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Oh no, oh crap.She was griping about a client in public, which was a huge no-no. And had been overheard by…Chicago’s own Chris Hemsworth, evidently.
She blinked at the muscular blond. Who was this gorgeous creature? Wait…she’d seen him before. Her eyes narrowed at the same time his did.
“You. You’re his PA.” The dashing guy with the decidedly Southern accent shook his finger, his smile staying in place. “You let me in when I swung by to visit Eli. I thought you looked familiar.”
Chloe shifted her attention from the man to Isa and back again like she was watching a slow-mo Ping-Pong match.
“Yes, right. It’s nice to officially meet you.” She called up her hard-won professionalism, put down her margarita, and extended a hand. “Isabella Sawyer.”
“Zach Ferguson.” He shook her hand. “Commercial builder.”
She could tell. He had rough palms, a firm grip. He was sexy as hell to boot. And working with Eli, part of her wailed. She could only hope he hadn’t heard her disparaging her wealthiest client.
“You know, it’s funny, I wouldn’t think of Chicago as being a small town,” he said with a casual smile. “Yet here we are.”
“Here we are,” Chloe interjected.
“Do you know the Cranes well?” Isa asked, being conversational. Which was decidedly smarter than ogling the golden god in faded jeans and a plaid shirt.
“I have done some work for them in the past, yeah.” A close-lipped smile popped one of his dimples and Isa swore she heard Chloe moan into her sangria. Isa sent her a warning look and Chloe snapped out of it midswoon.
“Thanks for saying hello,” she said, then fished for intel. “I assume if you’ll be working with Eli I’ll see more of you?”
“I’d like that.” His top teeth closed over his bottom lip, and this time it was Isa who had to work hard not to whimper. “Too bad you’re taken, doll. Not to be overly forward but I’d have asked you out today if not.”
“Taken?” Chloe squawked.
Zach sent her a confused look. “Uh, dating? Betrothed? Wed? Not sure what y’all say up here.”
Wow. The “aw shucks” thing really worked for him.
“Eli broke the news to me. But, hey”—he held up his hands in a disarming, adorable way—“I know how to work with a lady I find distractingly attractive.”
Isa felt her cheeks warm. She’d just bet. This guy emitted charm like a poisonous gas. She opened her mouth to say that either Eli was mistaken or Eli was a horse’s ass, but no words came out.
“Eli has my contact info,” he said. “He and I are just getting started on the project, so I’m sure he’ll loop you in soon enough.”
Project? Isa knew everything about Crane Hotels as it involved Eli. She didn’t remember a project. At once, the fascination with coincidence and Zach faded into anger, and Elijah Crane was front and center.
“Yes, I’m sure he will,” she said, her words clipped.
“Nice to meet you, Isabella Sawyer.” With a wink for Isa and a wave goodbye for Chloe, Zach swaggered back to the bar in—yep—cowboy boots.
“Urban cowboy,” Chloe whispered as her eyes snapped back to Isa’s. “Good Lord, the testosterone…I’m not used to that much packed into one person.”
Isa took a hearty drink of her margarita. She sure as hell was.
Zach may be everything Eli wasn’t: charming, smiley, and suave, but the one thing he couldn’t do was out-testosterone Eli Crane. Regardless of how attractive and tantalizing Zach seemed, Isa’s thoughts returned to Eli and her outrage hit apocalyptic levels.
“What did Eli mean by you being taken?” Chloe asked belatedly. It was understandable, as her pistons were likely misfiring after Zach’s brief visit.
“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.” Isa stood and shouldered her purse, eating another chip with salsa for the road. “Use the company credit card for lunch.”
“Wait! Don’t leave me here! What if he comes back?” Chloe stole a glance over at Zach, who had already sidled up to a blond woman at the bar. Chloe’s mouth twisted. “Never mind.”
Isa would have finished her margarita and dished about how men suck for a while longer, but at current, she had a bone to pick with Eli. Who gave him the right to tell anyone she was “taken”?
She bid Chloe adieu and clipped out of the restaurant to the parking garage. After she shut the door on her white Lexus, she made a beeline for Eli’s house, though she could have walked and made good time. The fumes from her anger would have propelled her every bit as fast as her V-6.
