Face Value (Next Generation 7)

by Cheryl Douglas

  Little problem? It may seem that way to him, but to her, it was a catastrophe. She’d spent all morning on the phone with every contractor in the city. Their excuses ran the gamut. They were too busy. Her timeline was unreasonable. They didn’t have anyone who could do the kind of woodworking she needed. She would have to double her proposed budget. Bottom line, she was desperate and running out of time.

  She held her breath as she waited for him to continue. Perhaps he’d called in a favor and found someone to help her. In spite of her protests, she would have to put her pride aside and gratefully accept any solution he proposed. Calling her buyers to postpone the move-in was not an option. They were a young family moving across the country because of a promotion. They’d already sold their home and didn’t know anyone in the area, which was why they had been so firm about the closing date when they signed the contract. They wanted their daughters to start school as soon as they arrived.

  “I could probably pull a guy off of each of my other projects. That would give you a full crew, which would be more than enough manpower to finish the job.”

  Lauren heaved a sigh of relief. She was tempted to throw her arms around him as an expression of her gratitude, but she restrained herself… barely. “Thank you so much.” She smiled, nearly giddy with relief.

  “That still leaves the problem of the kitchen and built-ins. That’s going to take a skilled craftsman or carpenter.”

  “Have you found someone?”

  “I called damn near everyone I know who does that kind of work, and they’re all tied up on other jobs.”

  “Oh.” She started wringing her hands. “So, what do you suggest?”

  He sighed heavily. “It seems the only option is for me to do the work.”

  “What? Is that even possible? I thought you said-”

  He held his hand up. “I’ve managed to work out my schedule. It won’t be easy, but if I come in here a little earlier and take work home, I should be able to swing a few hours at your place every night. I have a full workshop in this building, so I can get started on the kitchen cabinets here when I have a break.”

  Lauren knew he was going above and beyond to help her, but she couldn’t figure out why. “Why are you doing this?”

  He smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve had friends help me out of a tight spot a time or two. I’m just paying it forward.”

  He clearly had a successful business, so he wasn’t doing it because he needed the work. Was he trying to impress her? Was he hoping a personal relationship may evolve from their physical attraction if they spent more time together?

  Her father’s words echoed in her ears, drowned out only by Amanda’s horror stories. He may seem like a decent guy, but if that was the case, he wouldn’t have done hard time in prison. No, she had to be careful not to let her guard down. He may be handsome and charming, but by all accounts, he was a dangerous man.

  “I really appreciate that, but I just want to clear the air about something before we move forward.”

  “Sure.” He clasped his hands on his desk and leaned forward. “What is it?”

  “I’m not interested in anything more than a professional relationship with you.” God, she hoped that didn’t sound as egotistical as she feared it did. Tucker had never said he wanted to date her. She was just assuming he was attracted to her.

  He dropped his head to hide his grin, but the amusement in his dark eyes when he looked up told her she had sounded as conceited as she suspected.

  “I’m sorry.” She pressed a hand to her flaming cheek. If she could, she would leave the room and hope he forgot the meeting ever happened. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  “I admire your honesty,” he said, his lips still twitching. “But I didn’t offer to take this job because I was hoping to get you into bed.”

  If her cheeks had been red before, they must be glowing after that comment. “I-”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but as long as we’re being honest, I thought we might as well put it all out there.”

  “Sure. Right.” She didn’t even know what she was agreeing to. It didn’t matter as long as it allowed her to extricate herself from their humiliating encounter as soon as possible.

  “I think you’re a beautiful woman, Lauren.” He smiled, looking almost sympathetic. “I like you. You seem like a sweet girl, but I don’t do relationships.”

  She swallowed and wasn’t surprised to find her mouth felt like sandpaper. She would be surprised if she could spit out a single word.

  “I have sex. Period.”

  Oh God. It was going from bad to worse, and her tell-tale blush gave away her mortification like a flashing neon sign. “I see.” Her voice sounded like a strained croak. She was pitiful. She could never look Tucker in the eye again. Why couldn’t she have just kept her big mouth shut and saved herself the embarrassment?

  “You and I are as different as two people can be. I just have to look at you to know that. You’re classy. I’m rough around the edges. You could have any man you want, and I know you wouldn’t choose a divorced father with calloused hands and a sailor’s mouth who wears work boots and ripped jeans to the office.”

  He was discounting his painfully beautiful face and chiseled body, but she didn’t think she should point that out. She smiled because he did. Just looking at him made her want to smile.

  “If you wanna be friends, I’m cool with that. If you just want a working relationship, I’m cool with that too.”

  Well, a girl could never have too many friends. She could almost hear her father saying, ‘Lauren Erika McCall, I told you to stay the hell away from that man!’

  “So what do you say, do we have a deal?” he asked, offering his hand.

  Tucker was doing her the favor, and he was making it seem like the other way around. How could she not want to count him among her friends?

  She was a grown woman. Surely she could ignore the sexual attraction between them for five short weeks. How hard could it be? She slipped her hand into his and had her answer. His casual touch set her off like a sweet and bubbly champagne explosion. She had to cross her legs and mentally chastise herself for behaving like a brazen twit unable to contain herself.

  “Good, I’m glad we got that straightened out.” He turned back to his computer, refreshing his screen. He hit print and stood to cross the room. “Excuse me. I just need to grab that, and we can look it over.”

  Lauren dug her nails into her palms when she realized her eyes were glued to his denim-clad butt. What was wrong with her? Tearing her eyes away was harder than it should have been, but when he finally disappeared into the adjoining office, her eyes landed on the framed pictures on his credenza.

  Awww. He was boating with his kids, riding a horse with his daughter, going on a rollercoaster with his son. They were pictures of a father totally in love with his kids. How could he be the dangerous man her father and Amanda claimed he was?

  “Okay, I’ve got the quote and contract. Let’s have a look.” He pulled up his chair and sat down beside her.

  Lauren held her breath for as long as she could. She didn’t want to inhale the irresistible scent that stole her common sense when they’d danced. She had to keep a clear head.

  He shot her a side-long glance. “Are you okay? Do you need a glass of water or something?”

  She almost released the breath she’d been holding in a gush, but she forced it out slowly instead. “No, I’m fine, thanks.” There it was: that damn scent. A hint of cologne, body wash, shampoo, and…

  A frown drew a crease between his brows as he chuckled. “If you’re sure.” He set the quote and contract down in front of her before reaching across his desk for a pen. “Sorry,” he muttered when his arm grazed her shoulder.

  Did he not realize she felt as if an electric shock coursed through her body every time he touched her? Was she the only one feeling it? “No problem.” But it was a problem, a very big problem. She suddenly wanted to jump up, lock th
e door, and sink her hands into that thick, silky hair as she pulled his mouth down to meet hers. She wanted to straddle him and…

  “Lauren…?”

  Oh no! “Sorry, I guess my mind was wandering there for a minute.”

  “Okay, so these are my standard terms. You can read through it before you sign, but I’ll go through the quote with you real quick first.”

  Her eyes landed on the number at the bottom of the page. That couldn’t be right. It was only two-thirds of what Phil had quoted her. “Um, Tucker, you may want to recheck this.” She pointed at the last figure. She wasn’t opposed to getting a deal, but he was going out of his way to help her. She wanted to make sure he was fairly compensated.

  He smiled. “No, that’s right.”

  She picked up the sheet and scanned the material and labor costs. The break down made it easy to tell he hadn’t figured in his own time. “You need to adjust this,” she said, refusing to look him in the eye. Just keep your eyes on the quote. Whatever you do, don’t look at him. “What’s your hourly rate?”

  He chuckled. “That’s not really how I pay myself. My salary comes out of the company’s profits. I work on a job when I intend to sell the property. Paying myself an hourly wage would eat into the profit margins on those jobs.”

  “Still, you have to charge me for your time.” It was outrageous. How could he even consider doing her project without anything in return?

  “Look, I know you took a hit with some of the problems you had on this project early on. I’ve been there. Someone can walk in and tell you in a second that the job you’ve been losing sleep over for the past three months is suddenly going to cost you more than you make on it. By the end, you’re just glad to be rid of it so you can move on to something else.”

  He was right. The project left very little, if any, meat on the bone at the end of the day. But that was her problem, not his. “I never expected you to work for free, Tucker. That’s crazy!”

  “You want to pay me back? You can feed me.”

  Her mouth fell open. “What are you talking about?”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “You should see the look on your face, lady. You’d think I was asking you to pay me in sexual favors instead of food.”

  “Oh, shut up,” she said, pushing against his shoulder. Bad idea. She had to remember touching him was a very, very bad idea.

  “You’re on site most days, right?”

  “Yes.” She always stopped by at the end of the day to talk to the crew and check on their progress.

  “Cool. We can grab dinner together. I probably won’t have time to stop on my way from the office, and if your days are anything like mine, you probably skip way too many meals.” His eyes skimmed her body appreciatively. “Although you look just about perfect to me.”

  Oh no, he was flirting again! She would never survive the next five weeks without making a complete fool of herself. “Dinner. Sure, I can do that.” Had she just agreed to spend every night in his company? What was she thinking?

  “Excellent. So, do we have a deal?”

  As if she had a choice. “We have a deal.”

  ***

  Tucker could hardly wait to call it a day. He hadn’t gotten his hands dirty on a job site in too long, and he was actually looking forward to the challenge. He told himself it had nothing to do with the gorgeous blonde waiting for him. Yeah, right.

  Pulling into the driveway, he smiled when he saw Lauren’s little BMW was the only car there. He’d sent his crew over earlier to evaluate the job and compile a list of items they would need, but they must have been and gone. He didn’t mind having Lauren all to himself though.

  He pulled his tools out of the bed of his truck and walked to the front door, whistling quietly. When was the last time he’d done that? It seemed like forever.

  Lauren met him at the door before he could knock. “Hi, Tucker.”

  His eyes drifted over her firm body. She’d changed into black yoga pants, a bright green tank top, and black running shoes with flashes of neon. She looked young and innocent with her hair pulled up in a ponytail and just a hint of make-up.

  “Did you just come from the gym?” he asked, setting his tools down inside the door.

  “No. I took a swim before I left my building.”

  “Nice.”

  “I hope you like lasagne?” She lead him into the kitchen. She’d brought two stools and covered the rough wood island with a disposable tablecloth. The makeshift table also had paper plates, plastic utensils, and a covered glass dish.

  “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble, Lauren. Take-out pizza would’ve been fine.” He felt guilty about requesting meals as payment, but he couldn’t think of a better way to spend more time with her.

  “I’m not much of a cook.” She sank her teeth into her lower lip as she looked at her offering. “But I seem to have mastered a few dishes through trial and error. This is one of them.”

  “Smells great.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s dig in.”

  “It should be warm,” she said, taking the lid off the glass tray. “I brought it over in a thermal bag.”

  Tucker was touched that she’d gone to so much trouble, and he knew no matter how it tasted, he would praise her effort. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had treated him to a home-cooked meal. Most of his dates were more interested in drinking and dancing than a quiet night at home. He really had to start dating more mature women. He was getting too old to try to keep up with twenty-something women.

  He sat on a stool and waited for her to dish out the portions. She was so beautiful he had trouble tearing his eyes off of her, but he didn’t want to be too obvious. He picked up his phone and scanned his new messages while he waited for her to claim the stool beside him.

  “So, how was your day? Did the boys stop by to evaluate the job?” he asked.

  “Um, yeah.” Her eyes fell to her food almost instantly. “They were here when I got here.”

  He sensed she wasn’t telling him something. “Is everything okay? They didn’t find anything I missed, did they?” He wouldn’t be surprised if they had. She had distracted him so much when they walked through the house, he had struggled to stay focused on the job.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  Tucker started eating, waiting for her to elaborate on what was troubling her. He didn’t know her well, but she read like an open book. “Wow, this is really good.” He meant it. It was delicious.

  “Thanks.” She laughed. “It’s our housekeeper’s recipe. She kept it simple so not even I could screw it up.”

  He loved that she didn’t take herself too seriously and wasn’t afraid to admit her flaws. He was so used to dating women who pretended they were perfect. Lauren, on the other hand, didn’t seem overly concerned with impressing him, which did. A lot. “You gonna tell me what happened when my guys stopped by?”

  “Nothing.” She put a forkful of pasta in her mouth and chewed carefully.

  “I don’t believe you.” He’d always found the direct approach to be best, and since he and Lauren had already established the boundaries of their relationship, he saw no reason to pull punches.

  She glared at him before a smile finally lit her face. “Do you always call your clients liars?”

  “I call them out when I need to.” He lived by one steadfast rule: be who you are, no explanations or apologies. He’d spent most of his life being told he wasn’t good enough, first by his stepfather, then by his wife. Now he was finally at a place where he liked himself, and those who didn’t like him for who he was could keep their distance.

  “I like that.” She pointed her plastic fork at him. “I appreciate the direct approach.”

  “Good. Now are you gonna tell me what happened to piss you off?” He ate as he waited for her to continue. He set the beer bottle she’d placed in front of his plate aside and reached for a bottle of water instead.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head, pretending to concent
rate on her food as though it was worthy of her undivided attention. “Honestly, it was nothing.”

  Tucker frowned. He got the feeling she was keeping something from him to avoid offending him or getting someone else in trouble. “Is there a problem with my crew? You don’t like them?”

  “No, it’s nothing like that.” She looked him in the eye as she set her fork down. She picked up her water bottle on a sigh. “If you must know, one of the guys asked me out. It was kind of… uncomfortable.”

  Tucker curled his hand into a fist on the tabletop. He couldn’t believe one of his crew had been stupid enough to hit on a client their first day on the job. He told himself he wasn’t jealous. He was just concerned about his professional reputation. “I’m sorry about that. If you tell me who it was, I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

  “No, it’s okay. I handled it.”

  “How?” He wanted to know everything that was said, word for word. He’d sent Will to the site with the guys, so if Lauren left out any details, Will would fill him in.

  “I just told him I wasn’t interested.”

  “Who was it?” He felt his irritation mounting, so he forced himself to take a deep breath and count backward from ten. He’d learned the anger management technique in his mandatory therapy, and it had served him well.

  “I’d rather not-”

  “I asked you who it was, Lauren.” His voice was low and deceptively calm, but the wary look in her eye told him she knew he was on the verge of losing his temper. “I’d appreciate an answer. Now.”

  “Rob,” she blurted, refusing to look him in the eye.

  Rob was a new hire, the nephew of one of the older guys on his crew. Rob hadn’t worked for him long enough to know that crossing Tucker was the epitome of madness. “I’ll speak to him about it tomorrow. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”

  “I don’t want to get him in trouble, Tucker,” she said, reaching for his hand. “Please, can’t we just let it go?”

  He looked at her hand before meeting her eyes. “You want me to sit back and watch one of my employees make a play for you?” His eyes drifted to her lips, and he knew he was venturing into unsafe territory. “I can’t do that.”