CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SAMANTHA PULLED UPto the job site Monday morning wearing sunglasses to hide her lack of sleep and a Dolce & Gabbana pant suit to boost her confidence. Even though she was early, to her dismay, several cars were already in the parking lot. The last thing she wanted was to be perceived as not caring about the deadline, especially since she hadn’t met it. She grabbed her briefcase and hurried toward the site, her stomach in knots.
Russ O’Bryant and four other members of the board of directors stood peering out over the site. She hoped that the fact that the site had come so far would help them to visualize the building she had proposed.
“Good morning, Mr. O’Bryant,” she said.
His jowly face creased in a wry smile. “Good morning, Ms. Stone. Cutting it a little close, wouldn’t you say?”
She looked to where he indicated and frowned at the hordes of workers streaming away from the site toward their vehicles parked all around the perimeter. Two men in particular stood out in the center of the job site—one of them, she realized with a start, was Teague, in his work clothes, complete with hard hat and with Dixon at his side.
Samantha inhaled, her heart clicking overtime. What was he doing here?
As she watched, Teague accepted what looked like a folder of some kind and shook the other man’s hand, who then walked away. Teague turned and strode toward the group, his gaze tracking hers. Dixon spotted her and ran ahead, bounding up to lick her hand.
She smiled and petted the dog but was dismayed to realize that despite everything that had happened, her body still reacted as Teague approached, her senses reeling. It was going to take a long time to get over him.
“Good morning, Ms. Stone,” he said formally, removing his hard hat. His hair was flattened, his face, neck and arms almost black with grime, his clothes sweat-stained. He had never looked more handsome to her.
“Good morning,” she managed, confused.
“Here are the inspection reports,” he said, thrusting the folder into her hand. “I think you’ll find that everything is in order. The site is ready, with all paperwork filed and approved.” He swept his glance over the directors to include them. “You’ll be happy to know that the site passed the engineering inspection with flying colors. And the engineer was especially complimentary of the design of your retaining walls, Ms. Stone. I told him I expected the patent would be filed shortly.”
Sam was speechless. She felt the file folder in her hand, but she couldn’t believe what she was seeing…and hearing. “I…I…” She glanced at the directors. “Would you excuse us for a moment?”
Sam waited until she and Teague were out of earshot before she turned to him. “Is this another joke? Another setup?”
“No,” he said flatly, his eyes serious.
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I was wrong,” he said simply. “I shouldn’t have done what I did to you, Sam. After you left my house, I made a few phone calls, got some crews and equipment back out here, and called in a few favors at city hall.” A rueful smile lifted his mouth. “Besides, I wasn’t about to give your father a chance to gloat. And don’t worry about the added cost—it’s on me.”
The expense, she was sure, was little more than a rounding error on his personal balance sheet. But she knew that he had performed miracles to get the job site overhauled in little more than forty-eight hours, not to mention getting the inspector out before dawn.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” she murmured, feeling completely humbled.
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, then settled his hard hat back on his head. “I was just doing my job.”
As he started to walk away, she said, “Teague.”
He turned back.
“I’m sorry…for everything. I hope you can forgive me.”
His green gaze seemed to laser into her soul. “Same here.”
He whistled for Dixon, then walked to his truck parked alongside the road, climbed in and drove away.
“Goodbye,” Sam whispered, her heart drowning in her chest. The Carlyle Library project was hers, but the victory felt bittersweet. She winced inwardly at the pact she had made with Abby and Carley in her arrogance—she’d been so determined not to fall in love with a man she considered to be beneath her, and now she was the one with the broken heart.
