucky and find a parking spot in front of the corner restaurant. The restaurant is so small that if you blink, you’ll miss it. Before we walk in, a small man opens the door and speaks to Carter in Chinese. She replies in Chinese. I raise my eyebrows, surprised and impressed.
We’re seated near the window and given menus. It’s all written in Chinese.
“Just tell me what you like, and I’ll order it for you,” she says.
I crack a smile. “Are you going to give me a reading?”
“I could, but I’m sure you’ve eaten at plenty of Chinese restaurants.”
I shrug. “Sure, I have.”
She leans against the wall with a cool kind of manner and picks up her chopsticks. “They have everything here. Mr. Ping will make anything you ask for. He’s like the Genie.”
It’s so hard to believe that this sexy, deep woman is the same girl whose name I could never remember. I would’ve never thought Vince’s cousin would turn out to be the person seated across from me.
“Right. Although it would be kind of fun to have you give me a reading. It’ll be like a poetry reading.” I flex my eyebrows.
Carter picks up the menu and reads it in Chinese. “And now the interpretation,” she says playfully. She reads the same block in English.
“And you continue to impress me,” I say. “So how did you learn Chinese?”
“When I was in high school, my father suggested that I learn two languages—Mandarin and Spanish. My dad was always pretty smart, so I followed his advice.”
“Goodness, I’m so damn impressed by you.”
She looks at me like a deer trapped in headlights. I’m worried that I’ve overstepped my boundaries. I have enough experience with women to know that a few more good lines, smirks, and the right kind of eye contact would land her in my bed. I want her, but that doesn’t mean a goddamn thing. I wanted every single woman I fucked and forgot. I’m not convinced that I wouldn’t do to Carter the same thing that I did to all the rest, so I take the twinkle out of my eyes and sit back in my seat.
The waiter comes to take our order.
“Ladies first,” I say.
She orders in Chinese. She tells me she ordered two tea services. “Water?”
I nod. “Sure.” I see that she has a modest demeanor, but deep down, she likes to be in control. “And I’ll have the Peking duck with rice noodles sprinkled with sesame oil and ginger.”
She smirks as if she’s impressed then relays my order. They go back and forth. The waiter looks at me as if I made the mistake of diverting from the vast list of items that they serve. Carter says something else.
The waiter says, “Okay.”
“Okay,” she says.
He takes our menus.
“Did I just see a battle?” I ask.
She laughs and measures with her thumb a
nd forefinger. “A small one.”
I’m pretty aware that I’m staring. Her face has such pretty bone structure, and her eyes are pure blue. I snap out of it. “So you’re from Denver, right?”
“No. My cousins are from Denver. I grew up in Pasadena.”
I’m taken aback. “Your family used to travel to Sag Harbor all the way from Pasadena every summer?”
Carter grunts cynically. “I used to ask that same question every year, at least until you showed up.” She quickly looks away as if she’s said too much.
I’m not sure how I should respond. The damn complications are in the way. “Sag Harbor was a sweet getaway.”
She smiles and nods, although I can see the turning thoughts behind her eyes.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
“I’m thinking that you never noticed me back then, and that’s why you needed Allie to enlighten you today.” She sounds disappointed.
“I noticed you.” I’m not lying—I did notice her.
She snickers. “Yeah, you would mess up my hair and call me by the wrong name.”
“I thought you were cute—young but cute.”
“You’re not that much older than I am.”
We turn toward the waiter, who arrives with the food. Carter has ordered a feast. One by one, he puts down the dishes. I count them as they hit the table. Carter reads my expression and chuckles.
“Is this a joke?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. I’m starving, aren’t you?”
I grin like I never have. I can’t figure Carter out, but I like how she just made me feel. “I am now.”
Carter flexes her eyebrows and pulls her chopsticks apart. “Then dig in.”
I pull apart my chopsticks. I follow Carter’s lead and eat from whichever plate I choose.
“As your boss, I’m not allowed to ask your age, but if you want to share that information, then I’m ready to hear it.”
Carter puts a helping of sautéed seaweed into her mouth. She narrows her eyes as she chews and swallows. “I don’t want to tell you.”
I flinch. “Why not?”
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