The Good Girl's Second Chance

“Like I said, all of it. Every room.”

She couldn’t help wondering if Quinn was behind this? “What will you need from me? I’ll be happy to show you examples of my work—my portfolio? We can take a look at the website so you’ll have a better feel of what I can do. As for references, I—”

“Naw. I already looked at the website and I liked what I saw.”

Was she blushing? Manny had a gruff way about him, but he also knew how to turn on the charm. She really liked him. She liked his way with Annabelle, liked that teasing twinkle in his watery eyes. “Well, thank you.”

“I got a good feeling about you, Chloe. A real good feeling.” The old guy smiled, deepening the network of wrinkles on his craggy face. She really did wonder exactly how much he knew about her and Quinn and what had happened between them eight nights ago. He went on. “I’m thinking you should come over to the house. I’ll show you around, show you what I want done and then you can come up with some drawings and blueprints and all that. We can start right away, as soon as you’re ready to go...”

“Do you have an architect or any contractors you want to use?”

“Bravo Construction, if they give you a decent bid on the job—and if you’re okay with them. You’ll be running this, so you gotta be happy with the people you’re working with.”

Chloe nodded. “I know them, of course.” Quinn’s older brother, Garrett, ran the company, from what Chloe had heard. And his youngest sister, Nell, worked there, too. Garrett had been three years or so ahead of Chloe in school, so she didn’t remember all that much about him. And Nell was four years younger than Chloe. Still, Chloe vaguely remembered her. Gorgeous, and something of a wild child, wasn’t she? Never one to back down from a fight. She told Manny brightly, “They have a great reputation. I’ll ask them for a bid, absolutely.”

Manny winked at her. “Might as well try and keep it in the family.”

Chloe got the message. Manny did want her to use the Bravos. “Sounds good to me.” She made a mental note to go with them if at all possible.

Half an hour later, when Manny and Annabelle left, Chloe had an appointment at Quinn’s house for two in the afternoon the next day.

She was thrilled.

But then again, come on. It was too much of a coincidence. She suspected rough-edged old Manny of matchmaking, because it just didn’t seem like something Quinn would engineer. Quinn Bravo was more direct than that. If he wanted to see her again, he would just say so.

Wouldn’t he?

She had to admit she couldn’t be sure. Maybe Quinn hesitated to ask her out now, after she’d made such a point of that one night being the only night the two of them would ever share.

Maybe he knew nothing about Manny’s plans to tear their house apart and redo it, top to bottom.

Maybe, come to think of it, Quinn had no desire at all to ask her out. What if he ended up hating the idea that his daughter’s caregiver planned to hire the woman up the hill, with whom he’d had a one-night stand? What if he wanted nothing to do with her now? If she took the job, she would be in and out of his house for weeks.

That would be awful, if it turned out that Quinn really didn’t want her around. Here she was, gloating over this plum job that had magically fallen in her lap, when Quinn might know nothing about it—and not be the least bit happy when he found out.

By the time Tai arrived at one, Chloe had made up her mind.

Before she went to Quinn’s house tomorrow and consulted with Manny on the changes he wanted made, she needed to know for sure what Quinn really thought of her being there.

And the only way to know for sure was to ask the man himself.

Chapter Three (#ulink_bd698f8c-b464-56ef-aa25-19fa637b5ad7)

Chloe sent Tai to get takeout again. They shared lunch. And then she left Tai in charge and walked the two blocks to Prime Sports and Fitness, her heart hammering at her ribs all the way.

Quinn’s gym filled a three-story brick building directly across the street from the popular Irish-style pub, McKellan’s. Chloe hesitated outside on the sidewalk, ordering her pulse to slow down a little, noting the good location and the clean, modern lines of the building itself. There were lots of windows and various athletic activities visible from the street. In one room, some kind of martial arts class was in progress. Another room took up most of the second floor and held rows of cardio equipment, with people in exercise gear working out on stationary bikes, treadmills and elliptical trainers.

She stood there staring up for a couple of minutes at least. Until she finally had to accept that her nervousness hadn’t faded at all. In fact, it was worse. So she smoothed the front of her narrow white pants, tugged on the hem of the light, short blazer she wore over a featherweight black tank, squared her shoulders and went in.

The gorgeous, hardbody brunette at the front desk said that Quinn was just finishing up leading a boxing conditioning class. Chloe could wait in his office. It shouldn’t be long.

So Chloe sat in his office, where the walls were lined with pictures of Quinn in his fighting days and more than one big, shiny trophy stood on display. She had become absolutely certain that she’d made a horrible mistake in coming here and was just about to rise and bolt from the building, when the door swung open and there he was, looking sweaty and spectacular in gray boxing shorts and a muscle-hugging T.

* * *

“Hello, Chloe.” Quinn thought he’d never seen anyone so smooth and beautiful, in those perfect white pants and pointy little shoes, not a single golden hair out of place.

“Quinn.” She sounded breathless. He liked that. And she bounced to her feet. “I... How are you?” She held out her hand.

“Good. Real good.” He stepped forward and took it, already regretting he hadn’t run to the locker room and grabbed a quick shower after class. Her slim fingers were cool and dry in his sweaty paw.

But she didn’t seem to mind. She held on and he held on and they stood and stared at each other. She looked a little stunned, but in a good way. And he had no doubt his expression mirrored hers.

Finally, she said in a breathless rush, “I need... Well, there’s something I really have to discuss with you.”

“Sure.” He made himself release her hand and went back to shut the door as she returned to the chair. “Something to drink? Juice? Tea?” When she shook her head, he slid in behind his desk and gestured for her to sit back down. “Okay. What’s going on?”

“I, uh, had a visit from Manny and Annabelle today, at my design showroom. Manny offered me a really good project, redoing all the rooms in your house.” She paused to swallow and smooth her already perfect hair. “I agreed to meet him at your house tomorrow in the afternoon to go over the changes he wants. If he still wants to hire me, I’ll work out the numbers and put together a contract.”

This was all news to Quinn. But not bad news. He asked cautiously, “And this is a problem somehow?”

“Well, after Manny and Annabelle left, I started wondering if you even knew that he was planning to hire me. I thought I should, you know, check with you, make certain you’re on board with Manny’s plan...” Her voice trailed off.

He watched her try not to fidget. And the longer he sat there looking at her, the more he came to grips with the fact that the one night he’d had with her wasn’t enough. Luckily for him, her signal came through loud and clear: she felt the same way.

No, he had no time for romance.

But for a woman like Chloe, he might just have to make time.

Should he be pissed off at Manny for taking the situation into his battered old hands? Probably. Manny had no business butting in.

But Quinn had just spent a week keeping himself from climbing the hill to get to her. Manny’s bold move had brought her right to him. Pissed off? Hardly. Downright grateful was more like it.

Not that he’d ever admit that to Manny.

A small, embarrassed sound escaped her. “Oh, God. You didn’t know, did you?”

“Doesn’t matter. Manny’s in charge of the house and we agreed when we bought the place that it would need major upgrades. It’s his call who he hires to make that happen.”

“So you’re okay with it—with me, working in your house?”

He was more than just okay with it. “Sounds like a good idea to me—I mean, if you’re willing.”

She gave him one of those glowing smiles that could light up the blackest night. “Well, then. Yes. I’m willing, definitely.” She got up. “So, then, I guess I should be...”

He couldn’t let her go. Not yet. He pushed back his chair. “Now that you’re here, how ’bout I show you around?”

“The gym, you mean?”