Page 17 of Wrapped in Perfection

He lowers his voice. "These last few months, I wondered what happened to you."

I open my eyes.He thought about me?

"Why do you look surprised, my kotik?"

My kotik? He says it like I'm his.

My heart skips another beat.

The car stops, and he glances out the window. "We're here." He reaches to the seat across from us and grabs hard hats, steps out of the car, then reaches in to help me out.

He's a gentleman, too?

Mitch couldn't even open a door for me, much less help me out of the vehicle.

Why am I thinking about Mitch?

This is a huge professional opportunity. I need to keep it that way.

He puts the hat on me then leans into my ear. "It's a good thing you don't know Russian."

"Why?"

He steps back, checks me out slowly, then says, "My guess is the workers are going to say things to you that will make you blush."

I didn't think my face could burn any more, but it does. I'm not used to compliments. All Mitch did was tell me how fat he thought I was over the last year. I try to remember when a man last told me anything nice about my appearance, but I can't.

He grins. "Do you know Polish?"

"No. I only know English."

He wiggles his eyebrows. "There're only a few workers I need to worry about, then."

"I thought you only hired Russians?"

He shakes his head. "No. We don't totally discriminate." He winks and puts his hand on my back. He points to the building. "If you're as good as Vivian says you are and impress my brothers, I'll make sure you get the next project we're working on. It makes this one look like peanuts."

My stomach flips. I've only worked on individual units.What has Vivian gotten me involved in?

This is past my skill level.

Is it?

Fake it until you make it.

I'm going to kill her.

We walk toward the fifteen-story building. Right now, it's just a shell with no windows or doors.

"What is this going to be?" I ask.

"Mid-range apartments. Three to four bedrooms each. We want two design concepts. One for the three-bedroom and one for the four-bedroom, to differentiate them."

Okay, so it's like designing two different units. I can do this.

He motions for me to go first through where the doors would be.

"This is the lobby area?"

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