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Her face went gray. Or he imagined it had from her expression because he couldn’t actually see her real skin beneath the makeup. He wondered if he’d be able to see her blush through it.
“Which wall?” she asked again.
“The one you want down between the kitchen/living/dining room. It’s load-bearing. To get rid of the entire length you need a special timber header to maintain the stability of the house. But it’s going to cost you as well. Less if we can keep the portion of the wall that goes around the corner, but still a hefty price tag.”
She dropped her glasses to her nose and leaned forward to peer at the blueprints as if she could magically find the savings she needed to keep her designs intact. The motion pressed her gorgeous tits into the table, putting them on display. He leaned closer, ostensibly to point out the wall in question, but really because he was helpless to stop himself from getting a better view of heaven. Keeping this truce was getting harder and harder, along with another pertinent part of his anatomy. He was having a real difficult time remembering why dating the boss’s daughter was such a bad idea.
“How much?”
“A lot.” He wanted her a lot.
“Specifically, for all of those things you mentioned?”
God, he had to snap out of it. “Ten for the pipes, eight for the wires, five for the header, a few other little fixes, minimum twenty-five K if there are no other surprises.”
“Fuck me.” His cock leapt at the suggestion even though he knew it was metaphorical. “What are we going to do?”
He couldn’t deny he liked the way that “we” sounded.
“We’ll have to get creative. This is why we keep things simple. It’s easier to handle any surprises.”
“Easier is not always better.”
“Well, next time, we plan together, after I do my inspection. But these fixes are non-negotiable. I won’t put them into an unsafe house.”
“Agreed. But shit, how creative can we get and still deliver?”
“I guess we’re going to find out.”
While they sipped their Pinot Noirs, they tossed ideas back and forth. Adrian pushed to downgrade the door package, and Sofia countered with swapping concrete for the counters. When she suggested changing the wall removal to a cased opening, he wanted to kiss her. Maybe, just maybe, they could make this work.
By the time their dinner arrived, the conversation had turned personal.
“So you grew up here?” Sofia took a sip of her wine, and Adrian watched her lovely neck as she swallowed, wanting to press his lips just there. His throat had gone dry, so he took a sip of the Petite Syrah sampler, and managed to answer.
“I was born at Good Sam, grew up in San Jose. My mother still lives with me in the house downtown.”
“And you have sisters right?”
“Yep. Three.”
“And your dad?”
“He’s gone.”
She set down her wine with a clink and grabbed his hand across the table.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s a long story, but he got deported my senior year of high school. I was seventeen when I started working for your dad to help support the family. The separation was stressful on everyone. He had a heart attack about three years later, before his appeal was even processed, and he died because he was too far from a hospital to get help. I never even got to say goodbye.” Her hand squeezed his tighter, and he wondered if she realized it. She usually went out of her way not to touch him.
“Oh my God! I had no idea.”
“You were just a kid when I started working for your dad.”
“So were you.”
“Yeah, not for long. At least I got my GED. My mom, even though she’s got her green card now, has anxiety so bad she’s afraid to leave the house. Someone had to make ends meet. I’m proud to say I paid off the house and helped all three girls get through college. My baby sister is finishing next year.”
