Meant for You

by Samantha Chase

  “Look, Martha, I’m sure Mr. Shaughnessy is a reasonable businessman…” she began diplomatically and was surprised when Martha actually snorted sarcastically. Zoe raised her eyebrows but continued. “Surely he can understand that while Sarah made a…mistake…we will do everything to rectify it without compromising our other clients.” There. That sounded reasonable, didn’t it?

  Leaning forward in her seat, Martha gave Zoe a pitying look. “Zoe, trust me. If it were any other client, I would let you keep your other projects. But this is a…special…case. This is going to demand much more of your time than you think. If, by some miracle, you get things going to the point where I’m not hearing from him several times a week, I’ll consider letting you take on other projects again. Until I can be sure of it, though, he’s your one and only client.”

  “What if I promise not to let my other projects interfere with the Shaughnessy job?”

  Martha shook her head. “Trust me; you can’t keep that promise.”

  Zoe sat back in resignation.

  “You’ve had your own business, Zoe, so I know you’ve had your share of difficult clients, right?”

  Zoe nodded.

  “And that’s why I’m putting you on this job. Think of your most difficult client and multiply by say…ten.”

  Music of doom began playing in Zoe’s head. “Well, I wasn’t scared before, but now…”

  “We’ll talk about this after your meeting.” Standing, Martha put an end to the discussion by walking out of the room.

  Just when she had thought her day couldn’t get any worse. Zoe immediately suspected she was going to hate Aidan Shaughnessy.

  The next fifteen minutes were like an out-of-body experience for Zoe. People came and went from her office to get files and messages and collect what they could on her former clients. Zoe felt like she was watching the whole thing happen in slow motion; it was as though she wasn’t even there. And just when she thought the worst was over, Sarah walked in and dropped a massive box on the floor in front of Zoe’s desk.

  “Good luck with that one,” she said snidely and walked right back out.

  “Sarah! Wait!” Zoe cried, scrambling out from behind her desk. Luckily, Sarah halted in the hallway. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Please?” Zoe could see that her former coworker would as soon spit in her face as talk, but Sarah reluctantly walked back into Zoe’s office.

  “Thank you,” Zoe said, quietly closing the door. She offered Sarah a seat but the woman continued to stand with her arms crossed, ready to flee. “I know the last thing you want to do is help me with any of this, but could you please just let me know what I’m getting into?” Zoe was practically begging.

  Sarah relaxed her stance. “I’ve known Aidan Shaughnessy all my life, and he is an arrogant, condescending jackass. That’s what you’re getting yourself into.”

  Not quite what she was hoping for, but it was a start. “Okay, I got that part. But what about the job itself? I know there are five houses left and…”

  “Six,” Sarah corrected. “He’s going to make you completely redo that first house. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gotten the entire thing stripped down to bare walls already.”

  Zoe’s stomach lurched. She swallowed hard and sat down in her chair. “Okay, six houses. What makes them difficult?”

  Sarah finally took a seat. “It’s not the houses that make the job difficult, Zoe, it’s the man. Just…be careful.”

  This was getting worse by the minute. “How so?”

  “Look, you’re new to the area so you’re probably not aware of it but…the Shaughnessys are like the Kennedys around here. They’ve been here forever. There are a lot of them and they’re all successful.”

  “Define successful.”

  Sarah settled more comfortably in her seat and gave her words some thought. “Let’s see…Hugh, the second oldest, owns a bunch of luxury resorts pretty much all over the world. His newest one is in Napa—he bought a vineyard and built a five-star resort on it. It’s huge with the celebrity crowd right now. Most of his other resorts are on islands—his next one is going up in Australia, I think—and he does destination weddings and that sort of thing.”

  “Wow.” Zoe was impressed but not to the point of a comparison to the Kennedys.

  “Then there’s Quinn. I graduated with him. He was a star athlete in high school and we all thought he was going to go play major league baseball but he took up race car driving. He doesn’t do it anymore—one crash too many, I think—and now he has a chain of custom auto body shops up and down the East Coast.”

  “So they’re overachievers,” Zoe said conversationally. “So what?”

  “It’s not just those two.” Sarah smirked. “Next we have Riley.”

  “Wait a minute,” Zoe interrupted. “Are you talking about Riley Shaughnessy…the Riley Shaughnessy?”

  “I am,” Sarah said.

  “The rock star?” Zoe said, as if it needed clarification.

  “Yes. Riley’s been singing since he was old enough to talk, but he’s very down to earth on top of being incredibly talented. No one makes that big a deal of it anymore when he comes back to visit—to the locals, he’s just Riley. Folks are protective of him. When he comes home, they do what they can to make sure the tourist fans don’t get too out of hand.”

  “I had no idea this was such a touristy place,” Zoe said. When she’d decided to relocate, all she knew was she wanted to live on the beach. Growing up in Arizona was all fine and well, but Zoe had dreamed of a time when she could wake up, walk out her back door, and put her toes in the sand. Finding the job with Martha had seemed like a godsend.

  Until now.

  “Okay, so it’s an overachieving family,” she finally said.

  “Still not done,” Sarah said. “Did you know that Riley has a twin brother?”

  Zoe shook her head, surprised. Everyone knew the rock star, but Zoe had never heard of a twin.

  “Owen and Riley are fraternal but they still look a lot alike. I always thought Owen was the sweetest of the bunch by far, but he’s also the shyest.”

  “And what does he do?” Zoe was almost afraid to ask.

  “Owen is an astrophysicist. He’s absolutely brilliant.”

  Of course he is, Zoe thought.

  “He got picked on a bit because he was so nerdy and quiet compared to his brothers—especially his outgoing twin—but now he goes all over the world teaching at universities.” Sarah let out a sigh. “And then there’s Darcy.”

  “Oh, you mean there’s actually a female in that bunch?” Zoe asked.

  “The one and only. She’s got it the hardest.”

  “Why?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Sarah said. “She’s got five older brothers and everyone in this town knows her family, along with everything about her life. She’s seventeen years old. How much do you think she gets away with?”

  Zoe was an only child so she couldn’t imagine what it was like having even one overachieving sibling, let alone five. “Poor kid,” Zoe said. “What about Aidan? Where does he fall in the lineup?”

  “He’s the oldest,” Sarah said, suddenly tense again. “Maybe that’s why he’s such a control freak and such a pain in the ass to work with.”

  “I’m sure he’s just…”

  Sarah cut her off. “He’s a perfectionist and he’s totally unreasonable. If you don’t follow his instructions to the letter, he goes right over your head. I substituted some perfectly fine paint colors—they were from last year’s palette, so they were thirty percent off, and they work just fine. You’d think he’d be grateful I’d taken the initiative and found a way to save him some money. But no, it’s his way or the highway. And all Martha cares about is getting him off her back. And then there’s the stuff he doesn’t tell you and when you figure it out on your own, it’ll be all wrong. Do
yourself a favor, Zoe. Brush up on your ESP skills and plan on not getting any sleep. Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

  “I’m so sorry, Sarah.” It was the only thing Zoe could think of to say. “I really appreciate all of the background.”

  Sarah nodded and stood. “I need to go. You have a meeting with him in less than half an hour. Better be early. He hates it when you’re late. And by late, I mean on time.”

  Perfect, Zoe thought apprehensively.

  She watched Sarah walk out of her office and then looked at the box on the floor.

  “Reason number nine hundred and forty-eight why my life sucks today? Aidan Shaughnessy.”

  * * *

  Okay, that was a lot of information, Zoe kept saying to herself on the drive over. She wasn’t sure how helpful it would be in dealing with the man himself.

  After perusing Sarah’s project files, Zoe could see what Sarah had done with the colors and finishes on the first model home. It didn’t sound so bad, but Zoe wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was going to be an easy fix. As Zoe had left for her meeting, Martha had warned her again that no matter what Mr. Shaughnessy wanted done to make it right, Zoe wasn’t to argue.

  Zoe frowned. It wasn’t as if she argued with clients.

  Much.

  Her GPS signaled that she had arrived at her destination—ten minutes early, thank you very much—and the sight before her took her breath away. After parking the car, she slowly got out and removed her sunglasses.

  “Stunning.” The word was a mere whisper from her lips. She’d done her fair share of work with architects, builders, and your everyday homeowners, but never before had she seen a home that drew you in like this one.

  The landscaping was immaculate; vivid colors mixed with the perfect amount of greenery. For a moment, Zoe would have sworn the plants were fake. Crouching down, she touched the leaves on some of the flowers and leaves just to make sure. The lawn felt like some sort of plush carpeting, and she itched to kick off her shoes and feel it on her bare feet. It wasn’t as soft as the sand surrounding the beach house she was renting, but this was a pretty close second. She wouldn’t mind walking outside to something like this every day.

  The stonework on the front of the house was perfect and the color complemented the siding beautifully. All the windows were top of the line and just beckoned you to come inside. But not before stopping on the wraparound porch and maybe spending a few minutes on the swing.

  She sighed. She actually stopped and sighed.

  The low white picket fence around the front yard kept it separate from the worksites around it, like an oasis in the middle of a combat zone. Standing in the middle of the lawn, you could almost overlook the chaos going on around it.

  Zoe, however, knew the real battleground was inside the house.

  Standing, she gave the yard one last smile before walking up to the front door. It was like walking to an execution and her feet suddenly felt filled with lead. Taking a fortifying breath, she gripped the doorknob and walked inside.

  The spacious entryway led into a wide, open floor plan. The floors were real hardwood—not engineered—and the dark finish shone like polished glass. Zoe looked down to see if she could see her reflection. She was about to call out and announce her presence, but first she crouched down one more time to run her hands over the floor.

  “Like silk,” she said softly, loving the feel of the wood beneath her hands.

  “That’s what I was going for,” a deep male voice said from a few feet away.

  Aidan had been watching this woman since her arrival. He had been in one of the upstairs bedrooms when he saw her car pull up, and had watched in fascination as she inspected the yard. While he felt mildly guilty for causing the other decorator to lose her job, he couldn’t help but be intrigued by her replacement. From what he’d observed so far, this woman was somebody who took notice of details. It wasn’t hard to see the appreciation in her eyes as she looked at the house.

  And he couldn’t help but look at her with appreciation. The woman before him had fiery red curly hair and a body with the kind of curves that made a man want to…scratch an itch. Damn it. This was so not the time for that thought to come to mind. As she straightened before him, he had to admit she was even more stunning up close. Tall. In heels, she was maybe only four inches shorter than him, and that was saying something. Most women didn’t come close to his six-foot-two-inch height.

  Aidan’s mouth went dry when she took off her sunglasses and he caught sight of the greenest eyes he had ever seen. She smiled and held out her hand in greeting. “Mr. Shaughnessy, hello,” she said, her voice was just a bit husky. “I’m Zoe Dalton.”

  For a moment, Aidan couldn’t speak. He reached out and took her hand in his, fully intending to give her a businesslike handshake, but as soon as he felt her soft skin, he pretty much forgot his own name.

  You really have been without a woman for too long, he admonished himself. “Miss Dalton,” he murmured, forcing himself to focus. He shook her hand a little too roughly and released it as if she’d burned him.

  Zoe was equally speechless. Why had no one mentioned that this man was the sexiest thing on two legs? His rock star brother may have been nominated one of the sexiest men alive, but Riley had nothing on his older brother. Dark hair, blue eyes, and hands rough enough that Zoe wanted to feel them all over her. It was rare for a man to make Zoe feel small and delicate, but Aidan was built like a linebacker and managed to make her feel it now.

  Zoe fanned herself briefly as Aidan turned and walked away.

  And the view was just as spectacular from behind.

  She almost groaned.

  Order Samantha Chase's first book

  in The Shaughnessy Brothers series

  Made for Us

  On sale August 2015

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  About the Author

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her forties to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Teaching creative writing to students from elementary through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams motivated Samantha to take that step as well. When she’s not working on a new story, Samantha spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing Scrabble on Facebook, and spending time with her husband of more than twenty years and their two sons in North Carolina.