tight smile but didn’t take the opportunity to bow out with his tail between his legs. Instead, he recovered with a grin. “So, what can you do, sweetheart? I might have an opening.”
“She already has a job,” Dean blurted, ignoring Aaron’s irritated stare and Annabelle’s startled one. He was damn sure not going to let Aaron try to worm his way into Annabelle’s pants under the guise of doing something nice. Yet even as his mouth moved he wondered what the hell he was doing. He’d made himself abundantly clear to Annabelle yesterday, yet here he was looking like an indecisive ass with a bad temper today. To hell with it. That was all before Aaron stuck his nose into it. He eyed her intently. “Don’t you?”
“I…uh…yeah. I guess so,” she answered. Though clearly confused, she was willing to play along.
Aaron shot Dean an accusatory look. “You said you didn’t know her. Now she works for you?”
“I just met her yesterday. I forgot Sammy hired her.” Again, mostly true. So piss off, you philandering prick. Dean looked at Annabelle. “If we’re not paying you enough I’ll see what we can do. No sense in you working two jobs if you don’t have to.”
“Thanks,” she said, watching him curiously. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah.”
Aaron’s smile returned, not quite ready to call it quits. Adjusting quickly, he changed tactics. “Trust me, darlin’, you don’t want to work for this grouch. He’s no fun. Come with me and I’ll show you how working for Eagle Construction is better. Besides, from what I’ve been hearing, Halvorsen Construction has had a run of bad luck. No such problems with Eagle. You’d never have to worry about your check clearing.”
Dean caught Annabelle’s look of alarm and it took everything in him not to clench his fists. Instead, he smiled thinly and said, “Well, it’s true we’ve lost a few bids to an unscrupulous contractor, but at least with Halvorsen Construction you don’t have to worry about the boss trying to look down your shirt or up your skirt.”
Annabelle moved away from Aaron with a small smile and her next comment made Dean’s respect level go up a notch. “Thanks, but I’m not looking for a good time. I’m just looking for something to pay the bills.”
“Fair enough,” Aaron said, tipping his baseball cap to her and spearing Dean with a black look. “Maybe I’ll see you around.” To Dean he said, “You ought to come by and see how Gilly’s turned out. We managed to pick up the contract when the original contractor crapped out. See you around, Dean.”
Dean didn’t bother with a rebuttal. There was no sense in playing Aaron’s game. Dean liked to think he was better than that, that his parents had raised him to be a better person, but the urge was strong to do something he’d regret later.
“I take it you’re not buddies.”
“No. Can’t stand the man.”
“Listen, I’d love to hear that story sometime, but right now I just hope you were serious about the job, because if not I need to track down that Steve guy again and try harder to convince him that he needs me here at the restaurant. I’m not quitting this day until I go home with a job.”
It wasn’t his style to butt his nose into other people’s business, but the thought of Annabelle even considering working for Eagle Construction was worse than disobeying his own tenet to keep to his own affairs. Not that she was really in any danger—the woman was no pretty bimbo. Sharp intelligence flared behind her eyes and the longer he stared, the harder it was to tear himself away. That in itself should’ve been a big enough warning to back off, but his pride warred with his guilt until he raised his hands in surrender. He’d used her to win a small battle with Aaron; the least he could do was give her a job until she could find something else.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said gruffly. “Sammy should’ve warned me. I reacted badly. Be at the office tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. and we’ll talk about your duties.”
“Sure. Thanks.” She shifted and bit the inside of her cheek absently, the action reminding him that she was truly much younger than him. “I’ll keep an eye out for something else though.”
“You got family who could help you out?” he asked, wishing he hadn’t. It wasn’t a good idea to get too acquainted.
She chuckled wryly. “Nope. My mom died a few years ago and my daddy was a bit of a rambling man. I haven’t seen him since I was about seven. I have a younger brother, but the less I see of him the better off my pocketbook is.” She shrugged as if admitting that her family was less than desirable wasn’t a big deal. “I learned to rely on myself a long time ago.”
He believed her. Dressed in a denim skirt that was too short and a blouse that fit too tightly across her breasts, she looked like a white-trash prom queen looking for a date but there was a sense of dignity clinging to her that dared anyone to pass judgment.
Closing his eyes briefly to block out the image of her as she stood before him, he bit out a terse, “Don’t be late,” as his goodbye and walked—no, practically ran—from the restaurant.
CHAPTER THREE
DEAN GLANCED at the dusty wall clock and noted the time. Five past eight. She was officially late on her first day of work. That didn’t bode well for her future with Halvorsen Construction. He sighed. So much for helping a person out. He grabbed the plans for the building site he was scheduled to survey today and had only just rolled them out the length of his conference table when the front door flew open. Annabelle came through carrying more things than she had hands.
Then he noticed the small bundle in her right arm was wearing tiny shoes and his mouth dropped open.
“I’m so sorry,” she started, setting down a stuffed diaper bag and a long rectangle of a contraption that Dean had a sinking feeling was a playpen. “Dana was supposed to watch Honey, but she was called out on the ambulance and I didn’t have time to find another babysitter. But I swear she’ll be no trouble at all. I brought toys and snacks and her favorite blanket and…and…please don’t fire me. I really need this job.”
“Honey?” Dean stared at the little girl who was staring at him with the biggest blue eyes he’d ever seen. “Did you say her name was Honey?”
“That’s right,” she answered, smiling without a hint of bashfulness. “From the moment I first laid eyes on her I thought she was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen and immediately knew Honey was the right choice. Honey Faith Nichols. She’s my girl.”
“How old is she?” he asked.
“Sixteen months. Her birthday is in February. She’s an Aquarius. I’m a Cancer. Do you know what your sign is?”
“Uh, no. I don’t believe in that stuff.”
“Oh, I do. I think it gives a lot of insight to your personality. When’s your birthday? I know a bit about astrology. I could find out—”
“No, that’s okay. So, Honey…Aren’t you worried about what other kids might say about a name like that?”
She frowned. “No. Should I be?”
“Well, I don’t know, it’s just a little odd.”
At
