The mayor, the senator and a bunch of others wanted assurances that the people being 'displaced' as they put it would have a suitable place to peddle their junk. Which translates to them playing their usual games and trying to please their voters. It had taken a hell of a lot of tap dancing, reassurances, and hell, pledging to donate to their campaign to get the project rolling. He hated politicians with a virulence that was making his head pound.
And it had taken longer than he anticipated. So long in fact that most of the employees had taken off for the day.
As it was almost six-thirty, he certainly had not expected to see her at her desk and clicking away at her computer.
He stopped just inside the doorway, the headache peaking at his temple.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
She merely glanced over at him and continued typing.
"As far as I know, I work here."
"It's minutes to seven." He pointed out and realized he sounded almost accusatory.
Her tapered eyebrows lifted. "I'm aware of the time. I had some details to finish up for your meeting first thing in the morning. Since you missed dinner, the kitchen sent up some dinner.Prime rib steak and a salad. Also, I included a bottle of pain killers for your headache."
"How the hell do you know I have a headache?"
"You had a meeting with politicians. It's a given."
He stood there staring at her for a few pulsing seconds, before crossing to his office and slamming the doors shut.
A smile curved her lips as she stretched out her aching back and resumed typing.
Chapter 4
She almost sighed when she saw the man seated on the tiny porch, long legs propped up on the railing. She had taken her shoes off the minute she got into the car and exchanged them for the pair of comfortable tennis shoes she kept around the back.
Her arches were screaming and her back felt as if it had opened up somehow. Slinging her pocketbook over her shoulder, she shut the door and ascended the steps.
"What are you doing here?"
He merely lifted a brow and patted the space next to him. "Now, is that any way to greet your favorite brother?"
"My only brother who's becoming a pain in the ass." She sat and kicked off her shoes, wriggling her feet to get rid of the tension. "Don't tell me. You just happened to be in the neighborhood."
"That's right." He turned sideways to stare at her quizzically. "Patrolling the neighborhood."
"You don't patrol."
"I do, when my sister lives in said neighborhood." Putting down his beer, he grabbed her feet and started to knead her insteps. "Long day. How was it?"
Leaning back, she closed her eyes and almost whimpered in delight as the tension eased away as if by magic.
And proceeded to tell him about her day.
His chuckle had her smiling as she told him of the confrontation inside her boss's office first thing in the morning.
"You thought he was going to fire you?"
"Yep. He looked pissed enough to tell me to get the hell out of his building. I was on tenterhooks the entire time."
"How's he to work for?" Caleb had moved up to her calves, with his magic fingers. She was feeling so loose, she was afraid of falling asleep right here in the chair.
"Tough and exacting. He keeps me on my toes. But I love it. The work is challenging." She turned her head up and sniffed the air. Rain coming, she mused. There was wind whistling through the trees and suggesting the hint of fall that was almost here. "He's also super smart and intuitive. He knows his stuff. He's a force, dynamic, kind of like a hurricane gathering speed."
"I sat in at two meetings and admired his train of thought and the way he has about him. Nothing gets by him."
