Alex couldn’t believe he’d just thought about sex with this woman. Then again, he reasoned, it had been a long time. This reaction wasn’t personal, just a man’s normal response to a pretty lady.
He opened the trailer door and let her precede him inside. “After you.”
“If y’all don’t mind I’ll just get to work and make up for lost time.” She looked around. “Is it all right if I use that desk?”
“Help yourself,” he answered.
She walked across the room and put down her expensive leather briefcase and gigantic purse, and let the unwieldy tubes fall haphazardly on the flat surface. She pulled out her laptop and opened it, all business now. But, damn it, she’d just driven in from the airport after a crappy trip, and the silence after her Southern fried soliloquy felt all wrong.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” He pointed to the corner, where a pot was set up on a small table.
“Oh, Lord, no thank you. I think my head would explode.”
“I guess you’re staying at Blackwater Lake Lodge?”
“Actually no. They couldn’t confirm a reservation for the length of my stay.”
“I’m surprised.” He walked over and rested a hip on the corner of the desk, then leveled a friendly smile at her. He’d been told it could bring a woman to her knees, but that wasn’t his intention. He needed this job to come in early and on budget—in other words, go smoothly. The best way to make that happen was for the two of them to get along.
“I was told that spring and summer bookings are really up this year.”
“That might have something to do with the recent publicity generated by the hotel’s new executive manager. Camille Halliday,” he added.
Ellie’s brows pulled together thoughtfully. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“She’s part of the Halliday Hospitality family and apparently something of a wild child in her youth.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Right around the time I was here before there was a lot of talk about the press hounding her and a picture in the paper of her kissing your brother.”
“That’s right.”
She nodded. “I met with Dr. McKnight, and he couldn’t have been sweeter to me. Dr. Stone, too. We had several conversations about their expectations and suggestions for the clinic expansion before I drew up the plans.”
“By the way, he’s engaged now.”
“Who?”
“My brother, Ben. To Camille Halliday.”
“That’s really nice.” She smiled, then turned her attention to the laptop. “Now, I brought my own copy of the building plans, but I see y’all have the blueprints tacked on the wall—”
“Do you have a place to stay?” The question was nothing more than curiosity, he told himself.
“I’m sorry?”
“You couldn’t get a room at the lodge, so where are you going to live while you’re here?”
“Actually, Dr. Stone helped me out with that.”
Apparently Adam had succumbed to Blackwater Lake’s philosophy of neighbors helping each other out. The family practice doc had relocated last summer and rented an upstairs apartment from Jill Beck, a local woman. “What did Adam do?”
“He suggested I rent his old place, since he and Jill are engaged and living together downstairs.”
“And?”
“Jill agreed to a short-term lease, something she doesn’t normally do. But I guess she made an exception for me.”
“You and Jill must have hit it off.”
“We did. She even invited me to the wedding, since it’s going to be right there on their property by the lake where I’ll be living.” A smile lit up her face like the town square at Christmas. “C.J.’s actually the one who insisted I had to come to the ceremony, because he’s wearing a tuxedo. That little guy of hers is just as cute as can be.”
“The kid is something else.”
“Anyway,” she continued, “I was relieved to find something, and the silver lining is that it’s more homey than a hotel.”
“It has great views of the lake and mountains.” Right now Alex had no complaints about his view. Ellie Hart sure did brighten up a drab, boxy, portable construction trailer.
“A definite plus. But now...” Her tone turned regretful. “Y’all have been so nice, but I need to make up for bein’ late on my first day. It’s not the way to make a good impression. Time for me to get to work.”
She’d made an impression all right. Time would tell whether or not it was good. And as testy as he’d been about her tardiness, he couldn’t believe he was going to say this. “Look, if you need time to settle and unpack, take it.”
“That’s really sweet, but...” She shook her head. “There’s a lot to do, and the foundation’s being poured tomorrow. I need to check the fittings for the bearing walls and go over the next phase of the project.”
“I already did that. So, unless you want changes—but I can’t see why—the plans are good,” he said. “Really good.”
“Thank you for sayin’ so.” She allowed herself a small smile. “But I don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
“I respect that.” He waited for her to respond, but she focused on her computer.
Finally she looked up. “Was there something else?”
“Just one thing.” He folded his arms over his chest. The guy who’d been told he could charm the bloomers off a man-hating spinster had been sucked in by her charm, because he couldn’t believe he was going to say this, either. “You were a couple of hours late through no fault of your own. It’s okay to cut yourself some slack.”
“All due respect, that’s not how I see it.” She met his gaze. “I’m a woman in a traditionally male occupation.”
“If you’re worried about gender bias, don’t be.”
“Y’all are a man, and you can’t really understand why I have to earn respect.” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s my responsibility to plan, design and oversee the construction of the clinic to make sure it’s functional, safe, economical and environmentally friendly. It has to meet the needs of the people who work there and everyone who uses it.”
“In my opinion, you left nothing to chance.”
Alex had studied in detail the final construction plans, and he was impressed with her attention to local and state building codes, zoning laws and fire regulations.
“It
