Chapter 8
Saffron
He was late. He always came on time, even five minutes early, which forced me to be five minutes earlier than him.
But today, he was ten minutes later than the agreed time, which meant I had been waiting for a while amongst busy construction workers with my little pink conspicuous hard hat on.
It had been a gift from my aunt after I told her we had won a lucrative contract.
Without Sebastian here, gently ribbing me about it, I stuck out like a sore thumb.
Like I was cosplaying as Construction Barbie.
A man rolling a wheelbarrow nudged me with it.
“Sorry!” I screamed, jumping out of his way, but as I did so, I bumped into five men carrying sacks of cement.
“Sorry,” I said to them. I was standing in the almost complete suite of the building where Sebastian and I were supposed to discuss our plans for the décor.
It was still just concrete and steel, but Sebastian and Tyler’s vision was already coming to fruition.
Their style was distinct. A throwback to mid-century style while also injecting classic Parisian elements into their designs.
No wonder Sebastian chose us over other experienced designers.
Their style was similar to ours. But that wasn’t their only genius.
Another lay in being able to get prime real estate addresses that had amazing views.
This suite in particular had breathtakingly gorgeous three sixty views of the park and the city.
When another trail of workers marched past me into the other room, I made a call to Sebastian.
He did not answer. The text I sent saying I was at the site was unread.
Should I tell him I am here? He might think I’m bossing him.
The look he gave me when we met to sign the deal and every moment after told me he did not like me.
They had that same disdain Tyler showed me, though Sebastian was more civil than his brother.
So Tyler told him about the ‘blackmail.’
Fuck it, let me just send the text. Maybe the meeting was canceled. But before I could do anything else, a familiar scent filled my nostrils. My pulse sped up. My body froze as it became aware of who was coming up behind me.
“What are you doing here?” I said as soon as I turned around to see Tyler in a dark blue suit and a yellow hard hat.
He raised his eyebrows, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Cute hat. Elle Woods.”
I rolled my eyes. The mirth playing on his lips made me clench my fists. “Where’s Sebastian?” I peeked behind him and saw instead his assistant trailing with a briefcase and an iPad in hand.
“Family emergency. I unfortunately have the displeasure of dealing with you.”
“What happened?” No wonder Seb wasn’t responding. He had never acted as he did today. “I hope he’s doing okay.”
Tyler rubbed his brow. “He’s fine. It’s a whole mess that has nothing to do with you, and I don’t care to tell you all about it. Can we get on with today’s business?” He checked his Rolex. “I have places to be and things to do.”
“That’s fine,” I said, going to the table in the corner and collecting my bag. “I will postpone the meeting and deal with Sebastian when he gets back.”
“You didn’t read the email we sent you?” Tyler turned to his assistant. “You sent her the email, right?” The short young man nodded, his shaggy blond hair shaking as he did so.
“I didn’t get it.”
“Check your inbox.” He wandered off, surveying the suite as though he had momentarily forgotten I was there. Oh, he wanted me to actually check the email instead of telling me the contents. Asshole. I took out my phone and went to my inbox. It was the second most recent email.
Tyler Hawthorne would be taking over Sebastian Hawthorne’s duties as his brother goes on an emergency family leave.
What the fuck was happening?
Tyler Hawthorne will oversee The Bellamy on Park project in place of Sebastian Hawthorne.
God fucking damn it.
“We have to work together? For how long!”
Tyler had his back to me as he stood by the corner windows looking outside. “A couple of weeks tops. Trust me.” He turned to face me. “I hate this more than you do. We can’t postpone this project any longer, or it will be long past its due date.”
I couldn’t work with Tyler! I made a call to Sebastian.
“He’s not going to pick up. He’s blocked all work calls. And considering you’re just a business partner, he’s probably blocked you entirely.”
Tyler was right. The phone went to voicemail, like it did previously.
I sighed. Sebastian and I had built a professional rapport.
Even though he hated my presence, he was tolerant enough of me to listen to my suggestions.
And over the last few months, he had come to view my talents at least in a good light.
I doubt that was going to happen with Tyler.
“So where were you with my brother?” he asked.
“He wanted to see if we could fully implement the changes we discussed. That’s why we are on location.”
With his eyes never leaving me, Tyler snapped his fingers, and the assistant rushed over to him.
The young man handed Tyler the tablet, and Tyler read through it.
I waited in silence as he went through what I assumed were the changes I suggested to Sebastian.
If he had come here so confidently, why hadn’t he read the briefs before?
“Yeah, we’re not making any of these changes.” He handed the tablet to his assistant and shoved his hands back into his pockets. His casual stance slowly pissing me off. “Too expensive.”
Exasperated, I raised my hands in surrender. “You haven’t even read through the reasoning.”
“I did. Don’t think it’s reasonable.”
“You did not—” I took a deep breath. Any wrong word and it was over for us. “You know what? Can you at least let me walk you through what we discussed before throwing away my suggestions?”
Tyler shook his head. “Fine. But I got better things to do. You were only brought in to complement our vision, not change it.”
“That’s what I am doing.”
Tyler did not look convinced. I marched over to him, specifically to the corner windows he had been gazing out from. “We can’t put the kitchenette here. We should move it at least three feet to allow space for a breakfast table. By the window. Sebastian was going to sign off on it.”
“But he hasn’t, has he?” Tyler said.
Of course, he was going to be difficult.
“You can’t just come into my projects and make whatever changes you want. I don’t know who you worked with before, but that’s not how we operate at H&H.”
I gritted my teeth. God. He was determined to be a prick. “Like I said before, Sebastian was about to sign off on this. He approved of the idea.”
“Hmm…” Tyler sounded unconvinced.
I gripped the phone in my hand so tightly it might have broken if it weren’t made of sturdier material. Tyler surveyed the area where the kitchenette was supposed to go. He knew I was right, but he didn’t want to admit it for some stupid reason.
He gave his assistant the tablet and whispered something to him. The assistant shuffled out of the room. I was left alone with Tyler. Somehow, the other man’s presence felt like a shield, and now that he was gone, I was exposed.
“So?” I couldn’t remove the plea in my voice. “What do you think?”
Tyler said nothing. He shrugged and marched out of the bare penthouse suite. The move was so sudden I had little time to collect my bag and scurry after him. I only caught up with the asshole in the elevator as he tried and failed to get the doors closed. I entered and pressed the correct button.
The door rattled to a close. The elevator was functioning but still in barebones shape.
I hated elevators in general, but I hated this one more.
The plywood scuffed with boot marks and the dangling work light on top of the smell of dust and construction debris gave the elevator the feel of a serial killer’s workroom.
Tyler fumbled with the buttons looking for the floor number. “It’s the down arrow. The buttons are switched.”
He frowned, looking at the buttons. “And how do you get this thing started…”
I pressed the giant red button and then the floor we were visiting next.
The elevator groaned. Jerked down, moved half a floor, and stopped.
“Fuck. It does this sometimes. The foreman said he would look into it.” I pressed the red button three times like he had told me to, and the elevator began climbing up again.
“He should get that fixed,” Tyler said.
“You tell him,” I crossed my arms. “He’s your man.”
Tyler looked like he was about to come back with a retort, but we reached our floor and the elevator jerked us to the side as it came to a stop.
I wasn’t holding on to the rail, like I usually do, and stumbled into Tyler’s massive chest. My head hit his rock-hard body, my lips colliding with his blue tie.
I breathed in vetiver and fougère. My hands held onto his jacket lapels as I felt enormous arms envelop me.
Without meaning to, thoughts of the last time I was this close to him flooded into my mind.
How his firm hands had gripped my waist. Gripped my tits as…
I cleared my head and pushed myself away from his embrace.
Tyler held my arms as he steadied me. The door rattled open, and I rushed out, my skin burning.
I did not want him to see the blush on my cheeks, but the low chuckle I heard behind me said that was unnecessary.
“You don’t have to fling yourself into my arms. Whatever lust-driven desire I had for you ended that night.”
If my face could have gotten any redder, it would have. “It’s not my fault your elevator is faulty, Tyler.”
He snorted and strolled around the suite waiting for me.
I took a deep breath. He wanted to irritate me so that I would give up this contract.
Well, it wasn’t happening. “For this space, I thought—Sebastian, and I thought—it would be better if we placed a half partition in the middle of this living room.” I went to the wall where I had drawn a marker.
“Somewhere around here. It’s too large. Surely you can see that. ”
“But it would also partition the light coming through those two.” He gestured to the two windows that spanned the entire space.
“Would that be so bad? One side has a window large enough to let in enough sun.”
“But your partition would shade people on one side depending on the time of day.”
“We could put it at the other end?”
Tyler glanced around the room. He had resumed his previous nonchalant stance of hands in pockets, shoulders dropped, and resting smug face. “That's not going to work. I can’t have a large block in the middle of the room.”
I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Where was Sebastian anyway? Did he know his brother was being a little bitch? Obviously, Tyler didn’t care about my input, and working with him was futile. “You know what?” I gave him a tight smile. “I’ll just wait until Sebastian comes back.”
“I told you, you’re working with me now.”
“Obstructing. You mean obstructing me, because this is hardly working together. You won’t sign off on anything I suggest out of some petty grudge you have against me. And I gotta say it’s highly unprofessional coming from one of the 'fastest-growing' real estate companies.”
Tyler marched over to me, closing the space between us in a flash until he was standing right in front of me.
Inches away. “Trust me, if I wanted to be unprofessional, you and your little company wouldn’t have gotten this job.
You wouldn’t have gotten any job because I would have thrown you out of town and made sure any real estate company worth its salt would not work with you. ”
Even though I was tall, he was one of the few men I had to look up to when speaking. I raised my chin, refusing to be intimidated. “And why didn’t you?”
“Believe it or not, my little brother thinks there’s something special about your talents. Personally, I don’t see any. But I do know you have talents in other areas.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper. “Is that what you showed him?”
My palm connected with his palm before I had time to think.
Before I had time to calm myself down and restrain the fire burning inside me.
The slap caught him off guard. He flinched.
Rage turned his body rigid. Immediately I regretted the act, but I could not apologize.
He deserved it. Silence settled between us as I waited for the hammer to drop.
For him to tell me I was fired and that I should leave the premises and that he would be contacting his lawyers and pressing assault charges on me.
Just like that, he could destroy my business as he wished. But he said nothing.
I marched back to the elevator. My bag heavy, the strap digging into my shoulder.
I opened it and entered. When I faced the room, Tyler was making his way back into the elevator.
Great. I was hoping to march out without standing in silence next to him.
He joined me and closed the door. I pressed the down button.
The elevator moved a few floors and ground to a halt.
I pressed the button three times again and… nothing.
“What’s happening?” Tyler said.
“Looks like we’re stuck.”