Love by Design (Crystal Falls Book 1) (10 page)

She looked at herself in the rearview mirror, surprised that she was so flushed. She straightened her hair and shakily pulled out the lip gloss from her purse, reapplying it to her bare lips, thinking all the time about Noah’s tongue in her mouth.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” a deep voice said from behind her, startling her. She let out a gasp.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” She turned quickly to see one of the furniture men standing on the side of her car.

“Oh, Fred! I’m so sorry.” She jumped out of the car and thought about grabbing her blazer as the man’s eyes drifted over her trim body in the bright red sleeveless sundress she’d worn that day, but decided against it.

“Did you want us to stick around? Or should we take all this stuff back to the shop?” he motioned to the big moving van behind her in the drive.

She’d been so upset by the encounter with Upton and so flustered by Noah’s kiss that she’d completely forgotten about the furniture. She gave a quick look around and saw that her client’s car was finally gone.

“Let’s unload it all. Except the headboard, that needs to go back to the store. You can take everything else into the master bedroom. It should be safe there until they’re finished remodeling the other rooms.”

He nodded and motioned to the truck. The other mover hopped out of the cab and they began pulling all the furniture she’d worked so hard to choose out onto the drive. Hopefully Mrs. Uptight wouldn’t have a fit about any of the other pieces.

She thought she should probably go in and make sure they put everything in the right place but it was so nice in the sun and the last thing she wanted was to see Noah again so she stayed where she was and watched as they began carrying the furniture up the steps. She was angry about the headboard. She thought it was perfect for the room and she wondered if she hadn’t surprised Mrs. Upton and Noah in the bedroom if she would have even cared about the bed. No use worrying about it now though. She supposed it was just part of doing the job. She’d dealt with problem clients when she’d worked for Blackwood but now the stakes seemed so much higher. Every insult was suddenly personal, every mistake critical. She would have to learn to grow a stiffer backbone if she was hoping to land any more upper class clients. That much was obvious.

From now on she would stay as far away from the cabin as she could. She didn’t want to chance running into Upton again. She would deal with Lydia via email and only visit the job site when she had to. And it wasn’t just to shield herself from her client. Now she realized she couldn’t trust herself to be around Noah either.

The thought of his hard body and his smooth tongue caught her off guard. She put a hand to her chest and leaned back against the car. The sun was right in her eyes and she let them drift softly closed against the brightness. What that man could do with his tongue should be illegal.

“It was that good, huh?”

Her eyes flashed open as Noah came down the steps of the cabin toward her, his keys jingling in his hand. His smile was smug and she hated that he’d caught her daydreaming. About him, no less.

“Don’t be an ass. I was just enjoying the sun.”

“Of course you were.”

She pushed herself off the car and frowned.

“Nice dress by the way,” he called as he swung his long body into his truck. “Very sexy.”

The comment caught her off guard just as she was about to yell an insult at him. He chuckled and waved at her before backing out of the driveway.

Chapter Six

Noah couldn’t believe he’d actually kissed Lily. And that she’d so willingly kissed him back.

He’d played it cool with Lily as he’d left but he was feeling anything but cool as he drove down the mountain. Now that he’d realized he wanted her back, he let himself daydream. He imagined her naked beneath him once again, that milky skin glowing with sweat like he’d seen it so many times before, and he grew hard.
Down boy
, he cautioned himself.
No need to rush things too quickly
. He didn’t want to scare her off. But, God, no one else had ever made him feel so out of control, so needy. His heart beat hard with anticipation and not only to get into her pants again. He wanted all of her. He wanted to wake up next to her in the morning, to make her dinner, to feel her cuddle up beside him on the couch.

Not for the first time he wished he would have told her about the house. If he wouldn’t have been such a chicken all those months ago he could have shown her the plans and told her he’d designed it just for the two of them, maybe even their family someday. If he hadn’t been so afraid he would have asked her to marry him back then and all of this pain never would have happened.

But there was no way to change the past.

The best he could hope for now was that she would give him a second chance. He knew all the kissing in the world wasn’t going to win back her heart. He needed to really make her listen to his apology. He needed to do a better job of explaining about the breakup and how wrong she’d been about him. But how to get her to the point where she would listen to him? That was the real challenge.

His mind flailed for answers. He could call her, but the phone was so impersonal, and he knew he’d have more success if he could just sit down with her, look into her eyes as he told her all the things he was feeling. He could go to her. He wasn’t sure where she lived any longer but it wouldn’t be hard to find out. If he went to her place and surprised her, surely she would let him in and listen to what he had to say.

Or she would slam the door in his face. He would probably deserve it.

It wasn’t the worst idea he’d ever had. If he could convince her to talk to him he could at least explain what had really happened the night of their breakup. And if he could explain himself, she might just wind up forgiving him. He decided that it was a chance he was willing to take.

He pulled into the garage at his office complex downtown and grabbed several rolls of plans and his bag out of the truck. He checked his watch - it was already nearly closing time. Knowing Lily, she probably still went out with her friends or her sister most nights, and he wanted to make sure to catch her before she did.

He got into the elevator and tried to calm his beating heart, frustrated as he watched the numbers climb too slowly. He almost got out on the fifth floor and took the stairs but decided against it. Six floors later he finally exited into the plush reception area of Caldwell Enterprises. His executive assistant Beth greeted him with a smile as he slid the stack of plans onto her desk.

“Hi Mr. Caldwell. How’d the day go?”

“Not bad. Spent most of it up at the cabin. Anything important happen around here?”

“Nothing too important.” She swiveled around in her chair. “I do have several messages for you. Including one from GQ magazine.” The girl looked like she would nearly fall out of her chair with excitement.

He nodded his head and took the stack of messages from her.

“They wanted to talk to you about being on the cover.” Her voice squeaked and he nodded again as he sifted quickly through the papers. He felt the tug of guilt as he looked at all the things he was letting slip. With the cabin and Lily he knew he’d been neglecting his business lately and he felt like he really needed to clear his head and get back to work. But messages could wait one more day. There wasn’t time now.

“Thanks. I’ll take care of these tomorrow. I’m not here for long but I was hoping you could do something for me. I need the address for Daly Design, the interior decorator working on the Upton account?”

Luckily Beth was new enough that she didn’t know his history with Lily. Not that it really mattered to him, but he didn’t feel like dealing with anyone else’s opinions about his love life. He could only imagine what Rick would have to say about what he was about to do.

She nodded and he smiled. “No problem, Mr. Caldwell.”

“I’ve got a few things to do, so no rush, but I’d like to have it before I leave.”

He took the stack of plans and moved quickly down the hall to his spacious office. Pushing the door in he gave a sigh. It was the perfect room for him and he’d always felt his most creative here. One wall was made entirely of glass and looked out over downtown. At night with the lights off the city glimmered beautifully, especially in the snow. He’d spent more than his share of nights alone with Lily just like that, stretched out on the leather couch that spanned another wall.

In the center of the room was a desk and chair which he rarely used except during client meetings. Along the far wall was his real favorite - a work area for drafting that rivaled anything he’d seen during his time working as an architect in San Francisco. He had all the latest tools and software loaded into a super fast computer at one side and a traditional architecture setup on the other. Pictures of his finished projects, professionally photographed and framed, lined the walls. It was a place for him to create and a place for him to remember all the hard work that had gotten him where he was.

After the breakup he’d almost hired a decorator to come in and change the space. It had been difficult for him to sit in a room day after day that Lily had so lovingly decorated for him only a few months before when they’d been together. But after a while he adjusted and grew to like it once more, the deep leather seats and sleek desk reminding him of the times they’d worked together after hours, sometimes going over designs but more often than not going over one another’s bodies.

At one end of the office was a small bathroom where he kept extra shirts and ties along with a few blazers in case he needed a quick change. He checked himself out in the mirror quickly, touching each cheek to see if he needed a shave. He definitely sported some afternoon stubble, and he pulled his shaving kit out as he unbuttoned his shirt. He wanted to be fresh when he saw Lily again.

A quick shave and some cologne made him feel much better. He slipped on a dark blue shirt and after debating the jacket, decided to leave it. He didn’t want to look too formal.

He gave one final look around the office, trying to remember if he needed to take anything home. But his mind was simply filled with Lily. Damn the woman, she made him feel like a teenager, forgetful and klutzy and totally smitten. It was time to go and get her back, if for no other reason than to allow him to concentrate on his work again.

“You look nice, Mr. Caldwell,” Beth blushed as he walked back into the reception area. He was vaguely aware that the girl had a crush on him, but as with the women who hired him hoping he would give them more than just a remodel, it was becoming easier and easier to ignore the attention.

“Thanks,” he replied and he raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, right.” She grabbed a piece of paper and handed it to him. “The address for Daly Designs.”

“Thank you Beth. That’s all I need for today. You can go home now.”

She gave him another fawning smile but he barely even noticed. He was too busy typing Lily’s address into the GPS app on his phone.

A night out with the girls was exactly what Lily needed to put the horrible day behind her. She’d called Angie and Rachel on her way back to Crystal Falls and made plans to go out for drinks. They were both surprised when she suggested Plush. Neither of them had been to the bar in months, in solidarity against seeing Noah. Angie eagerly agreed without any questions but Rachel had wanted to know why the sudden change.

“I see him almost every day at work anyway. Seems like hiding is kind of pointless now.”

Rachel had agreed but seemed suspicious still. No doubt they would both try to pry all the juicy details of working with Noah out of her. But something made her want to keep it to herself still, especially that tiny detail about kissing him. At least until she could figure out how
she
felt. She loved Angie and Rachel, but sometimes they could be a little too opinionated.

Now as she twisted her hair up in curlers she puzzled over her own feelings. Professionally there wasn’t much she could do. Mrs. Upton was her client, for better or worse, and Lily knew that the fate of her business may just lie in pleasing the woman. She knew it would be no picnic - even by her own admission she was a stubborn woman. But now that she had her own business to run she had to start thinking about the long game. Sucking up to please her client wasn’t easy, but it might just land her more high-paying jobs.

She thought about the headboard again. She would have to call Francis and make some sort of a deal. The bed had been a custom job and she knew she might have to pay for it anyway. Although she could just leave it on Upton’s bill, the professional side of her cringed. Even with the woman’s terrible attitude, Lily didn’t like the idea of screwing her client over. Surely she could find a way to work things out.

Of course she needed a replacement. She sighed and leaned closer to the mirror, trying for the third time to get a smoky eye just right.

Finding the artist wouldn’t be easy. She had no idea what his name was or even where he was from, although she remembered well the huge rock hangings. The internet might have some answers for her. But that was something that could definitely wait until the morning.

What was really on her mind was Noah.

The kiss had knocked her off-balance. The problem was, she’d liked it. Way more than she should have. She tried to reconnect with the feelings she’d been just a few days before, when she’d hated his guts. But somehow she couldn’t quite do it. And it wasn’t just about the physical pull. The truth was, Noah Caldwell was a good guy.