by Maddie James
“No. I had my mind made up about this building. I knew it wasn’t worth the time and money that’d be required to bring it up to code. When you sashayed in here and told me your deadline, I knew you were crazy. That’s a fact. I’m only on this job because there wasn’t a good way out of it. The whole thing is nuts. But hey, you’re the one with the money. We’ll make this happen, and it’ll be amazing. That’s not about you; it’s about my reputation as a contractor.
“And as far as me not liking women, it’s a pity you’ll never know how wrong you are on that score. I guess you’re used to guys falling at your feet, but baby, you could die of old age waiting for that to happen with me. My theory with women is to do what comes naturally for as long as it’s a good thing and then move on.” He ran his palm along her jaw line, and she involuntarily shivered—not an unpleasant feeling. “If you’d be interested in some of that, just let me know. Wait ‘til this job is finished, though, because I’m trying real hard to maintain a workable business relationship. Besides, after this project is done I’ll have a little more time and energy.” He turned and walked out the door.
She ran out after him and grabbed his arm. “Don’t think you can just walk away from me after spouting that load of crap!”
He stopped and faced her. “You’d best take your hand off my arm, sweet cakes. Unless you’re planning to beg me to go back into that big, dark building with you and demonstrate what I was talking about.”
Chloe dropped her hand and felt both of them turn to fists.
He nodded. “Right. I’ll see you around. Lock up when you’re done—I can’t afford to lose anything out of there because of your carelessness.” He swung himself up into his pickup, slammed the door, and drove off.
Chapter Five
Monday morning at six o’clock, Chloe slid out of her Jeep and crossed Main Street with a travel mug of coffee in her hand and a smile on her face. She greeted Dave, who was busily pulling wires through an outlet on the far side of the room.
“Looks like you’ve been at it a while.”
Dave yawned. “We started at five this morning. Maybe earlier tomorrow. Dunno yet.” He glanced over his shoulder before quietly continuing. “Greg’s not taking any chances about missing your deadline. You here to check up on him?”
There it was. The rift she had unintentionally helped create.
She shrugged and smiled. “Nope. Just can’t stay away from the place anymore. I’m excited about the project, Dave. This is a dream come true for me, and you guys are making it happen. Do you mind if I stop in and look around? Does it bother you?”
“Me? Not a bit. I’d much rather look at you than anybody else I’m likely to see in here today.” He gave a harsh tug on the wires, grunted and frowned. “Hm. I need to go downstairs. Later.”
“Later.” She ambled over to Ed and Fred Gentry, two older guys who were famous for their abilities with drywall. When they were done, a wall was always as smooth as brand-new construction, even though they did mostly renovation work, and old buildings were notorious for having wavy walls.
“Guys, how’s it going?”
“Good, Chloe,” they said in unison.
“You see the late show last night?” asked Ed.
“Hysterical!” said Fred. “There was this—”
“Yeah. I saw it. Cracked me up, too! This is looking great, guys.”
“Thanks,” they said together.
Everybody in Legend knew that if you let Ed and Fred get started on a comedy routine they’d seen on TV, they’d tell you the whole thing—very poorly—and ruin it for you forever. They’d been doing it for years. Ed and Fred were good-hearted and great at their profession, but they sure couldn’t tell a story.
“This is coming along really well, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Our part is. We’ll have the wallboard up in this room today. How’d you like the ceiling?” Ed looked up, admiring it.
Chloe looked up, too. “Amazing. As pretty as the Sistine Chapel if it had been painted plain white.”
“Huh. It is, isn’t it?” Fred picked up his cap from the floor where it had landed while he gazed at their handiwork.
Chloe smiled. “Absolutely. Um, don’t let me bother you. I’m just cruising.”
“Sure,” they said, looking up for another moment and then going back to the wall that was their current project.
It took Chloe a little while to get through the two floors of the building and talk to each guy. The last person she saw was Greg Andrews, who was in the basement. Hiding out? Maybe. He had offered to make himself scarce if she showed up.
Chloe walked carefully down the uneven basement steps, which were lit with another of the floor-mounted spotlights like she’d seen in the gallery area the other night. Evidently, Dave had finished whatever he needed to do down here, because Greg was the only person in the basement.
“Miz McClain. I didn’t expect you to come down here.”
“I didn’t really intend to, but when the door was open and I saw there was a light, I thought I might as well. I haven’t been down here before.”
One eyebrow raised. “You didn’t come down here before you bought the building?”
“No. Why would I? Just the heating system down here, right?”
“Yeah. And your electrical boxes and plumbing cutoffs. Kind of important to know where those are. And what the heating system’s like. Do you even know what kind of heat you have here?”
“Of course. Natural gas. I’m not an idiot, just disinterested in the details of what it looks like or how it works. I don’t mess with stuff like that. Never had to learn, because my brothers and cousins take care of it for me. I’m not good with mechanical stuff anyway. Makes me nervous.” She remembered touching the wires in the dark the other night.
“Everybody ought to know where their breakers and cutoffs are.”
“Hm. I just really don’t care. Something breaks, Martin or Mike or somebody deals with it. Guys like doing that kind of thing.”
“That’s making a big assumption.”
“What? You don’t like mechanical stuff?”
“Of course I do.”
“And it feeds your manly ego when a woman needs help with that, right? Well then. Point made.” She glanced around at the mostly empty basement with its rough walls and floor. The ceiling was just the floor joists of the main level.
“So you came down here to see me?”
“I was just looking around.”
“Yet you’d never looked down here before.”
“No.” Why had she come down the basement stairs? Maybe there was a slight possibility she wanted to see what Greg Andrews was up to. Maybe there was a chance she wanted to poke at him a bit and rile him up. When had she gotten to be like that?
“You’ve seen the basement now. Better climb back upstairs before the boogey-man gets you, Miz McClain.” He grinned. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him do that before. He looked like a different person.
“Chloe. And I’m not afraid of the boogey-man.”
He took a step toward her. “Maybe you should be afraid.”
She kept her gaze on his. “I don’t think so. He’s not as scary as he thinks he is.”
He stepped forward again, looking down into her eyes. “He’s exactly as scary as he thinks he is. Little girls like you had better be careful. Chloe.”
She liked hearing him say her name. “I’m not a little girl, Greg.” She turned on her heel and headed back up the steps, but stopped mid-way. “I’ll be back tomorrow. I like seeing how the place is looking. You’re making a lot of progress, despite being a real jerk most of the time.”
“Gee, thanks. And you have the sweetest little butt in Legend, Tennessee, in spite of the fact that your personality basically sucks eggs.”
She grinned. “Okay then. See you tomorrow.”
He gave her a slow perusal from head to toe, which she found thoroughly enjoyable. “Yeah. Looking forward to that.”
****
/>
“What are you doing, Chloe?” Betsy asked a few days later in Chloe’s kitchen.
“Creating the Piggly Wiggly, obviously.” Chloe continued to hum as she worked on the model of the town’s main grocery store.
Betsy groaned. “That’s not what I meant. What are you doing with Greg Andrews?”
“Nothing.”
“You go over there every day.”
“I have a right to. I go each morning early, just stay a little while. It’s exciting to see the progress they’re making. Why? Is that a problem?”
“Mike said you’re distracting.”
“Ewww.”
“Not that you’re distracting him! That you’re distracting some of the other guys, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. One in particular.”
“Is that right?” She couldn’t stop a grin.
“Chloe! Stop acting innocent, because you’re really bad at it. You’re trying to seduce Greg Andrews.”
“I am not! Betsy, I’m shocked to hear you say that.”
“It’s what Mike thinks. What all the guys think, I guess.”
Chloe turned her back on Betsy and smiled at the Piggly Wiggly. “Is that what Greg Andrews says?”
“From what I hear, most of what he says isn’t polite language. He’s been yelling at the guys for little or nothing, insisting he doesn’t want to miss the deadline.”
“That’s reasonable.”
“Mike says it isn’t. He says they’re in great shape on the deadline. Greg is a bear to work for these days. I think I know what’s wrong with him.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“To put it nicely, I think he’s dehydrated from drooling every morning when you’re there.”
Chloe couldn’t help laughing at the picture that brought to mind.
“You’re intentionally driving him insane, right?”
“Yep.” She always wore her best fitting jeans and a snug shirt, made sure she had funky jewelry on, and that her hair and makeup were perfect. She wanted to torture Greg Andrews a little bit. She knew he liked the way she looked. That had been obvious the first time they met. He nearly salivated looking at her that first day in the building, but seemed to dislike her as a person. He still didn’t like her, yet he’d all but propositioned her the night she went to the building with a flashlight. In Chloe’s opinion, the guy needed to learn that women weren’t necessarily available for a physical relationship just because he was interested. He needed to learn that, with most women, unless he developed an emotional relationship first, nothing else would follow. This wasn’t for her own sake, of course. She had just taken it on as a public service for the betterment of Womankind. The Edification of Greg Andrews was like an adopt a highway project to her.
“What happens if he snaps?” Betsy asked.
“Snaps?”
“If he decides he can’t take the torture anymore and goes for it? Goes for you. What happens then?”
“What can happen? We’re in that building surrounded by guys who’ve known me all my life. Greg makes the wrong move, he’s toast.”
“Is that fair?”
“I don’t know.” Or care. “But it sure is fun.”
“This isn’t like you, Chloe.”
“Which makes it even more enjoyable! I go down there every morning and look around at my pretty new gallery—it really is starting to look like a gallery—I say some things to Greg, he leers at me and snarks back, then I come home and work like crazy the rest of the day.” She shrugged. “Hey. At least I’m getting out.”
****
The next evening Martin stopped by her house and approached the topic in a different way.
“If you had acted like this in the first place, maybe he wouldn’t have added the extra charge to the project. Maybe he would have been way more willing to take it on, even with that deadline, if he’d thought you were interested... You know. Or hey—maybe if you’d taken all your clothes off and jumped him that day he came here to the cabin, he would have redone the building for free.”
“Martin! How can you talk like that to me?”
“Real easy. I’m your brother, remember? I can say whatever I want, as long as Mom’s not around. Plus I’m always right. You act like Greg is this horrible monster who uses women, but the way I see it, you’re doing the same thing to him. Except what you’re up to is worse. Greg doesn’t have a way out without breaking the contract. You keep teasing him, something’s bound to happen. Thing is, I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re hoping for.”
“Martin!”
“Chloe. Take a look at what you’re doing. A good, hard look.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to go. Showing a house up on the mountain. Think about what I said, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered a few minutes later as he threw his old Jeep CJ into reverse and backed into the road, then took off toward the mountain.
How could Martin think Chloe hoped for Greg to break under the pressure? She was just having some fun at the man’s expense. It was harmless. She couldn’t believe Greg was so bothered by it, or at least not after she vacated the premises each morning. That sure wasn’t what Betsy had heard from Mike though, was it? Mike said Greg was a bear to work with all the time now, and Mike blamed it on Chloe. Well, it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t that big a deal.
****
One week before the deadline, Chloe stopped in at the gallery as usual. The beautiful ash tongue-in-groove floor gleamed under a couple nights’ application of polyurethane. The windows were in, and the walls were painted to match the high ceiling. The big new ceiling fans turned slowly, setting a relaxed pace for the room. For potential customers.
Dave was on a high ladder working with one of the hanging lights. Tracks had been installed for the track lighting, but not everything was in yet. She wandered upstairs and talked briefly to Ed and Fred, who were sanding drywall seams in preparation for another coat of ‘mud.’ It would sure be different to live in this large open space instead of her cozy cabin. She thought she would like it. Definitely hoped so, because the cabin was going to be in her past very soon. Looking out one of the large front windows, she saw Greg Andrews cross the street. He must be going over to his office for something. That was okay. She could talk to him there.
Chapter Six
“Good morning.”
“Man!” Greg sloshed coffee off the side of his mug and onto his jeans. “Don’t sneak up on a guy like that.” He finished filling his mug and went to his desk chair, leaning onto its back legs as usual. “I thought you were at your building.” Why couldn’t she just give him a break?
“I was there. It’s looking great.” Chloe smiled, then tipped her head and looked at him quizzically. “Something wrong with you?”
“Nothing that won’t be miraculously cured a week from now when I hand that key back to you.”
“The job has been exhausting, hasn’t it? I’m sorry you’re all having to work so hard...”
“Uh-huh. You had no idea what you were asking me to accomplish when you gave me those perfect drawings. You just smiled and assumed a man would make it all right for you.”
“Don’t—”
“I sure will. You said as much yourself that day in the basement. You don’t worry about how things work, you just let Martin or Mike or one of the other guys in the family take care of it for you. You know what, sweetheart? That’s an irresponsible way to go through life. It’s unbelievable to me that you’ve gotten this far without knowing any more than you do. Obviously your family carries you.”
“I’ve made my own living ever since college. I worked during college too!”
“I guess people must pay you a lot for painting pictures. I can’t imagine why. A lot easier to just go out and look at the mountains in person. Mike said that’s what you paint.”
“Not everybody has the opportunity to just go out and look at them.”
“Everybody in Legend does. Why would anybody here buy one of your pai
ntings? Makes no sense to me to have a store here that sells pictures of basically the view from everybody’s window.”
“You’ve looked at some of my paintings?”
“I know what mountains look like. I don’t need to see your paintings.” He felt one of his Chloe headaches coming on and massaged his forehead. “You done here now?”
“No. I came here to ask you something. I need to have a display case built.”
“You’re kidding. You have got to be kidding.”
“I know it’ll cost extra, but I need it. I need it before opening day.”
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to ask me a favor! Forget it. Or ask Mike.”
“I did ask him. He turned me down. Said he has little enough time with Betsy and LizBeth Ann now, without another project dumped on him. Something like that.”
“Sounds about right. I imagine you’ll get the same answer from everybody.”
“I have. Didn’t ask Ed or Fred, but I get that woodworking isn’t really their thing.”
“No. If you don’t want it built out of drywall, don’t ask them. So. Too bad, I guess. Go to the city and find somebody, maybe. Or, let me think, do without for once. Have you ever had to do without anything?”
She didn’t favor him with an answer. “I have to have this display case built! No way can I put my town out and not protect it! I was so wrapped up in creating it, I hadn’t thought about a case. I need this, Greg. Please.”
Whoa. He really wanted to hear her say please, but not because she wanted a display case. He wanted her to say it because she wanted him. She made him ache for her a little more each morning she came to the gallery. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since she started doing that. Still couldn’t figure out what had triggered her change in attitude. It had been easier to deal with her when the two of them barely spoke to each other. This sexual tension was a killer, and he didn’t have time to go anywhere and take the edge off of it. He knew Chloe wasn’t going to let him do anything about it with her. She was just punishing him. What he’d ever done in his life to deserve this kind of sweet torture, he didn’t know.