18. Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Magnolia answered emails on her tablet as Ezra drove to her office. A small, petty part of her had considered getting into the back seat but she’d quickly shelved that. That wasn’t who she was, and she wanted to handle this like an adult.
Unfortunately she wasn’t even sure what there was to handle. Maybe acknowledge that they wouldn’t be having sex again? Because she wasn’t sneaking around and hiding something from anyone. But clearly Ezra didn’t want anything else from her.
Which fine, fair. Even if it cut right to the bone.
She just wished he’d told her before they’d done anything, not directly after she was basking in that wonderful post-orgasm feeling. “You can pull in there. I’ll tell you the code.”
She nodded to the gated parking lot next to her office. Off-street parking was considered prime in New Orleans so they guarded their lot vigilantly like everyone else.
As he steered into the parking lot, she turned off her tablet, sighed. “Look, I don’t want any weirdness between us. Not now. Things clearly got out of hand last night…and this morning. But you’re right. We’ll just keep things friendly from now on. No messy stuff.” AKA sex.
He was silent as he pulled into her marked parking spot. Then he turned to her. “I messed up this morning— ”
“No, you were right. I wish your timing had been a little better.” Her tone was dry. “But if we start doing, well, whatever, it could get messy. And you’re just getting to know Lucas and I don’t want anything to screw that up. So let’s chalk last night up to a sort of reunion. And now it’s over and we’ll just be adults. We’ll be friends.” She nodded once, proud of herself. They could do this.
Ezra sort of grunted, then got out of the SUV, was around the front before she’d even unstrapped. He had her door open and plucked up her purse before she could. “So what’s on the agenda today?” he asked, glancing around, definitely looking for a threat.
He already knew how many cameras were here—Berlin had told her that she’d hacked into them, was monitoring them. Which made her think they needed to get a whole new system, or maybe a security upgrade, but that was something for future Magnolia to deal with. But at least she knew that Berlin was keeping an eye out and felt a whole lot safer since no one seemed to be able to find Samuel Perry.
“I’ve got a Zoom meeting with Mr. Lennox’s contact, Tabitha Johnson.” He’d told her to call him Jesse, but it felt a bit weird. “And…” She trailed off, frowning.
“What?” Ezra’s entire body tightened and he looked ready to spring into action. Today he’d worn dark slacks, a button-down white shirt and a custom jacket that was hiding a pistol and probably other weapons. He looked delicious in the suit, but it did nothing to hide the warrior beneath the civilized clothing. The man with the whiskey voice and amber eyes who’d stolen her heart long ago.
The man she was going to be “just friends” with now. So great.
“That SUV belongs to a man named Austin Jameson. He’s my competitor for this job. He’s been vying for Tremblay to come on board with his team as well. His company is strictly construction. Jameson Construction. And they’re good, but he’s…a lot to deal with.” Rude, pompous, entitled, misogynistic. The kind of man who needed a good punch in the throat.
Jameson had gotten a few contracts her company had wanted and vice versa, but he had a personal beef with her. One she didn’t even want to think about. Secretly she thought he hated that her company was so diversified, that they weren’t solely a construction company.
She ran a niche type of company, something no one else in the state did. They owned a couple boutique hotels, worked with job placement for women who needed it, and personally oversaw very specific construction jobs. Some were new, and some were restorative. She was very particular about those types of jobs because she and her team had to bring on contractors, to create a team from scratch. And she didn’t always use the same contractors, whereas most construction companies around here tended to use the same contractors. Or they pulled from the same pool.
And she realized she’d fallen into that trap by trying to snag Tremblay. Huh . She was annoyed with herself, but moved past it because today she was making changes.
“What’s that look?” Ezra asked, sliding his hand to the small of her back as they walked toward the entry door.
She swiped her card, waited for the flash of green to open. “I just had a realization that I’ve been working on this bid all wrong.” She’d been trying to play by someone else’s rules. As she headed down the hallway toward the bank of glass-windowed offices and open space where they set up various plans, she smiled at her assistant, Kendra.
“Hey, look who just dropped by,” Kendra murmured, giving a subtle eye roll in Jameson’s direction before she handed Magnolia a binder. “These were just dropped off and you’ve got that Zoom meeting in twenty minutes, but I know you haven’t forgotten that. I hope we get to work with her,” Kendra whispered, her gaze straying to Ezra curiously.
“This is Ezra, my…associate. He’s going to be working with me today.” She kept it vague, knowing Kendra wouldn’t question her either way.
“Magnolia.” Jameson’s voice was loud, grating on her very last nerve as he turned away from Charles’s open office door. “Finally showing up to work, I see.”
Beside her Ezra stiffened. Keeping her fake smile in place, she half turned to Kendra. “Will you show Ezra to my office?”
She knew Ezra was a professional, but a dark energy was rolling off him and she wasn’t sure how he’d react against the biggest asshole on the planet. She turned back to Jameson, keeping that smile in place she knew made him crazy. “What are you doing here?”
He sauntered—yes, sauntered—through the open area of their office as if he owned the place. His gaze strayed to a set of plans they had on display but the job was mostly done and not a secret. “Just stopped by to say no hard feelings about us snagging Tremblay. I know he’s been yanking us both around.” Even when he tried to sound sincere, his tone was just douchey.
“No worries at all. We’ve already moved on with someone more innovative.”
He blinked in surprise, his gaze narrowing ever so slightly. “Who?” he demanded, what little veneer of civility he had slipping away.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” She wasn’t worried about losing Tabitha Johnson to him, but still, she was playing this one close to the vest. Kendra was the only one she’d told about Tabitha and she’d marked the meeting private on the calendar. “Good luck with the bid,” she added. “I’ll walk you out.” Without waiting for his response, she headed for the side door, assuming he’d follow.
She was well aware that everyone else was quietly listening from their offices, but no one would peek out and ask questions until he was gone.
“I haven’t heard of any other architects going up against Tremblay for this bid.”
“It’s because I’m using someone from out of town. Recommended personally by Jesse Lennox,” she added because fine, apparently she was a little smug about this and wanted to rub it in Jameson’s face.
His expression went blank for a moment, maybe from surprise. “I didn’t know your father was friends with Lennox,” he said, not even trying to be a jerk, she was certain. He was simply sure that she couldn’t have made the contact herself. Because that was who Jameson was. Ugh .
“My father doesn’t know Lennox. I do. We met on a different project since he’s been buying real estate in New Orleans. He really loves it here and wanted to help me out.” Mostly true, and the real estate purchases weren’t secret at all. Some of her friends and associates had been speculating about why he was buying up real estate.
Jameson simply grunted, but already had his cell phone out as he exited the building. Smiling to herself, she headed back down the hallway to find Charles leaning against Kendra’s desk.
“Hey, sorry about him.” He rolled his eyes. “He showed up when I was just arriving. I couldn’t think of a good reason to tell him to wait outside. He just wanted to rub it in about Tremblay.”
She laughed lightly. “It’s fine, he’s all bluster anyway. And he can have Tremblay because I’m working on something better. I’ll let everyone know the details at our one o’clock meeting.” She glanced at her cell. “And, I’ve got a meeting.”
She found Ezra in her office standing at one of the big windows overlooking a huge magnolia tree. “Hey, sorry about that.”
He turned, his expression carefully neutral. “Is there a chance that asshole has been the one targeting you, not Perry?”
She blinked in surprise as she set her bag on her desk. “What?”
“Kendra told me the two of you dated.”
“We did not date. And I don’t have time for this,” she snapped. “I appreciate you coming with me today, but I need a clear head for this Zoom call.”
Oh, he definitely wanted to argue with her, but he quietly stalked from the room. And not in the way that jackass had basically stomped down the hallway. No, Ezra moved like a predator, was whisper quiet as he shut the door behind him.
Shaking off thoughts of Jameson and everything else, she sat down and turned her laptop on. It was time to do this.