Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
The duo waited for us, and while I remained stonily silent, Samantha put a beautiful smile on her face and held out her hand to the inspector.
6
SAMANTHA
James on the site of a big project was a far cry from the guy who’d made me breakfast in nothing but a pair of low-hanging pajama pants this morning. He was sexy no matter what, but something about his commanding presence when he got all growly over being interrupted made him even hotter. I had a feeling that very few people got to see his soft side, and I was honored to be one of them. And I sure as heck loved being the recipient of his kisses.
But I couldn’t let my attraction to James distract me from why I was in Chicago. Forcing my brain to focus on the business at hand, I introduced myself to the inspector. “Hello, I’m Samantha Heath, with Heath Construction.”
He glanced at James before quickly shaking my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
I turned my attention to the forewoman with a smile of greeting. “And you must be Cheryl. It’s good to finally meet you in person after speaking on the phone so often. We’ve somehow missed each other the few times you’ve been up to the main office.”
“I am.” She barely touched my hand before dropping her arm and muttering, “Let’s get started so we don’t fall behind schedule.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to irritate her, but she’d always been friendly when we spoke on the phone previously. Hoping she was just having a bad day or was nervous about the inspection since this was only her third project where she’d taken the lead for my brother, I pasted a smile on my face and nodded. “I’m ready.”
Swiveling on her heel, she muttered something under her breath that I didn’t catch. I tilted my head back to look up at James, but he just shrugged and placed his hand on my lower back to guide me as we followed the forewoman and inspector through what felt like the longest site inspection in the history of the world.
I knew from the years that I’d handled Landon’s paperwork that safety inspectors always found something that needed to be remedied before we could move forward. I’d been prepared for a list of repairs that needed to be addressed. What I hadn’t expected was for him to find so many serious issues—from the electrical wiring to improper grading—that the entire project was at risk.
Handing James the list that was longer than any I’d seen before, the inspector warned, “You have one week to make serious progress on these.”
James looked unbothered as he nodded. “Understood.”
“Heath Construction is dedicated to following all building codes and safety requirements in every project we do.” I flashed a confident smile at the inspector even though it was the opposite of how I felt. “I have no doubt that we will be able to alleviate your concerns before your next site visit.”
A muscle jumped in James’s jaw as he waited for the door to shut behind the inspector. Then he turned to glare at the forewoman. “What the hell was that?”
Cheryl crossed her arms over her chest and suggested, “Maybe you should ask Samantha since she’s here in Landon’s place and he usually handles this kind of thing.”
James’s eyes narrowed. “Samantha and I will have our own discussion after you explain to me how you could have botched this project so badly.”
“I know the list was longer than expected, but I’m sure if we put our heads together over the next week, we’ll be able to take care of each issue in no time at all.” She beamed a smile at him. “I’ve never failed at a project, and this one won’t be my first. I would never let you down like that.”
I practically had to bite my tongue from correcting her in front of James since her leadership on this job had already proven to be more than inadequate. The site inspection had been a disaster, and the buck stopped with her. If she truly believed there wouldn’t be serious repercussions for her failure, I had a feeling she was in for a rude awakening after I talked to Landon. My brother hadn’t built one of the most well-respected construction companies in the country by keeping on employees who couldn’t do their jobs. Especially not the few he trusted to lead his teams in his absence. Taking jobs away from home had been hard for my control-freak brother to come to terms with, so his circle of trust was small.
“If you don’t want to let me down, get your team to work on the smaller items on the list. Knock those out while I figure out how I want to handle the more serious infractions.” James turned to me. “As long as that’s okay with you?”