shook her head. “After reviewing the file, the board has determined that this time is the last time, Ms. George. If your project can’t be completed in a manner Mr. Chambers finds acceptable, we’re pulling the plug. One more complaint from him and you’re done.”
Ashley’s eyes darted to Marcus. The corners of his mouth were twitching. Was he actually going to smile? “One more complaint? You’ve got to be kidding me.” She tossed her hand in his direction. “There’s no pleasing him. He probably has a complaint about the way I’m sitting in this chair. This is completely unfair.”
* * *
Completely unfair. Apt words considering Ms. George’s willingness to ignore the disruptions of her apartment renovations. Marcus and his eleven-month-old daughter, Lila, were trying to carve out a new life for themselves in New York. It was only fair that he deliver the final blow if the mayhem continued.
“Mr. Chambers,” Mrs. White interjected from her end of the table. “Please understand the seriousness of this situation. We don’t want to be forced to shut down Ms. George’s project for something minor.”
“Thank you,” Ashley blurted, with a strain of desperation. “The scales can’t be tipped entirely in his favor. If you put him in control, my project will be shut down before we get back upstairs.”
Marcus reared back his head. Why was she acting as though he was the unreasonable one? This mess was of her making, and she’d dismissed it at every turn. “You act as if I’m making a big deal out of this.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Tabitha rubbed her forehead. “The board will not reverse the decision. One more complaint from Mr. Chambers and Ms. George must hire a new contractor.”
“But...” Ashley slipped.
“Not another word, Ms. George.” Tabitha delivered a look so stern even Marcus was rubbed the wrong way by it.
A moment of heavy, uncomfortable quiet played out. Ashley shifted in her seat, and his eyes drifted to her leg. More specifically, the stretch of her shapely calf and delicate ankle, punctuated by a gleaming black patent leather stiletto pump. He didn’t have many weaknesses, but he did have a soft spot a mile wide for a woman in sexy shoes. The fact that Ashley was wearing those shoes... If anything was unfair at that particular moment, that might have been it. He forced himself to look away. Ashley’s beauty, her pull on him, made her a woman to be kept at arm’s length. It was the only way to keep his head straight.
Mrs. White cleared her throat. “I’d like to add one stipulation. Mr. Chambers should have to take any complaint to Ms. George first. Please try to work it out.”
Marcus blinked several times. Deal directly with Ms. George? Oh no. That wasn’t going to work for him at all. “You can’t be serious. She’s clearly demonstrated tonight that she’ll argue any complaint forever. How am I supposed to work anything out with her?”
“I can be reasonable.”
“Because you have such a great track record with that sort of behavior?” Marcus asked, his pulse choosing an offbeat rhythm.
Tabitha dismissed them with a flutter of her hands. “Mrs. White is right. Work it out.”
Marcus and Ashley filed out of the room as if they were two children who’d been sent to their rooms without a proper supper. Neither could claim a true victory, but at least Marcus had the upper hand. He was thankful for that. When the lift doors opened, he held them for Ashley.
“I need to make sure I have all of your phone numbers,” she said curtly. “Your office. The home number. In case there’s a problem.”
He fished his cell phone from his pocket, choking back the words he wanted to say. There already was a problem. After their one date, he’d promised himself that he would stay as far away from her as possible. Ashley represented his most selfish tendencies, the part of him that craved a woman who was untamed and brimming with life, gorgeous and sexy and just a little bit crazy. His priority was finding a mother for Lila, and that meant a woman who was sensible and calm, and who acted in an entirely predictable way. He could learn to live with that, for Lila.
Ashley rested her enormous handbag on her knee and bent over it, rummaging through the contents. Marcus tried to avert his eyes, but he couldn’t. They were drawn to her cleavage the way a man roaming a desert is drawn to cool water. His breath caught in his throat. Her skin was a delicate wash of peach and pink, curving, dipping and swelling. A lock of her golden-blond hair fell from her shoulders, draping across her gorgeous display. His eyes clamped shut. He couldn’t take another minute. Ashley was the thorn in his side, however much she might resemble the rose that grew alongside it.
The elevator dinged, the doors slid open and they came face-to-face with the only person to improve his mood reliably—Lila.
Lila’s nanny, Catherine, was pushing her in the stroller. “Mr. Chambers. I was about to take Lila out for a short walk before bed.” Catherine’s wide eyes were glued to Ashley. “Ms. George. I loved last night’s Manhattan Matchmaker.”
“Please, call me Ashley. And it was just a rerun, wasn’t it?” Ashley stepped out into the hall.
Catherine seemed as if she might burst from excitement. She was so taken with Ashley and her show. It was all she and his housekeeper, Martha, seemed to talk about, which drove Marcus crazy. He could see why people might be beguiled by her, but the show itself was silly. A ruse. True love. Soul mates. Fiction.
“But I love that episode,” Catherine said. “It was the one with the doctor and the woman who owns the bakery. Only you could’ve put those two people together. They totally fell in love.”
Ashley smiled. “That’s very sweet of you to say. Thank you.”
Marcus held the elevator while Catherine pushed the stroller onboard and turned it around. Marcus leaned down to press a kiss to Lila’s forehead, inhaling the sweet scent that came from her wispy blond hair. He rubbed his thumb across her rosy cheek. The smile and gurgle she gave him were salve for his soul. Without question, she was the most precious thing in his life, and she deserved so much more than he could give her on his own. Precisely the reason to avoid Ashley and find Lila a mum. “You have fun, my darling. Daddy will read you a bedtime story when you come home.” He released the doors as Catherine waved goodbye.
“Your daughter is adorable. And very sweet. You know, that’s only the second time I’ve seen her. I didn’t even see her the night...” Ashley looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “You know. The night we went out. You’ve done a good job of keeping her from me.”
I do a good job of keeping Lila from everyone. Protecting Lila was more than his charge. It was his strongest instinct. She’d been dealt a rotten hand in life, and it was his fault. He’d chosen the wrong woman for a wife and when things got bad, he’d convinced her that having a baby would make everything better. He was the reason Lila’s mother wasn’t there for her.
“I believe you were about to give me your other phone numbers,” he said, changing the subject.
“I’ll send you a text right now.” Ashley punched away at the keyboard. “Then you’ll have my info.”
Marcus’s phone lit up with the other numbers. And a message. I’m not evil. Just so you know.
“I never said you were evil, Ms. George.”
“Please don’t call me Ms. George. We’ve been on a date. It will make life much easier if we can drop the formalities.”
“Very little in life is easy, but if that will placate you, I will call you Ashley.”
Ashley narrowed her stare. For a moment, it was as if she was peering down into his soul, and he didn’t like that feeling at all. “You’re grumpy before your time, Chambers. And I don’t get it, because you weren’t like that when I first met you. What exactly has made you such a curmudgeon?”
“I