permanent and be a family—something he didn’t know much about.
“We have a lot of things to accomplish, Mr. Davis,” his new consultant said and motioned for him to follow her.
Hank had always believed a man had the right to take advantage of and enjoy things whenever the opportunity presented itself. Walking behind her down a hallway, that opportunity was a tantalizing view of a pair of curvy, swaying hips that hinted at what lay beneath the snug white skirt encasing them and a pair of long, shapely legs that stretched his imagination.
Shifting his gaze to rein in his fantasy, he barely noticed the pricey but tasteful decor of Images, Inc. as she led him to her office. Instead the alabaster column of her neck, revealed beneath a knot of gorgeous auburn hair, had snared his attention. Copper wisps escaped the bun and teased the collar of the virginal white suit she wore. His fingers itched to touch them and feel their silky softness. Too bad he would never get the chance to do it.
Before his imagination led him further than it should, they reached her office. She motioned toward a long sofa along one wall. While he took a seat, she picked up a file folder from her desk, then settled at the opposite end of the sofa. It didn’t escape him that her skirt inched higher, revealing even more of her long legs, and he tried his best to ignore it so he could concentrate on the reason he was there.
After shuffling the papers in her hands, she looked up to give him another dazzling smile. “Tell me what convinced you to come to Images, Inc., Mr. Davis.”
“Call me Hank.” He crossed one work-booted foot over his knee and fingered a worn seam in the leather. The truth was, his thirtieth birthday three months ago had brought home the hard fact that he had never made much of himself. Then he had received the letter from Crown Construction offering him a position with the well-respected company. When he saw the ad for Images, Inc., he called on a whim, thinking he might as well give it a try and fill in the time during the next two weeks until he started his new job.
“I suppose you could say I thought I could use a little spiffing up,” he said, giving away as little about himself as he could. “I could use a little polish, anyway. I’ve been on the road all my life, so I haven’t picked up the social graces most people come by naturally.”
She glanced at a paper, the bridge of her nose wrinkling in concentration. “You start a new job with Crown Construction in two weeks. You’ve been hired for a foreman position?”
He nodded. “I’ve been working construction for a couple of years with the same company. With several other companies before that, too. Crown contacted me about the job. I’m not sure where they got my name, but I decided I might as well move up the ladder, since it was offered.”
Her gaze met his, but she looked away quickly. “Let’s go over your employment history, so I can get an idea of your experience.”
He bit back a laugh. It had taken three extra typed pages to fill out his application for Crown. Thirteen jobs in as many years gave him more experience than most people, but he doubted this woman was interested in the details. “I worked the oil fields in Alaska, Oklahoma, and a short stint in Kuwait. I’ve been a ranch hand in Wyoming and Montana, a dockworker in San Diego, had a little rodeo here and there, worked on a salmon boat for a while out of—”
“I get the picture,” she said and ducked her head to check the paper.
But not before he’d seen a flicker of something in her eyes. It passed too quickly to identify, so he chalked it up to nothing.
“Since you’re so well-traveled,” she said, meeting his gaze once again, “why did you choose Kansas City?”
Hank shrugged and focused on her question instead of her blue eyes. “Other than the fact that my mother was from here, Crown has a good reputation.”
She picked up a pen and jotted something on the paper. “So you have relatives in the area?”
“Not that I know of.”
“You don’t know?”
“It’s unlikely. My mother lost her folks when she was young. To be honest, I never heard her talk of any other family. I don’t recall my dad talking about any family, either.” Family wasn’t all that important to Hank. He had been on his own, without any, for over ten years. Marriage and a family of his own weren’t an option. Not for him. He had never had a permanent address other than a post office box and he didn’t intend to change that. Not for long, anyway. Besides, he’d seen what a life of moving from one place to another had done to his mom. He wouldn’t risk doing that to a woman he loved, and he wasn’t going to change.
“Is your mother in New Mexico?” she asked, bringing his attention back to her.
“She died when I was ten.”
Compassion shone in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Wanting to ease her mind and curious to know about her, he turned the conversation around. “Do you have family here?”
She hesitated for a moment, then she nodded. “All but my dad.”
This time he didn’t miss the look in her eyes, and wondered at the sadness he saw there. The one thing he remembered about his mother was her telling him that the eyes were the windows to a person’s soul. But it wasn’t this woman’s soul that he was interested in. Her looks had caught his attention, that was all.
“Well,” she said, then cleared her throat. “Janine has the contract drawn up. We agreed on two weeks, right?”
“Right.”
“We’ll get started right away. Usually we work with a client for a minimum of a month. In your case, we’ll have to be quick but thorough, with intense focus on the basics. Instead of a few hours a day, we’ll work together most of the day, and occasionally into the evening. I hope you can block out the time, just for this.”
“It’s not a problem,” he replied. Especially since he had nothing else to do until his job started.
Pulling a paper out of the folder, she placed it on top of the others and skimmed a long slender finger down it. “Our first order of business is to make sure you’re living at an address that will reflect that you’re a stable person. As they say in the real estate business, location is everything.”
Her infectious grin caught him by surprise, and he wondered what lay beneath her cool exterior. “I have a room at the Regency out near the airport.”
She shook her head, and he imagined that tight knot of hair at the back of her neck loose and flowing like a liquid flame. The thought made him want to reach out and start pulling out whatever held it in place, but he stopped the fantasy as soon as it started.
She offered a gentle smile. “In this case, since you’ll be living here for some time, I think it’s best to find something that could become more permanent.”
“I don’t know the area, but I’ll trust your judgment,” he said, thinking he might as well go along with her.
Flipping through a notebook, she stopped and made a note. “I know of an apartment that can be subleased. Even better, you can give it a try for a month before you make a decision.”
Hank didn’t plan to be in town long enough to need a permanent place to live and hoped he wouldn’t get in over his head. He had the money, but getting out of a sublease could be tricky. Or at least that’s what he’d heard. His usual trappings were more temporary.
Before he could voice his concern, the intercom buzzer sounded. “Excuse me,” she said and walked to her desk where she leaned over to pick up the phone. “What is it, Janine?” She paused, listening. “I’ll return her call later…Who? Did you get his number? Any idea—All right. Do what you can.”
Replacing the receiver, she turned back to Hank. “I hate to rush you, but we might as well get started. If you’ll stop at Janine’s desk, she has the contract. Read it, make any changes you think are needed, then sign