He moved in closer, a slight smile on his lips. “I think I like this feisty side of you,”
She backed up, trying to pretend like her lungs weren’t gasping for air. “We need to hurry.”
A dark eyebrow went up with her words. “We do?”
“Absolutely.”
His smile widened. “Why do we need to?”
She was having trouble thinking when he was this close. “Because we’re…because…” Those green eyes were lethal! Once again, she thought about the devilish side of him. Her initial thoughts weren’t so far off, she suspected.
“Because?” he prompted again, that annoying amusement lighting his eyes and she wanted to punch him. She had never advocated for violence before, but there was just something about this man that turned things around in her head.
Lifting her chin, she straightened her shoulders and fought the attraction. He was using it against her for some reason and she refused to let him play his games. Whatever he was doing, she wasn’t going to allow it. Not anymore. “Because it’s time to work. I don’t like wasting someone else’s money.”
He chuckled. “Then by all means, let’s discover what is inside this old building.”
Gaia breathed a sigh of relief when he backed away and started towards the warehouse. She looked up at the building, admiring the enormous windows and the view that looked out onto the water in one direction and Mount Rainier in the other direction. She could even see Century Link Stadium where the Seattle Seahawks played. It was an awesome sight and she would love to live in this area.
“Talk to me, Gaia. Tell me your vision.”
They walked into the dark building and she sighed with the images flashing through her mind. For the next two hours, she forgot about her brother’s idea for revenge against the Steele family as she and Logan walked through the building and she discussed her ideas, right down to the large central staircase and the condominiums that would be on either side. She lost herself in the potential beauty of the building, the possibilities. Each unit would have at least one of the large windows, giving the living area light and views, some would even have two or three and all would be able to see either the mountain or the ocean. The top floor would have the best views and she’d laid out a penthouse for that floor, but she had no idea if anyone in this area could afford what she’d imagined.
She wasn’t aware of Logan watching her as she told him of her vision, or the way he admired both her creativity as well as the practical obstacles she brought up. Nor was she aware of how his body was reacting to her beauty, her passion, and the softness around her eyes and mouth when she explained her dream for this old pile of rusted steel and dilapidated bricks.
“It sounds like you’ve given this a great deal of thought,” he said as they stood out on the wooden dock that was above the sea, held in place with massive pilings. “What made you think of it?”
Gaia pushed her sunglasses higher onto her nose and looked away. She didn’t want to admit that the plan’s genesis was revenge. Not to this man. It was easier to think of following through on Freddy’s plan when there wasn’t a face to the revenge. The abstract “Steele Family” had been an amorphous devil until today.
Not any longer.
“Well, it’s just an interesting building.” She turned to look up at him. “It isn’t going to work though, is it?”
“You’ve pointed out several reasons why over the last few hours. But now that you’re here, seeing the structure, why do you say that?”
She glanced up at the bricks that were weathered with black now. “The pollution and the saltwater, haven’t they damaged the edifice too drastically?”
He looked around, noticing the damage, but it was mostly superficial from what he could see right now. “No, in fact, just the opposite. For some reason, this building appears to be in good condition. I’m guessing that, because of the direction of the wind most days, the saltwater hasn’t had as much of an impact on the bricks as it normally would. There’s some mortar damage that will need to be investigated, but overall, the building is in surprisingly good health.”
Her mouth fell open and she was stunned. “It is?”
He nodded. “Probably the reason the building hasn’t been bought up and renovated before now was because others assumed the same as you, but they lacked your creative ideas to even start to investigate. No one has bought the land, probably because of the appearance of the old factory, thinking it would cost a great deal of money to tear down the building.” They were standing outside now and he looked up at the huge windows and the old bricks that made up the outside of the building. “But this beauty was built to last. Whoever designed it had anticipated the effects of saltwater and erosion over time. I’ll have to investigate further, but right now, we’ll still consider it an option.”
Gaia wasn’t sure what to say or how to convince him not to follow through. It seemed…outrageous. She’d only been sitting across the street, drinking tea, when the idea had come to her a few weeks ago, and now he was considering it as a possible project for Steele Industries to take on? “Yes, but…what about the traffic patterns? The roads, won’t it cost too much to rebuild the roads?”
He shrugged. “We’ve worked with the city in the past. For the most part, they take on the burden of repairing the roads and we build the housing. They get the extra income from the property and sales taxes, and we have more buyers coming to purchase. The gentrification of this area wouldn’t even displace anyone since the area has been abandoned for so long,” he explained, looking towards the other buildings that seemed to be empty as well. “In fact, there might be various ways to expand the project, buy up some of those buildings,” he said, referring to a line of old-fashioned looking brick buildings that were empty but had interesting front windows that had obviously been used for a market place at some point in their past. Further down the street, there were coffee shops, bakeries, and flower shops intermingled with the normal small businesses that surrounded compact communities across the nation.
She stared across the street, coming up with ideas on how to make each of those buildings into a quaint boutique-like area, which could prosper with the addition of high-end condominiums, as well as the elimination of an eyesore in the form of an abandoned factory. Looking from those buildings to Logan, she was stunned by all the possibilities. “It really might work?”
He moved closer, chuckling at her amazement. He could see her excitement even through her sunglasses. “Yes. It might. I’m not making any promises, but you’ve come up with a good idea.”
Gaia couldn’t believe what this gorgeous man was saying. Restoring this building might actually work? “Wow!” And she smiled, thinking that her life had just turned rosier.
Logan was fascinated. She was a breathtaking mix of intelligence and innocence, creative genius and logic. And it was all wrapped up in a pretty package meant to make a man drool.
All of that was before she smiled. Dimples! Damn, but he hadn’t been expecting that! Dimples!
He stared, unable to look away. She was possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He really wanted this project to work because it would mean spending more time with her.
And he was definitely going to spend more time with this gentle beauty.
“Lunch,” he announced. And just as she opened her mouth to argue, he said, “We’ll go over some numbers while we grab something at Pike’s Place Market. I know the guy who makes the cheese down on the corner market. You’ll love it!”
He once again put that big hand to the small of her back and Gaia wasn’t sure if she wanted to twist away from him or turn into that touch. The heat coming from his hand sent shivers of amazement racing through her body and she felt his touch all the way through her suit jacket and silk blouse. But she couldn’t really move fast enough to get away from him.
She was hurrying forward, just wanting to move his hand so she wasn’t so flustered. Unfortunately, she didn’t see the crack in the sidewalk. If it w
eren’t for his hands, she would have gone flying forward.
“Easy,” Logan cautioned and pulled her against his hard length. She looked up into his eyes and she lost her train of thought. “Can’t fall yet.”
His green eyes were no longer laughing at her. They were looking down at her as if…like he might…? “Not yet?”
“Nope. That comes later,” he told her mysteriously. He moved slightly and opened the door to his car again, waiting until she’d tucked her legs inside before he closed the door for her.
She took the few moments it took him to walk around the hood of his car to pull herself together. He was just a man, she told herself. She dated. Well, sometimes. Not often but…
Okay, so she hadn’t dated in a while! And this guy was…nope. He was the enemy, she reminded herself. He was the very handsome, very intimidating, very mysterious man she was…she was…going to bankrupt with her idea.
Darn it, this was a mess! Any other time, she might have enjoyed the attentions of a man like Logan Steele! He made her feel things that…that she’d never felt with another man before, but had always hoped she would feel! Why had she let Freddy get her into this craziness? Why had she done something so stupid as to put herself in this man’s path?
He was too…everything!
“You okay?’ he asked as he pressed the button to start the vehicle. It came to life with an expensive sounding purr.
“I’m fine,” she said and crossed her legs, wishing she could just walk back to her car from here. But it was a long drive back to his office and she was wearing heels. Logan Steele wasn’t that bad of a guy that she would put her feet in that kind of pain.
He drove through the heavy Seattle traffic easily. And of course, he found a parking spot only a couple of blocks from the famous Pike’s Place Market. While some tourist traps were not all they were cracked up to be, Seattle’s Pike Place Market was everything anyone might hope for. Only individual vendors were allowed to sell their wares here. No restaurant chains and no big investors were allowed. This was a small business paradise. So, lots of interesting arts and crafts were intermingled with florists, fruit vendors, food vendors, and just about anything else one could imagine.
“This is it,” he announced, as he held the door to a small corner restaurant. One side of the building was reserved for making the cheese and, through the window, passersby could watch as a guy stirred an enormous vat of something that looked like thin milk, but would eventually be some sort of cheese. They walked in and Logan was immediately greeted by an older, Italian-looking woman who hauled him into her strong arms. The older woman was barely half his height, but Logan bent over and hugged her back, laughing as she rattled off something in a foreign language.
When they were finished, he stood up and turned to Gaia. “This is Elena Santos,” he said to Gaia. “She’s been making cheese here for the past twenty years, and no one makes a better grilled cheese sandwich.”
The woman scoffed, but Gaia could see her cheeks turn red with the compliment. “Ah, you go sit down and I’ll bring you something.”
Logan laughed, not missing anything, and bent lower to kiss her again, but then moved on because there were others waiting to get inside for lunch.
They found an empty table in the back near the window and Gaia was charmed when he held her chair out for her. She was so used to men just sitting down, that she wasn’t exactly sure what to do when a man held her chair for her. But she sat down and then he sat across from her, looking at her with a strange glint in his eyes.
“What?” she asked, lifting a hand to touch her hair. “Am I a mess after that tour?”
“You’re beautiful.”
She blushed, just like Elena had. This man was wicked, she thought. “So what kinds of numbers did you want to discuss?”
He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table as he watched her carefully. “How about your numbers?”
Gaia didn’t understand. She was pulling a notebook out of her bag and looked at him curiously. “My numbers? I don’t…”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.” She leaned back in her chair, not sure where he was going with this line of questioning. “Why is that important to this project?”
He laughed softly, shaking his head. “It has nothing to do with the project and everything to do with the two of us.”
She shook her head nervously. “There is no ‘two of us’,” she told him, even as that annoying trembling started up again. Those green eyes could make a woman’s stomach do strange things, she thought. “I don’t really…”
He finished for her when she seemed to stumble. “Date? Why not?”
Elena arrived and set down two plates each containing a sandwich that was oozing cheese on both sides with thick, crusty bread, grilled to golden perfection.
Gaia looked down at the delicious sandwich, then up at the man. There was a gleam in his eye that she didn’t fully understand, but it made her stomach muscles quake with awareness.
“Okay, please, tell me what’s going on,” she beseeched, ignoring her sandwich since she’d have trouble swallowing it anyway. With this gorgeous man sitting across the table from her, she wasn’t sure any of her body parts would work.
Hmmm…maybe some would, she thought as her breasts tingled when his crystal green eyes moved down her figure.
“Stop doing that,” she told him. She’d meant for the words to come out harshly, but even she could hear the breathless quality of her voice.
That gleam softened, shifted, and the result made her trembling increase even more. She couldn’t handle this man being nice to her!
“I’m making you nervous. That’s not my intention.”
She swallowed, trying to read his mind, but those green eyes weren’t telling her what she wanted to hear, what she needed to know.
Or maybe they were and she just wasn’t listening properly. “What’s your intention?” she asked bluntly.
He laughed. “Not much for subtlety, are you?”
She shook her head. “No. Never. I want it spelled out.”
He leaned forward, his green eyes capturing her golden ones and not releasing her. “Okay, here’s the deal. I want you in my bed. I think you’re smart, brilliant, and beautiful. I would love to peel all of your clothes away and look down at you spread across my bed. I want to know what you taste like, everywhere. I want to see what you look like when you climax in my arms when I’m buried deep inside your body. And I want to know what kinds of sexy sounds you make when that happens.” He paused, looked at her golden eyes. He saw fear, shock, and…desire. Yeah. She felt it, he thought with triumph. She might not want to. Not at the moment, but he could see it there, just like she was sensing it.
“That makes you nervous,” he acknowledged. “But we’ll take it slowly.”
He watched with fascination and…that was anticipation, as she shook her head, still trying to deny their mutual attraction, even as she fought it. “No. We…” she waved her hand between the two of them. “No. No sex. No climaxes,” she whispered that last word then looked around to see if anyone had heard her say that word. Or him!
Damn, she was adorable. That pink staining her pale cheeks just made him more adamant. As if his body, hard and ready for her, wasn’t enough.
“Good!”
He almost laughed when she blinked and leaned back as if he’d slapped her. “Good?” she squeaked.
Oh, she was so tempting. “Yes. I like a challenge,” he explained as he picked up half his sandwich. “I’m tired of aggressive women. You’re different. I’m ready for different.”
Gaia’s mouth fell open as she absorbed those words. “Wait,” she sighed, lifting a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache. “So if I say yes, you wouldn’t want that?”
He laughed. “Oh yeah. I’d like that.”
Her lips were soft, opened as her eyes looked back at him with confusion. “I’m not sure I understand you.”
He winked. “Say ye
s, Gaia. And we can enjoy each other sooner.”
Gaia could barely breathe. “So I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t?”
He laughed. “An interesting perspective.”
“I don’t want you,” she hissed, lying through her teeth.
“Yes, you do,” he contradicted and his eyes glanced downward.
Gaia gasped and crossed her arms over her breasts. “You’re being crass.”
He laughed. “No. I’m being honest. Care to tell me why you’re not?” He took a bite of his sandwich, nodding that she should try hers as well.
Gaia sighed, frustrated and not sure how to handle a man this blatantly sexual. He was aggressive and charming, but scared the bejeezus out of her!
“Can we just change the subject?”
“Sure,” and he put his sandwich down. “Let’s talk money. If this project goes through, you’ll earn a ten percent finder’s fee on the profits.”
Gaia had just delicately picked up her sandwich and was about to take a bite, but his words had her coughing and she dropped her sandwich back to her plate. She felt his hand moving against her back and tried to pull away, shaking her head, but he ignored that and kept on rubbing her back until she stopped coughing.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” and she shifted her chair so that he couldn’t reach her back. When she looked back up at him, she knew that he understood exactly what she was doing. And the silent message conveyed that she wasn’t going to get away from him so easily. “I told you before, I don’t want a finder’s fee.”
“Tough,” he said and took another bite of his lunch. “You will also be earning the commissions on any design services. I’m picturing several luxury penthouses and several smaller spaces. We’ll also use you for the lobby, office, and decorating several of the showpiece areas.”
A Taste of Paradise Page 3
