Trust by Design (Colorado Trust 2)

The rough demand brought her attention back to him. He glared at her with his arms crossed over his chest, and she immediately went on defense. If anyone had the right to be upset here, it was her.

“What’s going on is that I showed up on time for the appointment you requested, only to be kept waiting and then mauled in your bedroom.”

His eyebrows slammed together in a dark frown. “I did not maul you.”

“Well I certainly didn’t ask to be attacked on your bed.”

Disbelief filled his expression. He uncrossed his arms to jab a finger at her. “You kissed me back. In fact, you started it all with that kiss last night! What the hell else am I supposed to think when I find you in my bedroom dressed like that?”

She lifted her chin as he gestured up and down the length of her still tingling body. Okay, so ‘attacked’ wasn’t a fair accusation, but she was desperate to save face. “It’s an evening dress, not lingerie, you jerk. I had plans for tonight and the time you specified gave me no time to change. I was doing my own walk-through and taking notes to avoid being even later than I already am. If you’d bothered to be on time yourself, you’d have found me downstairs.”

Mentioning the walk-through reminded her she’d dropped her notebook. It lay on the floor, two feet behind him, but she made no move forward to retrieve it.

“You could have left,” he pointed out. “No one made you stay, so why exactly are you here?”

“For the decorating job—”

He snorted. “Riiight.”

“My name is Gina Allen of GAllen Designs,” she stated firmly. “A woman by the name of Vanessa called me this morning to set up an appointment for precisely six o’clock.”

“What was last night about?”

She avoided his eyes as heat flooded her face. “Last night was a stupid mistake.”

“Why, did Jack not compensate you for your troubles?”

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“Jackson Brady.”

Her gaze snapped to his as a chill slid down her spine. “What does he have to do with any of this?”

He jerked his chin toward her. “You tell me.”

“I have no idea.”

“But you don’t deny you know the sonofabitch?”

“He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

She watched Dean Daley digest that information as suspicion began to gather steam. Had Jackson set up this whole little scenario as payback? Get her hopes up with a promising job only to have it ripped right out from under her? Sounded about right, but for the life of her, she had no clue how he could’ve managed to pull it off.

“How do you know Jackson?” she asked.

“Doesn’t really matter. I will say, it strikes me as awfully convenient you being at the club last night and showing up here tonight.”

“Your person called me.”

“Yeah.” His head tilted slightly to the side. “How’d you manage that, by the way?”

“I don’t know,” she snapped as her annoyance rose. “How’d you hear about me?”

He didn’t reply. Something was going on in his mind though. She could practically see the gears turning in his head. Which made the answer click for her. Jackson must’ve talked to this guy after she’d left. Somehow he’d gotten him to set up the appointment so they could screw her over.

The no-good, cheating asshole. Dean Daley wasn’t much better.

“Forget it, I just figured it out. You and Jackson deserve each other.” She shook her head in disgust and headed for the door.