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He looked up from his plate and found her staring at him, eyes warm with…admiration?
“No wonder,” she murmured.
“No wonder what?”
“No wonder Dad respects the hell out of you. You’re a modern-day superhero.”
He couldn’t find the words of denial when she was looking at him like that. Like she believed the words she said wholeheartedly. Like she saw him as a hero. Like he could be her hero.
“What are we doing here?” The words were out before he could think better of spoiling the mood.
“Having a nice meal and talking shop?”
“This feels like more. I know we’ve been pretending it didn’t happen, but I can’t stop thinking about that kiss.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, too.”Excellent.“I don’t know what to do with you. This doesn’t make sense.”Not excellent.
“What about attraction needs to make sense?”
“Adrian. Look at you. Tall, dark, handsome, body made of steel.” She ran her hand down his arm, tracing the curves of his bicep, so lightly that he shivered. “A literal Superman.” He felt his own blush starting, before her next words killed it. “Then look at me. I used to be okay, but now I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror.”
“Hey, I can see you clear as day, and I like what I see. I thought I made that obvious in your office when I couldn’t keep my hands off your ass. More than that, I like who you are. Dedicated daughter, smart and sexy, willing to compromise and problem-solve when others would have thrown a tantrum. There’s a lot to like.”
Her face remained pale, but he watched the flush spread downward from her neck toward her cleavage. He had his answer about that blush. God, he wanted to see how far it spread. Turning her hand over in his, he traced her palm, marveling at her softness against his rough calluses.
“Just think about it, and next time you look in the mirror, try seeing the person I see. When you walked in here, I lost my words.”
She didn’t respond, but she didn’t pull her hand back either.
Chapter 7
Sofia wasknee-deep in discount websites, trying to pull off her looks at a fraction of the original cost. In the last day and a half, she’d called every marble supplier in a hundred-mile radius and had tracked down an off cut large enough to do a modified island. She hoped Adrian could help her get it here from Fremont. She’d downgraded the cabinets from custom to prefab, and she’d replaced the original countertops with poured concrete, but she’d still only managed to trim about ten grand. At least that would cover the pipes.
When Jake popped his head in her doorway, she quickly put on her “Me stressed? Never!” face. She couldn’t let him see the extent of the problems, or this pilot might crash before it even got off the ground. She refused to be the weak link that made the project stall out.
“Hi, Jake. What can I do for you this fine Wednesday?”
The classically handsome man, with perfectly coiffed hair and a smile an orthodontist would love, came farther into the room. Why didn’t her heart go pitter-pat for him? He was every bit as attractive as Adrian, albeit in a different way. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like the answer, so she pushed the unspoken question aside.
“I just spoke to the Shahs. Is there room in the budget to touch up the curb appeal? I know you were close to their upper limit, but I think it would be great to highlight Enzo’s talents a little in the pilot so we can build it into future episodes.”
“I’ll be honest. It’s tight, but I’ll see what I can do.” She scribbled the note in her project binder.
“I may be able to get another thousand out of the production budget.”
“That would go a long way.” She’d twist Enzo’s arm to do it cheap anyway. But that extra grand might save her light fixtures. “I’ll talk to him about it.”
“I’m really glad you’re here on the ground, doing the design and helping manage the team. I don’t think things would be flowing as smoothly without your guidance. Watch! This pilot is going to get snapped up in a heartbeat!”
Sofia soaked in his approval and hoped he was right. If this whole thing tanked because she screwed up the budget, she could kiss her chance at designing full-time goodbye.
Not to mention, she’d screw up her dad’s plan to retire. She didn’t think her mom would forgive and forget that level of mistake. Jo hadn’t spoken of Dom’s crazy TV plan with anyone since the awkward announcement meal, which had to be some kind of record. Sofia had never known her parents not to talk about a problem. Bicker, argue, yell? Sure. But silence? Never. Even when they fought they managed to come out the other side laughing and in agreement.
For the first time she could remember, she was worried about her parents’ marriage. They’d always been her rock, her role models. She’d often judged her own relationships against theirs and found hers wanting. How would a relationship with Adrian compare?
She shook her head.Well, I made it a whole half hour without thinking about him. Call the Guinness people. We’re setting records left and right this week.
What would a relationship with him look like? Given the way he talked about her body and her personality, she’d built up some pretty high hopes. The fact that she did indeed hear his voice in her head, telling her all manner of lovely things, when she looked in the mirror had her absolutely considering asking for a real date. She was still nervous and not at all confident after three years out of the dating game, and this was the most professionally stressful moment of her career. She had every reason to wait.
