out.
"Is that your new uniform?" he asked Amanda as she stood scowling in the center of the room, her hands still fisted in the pockets of baggy gray sweats.
"I don't go in until two today."
"That's nice." He crossed his outstretched legs at the ankles. "I like your sister."
"That was obvious."
He only grinned. "What does she do, anyway?"
"If you mean professionally, she's a naturalist at Acadia National Park." "Wildflowers and stuff. It suits."
As if the admiration in his voice didn't bother her in the least, she shrugged and walked to the terrace doors. "I thought you'd be taking measurements or something." Glancing over her shoulder, she shot him a narrow look. "Of the rooms, that is."
This time he laughed outright. "You're mighty cute when you're jealous, Calhoun."
Now she turned to look deliberately down her nose. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you do, but you can relax. I've already set my sights on you."
Did he expect her to be flattered? she wondered. The hell of it was that, in a odd way, she was. "Do I look like a target?"
"I'd say more like the grand prize." In a gesture of peace, he held up a hand as she sucked in her breath to swear at him. "Before you get more fired up, why don't we deal with business?"
"I am not fired up," she lied. "And I don't see what business we could have."
"Trent said you were the one I should...collaborate with, until he got back. Seeing as you're the one who handles most of the family business, and you've got a firsthand knowledge of hotels."
Because it was logical, she calmed enough to consider it. "What do you want to know?"
How long it's going to take me to knock down that wall around you, he thought. "I figured you'd want to take a look at what I've started. I'd like to get to the drawing board soon."
Actually she was dying to see, but kept her agreement grudgingly cool. "All right, but I only have a few minutes."
"I'll take what I can get."
He waited as she crossed the room. She didn't trust him worth spit, Sloan decided. And that was just fine for now.
"I've got two of the suites mapped out," he told her, shuffling papers. "Plus the tower and most of the dining room here."
She leaned closer, squinting a bit to focus without her reading glasses. As
Lilah had been, she was impressed with the sketches. Not only were they competent, but they showed a quick understanding of mood, tone and the practicality necessary for smooth service.
"You work fast," she said, surprised.
"When it's called for." He enjoyed watching the way she lifted a hand to tuck back the swing of hair, not with the sinuous movements of her redheaded sister, but with a quick, absent flick. She smelled of soap and some cool sprinkle of scent.
"What's this?"
"What's what?" He was too busy with the way the sunlight showered on her hair to pay attention to anything else.
"This." She tapped a finger on a sketch.
"Hmm. That's an old servants' stairway. We bring this wall out here, to box it in." He took her finger to slide it along the sketch, the rough side of his palm fitting over the smooth skin of her hand. "It makes this suite two levels, the sitting room and bath down here, two bedrooms and a master bath up here. Since the stairs are already open, it gives us a separation of functions without closing off the flow of space."
"It's nice." Vaguely uneasy with the contact, she flexed her hand but only succeeded in tangling her fingers with his. "I suppose you're going taget estimates and bids."
"I've made some calls."
Something seemed to be happening to her legs from the knees down. They'd gone weak on her, as if she'd run a very long, very fast race. "Well, you..." She braced and turned her head to face him. His eyes were very close, very quiet, very calm."Obviously you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, I do."
Oh, yeah, he did, she thought as she felt herself pulled toward him - not by his hand, but by something soft and warm and needy inside her. She had only to give in to it, to lean a little closer. Her mouth could be on his, and she would know, as she had known the day before, a kind of whippy excitement and dazzling pleasure. He was waiting, watching her, with those dark green eyes going from calm to intense, willing her to make that