She held up her phone. “That’s so funny. I had a message that Irene had set up a meeting, but I didn’t know who with.” She laughed. “Well, follow me.”
She took him around the partition. He could make out three different workspaces, all partitioned off. She gestured to the door, and he followed her into a break room with a small table and three chairs.
“How did you get into doing this?”
She opened a cupboard and grabbed a folder. “My grandparents agreed to pay for my law school with the understanding that I would take over the charity for five years once I passed the bar. So, here I am.”
“Passed the bar?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m a real-life lawyer.”
“Wow.” Ken could not stop smiling. “How many people do you have working for you here?”
“Well, lots. But many are volunteers. Bev out there is part-time. Irene and I are the only full-time employees. She handles fundraising. I take care of the legalities of everything we’re doing and set up all of our projects. We have an executive board that meets monthly and chooses our projects.”
She set the folder in front of him, pulled the chair out, and sat down across from him. He glanced at the press kit but didn’t study it. “My message was that this was to help you with a build a house-in-a-day project.”
“Oh. The message I had wasn’t detailed. We are looking for sponsors who can help with the materials and equipment needed to build a house on Labor Day weekend. We have a family of six that are in deplorable conditions and had a major contributor pull the funding kind of at the last minute.”
He watched her facial expression and saw the discomfort around her mouth and eyes. He was tempted to dig into the reasons why this particular sponsor made her so uncomfortable but thought he should probably stay on task.
She smelled very good.
He tried to drag his brain back to the topic of conversation. “What are the project specifics?”
“We’re scrambling to get sponsors. But this is so last minute. We’re just a couple months away.” She pulled out her phone and swiped at the screen, then read off the numbers for equipment and supplies.
The numbers sounded very low to Ken. “Are you getting special deals through the suppliers and equipment rental places?”
She nodded. “We work hard to minimize cost. We use a lot of recovered materials from demolition sites. Like, alot. Most places sell us new materials at a fraction above cost. This is a charitable donation for them. We worked with several of these places for years.”
Ken crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair. He liked the way she let everything she felt show on her face. He found that incredibly refreshing. He didn’t want this meeting to end. He wanted to keep talking to this woman. Before he could talk himself out of it, he said, “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
She gasped. Her eyes widened, and she sat back almost as if pushed by force. “I, uhh…”
Disappointment crept along the back of his neck. “Sorry. You’re seeing someone.”
“Uh…” Daisy opened and closed her mouth as if she didn’t know what to say.
“Course you are. Look at you. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear, and half chuckled. “No.”
“‘No,’ you’re not beautiful? Don’t start a fight with me, here, Daisy.” He could hardly stop looking at her lips.
“No. I mean, I’m not seeing anyone.”
Ken felt every molecule of air that filled his lungs. “Good. Dinner it is.”
“Ken, I just don’t think…”
“Good. Thinking gets in the way of good things sometimes. Have dinner with me, Daisy. I can tell you want to.”
He was teasing, of course. He could tell she didn’t want to. But he wanted to for the first time in his life. Finally, she said, “Okay. Sure. I’ll have dinner with you tomorrow night.”
“That’s great. Can’t wait.” He grinned and tapped the folder. “As for your project, consider your cost met. Dixon Contracting and Design will fully fund this project.”
She sucked in a breath and asked, “Fully?”
