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Good luck with that.
The only way to get rid of the constant throbbing is to remove the person causing it in the first place.
Dahlia Muñoz.
I spend the rest of my night devising a way to get rid of Dahlia. Simply put, if I find a way to speed up the renovation, then her creative spark will be reignited, thus restoring her faith in design. She can return to her life in San Francisco, leaving me to go about my life as usual.
The plan is foolproof. I only need to make sure Ryder and the rest of the team are on board for the changes, seeing as we will have to postpone a project to take this one on.
So, despite my reservations, I show up Monday morning at the Founder’s house to speak with Ryder personally.
“Hey, boss. Didn’t expect you to be joining us today.” He shuts the back of his truck.
“There’s been a few changes to the original plan.”
The sun reflects off his brown eyes. “Like what?”
“We need this project done within the next three months.”
His brows rise toward the edge of his hard hat. “What?”
“Do you think it can be completed by the end of January?”
Ryder’s gaze bounces between the decrepit house and me. “Depends on what we find on the inside.”
“We can modify schedules and postpone other projects if it means getting this one done faster. I want all hands on deck here.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the rush?” he asks.
The answer to his question drives up to the house, blasting Ozuna loud enough to be heard through the sealed windows.
Dahlia climbs out of her sister’s car in a pair of leather boots, a thin sweater that can’t do much to fight the late October chill, and a designer skirt custom-made to drive me crazy.
God give me the strength to make it through this meeting with my team while fighting a hard-on.
A flicker of hesitation crosses her face before she props her sunglasses on her head and holds her hand out for Ryder to grab. “Hi, I’m Dahlia.”
“Ryder. I’m the project manager.” His gaze doesn’t drop from her face.
Dahlia introduces herself to the engineer and architect next, both of whom check her out.
Are you seriously going to get jealous of your own employees?
With the way Dahlia looks up at them with her big brown eyes and wide smile, hell yeah I am.
“Let’s start,” I lash out, wanting to get this walk-through over with before I fire someone.
At first, Dahlia was hesitant to speak up, allowing me to take the lead, but after ten minutes, she warmed up to my team and started acting like her typical self.
I find myself at a loss for words as I watch her collaborate with my team like she’s spent years working with them rather than an hour. I’m impressed with her wealth of knowledge, and Ryder seems equally blown away by her experience with Victorian homes.
He scribbles something down on his clipboard. “With the changes you want, I feel like we could definitely have this thing done within the three months Julian requested.”
“Three months?” Dahlia glances over her shoulder. “I thought you said it could take six to eight.”
I tip my chin. “Change of plans.”
Her eyes narrow. “How fortunate.”
