Page 10 of Haunted Hearts
ME: Yep. Nancy obviously hid it from me. But the worst part is the architect is a total dick. I met him on my coffee run this morning before I knew it was him and he was the. biggest. asshole. And now he’s sitting across from me. Talking about ripping up these awesome hardwood floors for fucking carpet.
AUTUMN: Well fuck him!
AUTUMN: Wait. Is he hot?
LYDIA: …
AUTUMN: Ok, got it. He is.
LYDIA: He is not!
AUTUMN: Mmhm.
AUTUMN: Well, maybe you can bribe him…
I stop responding. Autumn is nuts. First off, I wouldn’t stoop to that. Second, no matter how hot this Will Holloway is, there’s no getting around the fact that the only reason he’s here is to plow a bulldozer through my childhood. Andthatis an instant turn-off.
I can’t wait for this meeting to be over.
I can’t wait for Will Holloway to get the hell out of my sight.
seven
WILL
I’m trying so hard to concentrate during this presentation, but I can tell Lydia’s texting beneath the table, and she’s got this little smirk on her face that’s making me crazy. There’s no way she’s not texting about me. Or—I feel my balls tighten as I sit back down in my chair and give Ethan the floor—maybe she’s texting that guy. The one who wants to pull her hair while she sucks his cock.
Fuck. Any concentration I had just flew right out the window—because now I’m picturing what Lydia would look like, sliding underneath this table, unzipping my jeans, and drawing my cock into her pink little mouth while the rest of this meeting drones on. I wonder if she could even get the whole thing in. I wonder if Ethan would notice, if I could carry on talking about blueprints without my breath getting ragged while Lydia deep-throats me. Just thinking about it makes my dick twitch.
I saw Lydia eyeing my bulge earlier. She tried to act like she wasn’t, but I’m not an idiot. Her eyes got all flustered and she blushed like hell—and how on earth I made it through my leg of the presentation without getting a hard-on is a damn miracle. I barely even remember anything she said after that, about how she spent a lot of time at the library as a kid. I did hear the bitabout the banister, though. I’d like to see her slide down it now. In those jeans.
God. Focus, Will. You are aprofessional, for Christ’s sake.
“Well, I think that’ll do for today,” Ethan is saying. He sits down, clasps his hands in front of him on the table, and looks around the conference room. “At some point we’ll need to discuss plans for fundraising at the fall festival, but that can wait for the next meeting. So, regarding today’s agenda, does anyone have any last questions? Concerns?”
My eyes flit to Lydia, even though I’m trying my damnedest not to imagine what her hair would feel like clenched in my fingers. I can see Ethan’s looking at her too, almost like he’s trying to dare her to start her bitching again. She doesn’t take the bait.
Instead, it’s Nancy who speaks. “I’d like to make a suggestion. Given Lydia’s concerns about the more—uh—modernelements of the design, I thought it might be nice for Lydia to give Will a walkthrough of the building after the meeting.” She turns to Lydia, pats her arm. “You know, highlight the historicity of the place? Come up with some ideas of how to preserve the historical charm of the structure?”
“With all due respect, Nancy,” Ethan cuts in, “Will’s experience renovating old buildings is fairly extensive. It’s part of the reason we chose him.”
I glance at Ethan, then at Lydia. Our eyes lock for a second before Nancy cuts in again.
“Of course, of course. It’s just that Lydia’s a Hawthorne Bay native with familial connections to the library, and I think her perspective could be valuable in making this place the best it can be.”
Lydia scoffs. “I guess that’s why you so obviously kept me out of the loop then, right?”
Oh, shit. Nancy’s trying to smooth the situation over, but this is goingsouth.
“You know what?” I say, jumping in with a broad smile. “I think that’s a great idea. I can definitely stick around for a few minutes. It’ll give me a chance to talk through some ideas about how to keep the story of the place alive and kicking.”
Lydia stares at me like I just decided to rip my shirt off and go dancing around the room. It’s clearly not what she expected, and I can tell by the way she narrows her eyes that she’s more than a little suspicious, but I had to saysomething. It’s been painful enough watching her get kicked around in this meeting. No way do I want to see her get herself fired.
“Fine,” Lydia says. She gives me a clipped nod.
Everyone rises, and the board members all start to clear out. A few of the city council members stop to chat with me for a few minutes, invite me to participate in the booth the library’s manning at the Hawthorne Bay fall festival to stir up interest from wealthy donors, and I play the part as best I can. I hate small talk, but when I’m the architect on a project and the hottest fucking investor in town is sitting there surveying me like a hawk, there’s no way in hell I’m going to snub these people. Besides, I’ve got to stick around for this walkthrough or whatever it is.
“You ready?”
