Читать книгу Model Perfect Passion - Melanie Schuster - Страница 12

Billie couldn’t remember a time when she was as happy to see a date end, even though her lunch with Jason technically wasn’t a date. It was a business meeting, nothing more, but the result was a whole lot less satisfactory than she hoped. She was too honest to pretend she hadn’t enjoyed most of it; Jason was attractive to the eye and quite charming—at least he was until the moment he revealed himself to be a pompous jackass. After that epoch-making moment the meeting had gone south rather quickly.

She had asked Jason to take her back to her car, which was still parked at Pax. He had done so with a minimum of conversation, for which she was grateful because she wasn’t in the mood for small talk. Now she was headed to Nick and Dakota’s house and reliving every moment of the debacle as she maneuvered through the traffic. Jason the Jerk, as she now thought of him, had a lot of nerve, which was really too bad, because he was a darned nice guy when he wanted to be. He’d been great company with wonderful conversation and insight about her favorite topic, real estate. She could admit to herself that she was attracted to him in an unexpected way. How could she not be attracted to him? He was handsome, sexy and totally male—that was blatantly obvious. He was intelligent and he certainly had a good grasp of his business. He wasn’t just blowing smoke. His success in real estate was deserved, from what she could see, and she found that quite admirable. But when he came out with his blanket condemnation of people who shared the same desire she did, she saw him in a very different, very unflattering light.

As soon as he uttered his withering opinion on house flippers, her assessment of him changed. Sure, there were people who went into the business with dollar signs in their eyes and blinders on, but Billie wasn’t one of those people. True, she was guilty of having an interest in home-improvement TV shows that bordered on fanaticism, but that wasn’t why she wanted to go into rehabbing. Billie wasn’t one of those people who thought she could gain sudden wealth by getting a house and taking it from a wreck to a palace in three weeks. Despite the many television shows that made it seem like rehabbing a house was quick and easy, she knew it wasn’t. In fact, she hated the term “flipping” because it cheapened the whole process of restoring a home.

By now she was at the big brick home of her sister and brother-in-law. She pulled up behind Nick’s truck in the long driveway and got out of her car, slamming the door with more force than was warranted. Nick was coming around the corner of the house from the backyard and he gave her a quizzical look.

“You look kinda pissed off. What’s got your tail in a knot, little sister?”

Billie blew out a long, gusty breath. “Nick, do you think I’m a naive amateur?”

“Depends. You planning to play a round of Texas Hold ’em with some professional gamblers, or are we talking about something else?”

Nick could always make her laugh. “No, I’m not talking about playing poker, although I can hold my own with a deck of cards, thank you. I just had lunch with Jason Wainwright and he thinks that people who get into remodeling houses are feckless, greedy dilettantes who end up losing everything.”

Nick made an odd face, obviously trying not to smile at her heated anger. “Look, Billie, you can’t take what he said personally. That’s just his opinion, and to be truthful, there are some folks that get in over their heads and end up with a big mess on their hands. But that’s not you. What have I told you about restoring a house?”

Billie pulled her right glove off with her teeth and began counting off the precepts that Nick had drilled into her head. “You have to make the right choices. You have to pick the right property and inspect it carefully so you don’t get any expensive surprises like leaking pipes, water-damaged floors or mold. You have to pick the right contractor, someone you can rely on to get the job done right the first time. You have to pick the right real-estate agent to get the property priced right and get it shown right.” She stopped in her counting to give Nick an aggrieved look. “And when I get with the man who I think is the best broker in Chicago, he makes me feel like a total idiot,” she said angrily.

“Then he’s not the right agent for you, Billie. Pick somebody else, somebody who understands what you’re trying to do and supports you. And can you do one other thing, too?” He looked down at her with utter seriousness in his eyes.

“What’s that, Nick?”

“Go in the house. It’s cold out here,” he said, holding the storm door open so she could enter. She was laughing as she went up the few steps to the warm kitchen. The wonderful aroma of Dakota’s spaghetti sauce filled the house and Billie felt better at once. Dakota was stirring the big pot of sauce and adjusting the seasonings. She greeted her sister with a smile.

“You look pretty, as always. How was your lunch with the real-estate mogul?”

“Just awful, thank you.” Billie took off her jacket and hung it up in the hall closet before sitting in the kitchen with her sister. She quickly ran through the events of the afternoon and ended by saying that Jason Wainwright was an obnoxious lout. To her surprise, Dakota defended him.

“Now, Billie, don’t be so hard on the man. He doesn’t know you so he doesn’t know that this is a lifelong passion of yours.” She gave the pot a final stir and put the lid back on before joining Billie at the breakfast table. “I know it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but he doesn’t know that.” Nick and Cha-Cha joined the two women. Cha-Cha followed Nick everywhere, just like a little dog. She doted on him, which amused Dakota to no end because Nick had always claimed to dislike cats until he met her. Armed with a sharp knife and two big red apples, Nick sat at the table with the cat sitting next to him, watching his every move. He was cutting the apples into precise, even pieces while he listened to the discussion. Dakota directed her words to him, as well.

“When Billie was little she used to look at houses and figure out what she would do to them if she lived there. She’d paint this one, put siding on that one and add shutters, whatever. And she worked with our uncle Roy every summer. He was a master carpenter and she would follow him around like his little apprentice. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have expected her to do anything else with her life. Making old houses beautiful has always been her dream. You’ll do great in this business, honey. You can’t let one man’s opinion get you down. And just because he shot his mouth off doesn’t make him the enemy. He might turn out to be a great ally once you get to know him better.”

Billie appropriated a couple of pieces of Nick’s apple and frowned. “I doubt that seriously. Right now it’s my fervent hope to never see him again in this life.”

“Well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Dakota said mildly. “But you can help me with dinner, if you want. Toni’s coming over and she says she has something to tell us.”

Billie brightened at once. Toni was one of her favorite people and she always looked forward to seeing her. “I wonder what she has to tell us?” she mused.

She took another piece of Nick’s apple and went to the sink to wash her hands while she chewed on it.

Dakota made a noncommittal sound. “Considering the last big announcement that Toni made was about that no-good sleazebag ex-fiancé being a married man with children, I can only hope this time she has good news,” she said.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Billie agreed. “I still can’t believe he thought he could get away with giving her a fake ring and setting up this fake engagement. If Toni wasn’t such a strong woman she wouldn’t have survived it. I’m just glad they hadn’t formally announced the engagement.”

“Yes, but they were about to! The date for the party was set and the invitations were about to be printed. I know it hurt Toni to her heart, but I’m so glad his little family came trooping over here from Albania before things got public. That would have been horrible. It was hard enough to keep Nick from giving Ivan a beat-down. He believes in protecting people he cares about, especially when they happen to be women. He wanted a piece of Ivan’s behind, but I talked him out of it.”

Billie laughed. “I’ll bet I know how you did your talking, too. You two really can’t keep your hands off each other, can you?”

“Nope. And when you meet the right man, neither will you. Stir the sauce, would you?”

The delicious fragrance of the sauce assailed her nostrils as Billie wondered for a second what it would feel like if Jason couldn’t keep his hands off her body. Where did that come from? she wondered as she dropped the spoon, splattered the sauce and burned her hand. Serves me right. Let the player play and let me keep my mind on my business.

Jason wasn’t often caught by surprise, because a man in his position couldn’t afford to be blindsided. But on this day, he had two shocks laying in wait for him. His first surprise was the reaction he’d gotten from Billie when he made his thoughtless remark about people who thought they could make big bucks by restoring houses and reselling them. He’d had absolutely no idea that she was trying to get into that line of work but he certainly knew it now. Once he saw the look on her face he knew he’d put his foot in it. He’d issued a glib apology at once, an apology that she brushed off like a pesky gnat. Even now he could hear her slow, measured voice as she’d responded to his words.

“It’s quite all right, you don’t have to apologize for having an opinion,” she’d said coolly.

He had tried again to make amends. “I’ve offended you and that wasn’t my intention at all. I was speaking from experience, Billie. I’ve had numerous friends try to get rich by doing that very thing, and some of them ended up losing everything and having to declare bankruptcy. If you believe what you read and what you see on TV, it seems like the easiest thing in the world to do, but it’s a lot of hard work,” he’d told her.

His carefully chosen words and soothing tone of voice hadn’t done the trick. If anything they seemed to have the same calming effect as pouring gasoline on an open flame. Her eyes had turned icy and her face was distinctly unfriendly. “Well, thank you for your excellent advice. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to my car now. I have some things to attend to this afternoon. Thanks so much for the lunch and the lecture. I really appreciate your time.”

And just like that the date was over. He had to give her props for maintaining her composure and for doing something totally unexpected. He could count on one hand the times he’d been caught off guard by a woman, but Billie was proving to be unique. There was a lot more to her than just a beautiful face and figure; this was a woman with bite and substance. What was really rattling his cage was his reaction to her. Instead of being turned off by her, his internal thermostat was turned way up by her personality and her fire. He was looking forward to getting to know her better. But before he could devote himself to that endeavor, he had a small task to accomplish.

He turned his Hummer in the direction of Patrice’s apartment building. He had a Tiffany necklace to deliver and he didn’t want to draw out the process. Patrice was charming and sweet, but whatever slight intrigue she’d provided him was over. It was time to move on.

He parked the big SUV in the visitors’ section of the parking lot and entered the front door of the building. He waved a greeting to the doorman and went to the elevator. As he rode up to Patrice’s floor, he checked his appearance in the mirrored interior and put his hand in his blazer pocket to feel the sharp corners of the small, pale-blue box.

He hadn’t bothered to call before he came over because it was part of their unspoken agreement. He was welcome at her home anytime. He rang the bell and waited for the door to open and in less than a minute Patrice was there. She was dressed in loungewear, a long, silky, yellow knit dress. She was also wearing her usual pleasant expression, which could mean that she was ecstatic or just sleepy. She always looked the same, regardless of her mood.

“Hello, Jason. Please come in,” she invited. “Can I get you something to drink?”

He returned her greeting with a brief, dry kiss on the cheek and took a seat in the living room. “No thanks, Patrice. I’m not going to be here long,” he said.

Patrice walked to the other end of the long sofa on which he was sitting and sat, giving him an expectant look. “I see,” she said. “Am I getting my pink slip today?”

Jason sat bolt upright and stared at her. “Excuse me?”

“I think I’m being let go,” she said calmly. “It’s time for me to collect my necklace.”

When Jason didn’t reply, she assured him she wasn’t upset. “We knew this wasn’t permanent and I had a really great time with you,” she said politely.