by Tesa Devlyn
Liana lingered at the kitchen window, and observed the dynamics between her daughter and the man Liana fell harder for every day.
Brittany seemed to really like him, but there’d been a couple of times when Michael and Liana talked, that she’d looked unsettled and not completely happy when her mother showed interest in someone other than Frank. Liana determined she had to keep Brittany involved in the things she loved to do, and include her when Michael was around.
When Michael’s crew arrived, Liana went to her bedroom to dress for the office. She decided on chocolate brown leggings and a thigh-length, curve-hugging beige cashmere sweater. Okay, so her goal was to wow Michael. She fastened a wide, dark brown belt at her waist, and finished the look with tall boots, hoop earrings and a jangle of bracelets. Completing her hairstyle and makeup, she grabbed her purse, a long raincoat and left the house.
The moment she rounded the corner, every man on the crew stopped and watched her. Liana’s head swelled. She smiled and waved at them. Nothing like male appreciation to confirm she’d picked out the right clothes.
Like the head cock of the walk, Michael met her at the Hybrid SUV and opened her door. “Want to quit distracting my crew? We’ll never get finished if you look like this every day.” His sexy mouth curled up in a smile.
“Jealous?” The word popped out before Liana could stop it.
“Damn right.” He ran his hand up and down her arm and brushed his lips across hers. “Now they know I found you first.”
The egotistical male routine would normally have turned Liana off, but not with Michael. Instead of inflated ego, he radiated raw sexual male confidence.
“Yes, you did find me first.”
She climbed onto the cold leather seat, turned on the engine, and leaned out to press her lips to his. “Now, they know for sure,” she murmured against his mouth. She smiled and leaned in while he closed the door. He backed a few steps, waved and turned toward his gawking crew and the disaster zone that was her house.
****
The week progressed better than Michael would have predicted.
With the new plans of a second story, he hired two more men to help with the concrete work and demo the roof to the ridge beam.
He and Liana met to discuss paint choices and confirm the hardwood floor she’d liked in the Whitefish house. He quickly became impressed with her professionalism and choices. With her expertise, he had no need to do more than agree. The kitchen, laundry room and guest bath were remodeled right before Liana bought the house, but she didn’t care for the paint colors. Since the house was in a mess anyway, she chose new colors and added a bid to paint the additional rooms to Michael’s bill. He’d never turn down more money, so he called Harvey Smith, the best painter in town to do the job.
Harvey stopped by on Wednesday. “Saxon, I can pick up the paint and start on the kitchen tomorrow, but it’s gonna to be hard for the family to live here while I work.”
Michael nodded. “You’re right. It’s one thing to have the living room out of commission, but people don’t function well without a kitchen. I’ll call the owner right now and warn her.”
Damn, he didn’t want Liana and Brittany to move out even for a short time, but at the very least they have to eat out for a couple of days. Then there were the paint fumes to contend with. He’d miss them every morning, and Brittany when she came home after school.
Liana answered his call on the third ring. “Hi, Michael.”
“You recognize my number now, huh?” His chest expanded a little with the knowledge.
“Of course. What’s up?”
“I’ve got some good news and some not so good news. Harvey can start right away and get it done in a few days. The problem is, your kitchen will be out of commission.”
“Eek. I should have thought about that. I guess we’d better find a place to stay.”
“What about Shari’s? Does she have room? I can feed Oscar and water the plants.” Liana’s cat had taken a liking to Michael.
“Oh.” Liana drew out the word. “Shari’s mom arrives this weekend and plans to stay through Thanksgiving, so she’ll use the guest suite.” She groaned. “I suppose we’ll have to check into a hotel.”
“I’ll do everything I can to help Harvey expedite the job.”
“You do so much more than the standard contractor, Michael. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’ll adjust and go with the flow.”
Michael was impressed. She’d been so resistant to change since he’d met her. He shouldn’t delude himself though. The complication she kept referring to hadn’t been resolved. It could tip her over at any time.
“I’ll call the Outlaw Inn and make a reservation. Can I move back by Monday?”
“That should work.” Later that night, he’d just put some steaks under the broiler when Liana called to confirm she’d made reservations at the Outlaw Inn, and would be out of the house early Thursday morning.
“Brittany will stay with me Thursday night, but she insists she should stay with Meagan Friday night. I’d like to know how she found out about our date since I haven’t worked up the courage to tell her.”
Michael’s head spun. Dinner with Liana where she’d booked a private hotel room. “Uh, I’m not sure. Maybe Leif told her?” He couldn’t think straight. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Her sigh carried through the connection. “I’m just have to prepare myself for a call from Frank.”
“Relax, sweetheart. I’m here for you, whatever happens.”
A pause stretched out.
“Thank you. I’ll see you soon.”
Michael disconnected the call and glanced around his kitchen. Damn, she tied him in knots!
“Leif! Why is your homework spread out on the table and you’re not here?”
****
Early Friday morning, Michael lined out the exterior crew before he wheeled a hand truck into the house to move appliances away from the walls and throw a tarp over them. He had the utility room cleared out and a good start on the kitchen when Harvey arrived.
“Saxon, since when do I need your help?” Harvey joked, while Michael draped the counters with heavy paint fabric.
“You don’t, my friend. I’m eager to get the kitchen done by Monday so the family can move back.”
“Just don’t mess up my walls.” Harvey laid out his tools of the trade and pried open a can of paint. “Mick, I get the feeling this is more than a job to you. The lady must really be something.”
Michael chucked at the nickname his subs had given him right after he moved to Kalispell and started his contractor business.
“She is something. Her family arrives the day before Thanksgiving so I want to make sure the house shines for her.”
“Can’t blame you.” Harvey poured the paint into a pan. “Look at this, will you? Hal at the paint store said she’s a designer.”
Michael looked at the bold paint color Liana had chosen for the utility room. “What do they call that?”
“Goldenrod, with a touch of Adobe,” Harvey said in the hoity-toity tone of voice he liked to use when they worked on an upscale home.
Michael grinned. “It’ll look great.”
At noon, he checked in with Harvey to find the older man tapping the lid back on the paint can.
“Done with this room, Mick. Lunch time.” He wiped his hands on a paint spattered rag and cracked open a small red cooler. “If I don’t stop and eat, my wife will have my backside tonight. She gets mad when I don’t eat all day and come home starving.”
“No problem. I’ll check on the new construction project, and grab something at the taco place.” Michael started for his truck, relieved Liana and Brittany had moved out until the fumes settled.
Fumes. Oscar.
The poor cat had been confused when Liana and Brittany carried their bags out last night. Now, strangers worked in the house and filled it with what might be toxic fumes for an animal.
He jumped out of the truck and we
nt into the house.
“Back already?” Harvey sat at the table eating his sandwich.
“Guilty conscience. The daughter has a house cat she adores. He must be hiding out somewhere. I think I’ll take him home.”
“Yep, you got it bad, Mick.” Harvey shook his head, a big smile on his face.
Yeah, he did have it bad. In ten short days, his life had become intertwined with Liana and her daughter. He caught himself scrambling for excuses to see them. Judging by the way she drew back when things heated up, he might need to slow down. He was crazy to get intimate with a woman with so much baggage.
Oscar was under Brittany’s bed amidst a million pairs of shoes. He pulled the terrified cat out and held him close. “It’s all right, old man. I’ll take care of you. Just have to find your carrier.”
Michael opened the closet door. Damn the thing was bulging with clothes, scarves, hats and everything else a girl would want.
Frank? Had to be. He must pay a healthy child support payment.
Michael took the cat carrier from the top shelf, careful not to upset the stacks of folded clothes. An overstuffed photo album started to fall. With Oscar under his arm, he had to let it fall. Photos fluttered to the carpet.
“First things first.” He put the spooked cat in the carrier. As he picked up the photos, he couldn’t help but glance at them. Liana in front of what must have been their new house in San Francisco. The house was upscale and much larger than this one.
A photo of Brittany in front of the house with Oscar in her arms.
The last photo made him pause. A man, early twenties, who bore a striking resemblance to Brittany. Frank? He turned the photo over and froze. Uncle Jack was scrawled across the back.
Uncle Jack? Whose brother was he? Liana’s or Franks? No last name on the photo. He flipped it back over and studied the broad smile and dark cherry brown eyes, just like Brittany’s. Was it possible for her to look so much like an uncle?
He slipped the photo into the album, put it back on the shelf and picked up Oscar’s carrier.
“Enough snooping, old man. Time to hit the road.”
Chapter Seven
Michael checked on the new construction project, and dropped Oscar off at his house. He left the cat in his bedroom with the carrier open, so Oscar didn’t freak out, or tangle with Lucky.
Back at Liana’s house, he was surprised to see her SUV in the driveway. He found her in the kitchen, a pleased smile on her face.
“You’re here.” His body stirred from the sight of her.
“I couldn’t wait to see the wall color.” She seemed so innocent of her effect on him.
“Like it?” He could barely restrain himself from kissing her. The woman tore him up without the blink of an eye.
“Like it? I love it!”
“Harvey will be glad to hear it. He contracts all my painting jobs.”
Liana went from the kitchen to the utility room and back. “It’s gorgeous!”
Michael leaned against the granite countertop and waited for her to finish soaking up the new look. He had to admit she’d made excellent choices. The tonal theme of the utility room bled into the kitchen with bolder strokes. Adobe dominated the kitchen walls and picked up on the flicks of red brown in the granite countertop. “You did well, Liana. Your house will be a great example of your design and color abilities.”
She smiled at him. “You came up with the new second story and the outside entrance. I can’t take credit for those ideas.”
“Maybe we make a good team.” He moved toward her, admiring her shapely figure in the fitted black pantsuit and low heeled leather boots. She looked every inch the fashionable businesswoman.
“That’s a possibility.” She tilted her head to one side. “I like your work and now you’ve seen a hint of mine. It’d be fun to work together on a project, and see how it goes.”
Back to work, Saxon, he coached himself. Don’t blow the date she’d agreed to by jumping the gun. “Once the kitchen dries and the house airs out, you can move back in for a while.”
“A while?” She glanced around the house.
“The flooring you chose comes unfinished. I have to apply three coats of sealant once it’s down to create the look you liked.”
“It can’t be done before installation?”
“It can, but it won’t look as good. I prefer to finish once it’s down, and seal the cracks between the planks.” He scratched the back of his head and squinted one eye. “We talked about the floor the other night. Sorry, I didn’t detail that step.”
“Hmm.” Liana walked around the room, turning her head from side to side. “My choices are: move out of my house again for up to a week, or take the chance of an unfinished floor when my Mom arrives.”
“That sums it up.”
“So.” Liana whirled to face him. “I should have rented a condo for a few weeks instead of hotel hopping.”
“Liana, I’m sorry about this. If I didn’t mention the process, I sure meant to.”
She propped her hands on her hips. The black suit jacket pulled tight over her breasts and widened the gap between the buttons. Her silver locket glistened against her skin. “It’s not your fault. I should have thought about it. I also should have thought about Oscar. Poor guy was shook up from all the commotion.”
“I agree. That’s why I moved him to my house.” And snooped in your daughter’s photos while I was at it.
“How is he? Is he scared?” Liana’s eyes glistened with tears.
“He’s fine. I left him in my room with food and water and a cat box. His carrier is open in case he feels insecure.”
“I can’t thank you enough. Poor Oscar. At least he’ll be healthy. I should have taken him to an animal hotel.” She looked so guilty and upset that Michael stepped toward her to take her in his arms.
Liana’s phone rang. She dug it out of her cavernous purse. “Hello?”
Michael turned away. Maybe he should be thankful her phone interrupted him. Time for a reality check to cool off his impulse to jump into the sack with her.
While she talked to what sounded like a client, he wandered outside and waited until she joined him. The excitement had disappeared from her expression.
“I have to go.”
“Back to the Outlaw?”
She madly jotted something down on a little notepad. “No, the Cummings’s sent a couple to the office to meet with me.”
“Tonight?”
“They leave Sunday and want to make an offer. If I hurry, I can be ready to go out by eight.”
“Eight? For dinner?” He was tired, hungry and disappointed that she’d put a pair of demanding clients ahead of him. They’d had all day to look at their blasted houses.
“That’s not so late. Meet me at the hotel?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should cancel.” He’d busted his butt all week and didn’t like to play second fiddle. If the plans they’d made were so easy to change, maybe they should change them completely.
“Michael, I have to take advantage of business while it’s here.” She stepped toward him, her eyes reflecting her hurt. “We can still have a great evening.”
“Hey, the clients are waiting.” Michael considered himself a calm and mature man, but right now, he wanted to put his fist through the newly painted walls. Something he’d never in his life stooped to doing.
The woman drove him crazy.
Heat suffused his face. Michael struggled to steady his temper. He had no right to stop her, or even criticize her. They had no agreement, no commitment. They’d kissed. So what if they’d been the most mind-blowing kisses he’d ever experienced?
“See you later.”
Michael strode to his truck and shut the door, not waiting for Liana’s reaction. When her taillights disappeared around the corner in the driveway, he shifted into gear.
His cell rang. “Dad, since you have a date tonight, I’d like to go to O’Reilly’s for dinner with a group of kids from school.”
“Sounds like fun. I’ll be home shortly to shower and change. If you leave before I get home, don’t be out past midnight.”
“I won’t. How late will you be?”
Michael scrubbed his face with his free hand and grimaced at the grit from the day. “Hard to tell. Liana got a call and has to show a house tonight. I might be home all evening, or out late. Be sure Lucky goes out and back in, before you go to bed. Oscar’s in my room. Oh, and lock all the doors before you go to bed. I can use my key.”
****
Liana nibbled on her bottom lip as she drove away from her soon-to-be beautiful house.
Michael tied her in knots. He implied he wanted her, and she wanted him too—desperately, but the moment she had to go back to work, he acted like he couldn’t stand her. Probably just as well.
She’d acted on emotion with Jack and had ended up pregnant.
Emotion had driven her to marry Frank and look where it ended. As a college junior, all she’d thought of was the horrors of single motherhood. No husband, no help, no money and no degree.
Boy, had she made a mistake. The gratitude she’d felt for Frank’s proposal had evaporated within the first year of marriage. She didn’t love him, didn’t want to make love with him, but was trapped in her impulsive decision.
For the past four years, she’d done well without a relationship. Why start now? There’d be plenty of time after Brittany went to college.
Liana puckered her lips and turned into the office parking lot. Yeah, but by that time, Michael Saxon would be long gone. If she thought she could protect herself from getting hurt, she was too late.
Snapping up her phone, she called Brittany to let her know they’d move to a condo first thing tomorrow morning.
****
Liana loved hotels.
Room service, maid service and oh yes, the honor bar. She inspected the booty of snacks and tiny bottles of liquor. She mixed a cocktail, excited to unwind and remember how it felt to be carefree.
She frowned and stirred her drink. Had she ever been carefree?
At least the new clients had been considerate and hurried through the two houses she’d chosen. One in Kalispell and Michael’s remodeled house in Whitefish. They’d have an answer tomorrow.