there’s another bus stop only a mile and a half away. I can walk from there.”
“I’m not worried about driving into your neighborhood, Genevieve. I lived in places like that long-term and I know what it’s like. It’s no place for a princess.”
She raised her chin. “I told you, I’m not a princess. Or even a debutante anymore. What I am is a grown woman, Lucas.” She wanted to add that she was a strong woman, but that would be a lie. She wasn’t there yet. Not nearly. Right now she was awkward, with no street sense, and she was making a lot of mistakes. But she wanted to be strong. And much as she wanted out of her apartment, letting a man make that choice for her, even a man she needed to please to keep her job … well, she had to try to have some say in this.
“You’re a woman, an adult,” Lucas admitted, his voice dark and deep, sending shivers through her. “But if someone bigger, stronger tried to take everything you own, you couldn’t prevent that from happening.”
Her courage and confidence were failing her. She wasn’t used to arguing. She’d never been good at it; her parents had always won every disagreement. Furthermore, Lucas was her boss. Arguing with him felt really wrong, but she just couldn’t seem to stop thinking about how Barry had bullied her and betrayed her. She couldn’t seem to stop trying to assert herself. “You don’t know that I couldn’t defend myself. I could have had kickboxing lessons.”
He tilted his head. “Have you?”
Darn her need for honesty! “No.”
At least he didn’t look triumphant the way Barry would have when he had won a point.
“Genevieve,” he said, looking suddenly tired and exasperated. He rubbed his palm over the back of his neck. “Why does this mean so much to you?”
She looked down. “I can’t afford to move here. I still owe a little money to Mrs. Dohenny, my landlady.”
“I’ll pay it.”
“No! No! I haven’t earned that much yet. And—”
“And …?”
She looked up then, daring to stare directly into those mesmerizing see-all gray eyes. “I know this sounds foolish.” And she was so tired of being thought foolish or inconsequential. Everyone she’d ever loved had thought of her that way. “The thing is … I’m penniless because my fiancé, who happened to be my financial advisor, tricked me out of my money. When that happened, I was humiliated, angry and clueless about how to go on, because all my life I’d let other people make my decisions.
“That was when I realized just how precious and important and empowering independence really is. So, I really need to make my own way in the world. No charity involved. No letting other people make my decisions. Of course, I understand that you have the right to control anything regarding my work, but please. This is where I live. It’s not work.”
He studied her for a minute, frowning.
“I apologize if I’ve made you angry,” she began, which seemed to make him really angry. He cut her off with a sudden slashing of his hand.
“If you want to be truly independent, you should speak your mind. No apologies. No letting me push you around when I’ve overstepped the boundaries of our work relationship.”
She bit her lip.
“Just as you did a moment ago,” he emphasized.
“All right. Then we can stop talking about my apartment? And I’ll take the bus from now on.”
Lucas opened his mouth to speak but the doorbell rang at that moment. He tilted his head and started to move toward the door at the same time as she did.
Genevieve stopped. So did Lucas. Then he waved her through. “My apologies. You’re the project manager, and
Angie’s House and any visitors here are in your hands. We’ll continue this discussion later.”
Which meant that she hadn’t won. Yet.
Stubborn, overbearing, infuriating man. No wonder women fell all over themselves trying to attract his attention. It must be the prospect of attaining the unattainable.
Thank goodness she wasn’t that susceptible.
Lucas watched Genevieve walk away, knowing he was handling this situation all wrong.
The truth was that Genevieve tied him up in frustrated knots. He admired her for sticking to her guns, but he needed to have her settled, clear of his conscience and out of his private thoughts. If she was here, safe, he wouldn’t have to think about her at all beyond the job. He would have compartmentalized her situation, controlled the danger zones, the loose ends, the tough, emotional stuff that had once made his life a nightmare. Plus, if she truly wanted to be empowered …
His thoughts were interrupted by Genevieve appearing in the doorway.
“That was a delivery of paint primer,” she told him with a frown.
“Something wrong with the order?”
She shook her head. “No, but up until now you and I have only spoken about what’s happening at Angie’s House. Here I was all set to show my stuff and prove that I could handle any situation, and all I had to do was tell him where to put everything. Nothing even remotely challenging about that.”
Lucas couldn’t help smiling just a little. “Don’t worry. You’ll face plenty of challenges before we’re through.
There are always setbacks and glitches. I suppose you’re looking forward to those.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “Is this a trick question?”
He chuckled. “No, no tricks, but if it’s empowerment you’re after …”
“It is.”
“Then come stay here.” Like a dog that couldn’t ignore the bone, he came back to the topic that was keeping thoughts of Genevieve simmering in his conscience.
“That’s not empowerment. It’s giving in.”
A trickle of admiration at her tenacity slid through Lucas. He knew Gen didn’t like conflict, but she was making a stand. Too bad her stand conflicted with his. And with a cold, hard truth.
“It’s not giving in,” he said. “Think about this. A lot of the women who’ll come to live at Angie’s House know all about neighborhoods like yours because they’ve been there, they’re trapped there. If they see you as someone who’s lived in that world, kicked free and survived to grow stronger … that’s inspirational and empowering. It makes you a role model.”
She stood there, staring at him, her eyes wary. “It feels exactly like quitting.”
“It’s not. Gen, a good portion of the residents where I used to live stayed there because they were powerless to get away or change their circumstances. I was like that. Getting out empowered me and changed my life. It meant that I was taking control of the situation.”
Lucas
