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“I couldn’t sleep. I get restless sometimes.” What he didn’t say was that he was restless because he’d woken up wrapped around her. That the lust that surged when he looked at her, felt her soft hair against his chest, touched her, was too much to handle, so he got up.
“Oh.” She kicked her feet and fiddled with a pen that was lying next to her. That’s when she noticed the folder with the report. “What’s this? The site assessment?”
“The very one.”
“May I see it?”
He handed her the folder, and Caroline flipped through the pages like she was looking for something specific. After a minute Josh saw a crease form between her eyebrows and he wondered what was up. Caroline had left his desk and wandered to the sofa near the window. The morning sun was starting to break through, lighting her from behind, and there was something really hot about seeing a woman wearing his shirt, who smelled like vanilla and hot sex, helping him with a business problem. Josh lost himself in the fantasy until Caroline shook her head.
“This report is incomplete.”
“Incomplete? How?”
“There are only soil samples. That doesn’t tell you if there’s a problem with the site.”
“This is all new to me, so take me through it.” He rose from his desk and sat next to her. “What’s missing?”
“This is a lot of land and it’s heavily treed. Soil quality is one thing, but you need to know what’s underground.”
“This is supposed to be a top engineering firm. Why wouldn’t they know this?”
“Oh, they do.” Caroline closed the folder and handed it back to him. “I work for them.”
Josh couldn’t form words right away. “Seriously? So why isn’t your name on the report? You’re the geotech... whatever... the engineer. Why weren’t you on this?”
“There are three geotechnical engineers in the firm. Me and two men who have been around for a bit longer. They’re both very good, but Gary, the one who signed this, is in Mark’s back pocket. He’s your project consultant.”
“Mark? You mean that shit Mark who wants to take you out?”
“The very one. I asked to be put on this project—I didn’t know it was yours when I did—but it was interesting and I know the types of issues that would pop up with a site like this. But I turned down an invitation from Mark a few days before the start date, and Gary got the call.”
It figured. He’d love to have her on the project. Caroline was ten times smarter than any of the other engineers he’d met, but it was becoming apparent she didn’t know how to play Mark. Frankly, Josh was glad about that. He didn’t want her messing with the son of a bitch.
“Josh, they need to do a geophysical survey. Ask that EM tests be done, coupled with something called GPR. That will give you a picture of what’s down there.”
“What kind of tests are you talking about? We aren’t allowed to excavate.” Josh felt over his head. He was a smart guy, but she was so out of his league.
“I know. The EM tests use an electromagnetic pulse to read what’s below ground; that along with ground-penetrating radar can tell you the kind of soil that’s there and most important if anything is buried on the site.”
“Buried? Like what?”
“It could be anything. Waste tanks, factory debris; it could have been a landfill.”
“I’m going to request you on this project. This is stupid. I’m paying ridiculous fees for consulting, and the least they could do is give me someone who knows what she’s doing. Even with the cheap price of the land, it’s going to cost us a fortune.”
“The tests aren’t that expensive, relatively, but they are time-consuming. Still, if you buy the land and it needs cleanup, it becomes your problem.Thatwould be expensive and the only ones profiting would be the partners, because then the firm would get the fee for the clean-up of the site. “
“Perfect. On top of that, there’s some zoning change coming in the next six months. My father was hoping to have the sale closed and plans filed before that happened.”
“I don’t recommend rushing. This must be done correctly or you could be on the hook for millions.”
Millions. Thank God he talked to her about this.
“You’re very good at what you do.” Right then, Josh had more confidence in Caroline and what she could do than in all the engineers at the firm where she worked. He saw her grin at the compliment. “CouldI ask for you?”
“You could, but I would rather you didn’t.”
“Why?”
