Van: Vested Interest #5

by Melanie Moreland

  She drew in a long breath. “You’ll have more to do with him than I will. Both of them.”

  “Can you handle this?” I asked quietly.

  She met my gaze. “I have no choice.”

  Jordan stood. “I’m going to let the two of you talk. I’ll be back shortly.”

  He left, shutting the door behind him. In seconds, I had Liv in my arms, holding her close.

  “Baby, are you all right?”

  Her voice was muffled against my chest. “I can’t believe he’s here.”

  I pulled back, tilting up her chin. “I’ll tell Jordan to cancel it. All of it. I’ll tell Bentley it’s on me—that I can’t work with them.”

  She looked determined. “No, I don’t want you to do that.”

  “This isn’t about me being overprotective, Liv. This is about that asshole being around you. Harassing you. I don’t want to risk it.”

  She smiled wanly. “And that’s not being overprotective?”

  Before I could speak, she cupped my cheek. “I’ve worked with clients before I haven’t liked. I can handle this.”

  “But you don’t have to,” I insisted. “This is different. It’s personal.”

  She sighed and stepped back from my embrace. “And what lesson would it teach my daughter, Van? To run when things are tough? To walk away is easier than to stay and be strong?”

  “Sammy doesn’t need to know about this lesson,” I growled. “I’m worried about her too. What if that asshole makes trouble?”

  “He didn’t want us before, he doesn’t want us now. He is here to show me he’s still the ‘man’ and in control. Frankly, I don’t care.”

  “You’ll have to deal with him for a while—it’s not an overnight job.”

  “So will you.” She pointed out. “Way more than I will. Can you handle it?”

  “As long as he behaves. If he steps out of line, I can’t promise anything.”

  She regarded me anxiously. “Van, Chris is the kind of person who uses what he knows against people. If he thinks something upsets you, he’ll find a way to do it, if only to piss you off.” She paused, searching for words. “If he knows we’re together, a couple, he’ll use it. He’ll say things to upset you. Make snide remarks about me. Talk about our past. You have to promise to ignore him. Whatever he says, whatever he does. It’ll only be to get a reaction from you.”

  “So you want to keep us completely under wraps? Even more so than now?”

  “Yes.”

  I had to agree with her. I had already witnessed the way he spoke down to Liv. If he knew we were together, he would make a point of running his mouth. Then I would have no choice but to introduce him to my fist. Jordan might turn the other cheek, but physical violence might not go over well with Bentley or John.

  I huffed out an angry curse. “Okay. I’ll watch myself. But I’m going to stick close when he’s around. He’d better not have anything planned. I don’t want him anywhere near Sammy either.”

  She tugged on her braid, rubbing the ends between her fingers anxiously. “I know. I have no idea what his plan is, and I don’t care. He isn’t here for me or Sammy. I know that for a fact—he’s never expressed the slightest interest in her, other than to be clear he didn’t want her and signing away his rights. I’ll make sure not to talk about her or bring her to the jobsite. No doubt the draw of doing a project with BAM is what they were interested in, and I’m sure it’s simply an added bonus for Nolan to be able to mess with me a little.” She sighed and tossed her braid over her shoulder. “I don’t think his boss has a clue, and I doubt he’ll jeopardize his career and do anything stupid. I’ll do what I have to. I don’t answer to them, I answer to you. To BAM. He has no power over me business-wise, and I won’t let him have power over me personally.”

  I yanked her back into my arms. “You’re so damn strong, Livvy. You amaze me.”

  She looked up, her eyes luminous in the bright light. “I think knowing you’ll be close helps me be strong, Van.”

  “I will. And anytime you need me, I’m there, do you understand?”

  For a moment, she buried her face into my chest, and I held her. I meant what I said. She amazed me. She could have agreed, and in ten minutes I would have had Aiden and Bentley strike down the deal, and she never would have had to see them again. But she refused, and to me, it showed exactly how strong of a person Olivia Rourke was. I was proud of her.

  She heaved a long breath and stepped back.

  “Okay?” I asked quietly, running my finger down her cheek.

  “Okay,” she said. “We’ll do this and make the buildings spectacular. Nothing else matters.”

  “Right.” I nodded in agreement.

  But I had a backup plan, and I was going to use it if needed.

  Two weeks passed with no drama, and Liv and I relaxed a little. As much as I disliked it, I shared the onsite trailer with Nolan. Neither of us was interested in being friends, but I forced myself to at least be polite. There was a small office on each end of the trailer with a common room in between. I learned a lot about Nolan simply by listening and observing. He was a control freak, and as Liv had stated, a perfectionist. I often found my office door shut since it apparently bothered him to see my disorganized chaos. When he mentioned it, I simply grunted.

  “I have more important things to do than dust my desk, Nolan,” I muttered.

  I didn’t like having him around, but other than being an arrogant jerk with a lot of opinions, Nolan did exactly what he was supposed to do. As a precaution, either Jordan or I happened to be close when Liv showed up at the site. He was rarely alone with her, and I was always nearby. I didn’t like the way he spoke to her or his snide remarks, but I managed to hold my tongue and ignore him. I was careful to treat Liv as a fellow coworker, never reacting to anything he said or did on a personal level, although more than once I had witnessed his remarks business-wise.

  Liv knew what she was doing, and she didn’t need some jerk telling her the best process for treating a wall or picking the right lighting. She could run circles around him any day, and I enjoyed listening to her tell him off by showing off her knowledge and outwitting him.

  His crew arrived, and I met them all personally. I liked knowing the people who would be working on a project with me. After only a couple of days, I saw two things very clearly. The crew was hard-working, knew their stuff, and gave one hundred percent.

  Second, Nolan was a terrible boss and treated the all-male crew as if they were beneath him. Whereas I worked alongside my men and women, he was the kind of foreman I despised. He sat in the trailer, barked out orders, never said thank you, and worked his men hard. The only time I saw him act decently was when John showed up on site, which I found interesting.

  I had questioned the fact that Nolan had no women in his crew, and his reply said everything about him.

  “Thank God I’ve avoided that so far,” he snorted. “In my opinion, no women should be in construction. They aren’t built for it.”

  “My female crew are outstanding,” I replied. “I’ve never had an issue with gender. As long as their work is good, I’m all for it.”

  He regarded me with a slight sneer. “Better you than me.” He walked away.

  “Asshole,” I muttered under my breath.

  Beside me, one of his crew snickered, and I looked over, embarrassed at being heard.

  “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

  “Nope.” Simon shook his head, putting his hard hat in place. “Spot-on,” he replied, clapping me on the back as he walked past me. “Spot-on.”

  I stared at his retreating form. I liked Simon. He worked hard, never complained, and was a great leader for the other crew. I had already thought of poaching him once this project was done. I could certainly offer him a much better working environment.

  I planned on looking into it as soon as this was complete.

  Elly arrived home midweek, and I drove Liv to pick her up at the airport with Mouse in the back sea
t, excited to see her Grammie.

  “What did she say—about Nolan’s appearance?” I asked Liv, keeping my voice low, even though I knew Sammy was engrossed in the Disney DVD I had put in for her. She was singing along, her feet bouncing in time with the music.

  “I haven’t told her.”

  “Liv,” I replied, shocked. “She should know. She would want to know.”

  She glanced behind her, smiling at Sammy and handing her a bag of goldfish to snack on.

  “I will, Van,” she assured me. “But I didn’t want to do it over the phone and upset her.”

  “Okay. I’ll take Mouse for a drive, and you can talk.”

  “No, it’s fine. We’re having girls’ night on Friday, and once Sammy goes to bed, I’ll fill her in.”

  “Friday?” I frowned. “I wanted you girls on Friday.”

  She patted my arm. “You have to share us again, Van. You’ve had us all to yourself for almost two weeks.”

  “Not true,” I disagreed. “My mom has been around a lot. She hogs both of you. Now Dad is getting in on the action too.”

  I had taken them to lunch at my parents’. Dad adored Liv, and Sammy had charmed him in about two minutes flat. He had taken her to his workshop, insisted she call him Poppa Joe, and later during lunch informed me we had to design a headboard to go with Sammy’s bookshelf.

  “She had a perfectly good headboard,” Liv protested.

  “It doesn’t really match,” I pointed out, noticing Mouse was about to fall off her chair in excitement.

  “Yeah, Mommy. There’s no glitter.”

  “God forbid,” Liv muttered.

  “Yeah,” I repeated. “We need to fix that.”

  My dad agreed. “I’m on it.”

  Mouse’s squeal was loud.

  Liv laughed quietly, bringing me back to the moment. “Not that much, Van. It’s only one night. I need the time with my mom.”

  “I know,” I admitted grudgingly. “I’m teasing. Sort of,” I added under my breath.

  Liv shook her head in amusement.

  “Are you sure you want to wait until then to tell her?”

  “It’s tomorrow. Nothing is going to change between tonight and tomorrow. I’ll let her get settled, and I’ll talk to her. Promise.”

  “Okay.” I slid my hand over hers. “But only the one night, right?”

  She faced the window, but I saw her smile. “Yes. I’ll make it up with dinner on Saturday.”

  “Lunch,” I insisted. “I’ll take you all to lunch. Mouse and I can have some time at the park.”

  Sammy clapped her hands and I chuckled.

  “See? Win-win.”

  We arrived at the airport, and Elly was waiting outside.

  “Wait until Grammie hears we’re going to the park!” Sammy crowed.

  “Yeah.” I grinned. “It’ll be the highlight of her day.”

  All Liv could do was laugh.

  Elly looked happy and rested. I was all the happier to see her when she informed us she was taking Mouse home with her.

  “I’ve missed my girl too much—I need some Grammie time.”

  “We’re having a girls’ night tomorrow,” Liv reminded her.

  “That’s at your place. Tonight, I get Sammy. She has clothes at my place. I’ll keep her tomorrow, and we’ll meet at your apartment when you get off work. I’m sure Van would keep you company for a while tonight, won’t you, Van?”

  I met her eyes in the mirror and winked.

  “For a while,” I agreed.

  “Good, it’s settled.”

  We dropped her off, and I waited in the truck while Liv went upstairs and made sure they were okay. She slid back into the cab and turned to me.

  “Well, it appears we have a free evening.”

  I grinned, sliding my hand up her arm and wrapping it around her neck, tugging her close.

  “Whatever will we do with ourselves?”

  Her breath washed over my face as she pressed her lips to the edge of mine. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

  “Something is up, all right,” I chuckled against her mouth.

  “Take me home, Van.”

  I kissed her hard. “You got it.”

  I was tired the next morning—in the very best of ways. Knowing I wouldn’t have much time with Liv this weekend, I had kept her up most of the night. I had her on the sofa, in the hall, and the kitchen, then again in her too-small-for-me bed, the frame creaking in protest.

  I left her early, going home to shower and change. Her kiss goodbye had been sweet and lingering. She was on my mind all day.

  I was on site most of the day, dealing with some issues and overseeing that we were on schedule.

  I went to grab coffee and overheard a conversation between Simon and Nolan.

  “I said no. We’re behind, and I need it made up today.”

  “I only need a couple of hours later, Nolan. My kid is sick, and my wife needs me to pick up the younger one. I’ll be back fast.”

  “Make other arrangements. I said no.”

  He walked away and I stood, observing Simon. His shoulders dropped, and he shook his head. He saw me and lifted his shoulder in resignation and walked away. Nolan never glanced back or noticed me standing there.

  I walked to the coffee shop, seething. What a jerk. Simon worked hard, and in the couple of weeks I had observed him, rarely took a break, asked for nothing, and gave Nolan his all. A couple of hours to pick up his child shouldn’t be an issue. I knew I couldn’t say anything which frustrated me. Jordan had made it very clear when I informed him of my dislike for the way Nolan treated his staff.

  “His staff, Van. Remember that. He is there to make sure the job is done. Your job is to make sure he follows through the way you want the project done. Not how he treats his workers.” He warned me. “Don’t make this personal.”

  He was right. Simon wasn’t my employee, but as I waited for my coffee, an idea came to me that might work.

  I spent some time measuring for the new woodwork, then headed to find Nolan. As usual, he was in the trailer—a place I avoided as much as I could. This afternoon, he wasn’t even bothering to pretend to be working. His feet were kicked up on his desk, a folder open on his lap. He looked startled when I walked in, and I had the feeling if I had done so quietly, I would have caught him asleep. As it was, I gritted my teeth, trying to be polite as I paused at his office door.

  “Nolan.”

  “Van. What can I do for you?”

  “Everything going okay?”

  “For sure. We’re on track, even a little ahead.”

  Bastard, my inner voice sneered. Liar.

  “Could you spare someone? I need something picked up, but Liv and Jordan will be here shortly, and I want to be part of the meeting. It’ll only take an hour. Two, tops. I’ll provide the transportation.”

  “Sure,” he agreed magnanimously. “Grab one of the guys.”

  “Thanks.”

  I turned and left before he could state which guy and hurried to find Simon. I slid my truck keys into his hand along with a slip of paper.

  “Go do what you have to do. Pick this up on your way back. It’s ready, and they’ll drop it in the truck bed. It’s right around the corner, but if anyone asks, you went up to Scarborough to pick it up. And there was traffic. I got you about two hours.”

  His eyes widened. “You don’t have to do this, Van.”

  I disagreed. “It’s your family, Simon. Go. Fast. Before he sees and sends someone else. I happened to cross paths with you, and I asked. Got it?”

  His expression was filled with relief. “Thanks, man. I owe you.”

  He hurried away as Liv and Jordan arrived. I watched her approach, my vision focused entirely on her. She was in jeans with a large plaid shirt on top, the sleeves rolled up. Steel-toed boots on her feet and a hard hat topping her golden hair completed the package.

  She was sexy as hell.

  I narrowed my eyes as she got closer, not bother
ing to hide my amusement.

  Jordan went past me with a wink, heading to the trailer. Liv stopped, smiling up at me.

  “Hi.”

  “Nice shirt,” I murmured, fingering the material. “Looks rather familiar.”

  “It should. It’s yours.”

  “Wearing it like armor against the enemy, Liv?”

  “I was thinking more like your arms around me, but whatever works.” She lifted the collar, inhaling. “It smells like you. I smell like you. I like it.”

  I was torn between being touched by her words and being turned on.

  “Jesus, Liv. You say shit like that, and you expect me to act professionally? All I want right now is to drag you over to the closest building with some privacy and fuck you,” I hissed out.

  She winked, her mood light and happy. “Maybe later.”

  She moved past me, purposely brushing against my arm. Her fingers flicked against my hand, quickly squeezing it, then she moved away. I turned my head and watched her until she disappeared around the corner. I would give her a few minutes before I followed her to the trailer.

  I need those few moments for my dick to soften.

  Damn tease.

  The meeting went well, even though I knew how Nolan made the deadlines he promised. He drove his crew hard, with the main incentive being they got to keep their job. With construction work down overall, many of them had no choice. I had noticed several new faces already, and I assumed when it came to how he ran his operation, that was the norm.

  Jordan went to check on a few things, and Simon came into the trailer. He handed me my keys.

  “Everything good?” I asked.

  His eyes spoke volumes, but his words were short. “Yes, sir. I handled it all.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You sent Simon?” Nolan asked.

  I feigned indifference. “He was the one I saw first. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  We went into the building, checking out the work. The progress was fast, and soon we would be moving into the next step of rebuilding and outfitting. I ran my hand along the walls.