“Bad news?” she asked, feeling her heart jump in her chest. She didn’t know if it was from the prospect of his inspection highlighting more problems that would cost her a lot of money or just the way he moved that had her body reacting so.
“Some. I’m afraid the west building will need a completely new fire system. Just the mechanics of it. Until I have a chance to check the individual sprinklers and alarms in each of the guest rooms, we can start there. The old computer system has finally died.” He sat down across from her and leaned back as if expecting to stay for a while.
“I’ll arrange for a new system.” She turned back to her laptop and added a reminder to talk to David about pricing one out. “Anything else?” She looked up at him.
He was smiling at her. “Anyone ever tell you that the glasses are sexy?”
Her entire system jumped into overdrive at the look he was giving her.
She didn’t know how to respond. She’d never been any good at flirting. One more reason why it had been ten years since she’d dated.
Swallowing, she shifted in her chair uncomfortably and was thankful when another knock on the door saved her from having to answer.
Chapter Eight
The word “enough” does not exist for water, fire, and women. ~ Ukrainian Proverb
Cade hadn’t expected Raven to react to his compliment the way she had. Seeing the blood drain from her face and her eyes searching the room for an escape route had at first confused him.
Had he misread how she’d been reacting to him or the sexual tension he’d felt building up between them?
Either way, he’d realized that the only way to get what he needed from her was to get her to be completely relaxed and trusting around him. Which meant letting loose about his own desires around her.
When Rachelle Braun knocked on Raven’s door and entered, he could tell Raven was relieved.
“Raven, I need your…” Rachelle stopped just inside the doorway. “Oh, Cade, I didn’t know you were here.” The woman smiled at him. Rachelle was a close friend of his mother. The two women often met for drinks or shopping trips.
“Hi, Rach.” He stood up. “I was just leaving.” He turned back to Raven. “I’ll let you know when I can start inspecting each of the suites. Until then…” He flipped open his notebook and took out the duplicate of his inspection report. “Here is my preliminary report. Until these items are met, I’m afraid that the west building is off limits to guests.”
Raven sighed as she took the report from him. “I’ll see to it.” She set the report down on her desk. “Thank you.”
He nodded to Rachelle as he left Raven’s office. Heading back down the hall towards the lobby, he held in a groan when he noticed Liza standing around trying to act like she wasn’t waiting for him.
“Oh.” She turned slightly as if just noticing him. “Cade.” Her smile grew. It wasn’t that Liza Brooks wasn’t pretty. She was easily as good-looking as Raven, just… different.
Where Raven had natural beauty in her long red hair, porcelain skin, and subtle elegant style, Liza had shorter blonde hair with tons of product in it and her style was… well, louder and more expensive.
Not to mention that Raven had an inner beauty that showed each time she talked to someone around her with respect. Liza talked down to everyone as if they were there to serve her.
“Are you still hanging around here?” she asked when he stopped directly beside her.
“I was just leaving,” he told her, hoping this would discourage her from a lengthy conversation.
“Oh, well”—she wrapped her arm through his and started pulling him towards the bar area— “I was hoping you’d join me for lunch.”
He quickly glanced down at his watch and realized it was a quarter past one in the afternoon. He’d lost track of time working and when he’d been with Raven.
“I…” He tried to think of an excuse, but then Liza broke in.
“Don’t say no. I simply can’t stand that we haven’t had time to chat lately.” Liza stuck out her bottom lip in a pout that looked a little overacted.
“I suppose a sandwich—” He didn’t get anything else out, as she pulled him through the construction and into the seating area.
“There,” she said, sitting next to him at a table in the rotunda. “Isn’t this nice? I suppose some of the changes my cousin is making around here are… tolerable.” Liza waved her hand as if motioning to the area.
He had to admit, he’d admired every change Raven had made so far. Even though there were large sheets of plastic hanging up everywhere in the lobby to keep the construction dust to a minimum, he could see that when all the work was done, it would be a vast improvement from what it was before.
“It is starting to shape up around here,” he agreed, setting his binder down in the chair next to him.
Liza waved a waiter over and quickly rattled off her order. Since he’d been down in the kitchens earlier, he knew they were short-staffed at the moment and ordered the same thing Liza had. After they received their drinks, Liza narrowed her eyes at him and asked.
“Why is it you and I have never…”
He almost choked on the sip of water he’d taken.
“Excuse me?” he asked, trying to sound relaxed.
Liza leaned forward, placing her impressive breasts slightly on the table. No doubt after seeing him in Raven’s office earlier, she’d rushed up to her rooms to change out of the slacks and blouse she’d been wearing earlier to the outfit she now wore. The low-cut top and skintight pants were more fit for a club than an empty hotel dining room.
“You know what I mean. Why haven’t we gone out? Partied?” Her smile grew as her breath lowered. “Surely we could have had some fun times together.”
He shook his head. “I suppose it’s because I’ve been busy working,” he said, thinking a completely different thing. After all, in the past ten years since his return, he’d been hard at work helping rebuild Cannon Falls, helping others in their time of need, while Liza had been sulking and selfishly partying her time away.
“Oh.” She frowned slightly at him, then playfully slapped his shoulder. “We’ll just have to change that.”
He held in a groan. “My job…” he started, only to have her roll her eyes at him.
“How hard could your job be? There hasn’t been a fire in Cannon Falls for ten years.” She giggled.
He felt his entire body stiffen. “That’s a good thing,” he reminded her. “And part of my job. A fire marshals’ main job is fire prevention.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” she continued, as if she wasn’t aware that she was being offensive. “It’s a sexy career, being a fireman, but I would think that you have a lot of downtime. Time to fill.” She leaned closer to him and wrapped her finger around his arm. “With other things,” she finished with a purr.
“Sister, can’t you see that you’re scaring Cade.” Cal Brooks walked over and sat down in the chair directly across from him.