Follow Your Heart (Catalina Cove #4) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,31
new wiring in parts of the club, Hank? Says who?”
“The code enforcement inspector from the fire department. They did their inspection today and said the old wiring in the kitchen and bar areas didn’t pass, and before we can go to the next stage of renovations, new wiring has to be installed.”
Tanner rubbed the back of his neck. That’s the last thing he wanted to hear. That would result in more money and more time, and the club needed to open its doors and be fully operational by New Year’s Eve. “Where’s this inspector?” he asked Hank.
“In the lobby. And just so you know, that inspector is also saying that in order for them to approve a total capacity of three hundred for the club, we will need to put additional stalls in the women’s restroom, or add an additional restroom altogether.”
“Three restrooms for women in a club that will primarily be frequented by men? That won’t be happening,” Tanner said, grumbling as he headed out of his office. He and this inspector needed to talk. Negotiate. Do whatever needed to be done to remove any setbacks to the renovation process.
He rounded the corner that led to the main entryway of the club and bumped in to someone. “Whoa,” he said, immediately extending his arms out. “Sorry about that.”
After the person steadied themself and removed their hard hat, he saw it was a female. A very gorgeous female. Tanner knew he was staring, but he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was that just like that, his testosterone levels were spinning all over the place.
“Mr. Jamison, I presume?”
He could barely remember his name due to the rush of blood barreling through his veins. “Yes, I’m Tanner Jamison. And you are?” he asked extending his hand.
“Lyric Evans, code enforcement inspector for the New Orleans Fire Department,” the woman said, taking his offered hand.
Tanner had the ability to size up a woman’s body in a single sweep, and the one standing before him was absolutely gorgeous. Her breasts were a perfect size—probably a C cup. He particularly liked the way they were tilting upward against her shirt, showing how firm they were. And she had such a small waist that her shirt looked pretty damn good tucked inside her trousers.
Her facial features were striking. Almost too striking. There were her full lips, perfectly shaped chin and high cheekbones. Her eyes were a shade that reminded him of chestnuts and her hair was styled in short twists all over her head, making her face appear fuller. She looked to be in her twenties. Twenty-seven or twenty-eight. And he was convinced she had to be the sexiest woman he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting, and in his day, he’d met a lot.
“May I have my hand back, Mr. Jamison?”
He immediately released her hand. “Sorry about that.” He quickly reclaimed his senses, which had gone tumbling to the great beyond the moment he’d seen her.
“No problem. I assume your foreman told you what I said.”
Her words brought Tanner’s attention back to the matter at hand. He and his partners had a lot at stake here, and everything hinged on the club opening on time. “Yes, and I’m sure it’s something we can work out.”
She frowned. “There is nothing to work out, Mr. Jamison. Unless the areas of the club in my report are rewired, I can’t sign off on the permit you’ll need to continue your renovations. And then there’s the issue with the number of stalls in the women’s restroom.”
The frown that appeared on his face was deeper than hers. “Is all that necessary?”
“I would not have cited them if they weren’t.”
Tanner was a man who knew the significance of his charm and when to put it to use. “Is it okay if I call you Lyric?”
She met his gaze. “No. I prefer to be called this,” she said, tapping the name tag on her shirt that read Inspector Evans.
So she wanted to play hardball. He would just have to thicken the charm, knowing she would succumb eventually. “Inspector Evans, how about dinner tonight?”
“Dinner?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes, dinner.” He watched her hug the clipboard to her chest as if she’d sensed his interest there. It wasn’t his fault that his gaze had kept drifting to her breasts.
“Mr. Jamison, you do know there are penalties for trying to bribe me. One major one would be my recommendation that the city pull your permit to complete the work on this place.”