Trust by Design (Colorado Trust 2)

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seat in defeat. “I won’t hire her if I don’t like her work.”

“Of course not.”

Good, now he had an out. “Fine. Tomorrow night. Six o’clock. And she better not be late.”

Chapter 3

With the pathetic balance of her checkbook vivid in her mind’s eye, Gina drove deeper into the rugged Rocky Mountains outside Boulder. Failure was not an option. She’d filed an extension on her monumental tax bill that morning, but that didn’t solve her rent issue. After the way work had dried up the past couple months, it was imperative she nailed this client.

Her silent choice of words brought forth an instant image

of the guy from the club. The excitement of the kiss that had lingered on her lips since last night tingled back to life.

Darn it—she had to concentrate, and thinking of him was not the way to do it. He’d already intruded on her thoughts way too much today as she recalled how his strong arms had held her so close, and how good he’d smelled, and how his kiss had pretty much swept her into an alternate universe where she lost all sense of time and every single ounce of common sense.

Britt’s text that he’d chased after her hadn’t helped.

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head to clear her mind of everything but business. All she had to do was impress Mr. Dean Daley and land the job so she could keep her business going. No big deal, right?

“Right,” she muttered out loud.

Blowing out a nervous breath, she made the turn from the main road onto a paved driveway that wound through the forest of leafless aspens and ever-green ponderosa pines. A glimpse of the house through the trees did not prepare her for the sight that met her eyes when she rounded the final curve and braked in surprise.

This was no house; this was a mansion—and a log one at that. From what she could see, her trained eye guesstimated at least seven thousand square feet.

She eased her car toward a split in the drive. To the left, it curved down toward the side of the house with four garage doors, and the right wound around to a formal entrance at the front of the house. After parking at the front, she reached for her briefcase while peering through the windshield. A tour of the inside wasn’t even needed for her to fall in love with the place.

Stepping from her vehicle, she smoothed the fabric of her dress with her free hand and then shut the door. With a quick glance at her watch to confirm she was on time, she rang the doorbell and forced herself not to fidget while she waited.

Movement through the decorative leaded-glass window alongside the door had her stiffening her spine in preparation. The door opened, and she found herself face to face with a pretty red-haired woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, maybe early thirties.

Blue eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, then a polite smile appeared. “Hello?”

“Hi. I’m Gina Allen.” She extended her hand for a professional greeting, and the woman gingerly accepted with an expression of inquiry.

“Yes? How may I help you?”

“I’m…” She lowered her hand again, confused. Apparently this woman was not Vanessa from the morning phone call. “I have an appointment to see Mr. Daley. Are you his wife?”

The redhead’s smile slipped. “No. And I wasn’t aware he was expecting someone.”

Must be a girlfriend. Judging by the look in her eye as she swept her chilled blue gaze down Gina’s black evening dress, a jealous one.

She self-consciously ran her palm over the clingy fabric at her hip and mustered a friendly smile. “I’m an interior designer, and Mr. Daley requested to see my portfolio. I don’t normally dress so formally for a meeting, but I have plans and won’t have time to change.”

The explanation did nothing to ease the resentment in the woman’s eyes, but she did step aside so Gina could enter. “I’ll let him know you’re here.”

“Thank you.” Three steps inside, she halted in awestruck wonder of the view before her. She barely heard the woman as she said, “Please wait here in the foyer, I’ll be right back.”

Gina absently nodded as she stared past the entrance to the huge room that opened up before her. It boasted floor to ceiling windows on either side of a large stone fireplace that rose to the top of a magnificent cathedral ceiling. Stepping from the entrance to the center of the large room, which she estimated to be at least a thousand square feet by itself, she admired the way the house had been positioned to overlook the frozen lake in the back and the rocky slope of the mountain that rose up on the other side.

The woman returned from the kitchen Gina had glimpsed to the left when she’d first stepped through the main door. Seeing the beginning of a frown, she apologized for walking in uninvited. “I just couldn’t help myself. The view is incredible.”

The redhead gave her another cool smile. “It is, isn’t it?”

Gina shifted her gaze in search of the man who’d requested to meet with her, but it was still just the two of them.

“Dean is on a conference call, but he will be with you shortly,” the woman explained. She spun around and walked away before Gina could thank her.