Page 7

Chapter Seven

Roman

H ow do I know that I’ve lost my damn mind? I think I realized it the moment I agreed to build her bookcases. The last thing I need is more time spent with the woman who is invading my thoughts—inappropriate thoughts.

I woke up today, pissed off at myself for making such a stupid mistake. Now, I have to see her at work and pretend I don’t find every little thing she does sexy as fuck.

“Mr. Bertini,” Dorothy says as she peeks her head into my office. “Eva is ready in the conference room for you.”

I take a deep, frustrated breath. “Thanks, Dorothy. I’ll be right there.”

When I walk into the conference room, she’s reaching across the long table to plug in her laptop to the USB port. Her ass, which is covered in a gray pencil skirt that leaves nothing to the imagination, is in arm’s length of my hand.

Dammit, I want to punish her for not knowing how tempting she is.

I walk past her and take a seat at the end of the table.

When she stands up, she sees me and smiles. “Good morning.”

I nod my head, unable to even pretend I’m happy to see her. “Morning.”

Her face falls when she realizes I’m not entertaining any idea that this is a pleasant meeting. She takes a seat two seats down to my right and clicks the mouse on her laptop, bringing the projector screen to her PowerPoint.

“As we discussed before, the guest rooms are not dirty or totally dated, so we are going to start with the lobby and the restaurant.”

“Agreed.”

She tightens her lips, as if she’s holding back saying something, then moves forward with the slides. The designs are exactly what I hoped they’d be and more. She has captured such an incredible balance between bringing back that glamorous period of time without making it look or feel outdated.

“Any comments or changes you’d like me to make?” she asks, shutting her laptop.

I lean back in my chair. “No. You nailed the design. I’m looking forward to seeing it all come together. When will you be ordering the materials?”

“Well, I need to work with the general contractor to get it started. I have your project manager’s information and will set up a meeting as soon as possible. I know you want to get this moving quickly.”

“Drew is a huge asset to our company. He oversees all of our renovations and new builds.”

She smiles. “I look forward to meeting him.”

I watch as she stands up from her chair and reaches for the USB plug in the center of the table, this time giving me a view down her blouse.

“Miss Harlow,” I growl through my clenched teeth, “you might consider being a professional and buttoning your blouse all the way.”

She looks down at her chest, then up at me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“You should pay more attention.”

A flash of anger appears in her eyes. “Have I done something to offend you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’ve been very unwelcoming to me ever since I started. I feel like I must have done something wrong”—she glances down at her shirt again— “aside from not buttoning my shirt properly.”

I weigh my options on the best way to respond. I thought I’d done a decent job of masking my attraction, but it appears I’m not as clever as I had hoped.

If I pretend that there’s nothing wrong, she will just think I’m a dick. That could get in the way of these renovations going smoothly. The last thing I want to do is jeopardize the success of the project.

I pull at the muscles in the back of my neck as the tension builds. “No,” I exhale with defeat. “I’m sorry, Eva. No, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“So, you don’t hate me?”

“Hate you?” I jerk my head up in surprise. “Why would you think I hate you?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s just a feeling I get every time we’re in the same room together. Like you would rather be anywhere else but near me.”

I wince. “You’re not entirely wrong.”

She bites her bottom lip as moisture fills her eyes.

“Fuck, no, it’s not like that. I don’t hate you.”

Her confusion is obvious. Dammit, I just have to come out with it.

“But, yes, I do tend to feel like I’d rather be anywhere but in the same room as you.” I look down at my watch, feeling embarrassed for maybe the first time in my life. “Only because I find myself … attracted to you.”

I look back up at her this time. Needing to see her reaction. “Extremely attracted to you.”

The thin line of her brow jumps in surprise. “Oh, I see.”

“But I know nothing could ever happen between the two of us. For one, I don’t mix business with pleasure. Two, your brother is my best friend, and he would kill me if I ever touched you.”

He’s seen me with too many women to think I’d ever be good enough for his little sister. I know I’m not the ideal candidate. Someone who is afraid of commitment and has no intention of settling down would not be high on his list for someone worthy of his sister.

“I don’t know what to say,” she says as her voice cracks.

“I understand if this makes you uncomfortable. We can terminate our contract if you …”

She touches my arm. Even through my sleeve, I feel the warmth. It only lasts for a second before she pulls her hand back quickly.

“No, no. I’m not uncomfortable. I appreciate the honesty. It’s … refreshing.”

Relief spreads across my body. “Really? You are okay with continuing to work for me?”

Her lips spread into a soft smile. “Of course. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you as well.”

A deep pink shade stains her cheeks, and it hits me in the damn gut. She has this innocence to her.

My head falls back against the chair. “That doesn’t help.”

A soft chuckle fills the room. “I’m sure it’ll fade. Can we start over as friends?”

I look back at her, amused at how laid-back she is about this. Most women in this city would take any opportunity to score a date with me. She seems to find the idea of my attraction to her comical.

“Friends?” I ask. “Friends who are attracted to each other?”

She nods. “But don’t act on that attraction.”

“I could work with that.”

She gives me a pointed stare. “Good. And no telling my brother.”

“Yeah, I thought that was a given.”

I stand up and button my jacket. “Well, it looks like I’ll see my new friend tomorrow night, when I get started on her bookcases.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to do that, Roman,” she says as we both walk towards the door.

“Of course I do. I need my designer to have the best workspace possible to get her creative juices flowing. And if you want to repay me, I like pizza and beer.”

She suppresses a small laugh as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Doesn’t seem like a fair exchange, but you’ve got a deal.”

As I walk back to my office, I feel lighter than I have since I hired her. This could work. Who knew a moment of pure honesty, and an agreement of friendship would solve everything?

I’m sure the more time we spend together, the more my attraction will fade. That’s how it always works. Why wouldn’t it be any different this time?