steam coming out his ears. “You wouldn’t.”
“I’ll be doing my job, Mr. Jamison. So, yes, I would.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?”
Lyric Evans narrowed her eyes. “What’s extreme is risking people’s lives in your club because of faulty wiring or there not being enough toilets in the ladies’ restroom in case—”
“There won’t be that many women patronizing this club,” he interrupted.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Are you saying that you’re opening an all-male club? Are you discriminating?”
Tanner felt a tension headache coming on. “What I’m saying is that this will be a private-membership, men-only club—however, men can invite women as their guests any time they want.”
“I just bet they can.”
Trying to keep his agitation under control, Tanner said, “And there is no way we can compromise?”
“None,” she said, tearing off a slip of paper and handing it to him. “Have a nice day, Mr. Jamison.” Then she turned and left.
“Have a good day, my ass,” he muttered, watching her leave. And speaking of ass, he couldn’t help noticing she definitely had a pretty nice one.
* * *
“REWIRING? MORE STALLS in the women restrooms? Are you kidding us?”
Tanner had known the news wouldn’t go over well with his two business partners. “I know. I know. I don’t like it, either, but that inspector, she’s a real hardnose.”
“Hell, Tanner, you’re known to charm the panties off any woman,” Wyatt Bannister said. “What happened?”
Tanner rubbed his hand down his face in frustration. “I tried, but like I said, she was a hardnose.”
“Let’s call in a second opinion,” Wyatt suggested.
“We can do that,” Blade said, “but we’re racing against time if we want to have the club open for New Year’s Eve. Already we’ve reached membership capacity, and we do want people kept safe.”
“Fine. I’ll let you guys know the additional cost after I get an estimate,” Tanner said.
After his call with Blade and Wyatt ended, Tanner moved around his condo, skirting boxes he had yet to unpack. There wasn’t too much since the place was furnished. But just knowing he hadn’t unpacked was pathetic. He’d had a date every night since arriving in New Orleans, and he smiled as he thought that, considering how each night ended, he truly couldn’t complain.
His mind immediately went to Lyric Evans. There was something about her that had got to him. Yes, she had pissed him off, but she’d also gotten to him in another way, as well.
Curiosity propelled him to the laptop he’d set up on his kitchen table. Once it was booted up and ready, he went to Facebook to see if Lyric Evans had a Facebook page. He found hers immediately, since the name Lyric wasn’t that common. There was a timeline photo of her and three other women. Lyric Evans was wearing a short dress with a pair of stilettos. Now he was seeing a pair of gorgeous legs that he hadn’t seen today. He felt his groin tighten just looking at her in that outfit.
He studied the photo and it appeared to have been taken on a cruise ship. Tanner noted it was a private Facebook page so he couldn’t see any other photos and her posts were hidden. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any information about her available. Just as well, since the woman was bringing out an irregularity in him. Here he was stalking her Facebook page, a first for him. He’d never been this taken with a woman before, so why was he so interested in her? He wasn’t a man who let a nice face and a luscious body go to his head, and he wouldn’t start doing so now.
Tanner was about to click off the page when something captured his attention. Her profile picture, with the name of a gym on her T-shirt. Evans’s Gym.
CHAPTER TEN
“AUDRIA. I UNDERSTAND you’ve been trying to reach me,” Roman said when she answered his call.
“I have. I would think you would be checking your messages more.”
Roman came close to saying he had been checking his messages, and he’d returned calls to those he’d wanted to talk to. Instead, he asked, “So what’s up? Mint said it sounded urgent.”
“I think you and I should talk.”
“Why? What do we need to talk about?”
“Dad told me about your meeting with the senate majority leader and what he suggested about your marital status.”
Roman frowned. “And this affects you how?”
“Because I’m the best person to be by your side. I’ve been groomed to be the wife of a politician.”
He’d heard that before from her. Several times.
When he didn’t