Sultry Nights
But the real cause of the heat that flooded her cheeks and set her heart racing was when Trevor looked over his shoulder at the sound of the collision.
For a moment, she couldn’t think beyond the pain in her knee and the vision before her. Trevor Jackson was not the stumpy, balding, cigar-chewing, dirty-under-the-fingernails contractor that she’d expected. He was an Idris Elba look-alike, with the build and piercing dark eyes to cinch the deal. If he opened his mouth and out spouted the King’s English, she was done. His right eyebrow lifted and she only wished her lashes were as naturally thick as his.
Concentrating on standing up without wobbling on her aching knee, she made it to her feet as he turned fully around. Her stomach fluttered.
“Mr… .” Her mind went blank.
“Jackson.”
She forced a smile and wondered if she looked as suddenly unnerved as she felt. “Yes, sorry. Mr. Jackson. I’ve seen so many people this morning.”
Trevor let the comment go. Maybe she got a very early start, seeing that it was barely after nine. Either that or she was no different from the rest of the elite that he’d dealt with in the past who didn’t care enough to know the names of the people that they employ.
Dominique’s knee was pulsing in time to the thudding in her chest. She finally had the presence of mind to extend her hand in his direction. And what did she do that for?
Trevor’s large work-roughened hand enveloped hers. His long fingers wrapped around her palm and gently squeezed.
Heat sluiced through her veins, filled her body, loosened her inner thighs and made her tiny pearl stiffen and twitch.
He was a full head above her, even in her heels, and she was forced to look up at him to make contact with eyes that were framed with thick lashes and orbs that were inky black, almost bottomless. There was a slight squint to his gaze as if he was staring into sunshine.
“Is it okay if I sit down?”
Damn, was she staring? Only the flickering light of good home training kept her from snatching her hand away. “Of course.” She smiled and extended her scorched hand in the direction of the couch and briefly shut her eyes the instant he turned his back and willed herself to get it together—and grabbed the folder with his paperwork.
He would never know how stiff her knee was becoming the way she managed to catwalk across the short space to join him in the cozy seating area. She opted for the club chair and slowly eased down into the plush comfort of the seat. Her knee was on fire.
Trevor leaned back against the plump cushions and draped his arm across the back of the couch. The rolled up sleeves of his tan chambray shirt revealed the tight tendons of his arms and he looked quite comfortable, as if sitting in her office relaxed and nonplussed was something he did regularly.
Dominique ran her tongue across her dry bottom lip and then opened the folder that was on her lap. “So…” She glanced across at him and forgot what she was going to say.
“Yes?” The corner of his mouth flicked.
Dominique adjusted herself in her chair and switched her focus to the papers in front of her. “Well, as you know, my organization has plans to expand. We recently purchased the two floors above us and I need them converted into work space, well classrooms, a library and a resource center.”
“Right.”
He wasn’t going to make this easy. “I’ve received dozens of proposals but yours met all of our criteria.”
He nodded.
Dominique swallowed. “If you’re still interested, we can discuss terms and when the work can get started.”
“I’d like to see the space.”
“Of course.” She started to stand and winced at the pain in her knee. She gripped the side of the chair.
Trevor was halfway to her side. “You okay?” He almost grabbed her but caught himself.
She bobbed her head. “Fine.” She pushed herself to a standing position. “I’ll show you the space.” She led the way out of her office, toward the back of the building and around to the side entrance that led to the upper floors.
Dominique gripped the wobbly wooden banister and gritted her teeth as she mounted the stairs. She was going to need some ice and not just for her aching knee.
* * *
Trevor dutifully followed Dominique up the stairs, trying to keep his mind on the steps and not the gentle sway of Dominique’s hips or the curve of her legs or the soft scent that she trailed in her wake. Fortunately, they wouldn’t have too much contact. Once work began he couldn’t imagine a woman like Dominique Lawson being in the mix of dust, buzz saws and sweaty men.
Chapter 3
Dominique opened the door onto the first floor that had once upon a time been an apartment.
“Here we are.”
Trevor took in the space. The wood floors were warped and coming up in spots and some of the boards were missing. It was clear that there had been major water damage from the stains on the ceiling and the buckling walls. The kitchen would have to be ripped out completely along with the bathroom. The two back rooms that must have served as bedrooms were in no better shape. He took pictures as they walked through the space. Then they went up to the top floor that was in a similar state of disrepair before returning to Dominique’s office.
Dominique stood in the center of her office and folded her arms in front of her. “So…what do you think?”
“Anything is doable. It will take some work but it can be done.” He walked past her and caught another whiff of the scent she was wearing before sitting in the chair she’d been in earlier. He could almost feel her warmth.
Dominique perched on the edge of the couch with her delicate ankles crossed.
“I’ll take a look at the pictures, talk it over with my partner and put some sketches together based on what you say you need. I can get back to you in about a week.”
“A week…is great. How long do you think it will take to complete?”
“Once work is started, barring any surprises, about two to three months.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? I had no idea it could be done so quickly.”
He pushed up from his seat. Her gaze followed his rise.
“As I said, barring any obstacles.” He gave her a half smile. He tucked his iPad under his arm and extended his free hand.
Dominique placed her hand in his. “I’ll get the contracts drawn up as soon as I see the design,” she said, sounding a little breathless even to her own ears.
“Fair enough.”
“Can I offer you some coffee before you go?”
“Thanks. But no. I have another appointment.”
She offered a tight smile. “I’ll walk you out.”
“I’m good. I’m sure you have things to do.”
Inwardly she flinched. Was she being blown off?
She crossed the room to the door and opened it. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Jackson.”
Trevor met her at the threshold. “I look forward to doing business with you, Ms. Lawson.” He walked out, stopped then turned. “You really should get some ice on that knee.”
The air got stuck in her throat. She didn’t know if she was embarrassed or ticked off by his offhanded comment. It wasn’t so much what he said, it was the delivery, as if he had one up on her.
She spun away from the door and her knee screamed. She slammed her office door shut, limped over to the couch and plopped down. For the first time she took a peek at her knee. It was already obviously swollen. Tenderly she placed her hand, the hand that was still warm from holding his, over the knee that throbbed beneath her touch.
Trevor’s half grin and probing eyes seemed to tease her as she replayed their meeting behind her closed lids. There was nothing special about Trevor Jackson. She’d been with much more handsome men, men with money, class and prestige, men who would do just about anything to be with her. So, what was it about Trevor that had gotten so quickly under her skin?
He’s just not that into you.
Her eyes fluttered open. Hmm. Not on her watch.
* * *
Why he drove around in pretty much a circle for nearly twenty minutes, he would never tell anyone. He couldn’t get her scent out of his head or the way she ran her tongue across her lips. He considered himself well educated, comfortable in any situation and articulate. But for the life of him he’d barely been able to string a full sentence together.
Finally, he wound his way back onto the right road leading out of town to his office in New Orleans. It was a miracle that he hadn’t run over someone’s cat.
He pulled into the angled parking space in front of the three-story brick building that housed his construction company. There are some things you know in life, and the one thing that he’d known since he watched his uncle Reggie, who was a carpenter by trade, hammer a nail, was that he wanted to build things. Once he was old enough he spent his summers as an apprentice on construction sites, learning the trade, working, sweating, getting his hands dirty and loving every minute of it. But as his uncle had told him over and over, having brawn wasn’t enough. He needed brains to go with it. So he went to school, got a BS degree in Construction Management and an MBA in Economics, both from Louisiana State University. Within two years of getting his construction management degree, he worked out a business plan, presented it to the bank and landed a small business loan that launched his first storefront office. At the time he was his lone employee, other than when he needed an extra set of hands, until Max came on board and signed on as a partner. That was nearly ten years ago. He was twenty-five and still wet behind the ears. Now he had a permanent staff of fifteen artisans, and subcontracts with dozens of other tradesman. He had one of the most successful privately owned construction companies in the state. He had more work than he could handle, but the one job he never turned away was his community service work, his way of giving back. Otherwise, he and Ms. Dominique Lawson would have never crossed paths.
Max Hunt was stepping out of his office door with a handful of blueprints when Trevor came in.
Max and Trevor had been best friends since grammar school. They liked the same things, sports, fishing, good music, hard work, a stiff drink and beautiful women. They’d been dubbed the Black Knights back in college, a reputation they seemed to have maintained into full manhood, matching each other stride for stride in the looks and sexual charm department except that Max resembled the clean-shaven Shamar Moore.
Max briefly glanced up then returned his attention to the blueprints. “Hey, man, how’d it go?” he asked, walking to the industrial copy machine.
Trevor took the camera from around his neck. “Pretty good.”
Max lifted the cover of the copy machine and placed the blueprints facedown. The machine hummed and began spitting out copies. Max frowned and turned his head in Trevor’s direction. “Pretty good. That’s it?”
Trevor shrugged slightly and took the memory card out of the camera. “Took a tour, she told me what she needed. Said we got the contract. I told her I’d get back to her in about a week with some design ideas.” He shrugged again. “That’s it. Nothing to tell.”
Max gave him a sidelong glance. “Yeah, right, my brother. What really happened?” He half smiled.
“What are you talking about? That’s it.”
“What did she look like in person?”
Trevor’s eyes flashed for a moment but he couldn’t stop the smile that slowly moved across his mouth. “Edible.”
Chapter 4
Dominique spent the rest of the morning with her leg propped up on a short step stool beneath her desk with a plastic bag of ice on her knee, while she read over the latest inventory reports. Although her family, her father and oldest sister, Lee Ann, in particular, used to ride her relentlessly for her insatiable desire to shop, it was an obsession that was paying off with style in her business. All those days of racking up the charges in boutiques across Louisiana, and as far away as Milan and Paris, and cooing the sales reps, shop owners and up-and-coming designers, Dominique had, unbeknown to her, been building a foundation. Now it was all paying off in major ways. Her contacts were more than happy to accommodate her with their overstock, sample items and huge discounts for her non-profit organization.
The women who came to First Impressions with their heads down walked out turning heads. And now she was ready to take her business to the next level and offer an education component that would include GED classes, financial management courses and interview preparation.
She turned to her computer screen and brought up the spreadsheet that included the staffing that she would need, along with the list of vendors that would supply the materials for the courses. If Trevor Jackson was on target with his completion date she would have to begin interviewing for instructors sooner rather than later.
Trevor Jackson. She leaned back in her seat. For the past hour she’d done well in casting him to the back of her thoughts. But much like a thunderstorm that was on the horizon, as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t ignore it. You knew it was coming.
“How’s your knee feeling?”
Dominique glanced up at her assistant, Phyllis. She smiled wanly. “Better thanks.” She lifted the ice pack off of her knee and noticed that the swelling was all gone. Gingerly she lowered her leg from the step stool. “How’s everything up front?”
“Good. The five new referrals will be here shortly.”
Dominique checked her watch. It was nearly one. “Great. Let’s order lunch and we can set up in the conference room.”
“Anything in particular?”
“How about some wraps and salad?”
“I’ll put in the order.” Phyllis paused for a moment. “So, how did the meeting go?”
Dominique glanced up for a moment then looked away. “Pretty good. I plan on giving him the contract. Mr. Jackson is going to work on some designs and get them to me next week.”
Phyllis nodded slowly, noting that the very direct Dominique barely looked her in the eye. “So, you think he’s the one?”
Dominique’s head snapped up as if she’d been caught stealing. “Huh?”
“I mean do you feel he’s the right person for the job?”
Dominique swallowed. “Yes. Why? Is there something that you know that I don’t?”
“Hmm, nope.” She tugged lightly on the hem of her suit jacket. “I’ll go put in the lunch order.” She turned away to hide her smile.
“Phyllis, wait.”
Phyllis stopped at the door. “Hmm.”
“You’re always so good at first impressions—no pun intended—what…do you think of him?”
Phyllis folded her arms beneath her ample breasts. “I think if his work is half as good as his looks, the addition will be a real showstopper.”
Dominique chuckled. “That’s the best answer you could come up with?”
“First impressions, right? Well, that honey was my first impression. The rest is up to you.” She gave Dominique a wink and walked out.
Dominique leaned back in her seat, tugging on her bottom lip with her teeth. Phyllis had been straight with her from the day they first met when she’d come to First Impressions needing a dress to attend her daughter’s graduation. Even though she was in need, there was an assurance and a dignity about her that made Dominique feel that Phyllis was the one doing something for her and not the other way around. She reminded Dominique of her mother with her directness, warmth, plain words of wisdom and her ability to make everyone feel special.
They’d hit it off that very first day and while they talked and searched for the perfect dress, Phyllis subtly organized shelves and lined up the clothes on the racks as she moved through the space, answered the phone when Dominique was with another client and even showed a few around the establishment while Dominique was discussing inventory with one of her vendors.
“Seems like you could use a little help around here when it gets busy,” Phyllis had said while Dominique wrapped up her purchase.
Dominique tilted her head to the side. “Are you busy?”
“As a matter of fact I have nothing but free time on my hands. I’d be more than happy to come in a couple of hours a day—just to help out,” she’d added.
The couple of hours had turned into full days in no time, and quicker than that Phyllis had become Dominique’s right-hand assistant. She came to depend on her for more than help with running the business. Phyllis had begun to halfway fill the shoes that the loss of her mother had left empty.
Which was why Dominique was perplexed by Phyllis’s vague response to her question. Phyllis may be a lot of things, but ambiguous was not one of them.
As much as she wanted to dwell on Trevor Jackson, she didn’t have time. The women would be arriving shortly and she needed to be focused so that she could provide each lady with the attention that she deserved. But no matter how hard she tried to stay on point during the next two hours, images of Trevor kept popping up in front of her.
* * *
Trevor loaded the images from his camera onto the twenty-seven-inch iMac. He pointed out the major problems to Max and they both took notes. Trevor explained what it was that Dominique wanted and for the next few hours they worked on a series of sketches for the revised layout of the two floors.
“I want to give her at least two options for each floor,” Trevor said. He raised his arms over his head, stretching out the tight muscles in his back.
“By the looks of the walls and the plumbing issues that you mentioned, the problem isn’t going to be in the design but what we find behind the walls,” Max said.
Trevor nodded. “Exactly.” He closed the screen that showed the design plans and pulled up the file with their subcontractors. “We’re going to need a lot of hands on this one.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. The guys like working with us. At least they know when they come to T. Jackson Contracting its not going to be a one-day job.”
“And this will definitely last a few months. I think we should get Ray for the plumbing and Joshua for the electric. They’ve done good work for us before and have solid teams.”
“As soon as the plans are approved I’ll start looking into supplies and getting the permits in order.”
“Cool.” Trevor pushed back from his seat.
“Don’t think I forgot about your comment, my brother.”
Trevor’s thick right brow rose. “What comment?”
“You know damn well what comment… Edible. You really think I’m going to let that one slide?”
Trevor half smiled. “Just an observation, that’s all.”
“Man, I know you better than you know yourself. When was the last time some woman had you at a loss for words? You could barely put a sentence together when you got back.”
It had been a while since a woman had lit a match inside of him. Five years to be exact and her name was Vallyn Williams. To this day, simply thinking about her knotted his stomach. Vallyn had burst into his life and took him on a roller-coaster ride that he’d never wanted to end. He should have known better. They came from two different worlds. She was the daughter of a judge and her mother sat on every board in the state of Louisiana. She grew up vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard and the Hamptons. Her college graduation gift was a six-month trip across Europe.
“Trust me, it’s nothing but an observation. End of story.”
“Hmm, yeah, okay.” He gathered up his notes. “Got any plans for later? I feel like hitting a club, listening to some music, checking out some ladies. You game?”
“I’m down. Say around nine?”
“Yeah, I have some stuff to take care of at the house. I’ll give you a call around nine and we can figure out where we wanna hang.” He tucked his drawings under his arm and checked his watch. “I’m heading out. I want to check up on the crew over at the Jennings job.”
“We should be ready to turn the house over to the family pretty soon.”
“If everything is up to par, I figure by next week.”
The Jennings family had been victims of Hurricane Katrina. For the past five years they’d been living in a trailer with their three kids. Those were the projects that Trevor was most proud of. Seeing the faces of the families whose homes he’d restored or built was worth every ounce of sweat.
“That’s what I like to hear. Okay, you take care of that and I’m going to put some finishing touches on these design proposals then head out.”
“See you later.”
Trevor opened the design program and reviewed the tentative layout. He could almost see Dominique walking through the renovated space and the expression on her face when she saw the transformation. He shook his head. Thinking about a woman like Dominique Lawson in a role other than employer would bring him nothing but trouble. That was the one thing he was sure about.
Chapter 5
Dominique put her key in the door and was gripped with the feeling of regret. She probably should have moved out of the family home a long time ago. With both her sisters gone, her father in Washington most of the year, Rafe doing his own thing and Justin busy with school and work, she felt like a fish out of water rambling around in the big house. So, she could have not been more surprised when she walked into the kitchen and found both of her sisters seated at the island counter chatting like they’d done as teenagers.
“Oh, my goodness!” She dropped her bag on the table and ran to her sisters.
The trio kissed and hugged and giggled in delight.
“What are ya’ll doing here?” She glanced from one to the other in amazement as they took seats around the counter.
“This is a big legislative week on Capital Hill. Preston is working almost twenty-four hours a day. I told him I was going home for the weekend and he nodded and waved,” Lee Ann said, laughing. “I still don’t think he realizes I’m gone.”
“And what about you, Mrs. Hampton? You’re still a newly, newlywed, girl. I’m surprised Spence let you out of the bed.”
Desiree blushed and flashed a secret smile. “I know.” She giggled. “Well, you know Spence is opening a third club in the D.C. area. He’s meeting with contractors and visiting sites all weekend. And I wanted to see my sisters. I called Lee Ann and here we are.”
Dominique felt tears well in her eyes. She’d had no idea how much she missed her sisters until this moment. She sniffed. “Then we have to make every minute count. No telling when we’ll get a chance to hang out again.”
“Exactly,” Desiree agreed. “So, what’s the plan? You’re the party girl.”
Dominique’s eyes crinkled with mischief. “Ladies, my list is long and varied, so be prepared for anything. And put on your dancing shoes,” she added, hopping up from her seat.
“Sounds like…a Dominique plan,” Lee Ann teased.
“Just be ready by nine,” Dominique warned, waving a finger at her sisters.
* * *
“You think I’ll have time to get some racing in this weekend?” Desiree asked as they started off toward their rooms.
Dominique and Lee Ann groaned in response.
* * *
The sisters-only weekend didn’t seem nearly long enough. But the trio had squeezed in as much time together as they possible could. Friday night they drove into New Orleans and visited three clubs in the Quarter. Up with the sun the following morning, they headed for a full day of pampering at their favorite day spa, Body Envy, that came complete with facials, a full body massage, manicure and pedicure, and lunch with champagne spritzers. And what would a day be without shopping on the list?
By the time they returned to the Lawson mansion on Saturday, the sun had set, but they’d been coddled and primped and loaded down with shopping bags.
“I should have gotten that pair of gray suede boots,” Dominique complained as she balanced her bags under one arm and propped on her raised knee while she stuck the key in the lock. “They would have gone perfectly with that jacket.”