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“Five o’clock. Just like normal.” He crossed his arms defiantly. He would not apologize for protecting his crew.
“Hmm.” There was a wealth of meaning behind that one syllable.
“If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”
“Nope, they are your crew and your business. I just hope that everything is ready for load-in tomorrow.”
“Theyaremy crew. Most of them are working extra jobs to make ends meet. If they don’t need to stay late, I won’t ask them to, especially since the contract you negotiated doesn’t pay them overtime.” His anger rose, and he tried to keep his voice calm but firm. He was pretty sure he failed.
“Are we back to that?”
“Apparently, since you have a problem with me tiling a floor by myself.”
“I didn’t say that.” She wasn’t saying a lot. Adrian wished she would knock that chip off her shoulder and admit that she was in over her head.
“My guys got everything done that they needed to do today. They put in a full day, unlike some people in this room.”
“I wasn’t just sitting on my ass filing my nails, you know.” She pulled a folded sheet from her back pocket and shoved it into his chest. “Here’s the punch list I knocked out today. All the outlet covers and switch plates are on, lights are installed and have bulbs, closet organizers hung, and rooms cleaned. I’ve spent enough time helping on crews to know what I can handle.”
“Fine. Next time you ‘pitch in,’ let me know.” He glanced at the list. This would free up a good bit of time tomorrow, but he was still pissed over her attitude.
His tone must have flipped her switch because her icy control flashed to anger. “I don’t report to you. You can run your guys however you want, but I’m not one of your guys.”
His eyes wanted to wander over her curves and confirm her abundantly obvious statement. He chose to make his point instead.
“Listen, if you’ve got a problem with the way I run my crew, talk to your dad. At least he respects the amount of work these guys put in to make your ridiculous designs happen.”
“Ridiculous? What, in your opinion, was ridiculous about my plan?” Her voice rose, and she stepped into his space.
“Where do I begin? Crown molding in every bedroom, despite the cost issues? I vetoed that, by the way. Unnecessary demolition of walls that weren’t bothering anyone? No, I know. Let’s take the tiles.” He held tight to his control, knowing it would infuriate her.
Sure enough, his calm condescension had her spitting flames. “You mean the tiles that you had slated for the wrong rooms? The tiles I had to stop you from laying?”
“That was a simple mistake, easily fixed. You know what wasn’t easy? Laying those huge square tiles on a diagonal pattern. Do you know how many extra cuts we had to make to fit the corners of every straight edge in that room?”
“I’m sure however many cuts, it was worth the effort. I peeked in there earlier, and it looks beautiful and wide open.”
How could she not see that she was making this all way more difficult than it had to be? How could this woman he was falling for have so little respect for his time and talents? He lost his battle for control, and anger and frustration filled his voice.
“It would look just as wide open with straight tiles, since we took down most of a fucking wall.”
“No, it wouldn’t. But I don’t have time to argue the point with you. I’ve got a ridiculous mural to finish. If you’ll excuse me…”
“No.”
“No?”
“I’m not leaving you alone in the house this late. It’s not safe.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Listen, we put alarms on the construction sites for a reason. Just ignore me and keep painting. I’ll just start assembling the furniture for this room. If I’m going to stay, I might as well get ahead for tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure your mother is wondering where you are.” She held up her hand. “And no, that was not a dig, just an observation. I don’t want her to worry.”
“I’ll call her.”
“You are really going to sit here and assemble a crib while I paint?”
