by Lee Kilraine
“Great. I’m an open vessel to your ideas.” Lila moved over to the couch, flipped off her shoes, and settled on the cushion with her legs in a lotus position. “Sam, why don’t you go first?”
“Love to.” I pulled my computer out and set it up on the table so Lila could see the screen. In a weak moment I let my gaze dart over to Beckett, and what I saw threw me off.
Sad but true. For years all my presentations were given in front of the impatient scowl of my father or the bored looks and often crossed eyes of my stepbrothers. But there was none of that in Beck’s blue eyes. No condescension. No judgment. No smugness.
Just polite interest and respect, which I found disconcerting, plus the gleam of banked heat, a reminder that two years ago he’d punched my ticket on a trip around the sun. That look made my heart race and my skin tingle. I could lock that look in the vault for the next hour, knowing I’d be free and clear of Thorne soon. As long as I avoided looking at him and touching him—those hands got me. I was putty in those hands!—then I’d be fine. Just fine. Seriously fine.
I pulled my gaze away, shoving the whole man in the vault and slamming the door shut.
“Here’s what I envision for your master bedroom space, Lila.” I clicked open the slide to my first rendering.
Lila squeaked in pleasure, leaning forward for a better look. “Oh good gracious, it’s beautiful.”
“Thank you. By balancing the colors in nature—the blue of the ocean, soft sun-bleached driftwood, and green sea grasses—the energy is captured on the Earth element. Yet soothing to ensure a calm space that can either dissipate or harness energy.”
I’d scoured Lila’s Pinterest boards and even photos of her and her husband to study what colors they were drawn to. “It definitely leans feminine, but I’ve anchored it with some strong pieces with bold lines to ground the space.”
I clicked to the next slide.
“I love it.”
“I’ve gone with rich textures for your tactile pleasure and…” I clicked to the next drawing. “I thought you’d like the energy in a feature wall like this behind the bed. This wallpaper from Bali is just one example.”
“It speaks to me.”
I pulled out my fabric sample board and handed it to her.
“We can swing the color spectrum lighter or darker and still keep the nature element.”
“Can we get that saturated tone with an all-natural paint? I don’t like the idea of breathing in chemicals while I sleep for eight hours. It’s bad for my Wu Wei energy flow.”
“It will take a bit of trial and error and a few extra coats, but yes.”
“Thank you, Sam.” Lila turned to Beckett. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Right. Well, you’re a tough act to follow, Sam.” He nodded once to me, a simple acknowledgment of my design. He pulled an iPad from his leather case and handed it to Lila. Smart move. A personal touch letting Lila hold the design in her hands. One I should have thought of, dang it.
“Oh wow.” Lila’s eyes widened, and she sat back with a sigh. “A different vision, but stunning.”
I couldn’t stop myself from walking behind the couch to get a look and felt the first dent in my confidence. “Very nice. You took out a wall.”
Beck nodded. “Yes, I took some space from the room next door. Pushed everything out, raised the ceiling height, and then trayed it.”
It was stunning. It was bold and masculine. But not stark due to the warm depth of colors he’d used. Dark wood floors, solid furniture with a mix of turn-of-the-century look to it.
Lila’s gaze moved from the design over to Beckett. She tilted her head to the side and studied him with narrowed eyes. “Six Brothers Construction. None of your brothers helped with this design?”
Oh, wow. Lila was deeply serious about this karma and energy thing. Feng shui I knew, but I’d never heard of Wu Wei. I made a mental note to research it further.
“Not a one, although Gray did give me a quick rundown on neo-classical vs. traditional furnishings.”
“Interesting.” She stared at him another moment before turning back to his design. “Well, I’m impressed. There’s power here. And heat. Delicious heat. Very strong energy. Maybe too much for a bedroom but some of the elements Sam used could offset that—balance it out.”
Uh, what? This was starting to feel like watching an accident unfold in front of you and you’re stuck on a collision course, no way to avoid it.
Beckett cleared his throat. “I can make those—”
“Shh.” Lila held her hand up like a traffic cop, stopping him midsentence. She stood and propped the iPad next to the computer to examine the designs side-by-side. “They are each perfect in their own way. Feminine vs. masculine. Ocean and Air vs. Earth and Fire.”
Well she was right about that. They were different. Yet both good.
“One is beautifully feminine and the other pure masculine sexiness.” Lila bit her thumbnail while continuing to examine the designs. And then she spun around to us so quickly I jumped. “My choice is obvious.…”
Have you ever had a bad feeling about something just before it happened? A premonition that made your scalp tingle and your ears ring? That happened right then.
“I need you both,” Lila announced.
Beckett frowned and ran a hand over his mouth before saying, “I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t recommend trying to hire two different design companies for one job. Along with the problems of coordination, it will be very expensive.”
Thank goodness Beck said something because there was no way the two of us could work together for one day let alone on a job this big. We each had our own subcontractors we counted on, our own way to work, completely opposite visions for the design, and the whole sexual tension thing.
“I have to agree with Beck here, Lila. Hiring two design firms just isn’t done. It’s counterproductive.”
“Haven’t you read the tabloids? I’m the eccentric wife of a future hall of fame hockey player who happens to be the new owner of the best team in the North American Hockey League. Trust me, I don’t mind going against convention, and very expensive is a relative term for a billionaire.”
She just dismantled two of the three objections.
“It seems to me two professionals will figure out a way to work together if the job demands it.” Lila raised an eyebrow, challenging us both. “Or do you two think you can’t handle it?”
My gaze slid over to Beck. Two professionals working together. Could we? We had to. Both of our companies needed the boost a job with this kind of visibility would give us. This job was too big to walk away from. We’d have to work together.
“I’m up for the challenge,” I said. “I think Devine Designs can partner up with Beck and his brothers and create everything you want in a home along with the glamour you’ll want for the gala.”
Beckett nodded. “I agree. Six Brothers Construction is unconventional and flexible enough to try new partnerships if that’s what it takes to meet your needs.”
“Outstanding. The creative sky is the limit,” Lila said. “Although, I do have a small list of must haves. I’m going to need as many of these items in my house as possible.” Lila handed over a piece of paper with her list, and Beck and I put our heads together looking it over.
“Lila, there are over 137 items on your list.”
“Do you think Chi flows naturally? My life experience says one must trick it to enter your life and manipulate it to get it exactly where you want. Thus my list. Number four is non-negotiable.”
I ran my gaze down the list; they snagged on number four. I glanced at Beck, looking to see if he saw what I saw. Beck blinked once, twice before glancing up at Lila as if checking to see if she was joking. Or totally crazy. He’d seen it.
“To be clear, I need your personal attention on this. No phoning it in. No sending in you
r staff. This will only work with the creative energies flowing together to create the perfect balance. Beck’s yin to Sam’s yang. So I’m going to have to insist that my project get your personal and undivided attention. Lord knows with as much as I’m paying you it should be more than worth it to you both.”
Chapter 7
Beckett
“How did you get that bruise?” I asked the kid in front of me. The kid was nine-year-old Davie Moncrieff, one of the foster children my brothers and I spent time with twice a month.
“I fell.”
I went down on one knee in front of him to look in his eyes. I’d “fallen” a lot when grown-ups asked me about bruises. I needed to see his eyes and look for the fear. The pain. Because sometimes foster families ended up as bad as the situation social services took you out of.
“You telling me the truth, Davie? Because no one gets to hurt you. Not ever.”
“Yeah. I slipped out of my shoes on the stairs and fell.”
“How’d you do that?” My jaw relaxed and my lungs expanded. Normal breathing could commence.
“Shoes are too big,” Davie said with a shrug.
Hand-me-downs most likely. I could fix this. No blame on the foster parents. It was hard to keep up sometimes when a kid got plopped in your house with only a suitcase or a trash bag of clothes.
“Well then, good thing we’re going shopping.” We’d been through the system. We knew what it was like. Even when the foster placement was a good one, there were too many things normal kids had that foster kids missed out on. These shopping trips helped with that and gave both the foster parents and the foster kids a break.
“Beck! Let’s go! We’re loading up the bus,” Ash called from inside the minibus we’d rented for the annual trip.
“Today’s shopping day?” Davie’s voice held a thin—very thin—thread of excitement. Been there, kid. Hopes crashed on a regular basis as a foster kid.
“It is. On the bus, Davie. But don’t run in those shoes.”
The way we did this trip was divide and conquer. Each of us took a few kids and we split up, hitting the shoe department, clothing, books, school supplies, and then we’d rejoin on the snack and candy aisle.
And we didn’t rush. As kids we never had the luxury of buying anything just because we wanted it. We’d had a lot of used clothing and toys from Goodwill. Nothing brand new. Nothing just for fun. Nothing extra. We knew we weren’t going to magically fix these kids’ problems. But it was one of those little things we’d have given anything for when we were young. Just to feel normal for a day. Like all the other kids at school.
Of course, Wyatt, with his efficient ways, was already on the candy/snack aisle by the time I got there with Davie and D’Andre. Gray, Eli, and Ash were right on my heels. I handed each of the kids a ten dollar bill.
“Here you go. Choose wisely.”
And then we moved off to the side and got a fuck ton of pleasure out of watching them.
“This gets me every time,” Eli said, his arms crossed over his chest, his bearded face serious but the gruffness in his voice told me he wasn’t kidding. “Did you grab them all new toothbrushes, Wyatt?”
“Of course.” Wyatt’s voice was suspiciously thready too. Like I said—marshmallow heart inside an OCD control freak body.
“So what’s the word on Lila’s job?” Ash asked. “You got it, right?”
Gray snickered next to me.
“What?” Ash looked around at all of us.
“We got the job,” I said, frowning over at Gray. “What Gray thinks is so funny is we have to work with Sam Devine.”
“Why is that funny?” Ash asked, looking at Gray. “Because they slept together?”
“You slept with Sam Devine? Why am I always the last to know these things?” Eli’s head swung to me. He grinned and gave me a quick nod of approval.
“Let’s just focus on the fact that we got the job. Not sure how well we’ll blend together, but either way, Sam Devine will not interfere with Six Brothers Construction doing an excellent job. No way we’re blowing this free promo opportunity.”
Gray nodded. “The guest list for the fundraiser must be like a Who’s Who of Raleigh’s high rollers.”
“Two chefs in the kitchen is usually a bad idea,” Wyatt said.
Eli shrugged. “Just treat her like a subcontractor. It’ll work.”
“Eli, you backward hillbilly, that won’t work,” Gray said. “Now I do happen to know one surefire way to get a woman into a very cooperative mood.”
“First, no. Second, no.” I may have fucked up when it came to relationships, not much better off than Gray, but I had enough respect for Sam as a businesswoman to not think I could sway the project my way by sleeping with her. “Third, grow up, Gray.”
“Right. Like I’m the only one with issues.” Gray arched an eyebrow in my direction. He had a point. But I still would never take his advice on women.
“Don’t forget I’m the one who recommended you to Lila,” Ash said. “Considering the fact that Lila’s husband is my boss and can choose to not re-sign me, I have one piece of advice: don’t f—”
I coughed and jerked my head toward the kids.
“—mess this up.”
“Has Six Brothers Construction blown any job? Geeze, you’d think this was our first rodeo.” So we’d never partnered with another firm on a job. I was sure we could find a way to work together, even if how that would shape up wasn’t exactly clear to me yet. That might be because I’d never worked with someone I had carnal knowledge of before. The heat of that memory was still there like glowing embers burning deep in my gut. As soon as I figured out how to douse that heat I was sure things would go smoothly. “I have no doubt that Devine Designs wants this job to succeed as much as we do.”
“Of course they do. You’ll work it out, Beck. But while you’re doing that, we should rearrange the work load for the next few weeks.” Wyatt was already two steps ahead of everyone else as far as planning. He needed his life mapped out and scheduled, but it helped SBC stay organized too. “I can take over the books for you for the next few weeks.”
“Probably a good idea. Gray, I’ll need you to cover my appointments with potential clients this week. Hopefully not much longer.”
Gray nodded his agreement.
“I’ll help Gray cover our existing client selection appointments.” Eli looked excited about the prospect. I already knew Gray was going to throw a bucket of cold water his way.
Sure enough, Gray’s head shook emphatically.
“No. I’m sorry, Eli, but you either have terrible taste or you’re color blind.” Gray’s gaze raked over Eli’s faded, patched jeans and his T-shirt advertising some pig hollering contest.
I wasn’t so sure he had terrible taste. I’d always figured Eli simply didn’t care about fitting into some norm. Most of the time Eli came across as the strong, silent type. But there was a devilish twinkle in his eyes that hinted at an eccentric soul.
“Whatever.” Eli shrugged. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”
“Wyatt, can you help Davie with his math?” The kid had a ten dollar bill and twenty dollars of candy. I walked over to Bethany, the newest of the kids in our group. She’d been standing like a deer caught in headlights.
“Hey, Bethany, everything okay?’ I crouched down on one knee next to her so I was on her level. Being fairly new to the group, it could be that it was too much for her. Too many new faces. Too much noise. Too many choices when you weren’t used to having any.
She darted her eyes away from the candy display and over to me, nodding once before glancing back to the candy. Her eyes registered excitement, but she was nervous too.
“When I was little and me and my brothers got to go to the store and pick candy…” An event so rare I could count them on one hand. “…my brother Ryker would sta
nd in front of the candy for ten minutes without picking a thing.”
“Why?” She blinked at me. “Didn’t he like candy?”
“Ryker loved candy. Standing in front of all of it felt like a dream to him. It always took him at least five minutes to believe it was real. And then he took his time deciding on what candy he wanted because he was afraid he’d pick the wrong one.”
“I don’t want to pick the wrong one,” she whispered.
Right. Because you never trusted that you’d get the chance again. I had a vivid memory of me and my brothers standing in front of the racks of candy at the run-down gas station a couple miles from our trailer. I gritted my teeth hard at the stinging sensation building behind my eyes.
Ash leaned in. “That’s just it. You don’t have to pick the wrong one. See, Ryker came up with a test to help him know exactly the right candy to pick each time.”
“I remember that,” Eli said, joining in. “First you decide chocolate or fruit.”
“Fruit.”
“Soft or hard?” Ash asked.
“Soft.”
“Sweet or sour?” The memory of Ryker going through his candy test had been buried deep. Along with most of my memories of Ryker because it hurt too damn much to think of him. I fucking missed him.
“Sweet.”
“Favorite color?” Ash fed Bethany the last question.
“Pink.”
“Ding, ding, ding.” Eli had all the kids laughing when he moved his hand along the candy boxes like he was displaying prizes on a game show. “You’ve narrowed it down to Mentos, tropical Starburst, strawberry licorice, or bubble gum.”
Bethany smiled and reached out, picking up the pack of licorice.
I wanted to wrap her up in a hug with the sweet way she’d reminded us all of Ryker. But that might just scare her, so I stood and gave her the good news.
“You have ten dollars, Bethany. You can pick one more.”
Davie and D’Andre jumped in to administer the candy test again while I stepped back and pulled myself together.
After Bethany made her selection, we wheeled our carts through the check out and boarded our minibus for the short trip back to the Y. Eli drove the bus, while Ash kept the kids riveted with one of his hockey stories. Yeah, they knew who he was. Hockey was pretty popular in Raleigh, and part of me liked that they could brag to their school friends about their famous friend.
