“Excuse me?” she said, her hands going to her hips. I let my gaze take her in quickly. Not as slow as I did when she was standing on the side of the road last week.
“I’m building your daughter’s playhouse.”
“No, you are not.”
“Yes, I am.”
Her mouth fell open, and she let out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re incredible. I’m firing you, Mr. Carter.”
“With all due respect, Saryn—”
“Ms. Night.”
This time it was me who crossed my arms over my chest. “Ms. Night, with all due respect, you are not the person who hired me. Your name is not on the contract I signed, nor is the property where the playhouse is to be built yours. So, you cannot fire me.”
She laughed, but it was far from a happy laugh. “I can’t?”
I shook my head. “No. So, I suggest we move forward and figure out what it is about the design you don’t like.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just a bit over the top.”
“We can scale it back some, but I think once you hear my ideas for the interior, you’ll want to keep the extra room.”
I could tell that piqued her interest.
Then her eyes drifted down my body and she stared at…of all things…my bare feet. I glanced down at them, then back up at her.
Her eyes closed and she pressed her lips together tightly. “This isn’t going to work, Truitt.”
“Why not?” I asked.
Saryn’s gaze jerked back to mine. There was something in her eyes that held me captive. “Truitt, my mother is trying to set us up.”
I laughed. “First names now?”
She glared at me.
With a sigh, I went on. “That’s a pretty expensive way of fixing up your daughter, don’t you think? And why would she do that?”
She waved her hands in the air and let out a dramatic sigh. “God, you have no idea how my mother is. I’m recently out of a disastrous marriage. The last thing I’m looking for is to get involved. Especially with…um…a guy like you.”
That caused me to jerk my head back in surprise. “A guy like me? I’m trying not to take offense to that, Ms. Night.”
Saryn chewed on her lip as she looked down at her daughter who was stacking up blocks.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way, but let’s be honest here, shall we,” she said. “You’re a player.”
My eyes widened. “I am?”
“Yes. You’re not the type of man I want in my daughter’s life.”
I leaned back against the swing set. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone judge me like that before. You know nothing about me, Ms. Night.”
“Saryn, please.”
“Fine, Saryn. I haven’t seen you in…how many years? You followed that dickhead of a husband of yours straight out of town and never looked back.”
Her mouth dropped open and she glared at me.
“I take pride in my work and believe me when I say that your mother isn’t the first client who has tried to set me up with her daughter. Trust me, I’m not the least bit interested in you either.”
My fists clenched as I said the lie, hoping like hell she believed it.
“As far as your comment about me being a player, I’m not. My number-one love in my life is my job. I live, eat, and breathe it. My goal is to make little kids—like your daughter—happy and safe with a playhouse they can use for years to come. So, we can do this two ways. We either work together, knowing that neither of us is interested in the other, and we ignore your mother’s misguided intentions. Or, I work directly through your mother and you and I don’t have any contact. I don’t think that’s a very good idea, since this is for your daughter. But I’ll let you decide how you’d like to proceed.”
“Wait, just hold on one second,” Saryn said, her hands held up to stop me from walking to the other side of the room to put my socks and boots back on. “No matter what I say, you’re not going to walk away from this job?”
“No. I’m not. Your mother signed the contract, I’ve already worked the project into my calendar, and I’ve purchased items for the playhouse. I’m financially invested in it now.”
Her gaze grew hot, and holy hell did that make my body hum with desire.
“You’ve already bought things? I haven’t signed off on the design!”
I walked over to my desk, looked for the file, and opened it. I pulled out a slip of paper and held it up for her to see.
“Your mother has. I’m guessing she didn’t inform you of that either.”
The steam was practically oozing out of Saryn’s body. “She didn’t!”
“Well, as far as I knew, everything was a go. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some work to do. I’ll be in touch with your mother about the interior of the playhouse in the next week or so.”