personnel let me know. You will, of course, have an expense account. Also, for the next few days, until you get acclimated, I’ll drop in from time to time and you can also update me on the way to and from work. Thereafter, I’ll provide you with a driver and we’ll meet at scheduled times for updates just as I do with my other employees and my other business. I’ll be available for any public events you set up. So. are there any questions or concerns? Things you want to talk about?”
Gen looked down at the list. It was long. She was to oversee Thomas and Jorge in the renovation and decoration of the house itself, and introduce herself and the project to the neighbors, possibly by hosting a neighborhood gathering. She was expected to locate sponsors for the women and donors for future projects, contact charities for prospective candidates to live at Angie’s House, establish links between local community colleges for classes and training sessions for the women, contact possible employers for those women who needed work, arrange for the open house, interview candidates and hire a director. In several places, he had noted that she could rely on him and on her own social contacts to smooth the way and drum up interest.
Did she have concerns? She had them in spades, although pulsating fears that turned her legs to jelly might be a better way to phrase it. This was beyond anything she had ever done for her parents and so much of it seemed to rely on using her family name. Genevieve wanted to close her eyes, to try and explain to Lucas just how little influence she had. Her parents had been the movers and shakers, while she had been an insignificant shadow in the background. And after Barry had spread all those ugly, damning and humiliating lies about her, no one was ever in this lifetime going to care what she had to say. About anything. But if she told Lucas that …
“I have to be honest, Lucas. I don’t think my name is going to have much influence. My parents were the ‘capital P’ Patchetts. That’s not me.”
He studied her, looking down at her shoes. “Genevieve, look at yourself. Look at that little patrician nose of yours, that perfect posture and those long, slender artist’s fingers. Listen to the way you enunciate your words. You may be living in less elegant surroundings right now, but you’re still a Patchett.” With that, he reached out and touched the silk of her blouse. His finger didn’t even make contact with her skin, but she felt as if it did. An awareness of him thrummed through her, sending warmth down her body in a rush. “You’re still a princess.”
With some effort, she raised her chin. “I’m sorry if I misled you, but I was never a princess.”
“I see. So … you don’t think you can do this?”
Genevieve swallowed hard. “I just don’t think that anyone who was wild about my parents is going to transfer that esteem to me.”
“No? Do me a favor. Do that thing you did yesterday when you suggested that I didn’t trust you. Give me that look of defiance. Raise your chin just a touch.”
Flustered, Genevieve tried to do as he asked, but she was too self-conscious. And she wasn’t angry at him.
Lucas frowned. “You can do better than that. You know what I need from you. But I’m going to have to let you go if you can’t do this job the way it needs to be done. I won’t want to, but I need someone who can produce and produce quickly. If you can’t do that, then I’m afraid you’re gone.” His voice dropped lower, the last words barely a whisper, but the steel in his tone was unmistakable. He would be ruthless if need be.
And like that, the desperation of her situation kicked in. Anger that she was failing and that yet another person was dismissing her overshadowed all of her fears. This time she didn’t just lift her chin. She threw her shoulders back the way she had been taught by a long-ago posture coach and she raised her head in what could only be called a regal gesture. “I won’t be gone,” she said and though her voice barely carried from her mouth to his ears, there was determination in her tone. “Don’t fire me,” she said. “Just … don’t.”
He stared at her with those fierce, dark, bird-of-prey eyes of his and she managed not to flinch. But when he still hadn’t said anything, she finally dropped her gaze. “Please don’t,” she said.
A low curse issued from his lips. “I hired you for a very good reason. I’m counting on you to be what I need you to be,” he said. “And I’m not firing you.” She waited for the word yet, but it didn’t come. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t thinking it. It was do-or-die time for her. She might not know what she was doing, but that couldn’t matter. She was going to do something.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE WOMAN WAS A DANGER to his composure. Lucas hated that. He had almost told her that she could have the job no matter what she did or didn’t do. And what kind of a mess would that turn out to be? Had he forgotten how important this project was or the promises he had made just a few months ago? To a woman he had wronged and never righted the wrong. To a woman … no—to many women whose anguished eyes still haunted him.
No. He would never forget. He would go to his grave trying to fulfill those promises. And he would not allow anything to stand in the way of completing Angie’s House on time.
Still, he could surely afford a few days to give Genevieve a chance to find her bearings. His controlling ways seemed to be detrimental to her composure and confidence. Maybe if he stayed away from her, she’d have a better chance of success.
“Sure, put it that way, McDowell,” he muttered. The truth was that he just needed to stay far enough away from her to regain his composure. There was just something about Genevieve with her prim, pouty little mouth, her hair that was pulled back so hard that it had to hurt and her slender little body and delicate, haughty chin that made him want to …
Cover that mouth with his own, slide his hands into that hair and send the pins flying, mold that sweet, perfect body to his.
And that was the real reason he was staying away. Maybe that flare-up with Rita and the fact that he had spent most of the past six months alone was just making him crazy for any woman. No matter. He was going to give Genevieve some room to run.
So, he did his best to stay away, concentrate on his legitimate business and not think about Genevieve at all beyond the sphere of work.
Except he still drove her to and from Angie’s House and stopped in for a progress report every single day.
That kept her in his sights, in his thoughts. He hated that. Staying with one woman, letting any woman slip behind his defenses, wasn’t allowed. He had good reasons for that. This was a nonnegotiable item.
As for Genevieve and her progress, at first she was tentative in her reports. “I was thinking that it might be nice for each woman to be able to have some say in what her room, her personal retreat, will be like. So I thought perhaps … maybe … we should make each bedroom look finished but still leave room for more decorating after the women move in. They can perhaps … possibly … accessorize and make the rooms their own.”
Lucas wasn’t a man who smiled much, but he couldn’t hold back a trace of a smile now. “That’s a great idea, Genevieve. No ‘maybe’ or ‘perhaps’ or ‘possibly’ about it,” he teased.
“Oh.” Her lips parted as if he’d caught her by surprise. Her green eyes opened wide, all bright and sparkly. She looked as if he had handed her the keys to a treasure. She was beautiful. Radiant. He wanted to move closer.
It was a terrible idea, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He took her hand, her incredibly soft hand with its long, slender fingers, and her palm with its sweet center just meant for a man’s lips. As if that involuntary thought was controlling his actions, he raised her hand, his mouth only inches away from all that soft skin.
Stop, he warned himself.
She looked taken aback. He hadn’t spoken that stop out loud, had he? Or maybe it was the near kiss that had upset her. Either way …
“It’s a great idea,” he said again, releasing her. “Keep up the