Love by Design (Crystal Falls Book 1) (6 page)

Noah laughed. “I’m moving the rest of my stuff over this weekend. Thanks for offering.”

“Boy, you know how much I love physical labor. But I’m in Reno this weekend. Sorry I won’t be lifting any couches with you.”

“I know, I know.” Noah chuckled again. “No worries. I’ve got that new kid, Brandon, from my office coming to give me a hand.”

Rick not only had offices in Crystal Falls but owned a condo in the same building as Noah’s as well. On the rare occasion that Rick was in town he and Noah were almost joined at the hip but he spent most of his time in his palatial home in Reno where his main offices were located. As brash and loud as Rick could be, Noah loved the guy. With Rick’s help, Noah had grown from a minor cog in a very big wheel in San Francisco to owning his own company with more than twenty employees. He couldn’t have done it without Rick’s constant advice. Certainly not without his friendship.

“So, how’s the new job going?” Rick asked, looking out the floor to ceiling windows over a spectacular view of the sun sinking below the ridge of the opposite mountain.

“Okay, so far. Upton is a pain in the ass. She doesn’t even seem to care about the house, just keeps hitting on me.”

Rick chuckled. “I don’t know how you do it. All these rich women throwing themselves at you, you just ignoring them. If it were me, I’d have done every one of them.”

“Yeah, well I’m not you.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Rick said with a chuckle, taking a deep swallow of beer before easing himself into one of the two barstools, the only furniture in the room. Noah sat in the other stool and leaned his long forearms against the white granite bar top.

“There is a little hitch with the job though,” Noah said.

Rick raised his eyebrows.

“Lily.”

Rick’s eyebrows shot up even further.

“She was hired to do the design. So I’ve been working with her.”

Rick let out a low whistle. “Is it the first time you’ve seen her since…”

Noah nodded and frowned.

“God. I’m sorry, man. That’s got to be rough.”

“It’s strange. Frustrating. She looks good, man.”

“Of course she does. Lily has always looked good. But boy, that temper. I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it. Not after I saw the way she exploded on you at the lake. That was some crazy shit.” Rick shook his head and polished off his beer.

“We were all drinking too much. And I should have taken the time to explain to her what really happened between me and Maggie. But she just kept screaming at me and I lost my head.”

Noah frowned and hopped up to get them both another beer.

“I know, bud. I was there. I
am
kind of surprised the two of you never worked it out though. It isn’t like you actually cheated on her. Sure you guys said some pretty messed up things to one another, but that can always be fixed. I jstill don’t understand why you didn’t just tell her what really happened once everything calmed down.”

Noah sat back down beside Rick with a sigh.

“I don’t really understand it either. It just took me so long to get over her going off on me in public the way she did that I guess when I finally did it seemed like it was too late. That, and maybe I started thinking I’d be okay without her.”

“And you still feel like that?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. Seeing her again has been rough. It’s brought up a lot of feelings I thought I was over. On top of that, moving into this house is doing strange things to me. It feels wrong somehow, almost like she’s been here already, like she belongs here. I guess I just had so many plans as I created this place that it feels like we’ve already lived here together.”

“That makes sense. You and Lily were joined at the hip for years. And, yeah,” Rick said, looking around the house again, “I can see Lily here. She would have loved this place.”

“I’m starting to wonder if I can handle it. Seeing her again, living here. It feels like it’s too much for me all of a sudden. I’ve even started thinking about moving lately, just so I can shake her. Start over or something.”

Rick sipped his beer. “Well, you know I don’t want you to leave town. I’ve invested too much in that overblown firm you’ve got.” Rick smiled at Noah’s mock anger. “Not to mention, well, I’d just miss you.”

It was as personal a thing as Rick had ever said and Noah knew he meant it.

“So if you need help, let me know. If you want to try to get her back I’ll support you all the way. And if you just need a little manly diversion, I’ve got that covered too.” Rick laughed and whacked Noah on the back. “Bottom line, I’ll do what I can to keep you here. For purely selfish reasons, of course.”

Noah smiled and patted Rick on the shoulder. “Of course.”

He knew Rick well and knew he was good for his word, although Noah hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Hopefully he could handle his feeling for Lily, however complicated, on his own.

A week ago, as Lydia had said goodbye to Lily outside of Plush, she’d given her a set of keys for the cabin along with a big hug. It hadn’t quite seemed real to her until that moment, with the keys to someone else’s property in her hands, that she was actually working on her first real job as a business owner.

Finding a friend in Lydia had changed everything for her. She’d been determined from the beginning to make it work, but that first day with the surprise of Noah and the rudeness of her client had tested her. Knowing that she would mostly be working with Lydia and that they had a similar eye for design made it all seem bearable. She thought she might even be able to tolerate Noah. Or at least find plenty of ways to avoid him.

Now, she hesitated at the door of the cabin before putting the key in the lock. This was it, her very first real job. She was determined to make it perfect. She readjusted the bag on her shoulder, heavy with samples and magazines, and turned the key, pushing the door open.

The cabin was musty and as she walked through the big empty living area, the dust she kicked up making streaks in the late afternoon sun. She’d hoped to time her visit so she would miss Noah and whatever crews were already working on the remodel and the complete quiet inside told her she’d done just that.

Her biggest challenge in designing was the fact that Noah was planning to change so much. She had no idea how the cabin would look when he was finished with it and it was hard to design the decor when she couldn’t visualize the finished product.

She knew she should just call Noah to see if she could get a copy of the remodel plans. It was what she would have done had she still worked at Blackwood. But so far she hadn’t worked up the courage to dial his number.

She set her bag down and went to the master bedroom. With any luck Noah would get the work started soon and she could at least make the most important room in the house perfect.

Lily was surprised to find the room empty of all the old furniture that had cluttered it only a week before, a gaping hole now cut in one exterior wall and covered with a sheet of plastic. Where the wall between the bedroom and bath had once been, only support beams remained. She’d heard Noah and Mrs. Upton talking about redoing the fireplace and it looked like he’d already gotten started on it.

She moved toward the missing exterior wall and looked out to the patch of grass below. She imagined the area in spring, flowers blooming, the trees putting on new leaves. She made a note to shop for an outdoor table and chairs, possibly some lights for the trees. It was the perfect place to sit with a morning cup of coffee. Or a glass of wine at twilight. The hole in the wall was wide and went all the way to the floor, just the size for double doors going out to the yard.

It would be beautiful when it was finished, she had no doubt. No matter how annoyed she was with Noah, the man had real taste. She’d seen many of his projects, both before and after, had worked on many as well, and knew that he had a magic touch when it came to buildings. It had been one of the sexiest things about him. When they’d been together she had loved to watch him work, bent over his drafting table at his apartment, lost in thought.

It would be easier to do her job if she saw his redesign plans. She frowned, wishing again that she could just get over it already and give Noah a call. It shouldn’t be this difficult to deal with him. She was the one who broke up with him, after all. And yet, as hard as it was for her to admit, she still struggled with feelings for him. She still missed him.

She was just coming out of the bedroom when she heard someone come through the front door.

“Hello?” she called. Although she knew she had every right to be there, she still felt embarrassed being in the cabin alone.

“It’s just me,” Noah replied.

He wore old jeans and a faded black t-shirt that stretched across his muscular chest. He wasn’t wearing glasses today and his laid-back look reminded her of many weekends with him, the two of them cuddled up on the couch or wrapped around one another in their tiny tent while they camped in the mountains. Love of the outdoors was one of the many things the two of them had in common and they spent many weekends during their summers together setting up tents, hiking the sides of mountains, making out under the stars with a campfire blazing nearby. The thought of them in the mountains made her blush - they hadn’t always been great together, but the sex had been unforgettable, almost uncontrollable. He’d somehow managed to make her feel at once like a wild thing and truly feminine.

“How’s it going?” he asked. He lay a set of blueprints on the counter and rolled them out.

“Fine, so far.”

“Did you see the master?”

“Yeah, you’ve gotten a lot done already.”

“I wanted to get it done quickly for you.” He looked up at her. When their eyes met she felt heat spread from her core through her entire body. She wished she wouldn’t have started thinking about making love to him. It was so hard to stop, once she started.

“Thanks.” Although she was itching to look at the plans, she kept to the other side of the room, not trusting herself with her own feelings or her body’s reckless arousal.

“I brought the final design plans. I thought you might want to see them.”

Damn.
So much for staying away from him.

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Lily came up beside him, trying to ignore the closeness of his body, and bent over the plans.

Noah turned sideways and leaned against the counter to make more room for her but he kept his eyes only on her.

Lily flipped through the stack of drawings, carefully inspecting each area where he’d made changes.

“Wow, Noah, these are beautiful.” She glanced up at him and he smiled. His eyes on her made her hot all over. She gave him a quick smile in return and turned back to the plans.

“I especially love this new connection you’ve made to the master bath. The two-sided fireplace is really going to open that room up.”

As she studied his plans he eased away from the counter and stepped around behind her to look over her shoulder.

“The kitchen’s going to take the most work. The whole thing has to be gutted. But at least you won’t have to do much in the way of design work in here once I’m done.”

She didn’t realize Noah was so close until she turned and almost ran into his chest. He had her trapped against the old counter and she froze, wondering whether to stay where she was or duck sideways. She smelled the warm manliness of his body. He was so close that if she wanted to, she could lean ever so slightly and brush his neck with her lips. She remembered how much he used to like being kissed there.

His eyes turned slightly darker, more serious. He took a step closer and she lost her breath. In that moment, she wanted so badly to grab him, pull him into her, feel his strong hands on her skin. She closed her eyes.

“Lily,” he whispered, and her knees went weak. “I need to say something.”

She started to shake her head no but he grabbed her chin. Her eyes flew back open.

“I only want to say that I’m sorry about how everything turned out. That I still miss you.”

Her lips parted as his hand continued to hold her chin. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking as his gaze moved from her open mouth back to her eyes. He shifted the hand that held her jaw and ran the pad of his thump over her soft lips, very very lightly.

“I should have said it a long time ago, and I’m sorry for that too.”

He rubbed her cheek with his knuckles and she shivered under his touch.

He stepped back suddenly, breaking the spell, and she felt her legs wobble. She reached a hand for the counter to steady herself. Her mind and heart were racing and she couldn’t think of a thing to say.

He watched her a minute more before stepping around her to the blueprints. “This is a copy of the plans, for you to take with you. I thought you might need it for the design work.”

His hand brushed hers as he reached down to wrap the papers up. A spark went through her and she shuddered.
Say something, Lily. Come on.

He hesitated a moment longer, watching her with his steady green eyes, but she couldn’t will herself to say a thing. Her mind was blank - only her body had a response.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you around,” he told her as he put the rubber band around the tube of papers and handed it to her.