Unlucky in Love ( Lucky #1) (5 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

“Here, drink this.” Aiden handed her his bottled water and watched her face turn a deeper shade of red as she tried to breathe.

Kristen swallowed a mouthful and her eyes watered as she finally got a deep breath in and out.

“Do you always sneak up on people like that?” She glared at him through teary eyes.

He sat on the edge of her desk. “I’m sorry. I thought you had seen me.” He held back a smile.

She turned away from him and used a tissue to wipe her face.

“From an admirer?” He read the note and instantly wondered who A was and if he had competition. Even though she’d made it clear that she didn’t currently have a boyfriend, that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone lined up for the job.

She snatched the note away and tucked it back in with the cookies.

“That’s none of your business.” She tried to turn her chair away from him, but it bumped his knees, causing it to remain facing him. She glared at his knees, but he stayed right where he was.

“I wanted to say that I was sorry you lost your ticket.” He handed her a ticket. “I know it’s probably not the winning one, but . . .” He shrugged. “You never know.”

She looked down at the scratch ticket that he’d hastily purchased downstairs at the little bookstore.

“Thanks,” she said as she kept her eyes lowered, looking at the ticket.

“When will you be going out to the Market Place job?”

She looked up at him and sighed. “Day after tomorrow. I’ve got a meeting with the owners of the organic grocery store.”

He’d seen her designs for the inside and was more than impressed. “Don’t forget, I’d like to tag along.”

She nodded. “In about an hour, Kevin, another designer, is meeting with the owners of the lofts that are going in on Spear. You might want to tag along with him on that one.”

“It’s already set.” He leaned in a little closer and enjoyed the sweet smell of the cookies mixed with the flowery smell of her perfume.

“Is there something else you want?” She rested back in her chair and he could tell that she was fighting to stop herself from crossing her arms over her chest.

He smiled. “There are lots of things that I want,” he whispered so she would be the only one to hear.

He watched her eyes turn a darker shade of green and wondered what color they would be when he kissed her.

“You’re not my type.” She raised her chin, but he could see it was a lie.

“Yeah, so I’ve heard. The funny thing is . . .” He leaned closer. “You’re not my type either.” He ran his hand lightly over her shoulder and felt her pulse kick under his touch. Then he stood up and walked away.

His meeting with Kevin at the Spear place went slowly. He’d asked too many questions, which had slowed down the meeting. But he wanted to be thorough. Kevin and the owners of the new lofts hadn’t seemed to mind.

They wrapped the meeting up shortly after five that night and decided to swing by a pub a few doors down to finish the talks. He knew from years of running his own development business that, half the time, business was done over a pint of beer.

By the time he walked back into his condo, he had his mind made up. If he decided not to buy out Steven and Paul, he was going to try and hire Kevin and Darren for himself.

The next day he rode the bus and watched the spring snow fall. Even though it was mid-April, he knew they could easily get another month of the white stuff.

With construction in Colorado, snow could be a hindrance. Wet, heavy snow usually caused downtown to be a mess, but since this was the light powdery stuff that blew away quickly, work went on undisturbed. Even though the temperature could get cold, the workers still plowed through their jobs.

He had gone out on several more stops with other employees from R&S. The first one had been to a rebuild of an old firehouse as a diner on First Street. He didn’t care too much for Mark, the R&S employee he’d gone with; he had treated Aiden like he was a newbie. He supposed it was par for the course, since everyone was being told he was a new employee instead of someone who might be their next boss.

Still, the man’s attitude had won him a spot on his short list of employees who wouldn’t make the transition.

Then he’d gone out again with Kevin to another job site and was even more impressed with how the man handled customers and his job.

By the time he walked back into the R&S offices, it was past six and the snow was coming down even harder than before. He used his keys and codes to get into the building. He wanted to pick up the file and drawings for his meeting tomorrow with the owners of the Market Place grocery. The office was dim, with only a couple lights on, and he knew that everyone had most likely already left for the day.

It was a shame that he was only pretending to be a new employee. He was getting a kick out of working once again rather than being the owner who had to worry about everything beyond just getting the job done. He’d started his own business because he loved to design, loved being able to see what he’d created come to life.

As he walked toward his office, he heard a soft pounding and looked over to see a half-frozen Kristen standing outside the dark doors of the balcony. She didn’t have a jacket on and there was snow falling on her head and shoulders.

Instant worry flashed through his mind.

He rushed over, yanked open the door, and quickly pulled her into the warm building and straight into his arms.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Everyone has had a handful of awful days in their life. You know the kind. The ones where you should have listened to your instinct and stayed in bed.

This was one of those days. Kristen had stepped in a puddle on her way to the train station and had gotten her left boot soaking wet. She’d lost or forgotten her left glove, forcing her to tuck her hand in her coat pocket the entire walk from the station to work. This had caused her bag to slip and fall off her shoulder, spilling her important paperwork in the gutter, which was filled with melting snow.

By the time she made it into work, her hair was soaked, her left foot and hand were freezing, and her nose was running.

She didn’t need the chance of feeling off for her big meeting tomorrow. The rest of the day didn’t go any better. Bob had called with some minor changes they wanted to make for the grocery store. Minor on his end but major on hers. She’d spent the afternoon making the changes so they would be ready for the meeting first thing in the morning.

She’d lost track of time, and when her cell phone rang, she almost didn’t answer it.

“Hello?” She heard a bunch of static and quickly walked toward the back deck area, where she knew her phone reception was best. “Hello?”

“Hey, Kristy.” She heard Rod’s voice slur a little. “It’s me, Rod.”

She stepped out on the deck and felt anger shoot through her. “What do you want? To come back and finish the job by stealing the clothes off my back?”

“Naw, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.” She heard a burst of laughter in the background of his phone and felt her anger grow.

“If you’re really sorry, you’ll return all my things. Better yet, tell me where you are so I can tell the police.” She knew that the police hadn’t tracked him down because, as it turned out, he’d given her a fake last name.

He snarled. “Can’t return the stuff. I hocked it.”

“You what?” She almost screamed it.

“Had to. I had people to pay off. But it didn’t even make a dent in my debt.”

She rubbed her forehead and was slightly shocked when she realized for the first time that it was snowing. “Why did you call? Short on cash, again? Because if you think I’m going to fall for your tricks . . .” She felt chilled to the bone.

“I was hoping we could be friends, you know. We had something good between us.”

“When hell freezes over!” she exclaimed. Turning around, she walked over to the outer doors and yanked on one, only to come up short. Panic spread through her as she tried the other handle.

“Jeez, you don’t have to be a bitch—”

Kristen didn’t even wait for him to finish talking. She punched the End button on her phone and shoved it into the pocket in her pants. Then she tried opening the doors again a little more frantically.

Her fingers were frozen and snow was quickly piling up on her as she pounded on the doors. Surely there was still someone in the office. She cupped her red, frozen hands and tried to look through the dark glass.

She kicked the doors and was just about to take out her cell phone to call 911 when the door was yanked open and she was pulled inside and engulfed in warm arms.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Aiden growled in her ear. “Trying to freeze to death?” He started to run his hands up and down her bare arms.

“N-n-no.” She glanced at him, trying to pull away.

“You’re frozen. How long were you out there?” He quickly removed his jacket, but instead of putting it over her shoulders, he laid it on the small credenza next to the balcony doors, and pulled her back into his chest and continued to rub her back and arms.

“N-n-not that l-l-long.” She hated that her mouth wasn’t cooperating. And that her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering.

He looked down at her and then reached up and brushed the snow from her hair. When his fingers brushed over her hair for a fourth time, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being touched.

Then she noticed just how hot his body temperature was. Maybe she’d been colder than she’d thought. She found it hard to believe that it had taken her this long to notice how muscular his body was.

His arms kept rubbing her, up and down. When they slowed a little, she let out a moan.

When she opened her eyes, she realized he was watching her. His dark eyes were glued to hers, and before she knew or expected it, his lips were on hers in a kiss that sent warmth to every part of her body.

Kristen had been kissed plenty of times in her life, but nothing could ever compare to the mouth that was covering hers now. His lips were soft, yet as they moved over hers, she felt the power behind them.

When he opened his mouth and used his tongue against her lips, she couldn’t stop herself from enjoying the richness, the excitement, of his kiss. She opened for him, taking just a moment to relax against his warmth. His taste was something she could get used to, fall into, and get lost in.

He pulled back a little and frowned down at her. That’s when she started shaking. Or maybe she had been shaking all along and had just realized it.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.” He started to pull away.

“No.” She grabbed hold of his arms. “Really, I was just out there for a moment. I just need to warm up.” She smiled at the realization that her teeth were no longer chattering.

“Fine.” He continued to rub his hands up and down her arms. “Do they have something hot to drink around here?” He glanced around, looking a little annoyed.

“Hot chocolate.” She nodded toward the small break area that housed a large fridge, a microwave, and some cupboards full of dishes and supplies.

He leaned over and picked up his jacket, then placed it over her shoulders and wrapped his arm around her as they walked toward the break area.

It was dark in the back part of the building, so he flipped on the lights as they went.

“What are you doing here so late?” he asked as he rummaged through the cupboards, looking for what he wanted.

Her teeth started chattering again now that she’d lost his warmth. “I n-needed to finish up some changes for the Market Place job.”

He glared at her over his shoulder. “Why were you out on the balcony in the snow, without a jacket?” He filled up a cup with water and shoved it into the microwave.

“I had a phone call.” She closed her eyes and remembered the call.

“From?” He turned and pulled out a box of cocoa mix.

“A thief,” she said and chuckled.

He dropped the mix and walked over to her and felt her forehead and then looked at her like she was crazy.

“It’s a long story.” She sighed and leaned back against the wall.

“I’ve got all night.” He smiled.

She rolled her shoulders, trying to get her body to relax a little. “My ex-boyfriend.”