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Blade nodded. “That’s not difficult. I know where to get the parts.”
“Good.” And with that, Cassidy was on a roll. Twenty minutes later Blade was certain of two things. One was that the city inspector had been overzealous in citing things that he really didn’t need to have cited. The other was that Cassidy Clayton had grown up with every possible advantage in life.
His bedroom, which he’d shared with his two older brothers, would have fit in the master bedroom closet. The master bathroom of the house, which needed all new plumbing fixtures, was bigger than the living room and kitchen where he’d grown up.
Sure he had a house about the same size now, but he’d worked and sweated for every brick. Cassidy had simply been born into it.
“That’s all of them,” she said. “Think you can have all this work done in a week?”
Blade stared at her. She’d pushed her hair behind her ears and was peering earnestly up at him. Darn, but she was pretty.
“I’m going to have to work nights to get these all finished,” he said. Where those words had come from, he would later decide that he didn’t know. They’d just slipped out. He was the boss. He could do what he wanted, and he could work days.
“You want time and a half?” She seemed shocked.
“I didn’t say that,” he replied, trying to backtrack. “Jake gave you our bid already for all hours worked. No matter what time of day, fixed hourly rate. You only have about twenty hours of work.”
“So what’s the catch?”
Was there a catch? He thought about it a second and dismissed what Jake wanted him to do out of his head. “No catch. It’ll take me about four days of about five hours each. I’ll get here at four and leave by nine.”
She frowned. “Look,” he said, “That’s the best I can do. I’ve got other jobs in the queue, as well, and somehow I’m going to have to balance everything. So I won’t get here until four. But I will get your predications done and have them done before your deadline.”
The thought of him in her house at night seemed so… “I sometimes have to work at night,” Cassidy said, pushing thoughts of Blade in her house at night out of her mind. That was not a path she should tread. He raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to explain, and she felt the need to. “I’m an image consultant, and depending on the day I attend dinner functions and…”
Suddenly he didn’t want to hear about her social life. He cut her off. “If you aren’t here to let me in, then I’ll need a key and your alarm code.”
He almost wanted to laugh at her horrified reaction. “We are licensed and bonded, ma’am.”
“Cassidy,” she corrected automatically. She hated being called ma’am. It made her feel old.
“Cassidy.” He rolled her name on his tongue and decided that he liked it. “Well, Cassidy, since I’m here, shall I get started?”
Her mouth puckered. “You’re starting the job tonight?”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Is there a problem with that? I’m already here, and I need to make a list of stuff I need. Plus, you don’t have time to spare.”
He was right.
Cassidy gulped and tore her gaze off Blade’s chest. Last night Sara had said something about stroking it and discovering if his chest was smooth or covered with dark whirls of hair.
If he took off his shirt when he worked in the Texas heat she’d know.
Whoa! Wait right there. Those were not thoughts she should have. Think of Dan, think of Dan.
Oh, God. Dan. He’d be over in less than an hour to take her out to dinner. He had some clients to impress. That meant she needed a shower, and she needed to redo her makeup and…Then again, she also needed to have her predications fixed. What was it Blade had asked?
Normally she wasn’t so scatterbrained. Maybe it was the stress of everything. Her parents had dumped the selling of the family home and moving the few belongings they wanted to keep into her lap.
“No problem,” she said after finally remembering his question about whether he should get started tonight. “Just stay on the first floor.”
The last thing she needed was for him to be in her bedroom. Thankfully that had been one room that hadn’t needed any repairs.
“I’ll try,” Blade replied, his gaze sweeping over her.
“See that you do,” she said, suddenly feeling the need for a long, cold shower. She now knew the truth. She couldn’t blame her physical reaction to him on beer.
Turning, she disappeared up the stairs. She had the distinct impression that he stared at her legs the whole time.
Chapter Three
As Cassidy walked away, Blade let himself take a long look at her legs as she walked upstairs. Nice and slender. He liked that. A lot.
Too bad he couldn’t let himself really like her. Liking Cassidy would be a mistake. She was engaged, and he, unlike Jake, didn’t tread on another man’s domain.
But he could look. That was acceptable, no harm done, and it could be his job perk.
Jake could get Lillian as the job perk. That would serve him right.
Humming to himself, Blade began an inventory of what materials he would need in order to do the work. About a half hour later he looked at the long list he’d made and compared it with the city inspector’s predications. He frowned. He’d missed something.
Blade shook his head as he realized what it was. How had he missed something so obvious? He needed ground-fault interrupters for one of the guest bathrooms upstairs.
He thought for a moment, trying to remember how the house had been wired. Newer homes often had one GFI circuit breaker that had all the outlets wired to it. Older homes often had individual circuits and each receptacle needed a GFI.
He strode toward the back staircase. He’d just have to go test them and see. It would only take a second.
Blade paused on the upstairs landing, but he wasn’t interested in the original Monet hanging on the wall. Instead, it was the muffled sound of water that had caught his attention. Cassidy was in the shower.
He stood there a moment, unable to stop from visualizing the rushing water streaming down her back, over her breasts and down her legs. He shook himself. That job perk vision was off-limits. He moved down the hall and into a spare bedroom. This had to be the right one. He’d just check the outlet and be on his way….
He paused, stricken, remembering that Virginia Woolf line, “People shouldn’t have looking glasses in their houses.”
For it was true.
For there, reflected in the mirror, he could see Cassidy, clear as day, through the shower door.
God, she was gorgeous. The steam hadn’t yet covered the see-through glass, giving him a perfect glimpse of her high, firm breasts. And her legs…his mouth dried as she worked a mesh sponge over her body. His earlier fantasy about her legs had been nothing compared to the reality.
The reality was much better.
He stood, transfixed, as if someone had frozen him in time. Her voice drifted into his consciousness. She was singing some old Madonna tune about being a virgin touched for the very first time.
He attempted to move his feet. He wasn’t a Peeping Tom. He didn’t look on unknowing women, especially engaged ones. His feet refused to budge.
Another part of his anatomy was refusing to follow directions, as well, and Blade swallowed a groan. He had to admit the truth.
Despite himself, he wanted this woman.
Damn it, man! A voice cut into his brain, overriding the desire paralyzing him. You know better than this! First off she’s engaged, and most important, she’s not your type.
The sound of Cassidy turning off the water jolted him to action. He fled before she could see him.
Quickly he headed down the back stairs. The GFIs could wait until tomorrow. He’d just bring a half dozen and be on the safe side.
He could replace all of them if need be. He jerked a hand through his chestnut-brown hair. Why hadn’t she been using the master bathroom? After all, she was alone in the house.
Dumb mistake, Blade, dumb. He strode through the kitchen so fast that he almost didn’t see the smaller man standing in front of him.
“Hey.”
“Sorry.” Blade checked his movements in order to stop from body slamming the man by accident.
“Who are you?” The man looked surprised, and he drew himself up. At five foot eight he failed to dwarf or intimidate Blade’s six-foot-six-inch frame.
“Contractor,” Blade said, irritated with the question and the man’s obvious ease in Cassidy’s kitchen. So this was the beloved fiancе.
The man brushed a piece of lint from his perfectly tailored suit. “Contractor? Cassidy hired a contractor?”
Did the man not know what his fiancеe did? “She did. Can’t you tell by the whites and the tool belt?”
The man frowned, as if trying to remember something. Finally he spoke. “Why does Cassidy need a contractor?”
Blade wondered if the man was dense. Maybe he should have body slammed him, but he doubted that would have knocked any sense into him. Besides, didn’t people in love share everything? Have discussions?
Then again, it had always been one-sided between him and Clara. He’d never really shared anything with her, and he’d almost married her, which would have been totally unfair. She was now blissfully happy with someone else.
“Cassidy needs a contractor to fix her home predications, the violations the inspector cited.”
“Predications.” The fiancе mulled that over for a moment. “I guess she did tell me about that.”
For a moment Blade felt sorry for Cassidy, especially if this was her ideal man. “I’m starting work today, Mr….” He paused to let the fiancе fill in the blank.
The man blinked, and Blade wondered if his mind really was a million miles away. “Oh, yes. I’m Dan. Dan Morris. I’m Cassidy’s fiancе. I live next door.”
Blade already knew that.
“Well, Dan Morris, I’m Blade Frederick. The contractor.”
“Um, yes. We’ve established that.”
“Exactly,” Blade said, taking control of the conversation. “I’m fixing her home predications. Since it’s such short notice I’ll be working nights to get the job done. She does have four pages of predications you know.”
“Yes, I guess she does.” Behind his wire-rim glasses Dan blinked again. “She did tell me, it’s just that I’ve been busy working on a new exhibit at the museum. I’m trying to get a life-size dinosaur skeleton, like Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago, only much better. It would be the highlight of our new wing and—”
“Dan!” Cassidy stood in the doorway wearing a silken robe that knotted at her waist. Her blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders. “I thought I heard your voice. What are you doing here already?”
Dan frowned. “I’m picking you up. We’re meeting the Schmidts for dinner. You couldn’t have forgotten. You know how important this is, and you never forget anything.”
“No. Of course not.” Cassidy shook her head, sending the damp strands flying. The action caused Blade’s breath to lodge in his throat. “I didn’t forget. It’s not until eight.”
“No, we’re meeting them at seven. Cass, love, you did forget,” Dan chided. At Dan’s response, Blade decided Dan really was the absentminded professor type who fit in well at a museum.
“I guess.” Cassidy ran her fingers through her hair, causing a lump to form in Blade’s throat. She was too pretty. “I’ll just go get ready. I’ll only be a moment.”
“We can’t be late,” Dan told Blade as Cassidy darted back upstairs. “The Schmidts are important investors, and I’m hoping that they’ll contribute generously to the new wing we have under construction. In case you haven’t gathered, I’m the curator for the science center that’s being expanded downtown.”
“That’s nice,” Blade said. That had been another job J & B Construction had lost out on to D. W. Braun.
“Yes. Cassidy knows how important financing is to the various exhibits. I’m trying to convince the Schmidts to donate a large sum of money. It won’t look good if we’re late.”
“I said I’ll be ready,” Cassidy called down the stairs.
Hearing her voice made Blade wonder what Cassidy saw in Dan Morris.
The man was boring. Couldn’t she see she was settling? He’d been bored with Clara, and she with him. Clara had just been there, almost like a doormat. She had been a constant in his life, someone safe and secure. It had been almost too late when he realized that both he and Clara deserved more, and that settling for safety didn’t mean you’d found love.
With Clara there had been no passion, and after last night and their verbal sparring, Blade knew Cassidy had loads of passion.
Couldn’t Dan see that? The image of Cassidy in the silken robe was already imprinted on Blade’s libido, and knowing what was under it made the illusion of covering it even more seductive. Way past time to get out of here.
“Cassidy, I need a key,” he called up the stairs.
“Dan, give Blade your key and the alarm code.”
“Are you sure?” Dan called.
“Yes,” Cassidy shouted back. Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key chain. He removed a key from the fob and passed it to Blade.
“The code, too?” Dan called.
“The code, too,” Cassidy said, and Blade heard her feet on the hardwood stairs. “He’s licensed and bonded,” Cassidy said, adjusting an earring as she entered the kitchen.
Blade’s heart skipped a beat. He’d been wrong. She wasn’t just pretty. She was gorgeous.
Lingerie models couldn’t hold a candle to her. His eyes drank in the way the red slip dress curved over her figure to layer just above her knees in small, loose ruffles.
Blade wondered what was wrong with Dan.
He wasn’t even looking at Cassidy, but rather the afternoon daily.
Was the man blind? Maybe he needed to have his glasses checked.
For if Cassidy were Blade’s fiancеe, he sure wouldn’t be treating her this way. No, he’d never complain if she’d forgotten the time, especially if she greeted him looking like that and wearing only a silk robe. He’d be thinking, the heck with the Schmidts. They could eat by themselves while he and Cassidy made passionate love upstairs.
Or that short dress would just lift up, and he would lean her back on the kitchen island and see whether lace or silk was hiding underneath.
Instead Dan was now checking his watch.
