Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,51
counter as Jake bounded in. “Ladies,” he said, flashing Cassie a wink behind Liv’s back. “I see we all have the same idea. Listening to Em drone on this afternoon requires caffeine preparation.”
“Truth,” Olivia replied. “Sorry, Cass. You were saying, you’re enjoying being back?”
Jake glanced at her briefly, but Cassie put her focus on Olivia. “I’d forgotten how nice wide-open spaces and quiet are. It’s like an extended vacation. Except, I was fired. So, not really so much of a vacation.”
“Your boss was an ass. I know you don’t want to work for your dad, but he’d never treat you like that. Heck, when I went over to see him yesterday, he told me he’d make you his second-in-command in a heartbeat if he thought for a moment you’d come back.”
Cassie grinned. “Sounds like Dad. I’ve posted some positions online and will interview as soon as people start coming in. With everything recalibrated and more people on hand, he’ll be fine without me. Plus, we’d probably kill each other. He’s super old-school and he insists I’m from a different world. Truth is, we can both construct a phenomenal building, just with vastly different methods. I couldn’t live with him breathing over my shoulder telling me how to do things his way.”
Olivia’s phone rang and she stepped away from the bar to answer it.
Jake finished making his cup and leaned back against the bar to sip it. “You look good in that shirt,” Jake said quietly.
“It’s the only business-meeting-appropriate one I threw in my luggage. I wasn’t really thinking about the long-term when I packed. I figured I’d only be gone three or four days.”
“Shit. Is that why you’re always doing laundry?”
Cassie nodded. “I should probably concede defeat and buy some clothes on the weekend so I don’t have to keep wearing the same thing. I’ve been keeping track of what I’ve been wearing to the other job sites so I can at least rotate what I have.”
Jake burst out laughing. “You know that’s ridiculous. Guys never remember. Unless it’s something mind-blowing. Or hot.” His eyes roved over the V neck of the shirt and Cassie felt heat rising in her cheeks.
“What’s hot?” Liv said, returning to the bar.
“If you asked Anders what you wore yesterday, would he remember?” Jake asked.
Liv shook her head. “Unless it’s Spandex. He loves when we work out together and has a thing for sports bras.”
“Oh my god.” Jake placed his cup down and covered his ears. “I don’t want to know things like that.”
Cassie laughed. “It kind of makes your point, though. A guy only remembers what you were wearing if he found you hot or stripped you out of it.”
Jake’s eyes flashed down the row of buttons, as if he were thinking about peeling her out of her top. She shook her head an infinitesimally small amount.
“Right, we should go to the boardroom.” Olivia lifted her coffee and phone from the bar.
Jake held the door open, an innocuous move, and let the two of them pass through, but as Cassie stepped into the corridor, he ran his knuckle over the curve of her ass.
She glanced over her shoulder and mouthed stop.
Jake simply grinned and shrugged.
Church and state.
Church and state.
Another reason why she would need to talk to him. While she was here, she was a professional, not his girlfriend or . . . whatever. And the news she was about to deliver wasn’t stellar.
Once seated in the boardroom, the fancy name given to the old round table in Emerson’s office that had once sat in their parents’ kitchen, they all looked to Cassie.
“What’s the damage?” Emerson asked.
Cassie projected her laptop onto the screen so they could all see what she was looking at. “Here’s the overview of the plan. There are certain project gates the distillery has to go through. They’re listed on the left. The green ones are the ones you’ve passed through. Things like permits, contractor selection, demolition, et cetera. Below in yellow are things currently underway. Like the removal of what is left of the roof and the salvage of what was left inside the building now that it’s safe to enter. We’re putting salvageable items in the undamaged portion of the events hall for now so you can make a decision if you want to use, refurbish, or sell. There are definitely saleable assets in fine working order. The final part is there in red. These are all the tasks we haven’t started yet.”