“Come on,” he says, taking my hand and pulling me behind him.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you for a new coffee.”
“I can’t, I have to talk to Jean about the stairway, and—”
“They’re just unloading and organizing. It will take a while. They don’t need you yet.”
“How do you know what they need?”
He stops and turns to me with a huff. “Are you always this obstinate when a man tries to buy you coffee?”
“When said man tries to pry me away from my job site? Yes. You hired me to make your home beautiful, not to go to a café with you.”
“You’re stubborn.”
And with that, he bends over and slings me over his shoulder, carrying me easily—and in front of my crew—to his car.
“Attaboy!” Bob yells, giving Reed a thumbs-up.
“You’re not helping!” I call back to him, but he just smiles at me.
Finally, Reed sets me next to his boxy Mercedes SUV and opens the passenger door. “Get in.”
“You just made me a laughing stock in front of my crew.”
Reed frowns and looks around the driveway. “The only one looking this way is Bob, and he’s not laughing. He looks proud of me.”
I sigh in agitation and get into the car before I do what I really want to do: stomp on his foot and march away.
I will not admit that being carried by him, having his arms wrapped around me twice in the span of two minutes, made my core tighten.
I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“There’s a Starbucks up the road.”
I wrinkle my nose.
“Not a Starbucks girl?”
“It’ll do in a pinch. Cherry Street coffee is my favorite, but they’re at least thirty minutes away.”
“I’ll remember that,” he murmurs and drives away from his house. “It’s my fault you spilled the coffee. The least I can do is replace it.”
“It’s not your fault I tripped on a rock.”
“It was my rock.”
I shake my head and glance over at him. “I think we’re both stubborn.”
“Me? No way.” He laughs and takes my hand in his, linking our fingers. Before I can pull away, he kisses the back of my hand.
“Reed, you’re a client.”
“Yes, I am.”
“It’s unprofessional for me to have any other sort of relationship with you.”
“If you don’t like what I’m doing, all you have to do is say so, and I will never bother you again,” he says clearly, all humor gone from his face. “I have no interest in harassing you or making you feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Good. I’m not a jerk, Noel. Now, why do you need us to leave the house again?”
“You heard me the first time.”
“Tell me again, I like your voice.”
I can’t help the laugh that comes out at that statement. He grins at me. “There, I like that very much.”
“I need you both to relocate for a couple of days so you’re out of our way, and so I can do a grand reveal when it’s all finished. I think it’ll be fun for Piper.”
“I do, too. Well, the condo hasn’t sold yet, so we’ll go there for a couple of days.”
“Thanks. We should have it all wrapped up in less than three working days. There’s a lot to do, but the crew is organized and quick. I think you’re going to love it.”
“If it’s as good as the photos you sent, we’ll never want to take it down.”
I smile, pleased that he liked my proposal. I worked my ass off on it, and the design came easily to me, as if I’d done it many times before.
Reed pulls the car into the Starbucks parking lot, and we go inside. My coffee order is very different here than at Cherry Street.
“Grande light roast with plenty of room for cream, please.”
Reed stares down at me. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Okay. I’ll have the same, but make mine a medium roast.”
He pays for our coffees, and once we’ve added the right amount of cream and sweetener, we’re back on the road to his house.
“I could have sworn I smelled caramel in the coffee you spilled,” he says.
“You did. My order at Cherry Street is different. They use a really great, homemade caramel.”
“I’ll have to try it sometime,” he says and smiles. “My condo isn’t far from there.”
My gaze quickly swings to his. “Really? My condo is just around the corner from the First Avenue West location.”
“I’m about a block over.” He grins at me. “How convenient.”
I decide to let that comment slide. I’m so attracted to him, but I don’t have time to get involved right now. The whole client thing isn’t such a big deal because this job is only a couple of days, but the time factor is a thing. “Thank you for this. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” He sets his drink in the cup holder and reaches for my hand again. “Now, before we get back, I want to be up-front and say, right here and now, that I’m incredibly attracted to you, Noel. I’d like to date you.”