choices and if you don’t like any of them, I’ll do more.”
“Fair enough,” he said and she realized she would be working with him constantly until he approved the murals she would paint.
“Then this room,” he said, reaching for another sheet and brushing against her arm as he pulled the blueprint in front of them. “This is an exercise room. Do something to liven it up. Something cheerful. Nothing is more monotonous than a treadmill, so give me a picture along this wall that I can enjoy viewing.”
She knew she would have to give thought and planning to what she would paint. She couldn’t make any suggestions at this point and she was certain he didn’t expect her to.
“Then over here,” he said, reaching beyond her and brushing against her again. Catching a whiff of his aftershave, she could see the faint dark stubble of his beard that was beginning to show as he leaned forward, close in front of her. Did he even notice when they touched each other? Was he doing it deliberately or without thought? She couldn’t keep from noticing and tingling as if the contact had been a caress.
“There’s no woman who should have a say in this?” Katherine asked, wishing she could take back the personal question the moment it was out.
He straightened and focused intently on her. “I told you before that there isn’t a woman. The only person who has a say in this is me.” He rested his hand on her shoulder again, but this time, he rubbed it slightly, touching a lock of her hair. “But as long as you brought it up—”
“Cade, I’m taking this job when I never intended to, but I want us to leave the past out of it. I don’t want to go into personal things. Let’s work as if we were two strangers who met tonight for the first time.”
“If I’d met you tonight for the first time, I’d be flirting with you every minute of the evening,” he said solemnly, his gaze drifting lazily over her features. His fingers trailed along her jaw.
Ignoring him, she turned back to the blueprints. “All right, we’ve looked at the dining room, the exercise room and the rec room.”
“I want murals in my bedroom, a utility room and the kitchen dining area. That should cover it.”
His bedroom. Her stomach grew fluttery at the thought. If only he would return to work in another city instead of staying at his Houston house, but she expected him to stick around to see what she was doing. She wished his bedroom wasn’t one of the rooms.
“How soon can you start?” he asked. “I’d like to have them started right away.”
“I have a job that’s pending, but it’s something someone in my office can handle,” she said.
“Don’t give my projects to someone else in your office. I’ll have a contract drawn up and I want your efforts exclusively.”
“I’m the only one doing the murals. That’s something I’ve specialized in and I enjoy, so of course, I’ll do the design and drawings myself. The work will go faster if someone helps me with the painting.”
He shook his head. “No, unless it’s errands and setting up equipment and that type of thing. Otherwise, I’m paying for you only,” he said firmly.
“Fair enough,” she replied.
A look passed between them that made her sizzle. Then he stepped closer to place his hands on her waist. “This is good. I’ve seen your work and you’re talented. I admire the mural you did in San Francisco at the Haywind store and I saw a couple you did in Kansas City and one in San Antonio.”
“I’m glad you liked what you saw,” she said. She was aware of Cade’s hands resting lightly on her waist as she looked up at him. They stood too close, conjuring up memories of other times she had stood with him like this.
“You can start right away?” he asked and his voice had dropped a notch, the only indication that he noticed anything else between them.
“Yes, I can,” she said, stepping away from him. “Is your house far enough along for me to start drawing?”
“Yes,” he replied, pulling on his coat. “We can talk about it while we eat dinner. Let’s get back to the club,” he said, and she crossed the room to pick up her purse, relieved that they were leaving his hotel suite and she would once again be out in public where the situation could not get intensely personal.
They had been seated only a short time back in the Millington Club when a first course of pan-seared crab cakes was served.
“We’re so civilized,” she said quietly while she ate a small bite. “I want to scream at you and throw things at you instead of work for you. As it is, you’ve bought yourself peace because I can’t do that and work for you afterward.”
He arched an eyebrow and his gaze drifted over her features. “For right now, perhaps we can both put the past on hold. It may not last, but we can try.”
She inhaled, thought about the price he was willing to pay her and what she could do with the fortune. All her life she had been in competition with her brothers and even with her father. Now, her earnings would equal theirs. The mural earnings would give her a chance for spectacular accomplishments in her career.
If only she could hold to those thoughts and shove the past into oblivion, she might get through this assignment without unleashing all her pent-up fury that increased every time Cade indicated that there was reason for him to be angry with her over the past.
He couldn’t have a single reason to have any bitterness on his part and it mystified her and infuriated her when he said that he did, but she didn’t want to go into it because she’d already lost control once tonight, she didn’t want to again.
“Tomorrow morning, if you’re available, we can fly to Houston and return in the afternoon.”
“That’s fine,” she replied as the waiter removed their dishes and brought green salads. Tomorrow she would spend the day with him. Her appetite had fled and she sipped her water.
“In your bedroom,” she said, “the painting should be something pleasing and relaxing, something you really like. What do you enjoy?”
“I don’t think you’re going to want to paint that on my wall,” he drawled, and she had to laugh in spite of her irritation. She didn’t want his charm. Keep the barriers, she reminded herself.
“What are some of your favorite things?” she asked. “It used to be bikes, tinkering with cars and baseball, but, of course, I don’t know what you like now.”
“I haven’t changed that much. My fascination with bikes has changed to cars. I enjoy baseball. Now I can enjoy things I couldn’t then. I like fishing, skiing, golf, mountain climbing and snow boarding. As far as a subject for a mural for my bedroom—I’ll have to think about that,” he replied.
“I’ll come up with possibilities for the subjects, too. That’s my job.”
As they talked about business and about the murals, she noticed he didn’t have a big appetite, either. They kept the conversation off anything personal and she repeatedly thought about her job and changes she could make because of the money that would pour into her business, yet her train of thought wandered constantly back to Cade. Why hadn’t he married? Why wasn’t there a woman in his life now?
She shoved her questions aside. She wanted to keep everything as impersonal and professional as possible between them. He was now her client and she had to try to keep the past out of mind as long as she worked for him. Do the job and avoid thinking about their history—how many times would she have to remind herself? Had he ever loved her or had it all been a lie?
She took a deep breath and drank her water, trying to cool down and stop recalling the past, but she could only let go of memories a few minutes at a time and then soon, they were back in her thoughts again. She tried to pay attention to what he was saying as they talked in generalities and he inquired about different jobs she’d