You Say It First

“Not even close.” He flashed her a grin. “I work with a chainsaw. It takes a lot to threaten me.”

“That certainly puts things in perspective.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot and decided to just say it. “I don’t mean to be rude, but there’s no point in us having an interview. When I set up our appointment I hadn’t done more than pencil in a name on my calendar. I looked you up yesterday.”

One eyebrow rose. “Google or Bing?”

She smiled. “Both, and they said the same thing.” Her smile faded as she remembered everything she’d read. Nick Mitchell wasn’t anything close to an out-of-work carpenter. He was a world-renowned artist who had won awards. Yes, he worked with wood, but on a completely different level. It would be like asking a successful race car driver to teach someone to drive.

“I don’t know what my friend Atsuko was thinking when she gave me your name. You’re some famous artist guy and I’m a small-business owner who needs some repairs done. On the cheap.” She tried not to wince over the last word because someone like Nick Mitchell wouldn’t understand what it was like to scramble for every penny to keep her business open.

“But I appreciate you coming by,” she added. “And you being a good sport about the whole fake tanning thing.”

“It was fun. I enjoyed myself. The tanning was...interesting.”

“Not an experience to be repeated?”

“Um, no.”

She stood by her desk, waiting for him to leave, but he didn’t seem in a hurry to go.

“What did you want done?” he asked.

Why did he care? “Nick, I’m serious. I was going to pay a few dollars above minimum wage. That’s all I can afford.”

“Is it the wood panels?”

“Yes, but—”

He nodded toward the hallway. “Let’s go see them.”

She was more than a little confused, but okay. They went down the stairs and through the large, empty ballroom toward the storage areas on the side. She pulled open the big doors and flipped on the lights, then waited while Nick examined the panels hanging in place.

The rectangles of wood were huge—tall and wide, completely carved on one side. As she watched, Nick moved to the first one and placed his hands on the wood. He half closed his eyes as he traced the carvings with his fingers. Pallas had the oddest sense of watching something intensely personal, which was uncomfortable and more than a little fanciful.

“What do you know about these?” he asked, still studying them.

“Not much. They were here long before I started working for Gerald. To be honest, I never thought much about them except as decorative backdrops. When he died and left me the business, I did an inventory of everything. That was the first time I’d really looked at the panels. I realized they were in rough shape.”

“They are. They’re old, and the dry air is both preserving them and causing them to split. You can see the workmanship. Someone took a long time to create these. Someone with talent.”

“I wish I knew more about them,” she admitted. She should have asked Gerald about them, but it had never come up. She’d never realized what his plans were. In her mind, she’d been an employee and he’d been a great friend. The inheritance, an unexpected and unbelievably generous gift, had caught her off guard.

“My brothers work in glass,” he said without looking at her. “They talk about the beauty, the cleanness of it. The purity. Glass can be anything. It doesn’t exist until we bring it to life. But wood is alive. Wood has a soul—it tells the artist what it’s supposed to be. You can ignore what it says, but if you do, the carving will never turn out right.”

He turned to her, his dark gaze intense. “I want to work on these.”

She stared at him. “What? No, that’s ridiculous. You’ve been in People magazine.”

He chuckled. “Why does that matter?”

“It just does.” She was going to ignore the fact that he’d been in their Sexiest Man Alive issue and that the picture had been impressive. “I’m going to find some carpenter to—”

“No. Not a carpenter. These are incredible, Pallas. They deserve to be revered. I’ll do it for whatever you were planning to pay. I want the job.”

“Why?”

He turned back to the panels and placed his hands on them. “They told me they trusted me.” He dropped his arms to his sides and faced her. “Don’t worry. I’m not going off the deep end. This kind of work is rare. I’ll enjoy it. I’m between projects right now, so I have the time.”

He paused as if considering how much to tell her. “I’m up for a commission in Dubai. I’ll know in the next couple of months if I’m going to get it. I doubt there’s much question, but until I hear, I don’t want to commit to anything big.”

“Dubai?”

“A hotel wants to hire me to create a piece for its lobby. I would be there about two years.”

“That’s a long time.”

“I know, but it would be an interesting experience. These will keep me busy until then.” He smiled. “I promise to take good care of your panels.”

“I don’t doubt your ability,” she admitted. “Or your commitment. But I’m serious about what I could pay.”

“It’s not about the money.”

Right. Because a guy like Nick didn’t necessarily work for the money, she reminded herself. Wouldn’t that be nice?

“Take advantage of me,” he urged. “You’ll like it.”

She knew exactly how he meant the comment but for one brief second, she pretended he was coming on to her. In a boy-girl kind of way. Because it had been forever since anyone had bothered.

She knew the reasons for that were complicated. She was perfectly normal looking with an average body and no habits that were outside of social norms. In theory she should be able to find some nice guy to date and take to bed. But while there had been the occasional man in her life, there hadn’t been anyone close to “the one.” Or even “the right now.”

Part of it was where she lived. Happily Inc was a relatively small town and in her part of it, there weren’t that many single guys. The ones she knew happened to be relatives, so ick. There was also the fact that she had a way of holding herself back, emotionally. She knew why—what she didn’t know was how to change. Which meant being propositioned was rare and something to be treasured. Not that Nick had. He’d been talking about—

“Pallas?”

“Huh?” Oh, right. He wanted an answer. “If you’re willing to accept my sad little hourly paycheck, then I’m happy to offer it,” she told him.

“It’s a deal.” He held out his hand.

She shook it, ignoring how large it was and the brief heat she felt. Nick was so far out of her league as to be an extraterrestrial. Still, he was nice to look at. She would enjoy the show while it lasted.

“You can work whatever hours you want,” she told him. “As long as you’re not interfering with a wedding. I’ll give you a time sheet for you to keep track of your hours. You’ll get paid twice a month. Do you need tools or supplies or anything?”

“I’ll bring my own.”

“Good.” Because she wouldn’t know where to start. “Then I guess I’ll see you around.”

“You can count on it.”

If only that were true, she thought humorously. She wondered how wrong it would be to ask him to work shirtless. Because he’d made a fine Roman soldier.