Rory (Hope City #7) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,39

she smiled as she approached. “Excuse me, I hate to interrupt your lunch, but I wanted to ask you about the—”

“Who the hell are you?”

Maintaining her calm in the face of his rudeness, she replied, “I’m Ms. Carmichael, the interior designer for the offices in this building. I was just in office 4-C, specifically in the workroom, when I noticed the wiring in outlets.” Pulling out her phone, she quickly scrolled to the photograph of the outlet she had just seen. “This is one, like many in the area, and I wanted to know when they might be finished.”

“Why are you taking pictures of the outlets? That’s got nothing to do with you.”

“It does when I’m looking at the health and safety of the people that will be occupying the office,” she replied, her voice gaining an edge.

“Look, lady, you’ve got no idea what you’re looking at. I understand the wiring, and you understand making shit pretty. I’m not going to tell you your business, so get the fuck out of mine.”

She held his gaze without saying a word for so long, he finally squirmed on his bucket seat. Lifting a hand, he wiped his mouth, and she could see thoughts working behind his eyes as though he was trying to figure out how far to push her.

“A lady never raises her voice in anger but can always find a way to express her displeasure.” A slow, Grinch-like smile curved the edges of her lips. Bending, she leaned closer. “I’ll be more than happy to stay out of your business just as soon as I’m satisfied that you do know what you’re doing. Until then… enjoy your lunch.” Standing straight, she looked down her nose at him, something she rarely got to enjoy considering her short stature. Turning on her heel, she moved to the elevator and went down to the first floor.

Finding Dave in the office with Todd, she waited until they completed their discussion, then jumped in. “Everything in 4-C looks good except for the electrical outlets. I’ve taken several pictures, and I just had a rather unproductive—and I might say rude—conversation with Jonny from Perkins Electrical. I don’t trust him, and I don’t trust whoever might be coming behind him in a supervisory capacity that would be signing off on his work. Therefore, I hate to throw more duties on to you, Dave, but you’re going to have to inspect his work as he goes.” As she spoke, she turned her phone around and showed him the photograph as well.

“Damn,” he grumbled. “I’ve already talked to him once. I’ll get with his supervisor and talk to him.” Holding her gaze intensely, he added, “You don’t have to put up with his mouth, Ms. Carmichael.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Oh, believe me, I know. My grandmother always told me to not get loud when angry, so I learned at an early age to make my point well known.”

Todd walked over, chuckling. “I can attest that she knows exactly how to make a point.”

She hesitated, uncertain how much to say. She caught Dave’s concerned expression and quickly said, “Don’t worry about me. It’s the job site and my work that I’m concerned about.”

His brow furrowed as he shook his head. “You need to let me handle this. It’s not your place, Ms. Carmichael. We each have our jobs to do, and while you don’t need to be disrespected, you also don’t need to push the contractors.”

She sucked in her lips, uncertain if he was worried for her or about her. “Okay… I’m really just trying to cover all our bases.”

Dave’s jaw tightened, and he nodded. “Thanks for the info, Ms. Carmichael. I’m going to look into it and then get with Anthony. The last thing we want is for a problem with this building.”

Saying goodbye, she, Barbara, and Todd walked outside to her SUV. Once driving, Todd glanced to the side and asked, “You okay, boss?”

She scrunched her nose. “Yeah, I guess. I wish that I had more confidence that Dave will truly keep an eye on Perkins. Plus, Anthony asked me out for a working dinner again.”

“What did you tell him?” Barbara asked from the back seat.

“I wasn’t going to accept, but now I wonder if I should and bring up the issue with Perkins Electrical.”

Todd snorted. “That’s romantic!”

“It’s not supposed to be romantic! It would be a working dinner only.”

“Well, I think it’s high time you got a little somethin’ somethin’,” he quipped.

She rolled her eyes