Page 82 of Shifters Unifying

“No, Sheila can take care of herself.”

Olivia tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Fine, but you need to take your favorite customer to lunch and calm his tits. He’s having a meltdown over the apartment complex schedule, and he’s getting hovery, won’t leave the subcontractors alone. They’re having a hard time getting anything done. I’ve heard he’s a real chauvinist piece of shit, and they’re ready to send him back to wherever he came from.”

“Is the leasing office on schedule for completion?”

“It’ll be close, but you know how it is. Everything looks a mess, so he keeps asking everyone for dates. I think he’s anxious about getting signed leases on the books. Something about his investors.”

“Do you think I care about their investors?” I roared and jumped to my feet, knocking into the desk, spilling my coffee, and sending my chair onto the ground behind me with a crash. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

Olivia raised her eyebrows.

I stomped to the closest window and stared out of it, watching my shifters crisscross the property as they went about their daily business. A truck with the Blackwood Construction logo rolled to our supply building and three of my employees hopped out and disappeared inside.

The four young shifters and Salali’s warriors were all already in East Nuttal. Tossle hadn’t yet shown his face in Six-Mile, so I didn’t have to distract him from heading over to help the multimorph train anyone.

“Have you had anything to eat?” Olivia asked. When I glanced over my shoulder, she smirked. “I mean, besides Emma.”

“Fuck if I know.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that you need a snack and a nap.”

“I’ll sleep in the car. Pull the SUV around.”

She drained the rest of her coffee and stood. “Already done. Your work boots are waiting.”

My power nap hadn’t been long enough to make me feel rested, but at least, it had been long enough to diffuse my temper before strolling onto one of the largest job sites in Willow Creek.

Olivia’s phone rang, and she checked the caller ID on the SUV screen. “I’ve gotta take this. Tile guys. Supply issues.”

“Do you know where the client is right now?”

“I’m sure he’s in the job trailer.” She tapped the screen in the SUV and answered the call through the Bluetooth. “Hey, Grady. What’s up?”

I dropped a hard hat on my head and climbed out of the passenger seat. Gravel crunched beneath my feet, sending little puffs of dust into the air. The door squeaked, and three men looked up from a large set of plans, laid out on a slanted drafting table.

Rick Moreland, a graying man in slacks and a button-down shirt, straightened. He wiped his dusty hands on his thighs. “There’s the man of the hour.” He stuck out his hand and quick-stepped across the linoleum floor. “Your project manager—Olivia, I think—said you have some family business to take care of. I hope that’s been put to rest.”

“Something like that,” I murmured, noting the relieved expressions on the faces of my foreman and the plumbing contractor. Shaking his hand, I nodded to the other two, and they slipped out of the job trailer, the door slamming behind them. “Rick, what can I help you with?”

“As you know, we have a hard opening date for the leasing office.”

I glanced toward the smaller, most-finished building, closest to the road. The leasing office was supposed to be open by the end of the month, and they expected more than half of the units to be under contract by the time we finished the complex. “Go on.”

“I had a meeting with our investors, and they would like some assurances.”

“What kind of assurances?”

“They want to be open by December first.”

“We’re on schedule.”

He frowned. “How sure are you that we’ll hit that deadline?”

I crossed my arms and plastered a smile on my face. “If I hadn’t been sure we’d make the date, I wouldn’t have bid on the job.”

He made no comment and his scowl didn’t disappear.

“You can assure your investors that we’ll work through Thanksgiving weekend, but our goal is that we won’t have to. We’ve already got the city and the parish inspectors scheduled to come out the week after Thanksgiving to finalize inspections. They’ll both issue a certificate of occupancy for the leasing office. Then we’ll move the silt fence behind the leasing office so prospective tenants can come and go as they please.”