Page 66 of Miss Trust

Chapter Thirty-One

Tory

There weren’t enough cups of coffee in the world to deal with Lorna Valentine the next morning.

“I went ahead and scheduled the contractors to come next week,” Lorna said, inspecting her clipboard without looking at me. “They’ll start by gutting the main house.”

Considering she’d been here only yesterday, I had no doubt she recalled our conversation, and was purposefully ignoring it. “I thought we agreed you’d begin with the pool house.”

Lorna was decked out today in a red dress with four-inch-heeled, red-bottomed shoes. Her outfit probably cost more than my rent back in South Los Angeles. For half a minute this morning, I’d been tempted to put on some makeup and wear something other than jeans today, but then I realized why the hell should I bother? I wouldn’t spend any effort on someone like her.

“Did we? Honestly, it would be easier to start on the main house.”

Sure, we could adjust. Penny and I could move into the pool house, but I wasn’t about to offer it. “Mr. Maxwell wants to start with the pool house.”

She waved her hand. “After years of working with him, I know just what Chance prefers.”

I wasn’t at all jealous of her innuendo. I’m sure wanting to claw her face off didn’t mean anything. All right, maybe I could admit to a smidgen of jealousy. I swallowed down the feeling like a bitter pill, hating to acknowledge any emotions for my boss.

“And what do I prefer?” Chance’s voice came from behind me.

I internally cursed the goose bumps on my skin caused by his voice. It was the first time I’d heard it since last night, and suddenly all of the memories assaulted me. His incredible body, lean and strong. My legs wrapped around him, pulling him deep. The way he hadn’t just gone through the motions, but he’d fully possessed me.

I was pulled from my recollection by the sight of Lorna morphing into a tween girl meeting her K-pop boy band crush for the first time.

“Oh, Chance. I didn’t expect you, but I’m so happy you’re here.”

She practically knocked me down in her hurry to get to him. And dammit, I was hard-pressed to blame her once I turned around. He looked good. Too good. Dressed in dark gray, he was practically sex in a suit.

But instead of focusing on her, his gaze fell on me.

An involuntary shiver snaked through my body as I remembered his gorgeous face between my thighs last night.

As if he could read my wicked thoughts, the bastard smirked.

“I was explaining to your assistant that it makes more sense to start remodeling the main house rather than the pool house. Or if I’m being honest, it would be better to do them both together. You’ve always followed my advice without question, so why would we change things now?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes things change. We’ll begin with the pool house. Also, I’m not convinced a total remodel is in order. Tory has some sensible ideas about a smaller scale project.”

I’m not sure whose eyes got bigger, mine or Lorna’s.

She spoke first. “I don’t do small jobs.”

Chance looked at me, as if waiting for me to take the lead.

Okay, then. “In that case, I’ll start making some phone calls to find someone who does.”

Lorna seethed but must’ve decided a smaller scale project would be better than none at all. “No need. I’ll make it work.”

Chance bit his lip, barely containing his amusement. “Terrific. I’ll leave you ladies to go over the new plan, then Tory and I can discuss the details tonight.”

It was an innocent statement, and yet the way he said “tonight” put my entire body on notice.