Brushing Off the Boss: A Half Moon Bay Novel (Entangled Bliss)

by Annie Seaton

  “Almost as good as riding a bike,” he said.

  “Might as well enjoy the day. Sunny days can be few and far between here along this stretch of the coast. My place is a couple of miles up along the road toward Monterey.”

  The wind blew strongly as Sienna drove out through town. Jack dropped his shades over his eyes when they turned onto Seventeen Mile Drive. He took in the scenery and recognized the golf course where he’d played with Blake a couple of years ago. When they passed Cypress Point, Sienna swung a right onto Forest Lake Road. “Pretty exclusive area,” he said.

  “The average listing is over four million,” she said.

  Jack narrowed his gaze. She must be doing okay if she had a place here and was going to buy the gallery too. Maybe she could find herself another studio and he wouldn’t feel so bad about moving her out.

  “You are easy to read, you know.” Sienna turned and grinned at him as she swung into a driveway and drove past a stately home between some tall pines. “I said the average.” He appreciated her smile; she’d looked thoughtful as they’d driven through town and hadn’t said much to him.

  She slowed in front of a huge house built in pink concrete, with large circular windows on each side of a tall entry that towered over an expanse of green manicured lawn. He waited for Sienna to turn into the circular driveway at the front, but she kept going. A little farther down the road, Forest Lake glimmered through the trees and she swung left into a narrow driveway. A small cottage sat on a rise at the end of the road with a garage beside it.

  “Home sweet home.” She stopped in front of the cottage and turned the car off.

  “Nice.” Jack let out a low whistle when he stepped out and took in the view of the lake. “Very nice. Lived here long?” It was exactly the sort of place he’d love to find down here along the coast. He’d thought of having ocean views, but this small lake, hidden among the trees, was beautiful.

  “When I was first working with Georgie and Ana in our restoration business, it was one of the first old places we bought. It used to be the boat cottage of the estate up the road. It was going for a song because it was in such poor condition.” Sienna walked up the three steps, and Jack followed her to the porch. “We pooled what we had and it was our first restoration.”

  The view was even better from the porch. The cottage was so far from the road there was no traffic noise. Jack closed his eyes and listened to the wind sighing through the trees. He could move in here right now. His fingers tingled with the urge to get working.

  She grinned at him and her face came alive. “Local gossip says the estate belonged to Douglas Fairbanks back in the thirties, and this was his love cottage. We learned a lot doing the renovation. And we had so much fun. Because it was so far from Nebbiton, we’d stay overnight, camping in the forest.” She pointed to a low fence with a gate at the side of the cottage. “When we finished the restoration, we rented it out, and then when we closed the business, I bought the girls’ share and I moved down here last year.” She put the key in the front door and led him through the house. “The only downside to the apartment is that it shares a common entry with the house. That’s why I haven’t rented it out before. It’s got everything else, but it’s really tiny.”

  “Show me.” As he followed her down a wide timber-lined hallway, Jack watched her walk. Her movements were graceful, and he regretted not having the opportunity to follow up that promise of calling her.

  Too late now, especially if he was going to be her boss…and her tenant.

  Chapter Five

  “So, what do you think?”

  Jack stood at the window of the small living room. The apartment at the back of the cottage had an uninterrupted view of the lake. Sienna smiled to herself. There hadn’t been any view until she, Ana, and Georgie had cleared the overgrown garden. The house and its garden were one of the best restorations they’d done. That’s why they never sold it.

  “This light is amazing.”

  She jumped when Jack turned to her, his face alight with enthusiasm. “Have you ever thought of adding a studio to the back here? The aspect is perfect.”

  “I did, but I can’t afford it.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “I saved everything to buy a gallery, but that’s not such a bad idea. Now that the sale’s not going ahead, I could probably think about that.”

  “Have you ever thought about selling?”

  “The apartment?” She tipped her head to the side, unsure of what he was saying.

  “No, the whole property.” His eyes were bright with interest, and he came over and held her arms gently. Sienna tried to ignore the jolt of warmth that shot up her shoulders and settled in her chest when his fingers brushed down her arms before stopping at her wrists.

  “Maybe we could do a deal with the gallery?” She bit back her frustration at his attitude. She had so wanted that gallery for her own; Jack had it and didn’t really want it. And now he wanted her house, too?

  “Uh-uh. I’m settled here.” She kept her voice bland.

  He stared down at her and the warmth fluttered to her stomach. His gaze held hers, and she let go of a little of her anger. How could she not when that sexy grin homed in on her?

  “Well, give me some thought if you ever do decide to sell it.”

  “I guess this means you’ll take the apartment…for the two weeks anyway, while I get my exhibition ready?” She tried to steer the conversation back to their original problem and ignore the crazy feelings racing through her from where his fingers were touching her skin.

  “Yeah, but you can only have the studio for two weeks. Do you think you could be ready by then?”

  She looked at him thoughtfully and tapped her finger to her lips. “Maybe.”

  “You have to.”

  Sienna looked at him. He had let go of her and had an intense look on his face. He was flexing his fingers as he walked around. “Okay. If I work every night, I can do it in two.”

  Jack stopped in front of her and held his hand out. “We have a deal then.”

  Sienna took a deep breath and took his hand as relief zinged through her.

  Maybe this will work out okay. After all, Jack owed her nothing really, and he was letting her have the studio in town and hold her exhibition. The only thing in it for him was having someone to manage the gallery for him just like she’d been doing already.

  “Come on. I’ll show you the garage. There’s room in there if you want to store your stuff when it arrives.” Sienna stepped away from his loose hold and headed back through the house and out onto the porch, conscious of him close behind her. God, she was acting like a teenager. She’d never let a man affect her like that before, and she wasn’t about to start now. Men had a role in her life. She went on dates, she had the occasional fling, and she didn’t let any of them close enough to hurt her. She swallowed and straightened her shoulders.

  And I won’t now. I’m not Georgie.

  Between Georgie and their mother, there was enough hurt to last them all a lifetime. Sienna didn’t intend on adding to it.

  “In here,” she said briskly as she opened the swinging wooden doors to the empty garage. “Can you fit all your stuff in here?”

  Jack walked in, his thumbs tucked into his jeans, and looked around. “It’ll be fine. I’ll put my personal stuff here and the big stuff can go into the space at the back of the gallery.”

  He must be planning on storing his furniture too? Sienna didn’t care what he put in there as long as it meant she could use the studio.

  Sienna went inside to get the spare key to the front door and the padlock for the garage, while Jack walked over and waited by the car.

  God, she hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake. Working with him and living in the same house meant she would have to try twice as hard to keep him at a distance. She’d had a lot of practice being tough, and she was about to invoke it now. That soft feeling that had crept through her bones earlier was banished to a place she never let see the light of day. She h
adn’t been out with anyone for a while. She’d have the same reaction to any good-looking guy who came along.

  Yeah, sure.

  The little voice in her head let the doubts creep in. It had been in the back of her mind since she’d first met Jack, and now the attraction whooshed straight back in with a vengeance.

  As soon as they got back to the gallery, Jack packed up his bag, ready to head out to the apartment. He said he had some calls to make to get the delivery address for his gear changed. Sienna drew a deep breath of relief when he finally roared off on his bike. Her mind was in turmoil, and she needed to get into the studio and do what she loved.

  And figure out what I’m going to do. How to fit the gallery in through the day and get four weeks’ worth of work done in two. She couldn’t understand why he would only give her the two weeks? Maybe he was just being ornery and had to show her who was the boss? But that didn’t fit what she’d seen of Jack’s casual character.

  Sienna lifted a drop sheet and picked up a plastic crate full of her copper frogs. They were shaped and ready for enameling. She lifted the roller door at the back of the gallery and walked down the ramp to the bricked-in room beneath, and she wondered if Jack knew the room with the kilns was there.

  Sienna shrugged and tried to clear her mind as she fired the kiln and reached for a small container of ground enamel.

  …

  Jack unpacked the panniers and the one bag he’d carried on the bike from New York before he made his calls. He really needed to harness the ideas that were flowing through him. He pulled out a notebook and did a couple of quick sketches of the pictures in his mind before he lost them. Then he called the moving company, and now he was calling home to check on his father. As the phone rang, he looked around the small apartment. Every color and every piece of furniture reminded him of Sienna—her vibrancy. It would be a good place to chill while he thought about the work ahead of him.

  “Hey, Jack!” His dad’s voice boomed across the connection. “Great to hear from you, son.” Jack grinned. At least having a life-threatening heart attack had given Mike Montgomery a whole new perspective on life. They’d fought for years, about how Jack didn’t want to work in the family business, and his mother, Helen, was caught in the middle. His laid-back attitude really got under his workaholic father’s skin. Life was too short, and his father had finally realized that point with his heart attack. It had given him a huge wake-up call.

  “How are you, Dad?”

  “All good. Can’t talk long. I’m getting picked up for golf in a minute.”

  “Mom there?”

  “No, she’s at the office.”

  “On a Sunday?” Jack frowned. He hoped his mother wasn’t going to step into the shoes his father had vacated.

  “Yeah, the sooner Blake gets up here the better.” His father cleared his throat. “Uh-oh, scratch that. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”

  “Blake?”

  “He’ll tell you what’s happening. Forget I said anything. How’s that deadline looking?”

  Jack bit back a terse reply. “Fine, fine. Remember I only arrived here last night.” He hated the fact that he felt it necessary to make excuses to his father.

  After he disconnected the call, Jack walked thoughtfully into the small bedroom. Sienna had told him where to find some sheets, and after he’d made up the bed, he lay back with his hands behind his head, going over the events of the day. Nothing had really panned out like he’d expected, but that was the way he liked life to be. He wasn’t going to get trapped on the treadmill of predictability where he always knew what the day would bring, with too many people depending on him. Look what it had done to his father. Although when he’d been in New York, his own need to control what was happening in the company had surfaced a little, and unsettled him. He worried he had more of his father in him than he thought. Maybe that’s why they clashed for so long.

  So once he’d signed the contract for the sculptures, he’d hightailed it out of the business and out of the city. Now he’d have all day to work on his sculpture, focus his creativity, and do what he loved. The only small problem was the deadline on the contract he’d signed, but that didn’t bother him as much as not being able to work for two weeks. In a way, he already regretted saying Sienna could use the studio. He would have to be firm and stick to the timeline he’d given her. Then he’d move in there, finish his commissions, and start work on the ideas crowding his thoughts.

  When he had more done, he could think about his own exhibition.

  As long as Sienna would keep managing the gallery.

  If she was happy to stay at the gallery after her exhibition, that was fine. If she did choose to move on, he’d have to deal with it. And he wasn’t going to complicate matters with a personal relationship. As much as he would have liked to start up something between them, things had to stay on a business footing.

  He closed his eyes and frowned as her face continued to fill his thoughts. He rolled over and punched the pillow. This had to stop. He focused on where he would get the truck to deliver his stuff. He’d have to split it when it arrived and decide what would go where.

  It’d be crazy to move even one sculpture twice, but it had put a dent in his plans having to wait a couple of weeks before he could start work. There was enough space and light here to do some of his modeling, but he needed the kilns, so he’d wait out the two weeks. He ignored the little voice telling him that he was worried his work wouldn’t measure up.

  But he’d made a deal with Sienna and he’d stick to his word. He wouldn’t let being at loose ends interfere with his decision to keep her at arm’s length. If he got bored just hanging around and not working, he’d go out and explore the district. Go up and visit Blake. Play some golf. Catch a wave. He’d leave Sienna in peace until she’d finished her own work, and then he’d get to know about the gallery when she wasn’t so busy.

  The problem was that wasn’t the way his thoughts were taking him. Finally, he drifted off and awoke refreshed a short time later. The afternoon stretched ahead, and Jack decided to go for a walk around the lake. When he opened the front door, he noticed the Monterey County Herald lying on the table on the porch, and he tucked it beneath his arm as he set off.

  …

  By the time Sienna finished enameling the batch of frogs, it was after dark. She pushed her helmet up and rubbed her eyes. It was hot down here with the kilns on, and her clothes were damp from perspiration. Her stomach was grumbling; she’d only snatched a quick lunch once she’d finished the first batch of frogs and hadn’t eaten since. As soon as she got home, a shower, a meal, and a glass of wine on her back porch would complete the day. She put her hand up to her eyes and rubbed.

  She arranged the frogs on the shelves and stood back. Satisfaction rippled through her. They were good. In fact, they were better than good.

  They’re fabulous. If I say so myself.

  The red one with his leg dangling inches below the green enameled log she’d wrapped him around was her favorite. It was one of the best pieces she’d done yet. Three more batches to enamel and she’d be ready for the show. But tomorrow she had planned to focus on publicity and organizing event logistics. There weren’t enough hours to get everything done. She had some more media sheets to send out, and she had back-to-back appointments with artists wanting to book their own shows, as well as meeting with the caterers for her first-night launch event.

  Where will Jack fit into all this?

  Even though they discussed the studio and his living arrangements, they hadn’t discussed anything about her day-to-day running of the gallery now that he was here. He was so casual about it. Did he really want the gallery to succeed or not? She shrugged, flicked on the night-light to leave the gallery softly lit, and pulled the door shut behind her. She’d keep doing things her way until he told her to change them,

  Fifteen minutes later, she drove her sports car into the small carport next to her cottage. The house was in darkness, although she
noticed that the padlock on the garage doors was locked. Jack was likely home and in bed already. Sienna let herself in quietly, slipped off her shoes and padded barefoot along to her bathroom. She threw her clothes into the linen basket and turned the shower on hot. The hard jets of water soothed her neck and refreshed her, and once she was dry, she tucked a towel around her breasts and wandered into her bedroom. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea, jumping in and offering him the apartment. It was going to be hard getting used to having someone else around. No more wandering around half dressed. She slipped on some underwear and tied a loose sarong around her before she headed out to the kitchen.

  It won’t be for long.

  Once she finished the last batch of firing in the kiln in two weeks, she could start looking for a studio. Then she had to decide whether she was going to stay working for him or look for some other place to buy. She bit her lip. Jack’s idea about building a studio on the back of the cottage had given her something to think about. If she stayed managing his gallery, and could work on her sculptures from home, it could be the ideal solution.

  His decision to take the gallery off the market had created a lot of problems for her. Her thoughts whirled around as she made a grilled cheese sandwich and poured a glass of wine. Maybe, just maybe, she could build herself a studio out here on the lake. Using her shoulder to push open the back door, she headed out to the porch.

  “You’re home late.”

  Sienna jumped and grabbed for the plate before it slipped from her hand. Jack unfolded himself from her hammock, crossed the porch, and took the plate from her.

  She put her hand on her chest as her heart thudded. “You scared me. I’m not used to company.”

  “Sorry. I was sitting out here enjoying the quiet.” He pulled out a chair and put her plate on the table. “You don’t eat properly.”

  Sienna bit down on the smart retort that hovered on her lips and forced a smile in his direction. He really brought out the worst in her.

  What is it to him what I do or what I eat?