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“You don’t have to do that. I can—” The look on his face must have been enough to stop her because she lowered her gaze. “Yes, Sir.”
Daniel finished washing her and himself, then turned off the water. He grabbed his towel and began drying her off, starting at her hair and working his way down...lingering on the important bits. He lifted one of her feet to dry it, and she held on to his shoulders. His muscles rippled in response to her touch. He wanted her again. It would be so easy to turn her around, bend her over the counter, and take what he wanted, but instead, he finished drying her before padding to the closet to get another towel for himself.
Ali headed to her room to dress, while he did the same. He knew it was a good idea to keep things as separate as possible. She needed her space. They shouldn’t get too comfortable with each other. It would be easier when this thing between them was over. But he wanted her things mingled with his. He wanted to see her lacy undergarments in his dresser.
Shaking those thoughts away, he finished tucking his shirt into his pants, then headed into the kitchen to start breakfast.
He dropped Ali off in front of her office at seven twenty, then drove to one of his renovation projects. The contractors were getting set up for the day, the sound of boots thudding on the subfloor at the back of the house greeting him the moment he walked through the front door.
Daniel followed the sounds, knowing he’d find his project manager. Luke had been with him for the last five years and the man had a memory like no one else he’d ever met. If there’d been some sort of interaction with Grant Jacobson regarding one of Daniel’s remodeling projects, Luke would know.
When he didn’t see the man, he called out, “Luke?”
“Over here.” The voice came from one of the back bedrooms.
Heading in the direction of Luke’s voice, Daniel entered the master bedroom, but there was no one there. “Where the hell are you?”
The sound of Luke’s laughter led him to the master bathroom.
When he stepped into the connecting room, he found his foreman standing in the floor. Not on the floor. In the floor. “What happened in here?”
Luke pushed himself out of the hole. “I noticed the tub was leaning a little last night and was going to investigate it this morning. But when I got here, I found this.”
The bathtub had busted a hole in the subfloor and was now sitting on dirt. Thank goodness they had the water turned off, or they would have even more issues.
It wasn’t the first time they’d found something like this, and it wouldn’t be the last. Many of the houses Daniel took on were in less than stellar condition. It was why he could get them at a good price. Of course, that also meant an unknown number of surprises along the way. “Send me an estimate on how much fixing this is going to add to the budget.”
“Will do.” Luke stood and brushed off his jeans. “So what brings you out to the job site this early in the day? I wasn’t expecting you to stop by till next week.”
They left the disaster of a bathroom behind, making their way into the main part of the house. “Do you recall ever having dealt with a man named Grant Jacobson?”
Luke thought for a long moment. “Not that I can recall. No.” He paused. “Why?”
Daniel shook his head. “The name sounded familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“Well, you’ve met a lot of people over the years. It’s possible you’ve had dealings with him, and I haven’t.”
That was true. And it also narrowed down the possibilities of where he may have encountered the person or the name. Either that, or he’d met him before he’d brought Luke on board. “I’m sure it will come to me.”
Luke nodded. “Do you want to see the rest of the house while you’re here?”
Daniel spent the next thirty minutes going through the house with Luke. They talked about adding a patio onto the back and discussed what he wanted to do with the yard.
It was after nine before he made it to the office, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. Daniel didn’t keep normal business hours. Kevin looked up as he walked in. “I put today’s listings on your desk. And James called about fifteen minutes ago.”
His youngest son had a habit of calling his office rather than his cell. He had no idea why. “Thanks.”
James answered on the first ring. And instead of saying hello, he dove right into the conversation. “You made it into the office.”
Daniel chuckled. “I did. But you know you can always call my cell phone.”
“That’s okay. It wasn’t an emergency or anything. I wanted to ask if you were doing anything next weekend.”
“I don’t believe so,” Daniel said. But even as the words came out of his mouth, he thought of Ali. “What’s next weekend?”
“I have an event in St. Louis and I wanted to know if you’d like to come.”
“Of course. I’ll get your room ready at the house.” Again, his thoughts went to Ali. He’d never introduced his kids to women he’d dated. It was different now, he knew. They were all adults, but still. What would they think of him being with a woman almost half his age?
