Trust by Design (Colorado Trust 2)

She faced him once more. “Good at what?”

“Running.”

“I’m not running.” His raised brows challenged her to insist, “I’m not.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly to the right as she watched his expression. “Why did you offer me the job?”

“I like your work.”

“You haven’t seen my work.”

“Yes I have.”

“Bare bones sketches don’t count. Try again.”

“You picked these out.” He indicated the admittedly exquisite artwork she delivered. “And your website has an extensive portfolio section. Trust me, I’ve seen enough of your work.”

For some reason, she hadn’t expected him to have looked at her site. The knowledge knocked her irritation askew, until she remembered why she was angry in the first place. She summoned Bodacious Burgundy Gina as the words trust me echoed in her mind.

“I still don’t buy it. There’s no way you should allow me to work in your house after the accusation you made yesterday.”

He gave a small shrug. “I realized I was wrong.”

“Right,” she scoffed. If that were the case, she wouldn’t still be waiting for that apology he’d mentioned last night. “You want to know what I think?”

“I think you’re going to tell me either way.”

“You want to keep an eye on me,” she stated. “See if I try to do anything, like maybe access your computer to steal some ideas.”

He didn’t say a word, just watched her with a poker face that would serve him well in Vegas.

“But catching me isn’t a guarantee, so all the while I’m here, you’ll also be working on getting me to reveal some sort of dirt on Jackson.”

His expression remained impassive, but she watched close enough to catch the flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“You know, you never explained how you know him,” she reminded.

He turned away and bent to pick up the cougar painting. “Six years ago we were business partners.”

“What happened?”

He gave her a sideways glance and countered, “Why’d the two of you break up?”

“I would suspect for the same reason you did.”

He held the canvas at waist level and smiled. “If that’s the case, there should be absolutely no reason for you to refuse either the job or to give me dirt on the sonofabitch.”

She couldn’t care less about Jackson these days. But the way her pulse fluttered at the sight of Dean’s smile told her there were plenty of reasons to refuse this job.

Unfortunately, there was one major reason why she should accept, and she literally couldn’t afford to ignore it. Not if it meant giving up her dream, tucking tail, and facing her parents.

She thought about reminding him of the apology he owed her, but realized she didn’t want to hear the words if he didn’t mean them. Until he truly realized he was wrong about her, he could keep the meaningless gesture.

Now, the question was, could she manage to ignore the more dangerous reasons as to why she should refuse in order to prove him wrong?

“Where exactly did you envision this?” he asked as she was still deciding.

Oh, she was so not touching that one. When she’d first spotted the mountain lion, she’d immediately pictured the empty space on the wall above his bed.

“I’d have to see the rest of the house to be sure,” she fibbed.