him. It wouldn’t hurt the queen to see how her subjects lived. He wondered why she didn’t at least peel off her suit jacket or loosen a couple of those prim buttons on her blouse.
He wasn’t pleased with the thought that he would enjoy doing both of those things for her.
“I would think that some of these tenants would have window units.” Sweat slithered nastily down her back. “Air-conditioning.”
“The wiring won’t handle it,” he told her. “When people turn them on, it blows the fuses and we lose power. The hallways are the worst,” he went on conversationally. “Airless. And up here is worst of all. Heat rises.”
“So I’ve heard.”
She was white as a sheet, he noted, and swore. “Take off your jacket.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’re stupid.” He tugged the linen off her shoulders and began to pull her arms free.
The combination of heat and his rough, purposeful fingers had spots dancing in front of her eyes. “Stop it.”
“Very stupid. This is not a boardroom.”
His touch wasn’t the least bit loverlike, but it was very disturbing. She batted at his hands the moment one of her arms was free. Ignoring her, Mikhail pushed her into his apartment.
“Mr. Stanislaski,” she said, out of breath but not out of dignity. “I will not be pawed.”
“I have doubts you’ve ever been pawed in your life, Your Highness. What man wants frostbite? Sit.”
“I have no desire to—”
He simply shoved her into a chair, then glanced over where Keely stood in the kitchen, gaping. “Get her some water,” he ordered.
Sydney caught her breath. A fan whirled beside the chair and cooled her skin. “You are the rudest, most ill-mannered, most insufferable man I’ve ever been forced to deal with.”
He took the glass from Keely and was tempted to toss the contents into Sydney’s beautiful face. Instead he shoved the glass into her hand. “Drink.”
“Jeez, Mik, have a heart,” Keely murmured. “She looks beat. You want a cold cloth?” Even as she offered, she couldn’t help but admire the ivory silk blouse with its tiny pearl buttons.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.”
“I’m Keely O’Brian, 502.”
“Her oven doesn’t work,” Mikhail said. “And she gets no hot water. The roof leaks.”
“Only when it rains.” Keely tried to smile but got no response. “I guess I’ll run along. Nice to meet you.”
When they were alone, Sydney took slow sips of the tepid water. Mikhail hadn’t complained about his own apartment, but she could see from where she sat that the linoleum on the kitchen floor was ripped, and the refrigerator was hopelessly small and out-of-date. She simply didn’t have the energy to look at the rest.
His approach had been anything but tactful, still the bottom line was he was right and her company was wrong.
He sat on the edge of the kitchen counter and watched as color seeped slowly back into her cheeks. It relieved him. For a moment in the hall he’d been afraid she would faint. He already felt like a clod.
“Do you want food?” His voice was clipped and unfriendly. “You can have a sandwich.”
She remembered that she was supposed to be dining at Le Cirque with the latest eligible bachelor her mother had chosen. “No, thank you. You don’t think much of me, do you?”
He moved his shoulders in the way she now recognized as habit. “I think of you quite a bit.”
She frowned and set the glass aside. The way he said it left a little too much to the imagination. “You said you were a carpenter?”
“I am sometimes a carpenter.”
“You have a license?”
His eyes narrowed. “A contractor’s license, yes. For remodeling, renovations.”
“Then you’d have a list of other contractors you’ve worked with—electricians, plumbers, that sort of thing.”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Work up a bid on repairs, including the finish work, painting, tile, replacing fixtures, appliances. Have it on my desk in a week.” She rose, picking up her crumpled jacket.
He stayed where he was as she folded the jacket over her arm, lifted her briefcase. “And then?”
She shot him a cool look. “And then, Mr. Stanislaski, I’m going to put my money where your mouth is. You’re hired.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Mother, I really don’t have time for this.”
“Sydney, dear, one always has time for tea.” So saying, Margerite Rothchild Hayward Kinsdale LaRue poured ginseng into a china cup. “I’m afraid you’re taking this real estate business too seriously.”
“Maybe because I’m in charge,” Sydney muttered without looking up from the papers on her desk.
“I can’t imagine what your grandfather was thinking of. But then, he always was an unusual man.” She sighed a moment, remembering how fond she’d been of the old goat. “Come, darling, have some tea and one of these delightful little sandwiches. Even Madam Executive needs a spot of lunch.”
Sydney gave in, hoping to move her mother along more quickly by being agreeable. “This is really very sweet of you. It’s just that I’m pressed for time today.”
“All this corporate nonsense,” Margerite began as Sydney sat beside her. “I don’t know why you bother. It would have been so simple to hire a manager or whatever.” Margerite added a squirt of lemon to her cup before she sat back. “I realize it might be diverting for a while, but the thought of you with a career. Well, it seems so pointless.”
“Does it?” Sydney murmured, struggling to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “I may surprise everyone and be good at it.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’d be wonderful at whatever you do, darling.” Her hand fluttered absently over Sydney’s. The girl had been so little trouble as a child, she thought. Margerite really hadn’t a clue how to deal with this sudden and—she was sure—temporary spot of rebellion. She tried placating. “And I was delighted when Grandfather Hayward left you all those nice buildings.” She nibbled on a sandwich, a striking woman who looked ten years younger than her fifty years, groomed and polished in a Chanel suit. “But to actually become involved in running things.” Baffled, she patted her carefully tinted chestnut hair. “Well, one might think it’s just a bit unfeminine. A man is easily put off by what he considers a high-powered woman.”
Sydney gave her mother’s newly bare ring finger a pointed look. “Not
