Everywhere and Every Way(58)

"I was there, but no one showed."

"Their flight came in early, so I decided to take them myself."

Irritation rose, but he pushed it back down. Probably after their  encounter she hadn't wanted to deal with a confrontation. He couldn't  really blame her, though it was his right to stand beside her when they  presented the house. "What was their reaction?"

She gave a full-out belly laugh with no humor. "They hated it! Oh, this  wasn't a bit of dislike where they want to change this and that, or do  some tweaking. No, they hated it. Hated my choices and furnishings.  Hated the colors. Hated the grandfather clock Dalton spent hours on and  the cabinetry he lovingly crafted. They hated Tuscan tile and the brass  bed and the film room with the red velvet chairs we restored. They hated  it."

Shock raced through him. It had never occurred to him the Rosenthals  wouldn't like the house. Morgan had been ruthless regarding her choices,  putting everything she had behind every nail and piece of wood and  swing of the hammer. "Baby, I'm sorry. I really am. But they must be  blind. You put your heart and soul into that house."

Her head swung around. Blue eyes glinted with fury. "Exactly." She  lifted her glass in a mock salute. "I went wrong the moment I started  choosing things I loved rather than think of my client. I built that  house for me, Cal. Me. Not the Rosenthals. My ego got the best of me,  and now I've failed. Not only my clients, but myself."

His voice lashed like a whip. "Don't you give me that shit," he said.  "You're not a failure because you took a chance. Because you tried to  create something a person would love instead of some pretty objects on a  shelf an onlooker would admire. You found yourself when you were  building that house, Morgan, and you found me with it."

"Don't! I'm not in the mood for false declarations, Cal. Don't push me."

He got up from the couch and stalked toward her. "Well, I'm gonna,  whether you like it or not. Here's the thing. You've spent your life  creating perfection for others but it never touched you. Sure, you took  pride in your work, but this house was personal. It's filled with who  you are, like a precious gift you tried to give. Did it work for the  Rosenthals? No. But that's their damn loss. And you did the same to me.  Gave me yourself, all of you, and I walked away. I'll regret that for  the rest of my life, Morgan, but it's something I'll have to live with."

"Stop." Her hand trembled around her glass. "You need to go. I don't  want to hear that you're sorry we didn't work out. I don't want to hear  that you loved the house we built together. I just want you to leave."

"Never. Do you hear me? I'm not leaving you, Morgan, never again. I love  you. I never should've walked away last night, but I'm stupid enough to  think I needed time."

Her shoulders slumped. Cal's heart sank in his chest at the defeated  look on her face, a look he'd never seen before. "I understand. You  needed to be honest, and it's best if we part ways. I don't belong here  anymore. I need to deal with the fallout and go back to Charleston for a  while. Decide what my next move is."         

     



 

"Oh, no, you're not." He spun her around and forced her head up. "You're  not going anywhere, not without me. This is the deal. You made a very  reasonable argument last night about making sure I have no regrets. The  truth is simple. If I let you go, I'll never forgive myself. It will be  the biggest regret of my life. I need you, Morgan Raines. I love you. I  don't give a damn about children, because you're my family. You and my  crazy brothers and my goofball dogs. If we decide to adopt, great. If  not, I don't care. I want you by my side every day. That's all I need to  be happy."

"You said you didn't know." Her lower lip trembled. "You left."

"I came back. I needed a few hours, okay? When you find the love of your  life, sometimes it takes a slap in the head to remind you not to be a  jerk!"

A small laugh escaped her lips. "You are a jerk sometimes," she muttered.

"Agreed. But I'm the man who loves you. You're just going to have to forgive me. Then you're going to marry me."

"Not with a proposal like that," she grumbled.

He cupped her cheeks and tilted her face up. "God, you're sweet." He paused. "God, you're everything."

He kissed her, long and deep and slow, until she softened in his arms  and clung to his shoulders and surrendered. Breathing in the scent of  wildflowers, he gave her all that he was in that one kiss and promised  her everything he'd ever be.

When he finally broke away, she closed her eyes and leaned against him.  "I ruined my career. I built them a house they don't want. I'll never  work for Hollywood again."

He closed his arms around her and pressed his lips to the top of her  head. "We'll fix it," he said. "Whatever we need to do, I know it's  going to be okay. One house is not going to ruin your career. You're too  talented."

"This is such a mess."

"It's our mess," he said. "You just need some time to figure things out. Where are the Rosenthals?"

She gave a shuddering sigh. "Staying at the Plaza. I don't know what  they're going to do. My contract is ironclad, so they can't come after  me for the money, but they can certainly ruin my reputation."

"Did they like the structure? The outside? Did they give you specifics of what worked and what didn't?"

She seemed to consider his question for a while. "They loved the  outside-that was a total win. The deck, the hot tub, the property. All  of it worked."

"Good, that's something that's harder to change. I think we should go  over everything in each room. Item by item. By listing each separate  problem, we can get a handle on the possibilities."

"Cal, I don't want you to worry. You delivered on the contract and met the delivery date. Pierce Brothers gets full payment."

"I'm not worried about that now," Cal said. "Let's get the team together and construct a plan."

She pulled back and frowned. "What team?"

"Baby, Tristan and Dalton and Brady won't let you do this alone. That's  what family is about. Took me a while to realize it. But as I admitted,  I'm slow sometimes."

She laughed, leaned in, and hugged him tight.





chapter twenty-three







The next day, Morgan met with the Rosenthals in the conference room at  Pierce Brothers. The chilly distance in the air set the tone. She didn't  blame them. Morgan had sold them on herself and failed. Now it was time  to make things right.

"Thank you for meeting with me," she said in greeting. Back to polished  perfection in her power suit and heels, she handed them a folder that  contained the proposal. "My job is to make sure you love your home, and I  failed. I'm requesting you give me a short extension to fix it."

Slate narrowed his gaze. Those movie-star eyes and that masculine  intensity were made to intimidate, persuade, or demolish. Morgan refused  to cower beneath him. "Why should we trust you?" he challenged. "We can  find ourselves in a bigger hole, and I refuse to give you any extra  funds. Shooting schedule begins within the month."

Petra remained silent.

Cal squirmed beside her. She'd already been clear she didn't need him to  defend her. Morgan dealt with celebrity clients on a consistent basis  and prepared herself for some stinging comments. Cal was there to back  her up and answer any questions. She loved him even more when she saw  how he struggled not to jump and defend her honor. "I understand,"  Morgan said. "I take full responsibility, and I'm requesting ten days to  make the necessary adjustments. Our original meetings had been clear,  and I didn't listen when you informed me you had made adjustments to  your vision of the house. When you mentioned minimalist, and specific  colors, I assumed you didn't want me to stray from our course and tried  to bring the theme in on a limited basis. I won't make that mistake  again."         

     



 

Petra tapped a bloodred nail against the folder, considering.

"These are my proposed changes. There will be no further cost to you.  The structure and outside will remain the same. We're looking at redoing  the kitchen, expanding the film room, and changing the decor to suit  your tastes with a more modern spin. I've included some photos of  designs I think you'd like, and already have some specific pieces lined  up for you if you approve."

She waited in silence while they glanced at the new contract. Petra  nibbled on her lower lip, and Slate kept a bold silence as the minutes  ticked by.

"What if in ten days we're still not satisfied?" Slate demanded.

"I won't let that happen again," Morgan said simply. "I know how to fix it, and I can."

Petra stared at her. "Is it even possible to do this within the time period?" she asked.